George Goodheart, Jr., D.C., and a history of applied kinesiology

Applied Kinesiology (AK), founded by Michigan chiropractor George J. Goodheart, Jr., is a popular diagnostic and therapeutic system used by many health care practitioners. Many of the components in this method were discovered by serendipity and observation. In 1964, Goodheart claimed to have corrected a patient's chronic winged scapula by pressing on nodules found near the origin and insertion of the involved serratus anterior muscle. This finding led to the origin and insertion treatment, the first method developed in AK. Successive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures were developed for neurolymphatic reflexes, neurovascular reflexes and cerebrospinal fluid flow from ideas originally described by Frank Chapman, D.O., Terrence J. Bennett, D.C., and William G. Sutherland, D.O., respectively. Later, influenced by the writings of Felix Mann, M.D., Goodheart incorporated acupuncture meridian therapy into the AK system. Additionally, the vertebral challenge method and therapy localization technique, both based on phenomena proposed by L. L. Truscott, D.C., were added to the AK system. Scholarship has also evolved regarding AK and research on the topic is in its infancy. This paper documents some of the history of AK.