If you ever went with your parents to a traditional herbalist, you probably remember the scene. The herbalist asked a few questions, felt the pulse for a while, then wrote a prescription, and the family stood at the counter waiting for the herbs to be weighed out. On a first visit to Tam Duc, many people expect exactly the same sequence. The doctor asks about eating and sleep, looks at the tongue and takes the pulse on both wrists. Then, instead of picking up a pen to write the prescription, the doctor invites you to lie down on the examination table for muscle testing. That extra step comes from Applied Kinesiology (AK), and on that day the prescription is written only after the muscle testing is done.
The four examinations show which way an illness leans
The four examinations are the four ways traditional medicine gathers information: looking (complexion, build, tongue), listening (voice, breathing), asking (medical history, sleep, eating, bowel and bladder habits) and taking the pulse.
Picture someone who has had pain in the upper abdomen for a long time, with an endoscopy report that says gastritis. Cold food brings the pain on and a warm compress eases it. The tongue is pale and the pulse is deep and slow, so the doctor thinks of Spleen–Stomach deficiency with cold (脾胃虚寒 / 脾胃虛寒, pí wèi xū hán). Another person with the same endoscopy result has a burning pain, sour belching, a bitter taste in the mouth, and a red tongue with a yellow coating. Here the thinking shifts toward heat, and treatment has to cool rather than warm. Pulling these findings together to choose acupuncture or an herbal formula is called pattern differentiation. As Jiang and colleagues (2012) describe, this same step divides people who share one modern medical diagnosis into groups that need different treatment, just like the two people with stomach pain above.
Knowing the direction still leaves many choices
Knowing that it is deficiency with cold narrows down the area to search. The texts list many formulas that warm the middle and strengthen the Spleen, each one can be modified in many ways, and there are plenty of points for the Spleen and Stomach as well. Which herb suits this person better? Which points are needed? Is a mineral running low? The pulse and tongue have a hard time answering questions at that level of detail.
This is where muscle testing comes in. The test reads how the nervous system is controlling a muscle at the moment of the examination, on the neurological basis described by Schmitt and Yanuck (1999). The mechanism is explained in our article why doctors use muscle testing. In the understanding of AK analyzed by Rosner and Cuthbert (2012), muscle testing always rests on a foundation of standard diagnostic methods. At Tam Duc, that foundation is a modern clinical examination plus the four examinations. So the doctor does not have to search widely, and tests only within the area the four examinations have marked out. The four examinations give the direction. Muscle testing then helps choose the points, herbs and micronutrients that suit you in particular, and rechecks the result within the same session.
For the person with stomach pain above, the doctor may ask you to place a fingertip on a few of the points being considered, one at a time. With each touch, the doctor tests the weak muscle again and keeps the points that change the muscle most clearly. With ions such as magnesium, potassium and zinc, with micronutrients or with herbs, the doctor has you taste it or hold it against your body for testing before thinking about adding it. The method is described in detail in our article on the health triangle.
Worry harms the Spleen, and the stress test
When asking in more depth, the doctor often hears one detail: this bout of pain got worse once work piled up, with nights spent lying awake thinking. In traditional medicine theory, too much worry and overthinking weaken the Spleen (“overthinking injures the Spleen”, 思伤脾 / 思傷脾, sī shāng pí), so that story is already part of the diagnosis. How far the worry is affecting the nervous system takes one more test. The doctor asks you to think about what is weighing on you, then uses muscle testing to look for signs of stress in three brain areas: the frontal lobe, the limbic system and the cingulate gyrus. When the worry shows up clearly on that test, the doctor spends part of the session on AK techniques aimed at stress. The decoction that warms the Spleen and Stomach also has herbs added to make sleep come more easily.
An old scar or a stiff stretch of spine is beyond the reach of the pulse
Some things are hard for the four examinations to name precisely. An old surgical scar on the abdomen, or a section of the mid-back that is not moving properly, can contribute to a feeling of fullness and tightness in the upper abdomen, while the pulse reflects only your overall state. To find them, the doctor uses muscle testing to work through one area after another, much like the point search above. If the mid-back is restricted, the doctor mobilizes the spinal joints. If the restriction lies in a peripheral joint or in the cranial sutures, the doctor works on that exact spot. All of these are AK adjustment techniques, done by the doctor personally during the session.
The pulse changes over weeks, a muscle within minutes
The two approaches also differ in timing. The tongue coating, complexion and pulse usually shift gradually over days or weeks. The doctor compares them at the next visit to see whether the pattern has eased, then modifies the decoction for the next course. A muscle’s response changes much faster, sometimes only a few minutes after acupuncture or after a joint adjustment.
A combined consultation, seen from the patient’s side
Once you sit down at the desk, Dr. Dinh Ngoc Duc (MD, MSc in Traditional Medicine) will first ask what bothers you most and when it gets worse. Obstetrics and gynecology, and difficulty conceiving, are looked after by Dr. Pham Tran Dan Tam (MD, Specialist Level I in Traditional Medicine).
After the questions come a blood pressure check, a modern medical examination, tongue diagnosis and pulse diagnosis. If an organic disease (one with a physical cause that tests can show) needs to be clarified, lab tests, ultrasound or endoscopy come first, and treatment is discussed afterwards. For what to prepare before your appointment, see our article preparing for an Applied Kinesiology examination.
The clinic also works with a small area of AK that deals with the body’s energy: the chakras, the aura field (Aurafield) and the meridians. The doctor only uses it when the examination shows it is needed.
Chest pain, vomiting blood or weakness on one side: go to hospital first
Chest pain, shortness of breath, sudden weakness or numbness on one side of the body, vomiting blood, or black stools mean you need an emergency department right away; the examination steps above can wait. People with upper abdominal pain together with weight loss, difficulty swallowing, or pain that keeps getting worse over several weeks should have a digestive check-up and endoscopy first. Those results will then sit alongside the four examinations and muscle testing in the treatment decision.
Worth keeping
- On the morning of your visit, don’t scrape your tongue, and avoid coffee and colored candy right before your appointment;
- Think ahead about a few things the four examinations often ask: whether you dislike heat or cold, how many hours you sleep each night, how many times a day you open your bowels;
- Wear loose clothes, so you can bend and stretch your arms and legs easily while lying down for muscle testing;
- At the end of the session, ask the doctor which tests changed after treatment, so you can compare them together next time;
- Between visits, note the days when your eating or sleep changed and when the pain got worse or better, so the doctor can compare them with your pulse and tongue next time.
References
- Jiang M, Lu C, Zhang C, Yang J, Tan Y, Lu A, Chan K (2012). Syndrome differentiation in modern research of traditional Chinese medicine. J Ethnopharmacol 140(3):634-642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2012.01.033
- Rosner AL, Cuthbert SC (2012). Applied kinesiology: distinctions in its definition and interpretation. J Bodyw Mov Ther 16(4):464-487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbmt.2012.04.008
- Schmitt WH, Yanuck SF (1999). Expanding the neurological examination using functional neurologic assessment: part II neurologic basis of applied kinesiology. Int J Neurosci 97(1-2):77-108. https://doi.org/10.3109/00207459908994304
