The NeuroTarget System
Find the Cause of the Injury
Force entering the body stimulates the joint receptors. They then send signals to the brain telling the brain how force is entering the body. The brain processes these signals very quickly and responds by sending signals back down to groups of muscles, turning them on to absorb the force. This is the basic reflex in our bodies that protects us and it is firing all the time because of gravity. This reflex is firing 24/7 is very efficient. If all the force entering our bodies is absorbed by the muscle we can continue the activity with no trouble. If force entering the body is not absorbed by the muscle it will transfer to surround tissue and cause an injury. When parts of the nervous system decrease in function the processing of signals is slowed down. This creates a slight delay in the timing of the reflex loop resulting in a slight delay in turning on the muscle. Now as force enters the body it will transfer into surrounding structures, then the muscle turns on. In this case the timing is off and force is not absorbed properly. Until the force is absorbed back into the muscle where it belongs the injured tissue will not be able to recover.
The NeuroTarget System is a system for evaluating the timing of muscle contraction. If muscles are found that are unable to turn on and absorb force properly the practitioner can trace the signals back through the nervous system to find where the signals is becoming delayed. The practitioner can then use the NeuroTarget System to create specific feedback into the nervous system, activating the weaker area allowing it to process information faster. This results in the signal reaching the muscle quicker so the muscle turns on sooner and is able to absorb the force entering the body. This takes the force out of the injured tissue allowing it to begin to heal. Removing the force from an injured tissue is the first step to recovering from any injury. Once the cause is removed it is just a matter of healing the injured tissue.
Prevent Injuries from Occurring
Using the NeuroTarget System regularly a practitioner is able to find weakness patterns before an injury occurs. The practitioner is able to make a change in the nervous system, restoring normal neurologic signaling to the muscle. Now the force is being absorbed properly the injury will not occur.
Degeneration of the nervous system occurs in a specific and predictable manner. The largest diameter neurons are affected first, followed by medium size neurons and finally the smallest neurons. The largest neurons in the body are called alpha motor neurons and are responsible for relaying signals from the brain to the muscle. The smallest neurons are called C-fibers and they relay pain and temperature information from the body to the brain. Because of this organization of the nervous system, the muscle test is the most sensitive test to find slight dysfunction of the nervous system. The motor neuron will be the first tissue to have decreased function resulting in an abnormal muscle test. Unfortunately on the opposite end of the spectrum, the pain fiber is spared resulting in the sensation of pain. Interestingly enough, other sensations usually inhibit the pain signal but because other sensations travel through larger diameter neurons, their function is decreased and they are unable to turn off the pain signal resulting in a sensation of increased pain.
Increase Performance
The frequency of firing of the nervous system is important for controlling the tone of our muscles. Especially in balancing the tone between opposite muscle groups like the flexors and extensors. Anytime part of the nervous system decreases in function certain groups of muscles will decrease in tone and other groups will compensate and become tighter. The process greatly decreases the efficiency of movement. As the joint bends one muscle group will have to pull against another group. This wastes energy resulting is tightness, decreased range of motion, greater fatigue, and slower recovery.
Using the NeuroTarget System to balance the function of the nervous system will also balance the tone of opposing muscle groups. This greatly increases the efficiency of movement resulting in increased performance such as speed, endurance, accuracy, power, and recovery.