A hair tissue mineral analysis reading is an average of mineral accumulation over a two-to-three-month period of hair growth, by Analytical Research Laboratories’ 1987 glossary definition, and that averaging window sets the interval for a hair analysis retest review in Kennewick: three to five months after the first sample. Retest reviews are by appointment at Spinal Fitness Health and Wellness Center, 214 E. Albany Ave, Building E101, Kennewick, WA 99336; call or text 509-670-9713.
The second chart is read against three items the client brings: the first report, the symptom list written before the program started, and the first review’s notes. The glossary’s layers-of-metabolism principle is the reason: successive tests reveal different layers, so one test cannot show the whole pattern.
Why the retest happens at 3 to 5 months
A retest sooner than about three months re-measures the growth window the first sample covered; the center’s three-to-five-month cadence sits past it, so the second sample is new growth. Trace Elements, Inc., Eileen’s laboratory, reads unwashed hair; ARL’s bulletins state that washing at the laboratory erratically removes sodium and potassium, the minerals that define the ratios a retest compares.
ARL’s retest bulletin gives five reasons to retest: the oxidation rate may have changed and the recommendations with it; fatigue and mood changes can be temporary chemistry shifts a second chart explains; a retest is often the only measure of progress when symptoms are flat; toxic metals hidden on the first test surface as energy rises; and an outgrown program wastes money. Without it, the bulletin states, progress may stall or the program may begin to undo it.
What to bring: the three things the retest is read against
Your first report. A retest review compares two charts by direction: which levels and ratios moved, and whether the sodium-to-potassium and calcium-to-magnesium ratios moved as the program intended. ARL’s glossary calls this the system principle: the chart is read all at once, and a single value read alone misleads. Eileen’s Pattern Report tracks mineral progression across retests.
Your written symptom list from the start. ARL’s retest bulletin states it is always wise to keep a written record of all symptoms at the beginning, because at the follow-up the list is read back item by item and often half are gone and forgotten. A client whose energy rises often spends it on activity, so the review asks about naps and stamina rather than “do you feel better.” If no list exists, write one before the retest sample is cut.
The notes from the first review. Which reading was flagged, what was changed or stopped, and what happened between the samples: a new job, a move, a change in exercise, a course of medication. The chart cannot separate a program effect from a life event; the client’s record can.
Why feeling and chart do not always agree
ARL’s retest bulletin describes three cases; an ARL case history states the rule covering all of them: test results can lag symptomatic changes, and at times anticipate them.
You feel better, but the chart looks worse. The bulletin’s mechanism is decompensation: energy improves, the body drops its old compensations, and the equilibrium shifts. Its worked example: zinc reads normal on the first test and drops on the second or third, because cadmium had displaced the zinc reading upward; as cadmium leaves, hair zinc falls while tissue zinc improves. The bulletin’s rule: higher toxic metals on a retest usually mean active elimination, not worsening toxicity.
An ARL case history shows the arithmetic. A three-year-old retested after four months: lead fell from 1.54 to 0.84 mg%, aluminum from 3.66 to 1.10 mg%, the sodium-to-potassium ratio dropped from 0.4:1 to 0.27:1, and zinc stayed at 8 mg%. Cells breaking down poor-quality tissue release potassium and magnesium, those readings rise, and both ratios fall by arithmetic. For the unmoved zinc, the case cites the defender concept Dr. Paul Eck named: a level held low to keep sodium up and protect the sodium-to-potassium ratio.
No change on the chart, but you feel better. The bulletin gives three causes: a diet or lifestyle change raised well-being before the chemistry moved, a subtle improvement was overlooked, or the sample was cut too far from the scalp to show recent change. Its answer is to retest sooner.
The chart looks better, but you feel worse. The most common cause in the bulletin is a retracing reaction: by ARL’s 1987 glossary, old symptoms returning for a time as old mineral patterns are passed through; most do not last long. ARL’s 1992 retracing bulletin gives the slow-oxidizer-with-cadmium mechanism: cadmium holds sodium up through an aldosterone-like effect, so as it leaves, sodium drops, the oxidation rate slows and fatigue returns; with rest, energy returns in about a week, and the cycle repeats until the cadmium is gone. The other two causes, forgotten complaints and energy spent on activity, are what the symptom list is for.
The scope of a retest review
A retest review is a reading of trends between two charts, not a medical verdict. ARL’s glossary lists six components that sum into one reading, five of which raise the number, so a high reading can mean stored, eliminated, lost or displaced. Anything for a licensed provider is sent there first; the center’s part is the mineral pattern and a nutritional starting point.
Who reviews the charts
Eileen Durfee reviews every chart. Eileen holds a NBS (Nutritional Balancing Science) degree, earned through Dr. Larry Wilson’s program beginning in 2011, and has practiced independently since autumn 2017. She has worked with hair tissue mineral analysis since 2010. The center’s lab testing article covers the first test, sample and turnaround.
Booking a retest review
Call or text 509-670-9713, evenings and weekends included, and say you have a first report. Hair tissue mineral analysis is listed at $270 on the center’s website and its Google Business Profile. The center is at 214 East Albany Avenue, Building E101, Kennewick, and serves Kennewick, Pasco, Richland, West Richland, Benton City and Walla Walla. The lab testing page lists the other tests offered alongside HTMA.
The center publishes its own figures: 300 clients, more than 2,000 sessions, 15 or more years of experience and more than ten therapies.
This article is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Hair tissue mineral analysis is a screening test for nutritional and toxic-element patterns; it is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Spinal Fitness Health and Wellness Center is a wellness facility; please consult your own licensed provider regarding any medical question.
