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KOREN SPECIFIC TECHNIQUE (KST) KST
was developed by Tedd Koren,
DC out of the necessity to fix the severe disc pain that had plagued
him for many years. It was becoming increasingly serious despite a continuous
search for the best chiropractic care he could find throughout the country.
Ultimately, by adapting elements of several other chiropractic techniques
in an innovative hybrid, he was able to adjust himself and completely
resolve it. It took him 6 weeks. Dr. Koren
quips that it probably wouldn’t have taken so long if he knew what he
was doing at the time. To see if this method was viable, he began adjusting
other chiropractors with challenging conditions that had eluded conventional
care. The results were so beyond anyone’s expectation that Dr. Koren
was encouraged by popular demand to begin teaching this method. Currently
KST has been taught to thousands of doctors worldwide and has positively
changed the lives of countless patients by allowing the innate intelligence
of the body to do its best work in healing a wide variety of conditions.
KST continues to evolve and improve with the shared clinical experience
of many of these doctors through a very active internet forum and frequent
hands-on seminars. KST
adjustments are especially gentle because they use an adjusting instrument
called the Arthrostim. This is a hand held tool that produces a gentle
tapping to the indicated points on the body. The idea is not to forcefully
rearrange the bones and other structures of the body, but rather to
send a well-received signal through the nervous system that updates
local muscle tension and other physiological targets for better structural
alignment as well as other functions. Mechanical alignment seems much
more durable and easily maintained with this method due to the deep
neurological control that it facilitates. In addition, many health conditions
not typically considered in the chiropractic scope respond well to the
improved nervous system networking. The
KST procedure is made up of three basic steps: 1. “Challenge”
involves gently moving a body part in various directions. The structural
system is thus scanned for subluxations - distortions that cause irritation
or confusion to the nervous system 2. “Check”
reveals where the distortions are located. The signal induced by the
challenge causes a subliminal stress response. Although there are multiple
ways of becoming aware of this subtle reaction, KST uses a body language
biofeedback tool called the “Occipital Drop” to bring it to conscious
awareness. It feels to the patient like the doctor is lightly sliding
his thumbs down the back of your head. The reaction of the body to a
positive challenge is felt by the doctor as a small shift to the muscles
at the base of the skull. It is definitely subtle and takes some practice
to perceive. Most doctors find that this sense becomes quite intuitive
over time. 3. “Correction”
is achieved by using the Arthrostim instrument with a specific vector
- opposite the direction of the challenge. I’ve found that children
especially like to be corrected this way. Infants often smile during
the procedure and seem to like the soothing vibration. What
make KST so useful is the way the body sequentially reveals each subluxation
as an individualized priority. It’s as if the system is addressing each
distortion as an insult that was laid down over time, which is now being
peeled away like the layers of an onion. The priorities are as unique
as each person’s history. Another
major advantage of KST is that it permits any patient to be analyzed
and adjusted in different postures: standing, sitting, lying down or
in the position of injury or dysfunction depending on feedback from
the body. This is very important because sometimes a particular subluxation
is only observed when you are in a certain posture. For example, if
a person was in a car accident, their subluxation may only be revealed
and completely corrected while they are seated. Various sports present
many unique postures and movements, and the correction of any revealed
distortion in these positions can speed up healing from injury as well
as improve performance. Children with dyslexia and reading problems
have seen improvement when the body was analyzed and corrected with
their eyes in various positions or while reading out loud while the
adjustments were done. Distortions may appear only in the context of
certain stressful memories. They may appear only when certain allergic
foods, scents or substances are presented to the body. The possibilities
are as vast as the human experience and are as individual as you. KST
is basically simple, gentle, effective, and easily adaptable to many
other styles of Chiropractic. I often use the Occipital Drop to determine
the priority for other techniques or methods, and apply them as needed,
although the basics of KST are usually adequate for a classic chiropractic
“miracle”. “The biologist exploring the workings
of the cell membrane to reveal its secrets, the physicist experimenting
with light, motion or gravity to pry apart universal laws, the geologist
seeking to learn about the history of continents from a slab of stone,
the psychologist trying to understand a client's mind, the artist attempting
to free the image encased in a lump of marble or to capture the person
on canvas. . . . We are no different in our work. We approach every patient as a scientist
and as an artist, trying to discover the answer to our questions and
perhaps to unlock a secret to their healing. We search to discover what
is already there to reveal life's mystery and beauty. Not every experiment,
not every hunk of marble, not every patient reveals a lesson we
can grasp, but we keep trying” --Tedd
Koren, D.C. (Founder
of Koren Specific Technique) |