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18 New Haven / Middlesex NaturalNewHaven.com 19 natural awakenings December 2012 businessspotlight P ain and illness convey that, as Ms. Clavel in the Madeline children’s book series says, “Some- thing is not right.” Physical symptoms signal that the body is not working correctly. This can lead to compensations that affect other parts of the body, resulting in a breakdown of overall func- tioning. Chiropractic care is one of the healing modalities utilized to restore or enhance function without drugs or surgery. Though people usually go to chiroprac- tors for problems such as neck or back pain, they may also find healing for other conditions. Individual practitioner’s styles differ with many patients now visiting chiropractors who concentrate on overall wellness as opposed to focusing solely on symptom relief. Dr. Kevin Healy of KC Chiropractic in Madison, CT is a chiropractor of that “holistic ilk” who practices Applied Kinesiology (AK), an interdisciplinary approach to health care integrating multiple healing modalities. He sees chiro- practic “the science, art and philosophy of supporting the re- lationship between the nervous system and the body” as an excellent treatment in restoring health, but says he realized long ago it’s not the only one. That is where AK comes in. Per The International College of Applied Kinesiology USA, “AK draws together the core elements of the complementary therapies, creating a more unified approach to the diagno- sis and treatment of functional illness. AK uses functional assessment measures such as posture and gait analysis, manual muscle testing as functional neurologic evaluation, range of motion, static palpation, and motion analysis. These assessments are used in conjunction with standard methods of diagnosis, such as, clinical history, physical examination move together in gait and any restrictions of the left ankle will affect that wrist.” In addition to Chiropractic, Dr. Healy’s treatments may include acupuncture, physical therapy, cranial-sacral work, nutrition, cold laser, orthotics, other healing tools, and, what he sees as most important, education. “This is why a visit is at least 30 minutes. AK visits include an exam each time be- cause a patient’s condition changes with the body’s natural ability to adapt from visit to visit. Therefore, a doctor cannot give the same treatment over and over for the patients’ prob- lems…the condition and the patient evolve.” Rather than multiple visits every week for life, on average Dr. Healy says he sees a patient 15 to 20 times in a year. Though he treats people well into their 90’s, Healy’s patients can be as young as two weeks old. Improvement of function is necessary in restoring health and he says kids generally heal quickly, with the chiropractic attention help- ing them avoid the accumulating factors of disease. “Here is where that ‘innocent’ ankle sprain from sports can com- pound to knee, hip, low back and opposite arm and neck adaptations. These are the adaptations that start the cascade of dysfunction. Hence a small investment in preventative health has huge effects on later health levels.” According to Dr. Healy, an Applied Kinesiologist is certi- fied through the International College of Applied Kinesiolo- gy. To receive this certification, the practitioner must take the minimum approved 100 hour postgraduate course and pass a proficiency exam at the end of the course in order to refer to their self as a Professional Applied Kinesiologist. Because AK involves the study of the many forms of treatments that can help to restore function, he says training takes years to master. Given numerous choices and conflicting information, Dr. Healy acknowledges “These are interesting yet confusing times in healthcare. There are more tests, more drugs and more costs.” What he aims to offer is the return of hope and freedom from fear. The idea is for patients to leave the office feeling confident in a solution to their problems and the opportunity to enhance functioning. In that case, it can feel natural to quote James Brown in confirming “I feel good…” Dr. Healy can be reached at 17 Woodland Road in Madison, CT, 203.245.9317, [email protected]. Most insurances accepted. See ad on page 8. findings, laboratory tests, and instrumentation to develop a clinical impression of the unique physiologic condition of each patient including an impression of the patient’s func- tional physiologic status. When appropriate, this clinical im- pression is used as a guide to the application of conservative physiologic therapeutics.” (icakusa.com/faq). Healy finds it invaluable to use a patient’s nervous system to learn not only where the dysfunction is, but also which treatments to use. KC Chiropractic opened in 1997. Since then, Dr. Healy and his staff have helped individuals from around New Eng- land with musculoskeletal conditions, as well as concerns from allergies and glaucoma to gout and foot drop, and fatigue to endocrine or gastrointestinal disorders. “First off, I love what I do. I love to be detective-like in finding out why a person has problems. Kinesiology is simply the study of human movement. Applied Kinesiology is HOW that information is used in the evaluation and treatment of restor- ing a patient’s function. This is the overall goal of my prac- tice, ‘to bring the patient to a higher level of health,’ through the improvement of function.” As he explains it, “Applied Kinesiologists use the relation- ship through the nervous system between the visceral (organ) and skeletal systems. For example, a patient may come in for shoulder dysfunction and whereas the kinesthetic func- tion of the bicep is in flexing the elbow and shoulder, in AK that bicep is also influenced by the stomach. Treatment then includes evaluating the function of the stomach for condi- tions that will weaken the bicep leading to stress on that shoulder joint. It is a more advanced level of diagnosing why the patient is in that state of dysfunction. With a deeper level of diagnostic skills, conditions from any bodily system can be evaluated, as well as how they affect each other. I like the challenging cases. If no one can figure out your prob- lem, that’s the case I want.” Another example he uses is how he has helped carpal tunnel syndrome in the right wrist by treating the left ankle. “It is because the two neurologically “I referred my friend with back and internal issues to Dr. Healy that had been to many doctors of different specialties over eight years, none of whom could resolve her problems. She finally got to the point where she just accepted and lived with the problems. Dr. Healy met with her and within two weeks time, she was on the road to better health and the problems were going away. Within six months, she was back to normal and living a much happier, healthier and pain free life.” ~Susan W. Dr. Kevin Healy by Nancy Cohen KC Chiropractic “Though he treats people well into their 90s, Healy’s patients can be as young as two weeks old.”
