What is the MyoKinesthetic System?
The MyoKinesthetic (MYK) System is a unique treatment that utilizes a full body postural assessment to detect compensations within the nervous system.
These compensations appear as postural abnormalities and result in physical impairment. The goal is to evaluate and treat postural abnormalities to restore allostasis (the alignment that is normal for your body).
MYK is a muscle movement technique that uses soft tissue stimulation to correct and balance the posture and nervous system. First, a detailed postural evaluation, history of current symptoms and special range of motion (ROM) testing are completed to determine the specific treatment to reduce your pain. Based on your posture and symptoms, all the muscles of one specific nerve pathway (which can be up to 30+ muscles!) are treated with active and passive movements accompanied with soft tissue stimulation. When you stand up from the treatment, messages of specific muscle length changes made in treatment are sent up to the brain, and then the brain sends information back down to other muscles of the body to either contract or relax to compensate for the changes made in treatment, resulting in a more aligned posture.
Usually, a reduction in pain and improved ROM may be seen from the very first visit, and patients may feel a shift or change in posture. The ROM and specific postures, along with subjective pain scale are remeasured again after treatment. A specific home exercise program based on your postural assessment will be given to help you hold your new balanced posture longer, and have less pain for longer periods with improved ROM.
You don’t need to get undressed, no oils or creams are used, and only very specific muscles are treated to impact the nervous system to make the correct postural changes to address your specific symptoms.
The Theory of MYK
According to an article written in the International Journal of Athletic Therapy and Training, “The MYK System is a unique paradigm because the purpose is to evaluate and treat posture imbalances as a method to restore allostasis. The theoretical underpinnings of the paradigm are that standing, static posture underlies all movement patterns; therefore, if posture is not symmetrical, the movement will be dysfunctional.” That concept means, that if someone has changes in their posture where one side is not similar to the other, those changes will cause the person to move in ways that are dysfunctional and can cause pain.
Muscles move bones. The nervous system (brain, spinal cord and all its nerves) controls muscles to move bones. For example, if you have a fall at a young age, a bone shifts, and messages from the altered muscle lengths from that shifted bone get sent to the brain, and in return, the brain sends messages back down to other muscles of the body to either contract or lengthen to compensate for the initial shift in bone. If there was no compensation of other muscles by the nervous system, you would stand crooked and bent over to one side. This compensation by the nervous system occurs instantaneously when you stand up so you can be as balanced as possible.
Over time, the body is unable to compensate anymore, and that is when tissues become more susceptible to injury and a person starts to have pain. MYK aims to correct the problematic posture to restore a balanced posture with a healthy nervous system. Dr. Mike says, “Posture is an outward expression of your nervous system”. In other words, an imbalanced posture (due to compensations) will give us information about your nervous system. And when the nervous system which brings homeostasis (ability to maintain internal physiological changes in response to the external environment) is imbalanced, this leads to decreased health and faulty musculoskeletal relationships.
Other questions you may have about MYK treatments:
1. What can MYK treat?
I have had success treating people with the following conditions:
Low back pain
Shoulder problems: frozen shoulder, rotator cuff, bursitis, impingement, post surgery
Knee pain
Plantar fasciitis
Headaches
Neck pain
Carpal Tunnel
Elbow issues: Tennis elbow, Golfer’s elbow
Radiculopathy
Hip and other joint problems
Shin splints
Limited ROM/strength post surgery (i.e. post total knee replacement or hip replacement)
Sciatica
Altered tone due to CVA/Stroke
Pain
Hip and low back pain due to pregnancy
Imbalanced posture - you may have never noticed
There are many other conditions that MYK can improve. For example, I have had numerous people with fibromyalgia report that their symptoms improved with MYK. Contact me if you have questions about whether MYK can help a condition not listed.
2. When should I try MYK?
If you have pain, numbness, tingling, limited range of motion, or posture that is not aligned.
If you have tried other treatments but still have the problem.
If you have a condition that limits you from doing activities you enjoy.
If you have insidious muscle or joint pain (a gradual onset of pain without a known cause) try an MYK treatment before getting expensive tests and procedures done (i.e. x-rays, MRI, ultrasound, cortisone shots, stem cell injections, etc.)
The earlier the better - as soon as you realize that symptoms are not resolving on their own. The sooner you start MYK treatment, the fewer it will take to get you back into alignment.
3. Is MYK a massage?
Some people have called it a "moving massage". MYK treatment involves active and passive movements while stimulating all the muscles innervated by a specific peripheral nerve. MYK aims to "tinker" with the nervous system in a very specific way to cause muscle length and postural changes.
4. What can I expect at an MYK treatment?
The client and practitioner will go over the initial intake and a postural assessment of the client will be performed to determine which nerve root level is causing the imbalance. Some treatments are quite short, some are longer, depending on which nerve root is involved (for example, L1 nerve root innervates 10 muscles but S1 innervates 34 muscles). The treatments consist of repeated muscle movements that are specific to the muscles innervated by the affected nerve root. This is done both passively (by the practitioner) and actively (by the client).
5. How many visits will I need and how frequent?
Most people will need 10-12 treatments, some less, others more based on how long they have had the symptoms, age, other medical conditions, etc. The MYK protocol recommends 4 visits in the first week and 2 visits the second week for the quickest results. We have done 2 visits the first week with good success but improvement will take longer. Your body has to “learn to hold” the changes and it takes time to correct the postural abnormalities. The longer you are able to hold posture, the faster the treatment days can be spread out.
6. How long are the sessions?
The first appointment with the initial assessment and first MYK session will take 45 minutes to an hour.
7. Do I need other massage therapy visits in addition to MYK?
Yes and No. Some people are pleased just to have their pain and ROM resolved. Others want to get back to running, playing tennis, carrying their baby, playing pickleball, etc. After an injury or surgery, muscles are weakened, joints are stiff, and proprioceptors are affected. As a result, patients develop abnormal movement patterns. The MYK treatments address all these areas to a certain extent. Ongoing massage therapy services may help to keep your muscles supple and pain-free to minimize risk for re-injury.