Acupuncture as an Assessment Method

Manual muscle testing (MMT), also known as resistive muscle testing, is an integral part of assessment that provides useful information by locating injured myofascial and myotendinous tissue. Confirming the injured tissue with palpation not only identifies the strained tissue but also can determine its affected acupuncture channel(s).

Manual Muscle Testing and Acupuncture: An Injury-Based Approach is a 62-video collection that is compiled of clinical examinations from Matt Callison’s more than 33 years of clinical experience. It presents the information through the lens of injury-based sports medicine, posture, traditional Chinese medicine channels and effective acupuncture treatment protocols. The acupuncture prescriptions in this video library can create meaningful changes in strength, movement, proprioception, muscle firing, and pain.

Whenever a muscle or tendon injury is suspected, MMT can help to identify the muscle imbalances, and the location of the strained soft tissue fibers. For example, a soft tissue strain in anterior hip can involve at least five different myofascial tissues including: the iliopsoas, rectus femoris, sartorius, pectineus, and tensor fascia lata. MMT to each of these muscles can identify the location of the strained tissue and is important for the practitioner determining whether it matches the patient’s complaint of pain? The practitioner identifies the location of the injured tissue which then reveals the most affected acupuncture channel(s). Referring to the previous example of anterior hip pain, the following are commonly strained tissues and their channel relationships.

• Distal psoas fibers – Liver
• Rectus femoris (upper fibers) – Stomach
• Sartorius (upper fibers) – Spleen
• Pectineus – Liver
• Tensor fascia lata – Gallbladder

When the affected muscle or tendon has been identified with MMT, the practitioner palpates the tissue to provide further confirmation of the exact site of the injury. Once the exact site of injury has been confirmed, the practitioner will know precisely which acupuncture channel(s) have been affected by the injury and can choose key acupoints to effect change.

Acupuncture as an Assessment Method

Acupuncture content in this video library is termed “Acupuncture as an Assessment,” which is a method performed with orthopedic exams, manual muscle testing or a movement pattern that the patient performs to demonstrate pain.

The practitioner can apply this simple technique to help build a treatment protocol, which determines effective acupuncture points. In addition, and importantly, this method shows the patient how quickly pain and dysfunction can change with acupuncture.

In this article, we will focus on MMT and Acupuncture as an Assessment.

As already discussed, with a soft tissue strain, a positive MMT is followed with palpation to confirm the injured tissue and channel. The practitioner then has an excellent opportunity to use this method to examine which acupuncture points will decrease the pain or discomfort and help strengthen the muscle contraction when re-assessed. This is a Test, Needle and Re-Test method that focuses on decreasing pain and improving function felt by the patient and practitioner from the initial test and the second MMT after using acupuncture to points that make change.

Test → Needle → Re-Test

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to perform Acupuncture as an Assessment using Manual Muscle Testing:

1. Patient describes a pain site or region.
2. Practitioner applies MMT to suspected muscle(s). Muscle test elicits pain or discomfort.
3. Practitioner palpates the myofascial and myotendinous tissue to confirm the pain, or discomfort, is the same as the patient’s complaint.
4. Practitioner assesses the primary and sinew channel topography affected by the injury to configure a point protocol.
5. The practitioner now uses Acupuncture as an Assessment
6. The practitioner needles tender accumulating-xi, connecting-luo or source-yuan points. 1-2 points can be needled. Obtain a qi sensation and withdraw the needle enough so it rests in the subcutaneous fascia and is not dangling in the epidermis.
7. Re-examine the MMT for a decrease in discomfort or pain in addition to a gain in strength. The patient can often feel the difference immediately. The practitioner can observe the difference immediately.
8. If a decrease was not obtained, either the channel or channel point needled were not accurate, or there could be another underlying cause of pain e.g. anterior joint injury or labral impingement.

Acupuncture as an Assessment: A Few More Words

Using acupuncture to make significant changes in pain and function during a practitioner’s assessment phase has most likely been practiced for thousands of years. How could it not have been? Practitioners of TCM must have recognized that needling just 1-2 points on their patients yielded decreased pain and better mobility. This miraculous occurrence with acupuncture and channel points is frequently observed in today’s modern era of acupuncture.

JUST RELEASED: Manual Muscle Testing & Acupuncture: An Injury-Based Approach

Manual Muscle Testing and Acupuncture: An Injury-Based Approach is a 62-video collection that is compiled of clinical examinations from Matt Callison’s clinical experience has for over 33 years. It presents the information through the lens of injury-based sports medicine, posture, traditional Chinese medicine channels and effective acupuncture treatment protocols.

This invaluable video library is divided into three courses:

• Course 1: Introduction and Guidelines to Manual Muscle Testing
• Course 2: The Neck, Shoulder and Upper Extremities
• Course 3: The Low Back, Hip and Lower Extremities

An Acupuncturist’s Approach to Muscle Testing

This library goes far beyond basic strength testing. You will learn:

• Manual muscle testing techniques
• Orthopedic muscle resistive testing
• Muscle firing sequence assessments
• Injury-specific differential testing
• Effective motor point and channel point combination to change muscle strength and proprioception
• Clinical applications of traditional Chinese medicine channels

These techniques help you identify the muscles and structures contributing to pain, dysfunction, and injury—and then evaluate the effects of treatment immediately.