Tuesday, February 24, 2009

We are all insane!!!

I was thinking this morning about how often I hear people complaining about how the medicine they take causes other problems in their body, or how it seems like taking medications only lead to taking more medications, or how the medicines they take don't really fix any problems but just address symptoms. Then it hit me - we are all insane.

Why do I say this? What could I possibly be talking about?

A definition of "insane" is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome. This means you cannot take the same approach with a situation and expect anything other than the same end result.

So what does this have to do with medicine?

I had a patient tell me that they were tired of taking their child to the doctor every time they got sick because all they did was talk for a couple of minutes, look in their nose, look in their ear, and write a prescription for an antibiotic. So I immediately respond with "Well what did you expect him to do?" I think this kind of surprised them because they looked surprised. I wasn't trying to be rude, but I did want to raise their awareness to their approach. Even though this parent did not want more meds for their child, they still sought the advice from someone who is only trained to give more meds.

Medical doctors are trained in sickness and how to treat conditions with medications. That's it. They aren't trained in nutrition, they aren't trained in vitamins and herbs, and they aren't trained to strengthen immune systems or improve wellness. A few doctors do take the initiative to learn independently on these topics, but as a whole they are not taught this in school.
So, back to the question I asked before. Why do we expect something different when we visit the MD? If your back hurts or you have headaches, why would you go to see an MD if you really don't want to take drugs or have surgery? That is all they have to offer. If a conservative approach is what you seek, then a conservative practitioner is where you must go.

I get it all the time when someone says they have been having back problems and it's really starting to get worse. They don't want drugs or surgery but they want to go see their MD before they do anything else. Guess what I find out next time I talk to them? They were only offered the solution of drugs or surgery and occasionally physical therapy.

Now I am not telling you that your family physician is the devil and you should run away from him/her. MDs are very important when they are needed. Medicine is very important when it is used properly. For the general population however, most problems we experience can be handled conservatively. And by that, I mean without drugs and surgery.

Take my nutritional counseling program I offer for instance. I use blood tests to see exactly what is out of balance in your body nutritionally. The panel I run is more comprehensive than anything I have seen brought in by my patients that their MD ran. The reason is because, as a chiropractor, I know that everything is connected, which means problems in one area can cause problems in another or just because one area looks good doesn't mean the whole is good. I want to see pretty much the entire picture of your body. Based on the findings, we come up with a specific regimen of supplements for about 2 months, then we retest and compare. You wouldn't believe the results we see when we just give the body what it needs and see what it can do with it. I encourage you to check out some of the case studies on my website at http://www.back2healthwellness.com/.

If you live in the Dallas area, then I would love to be your portal to more conservative treatment. If not, I am willing to at least help you find someone in your area that can help you. More than likely you are going to have to take the initiative to go a conservative route because MDs aren't trained conservatively so they simply don't know how to refer you properly.

Sorry, I got off track there for a second.

I think part of the problem is that we have been brainwashed to think that most of the body's normal immune responses to sickness or infections are bad. If you get a fever, you better kill it. If you start coughing, you better stop it. If your nose starts making a bunch of snot, you better dry it up. These are all normal healthy responses to fighting, killing, and removing infections from your body. It drives me up the wall how some parents stop their child's immune system from killing an infection normally and then wonder why they are sick all the time.

For this I use the analogy of a weight lifter. When a child is born, his/her immune system is a scrawny, weak little thing. In order for it to get stronger, it has to work out (fight infections). Which leads to a very crazy thought that IT'S OK FOR YOUR KIDS TO GET SICK! That is the only way for their immune system to get stronger so they don't keep getting sick. Back to the analogy. Let's say you are going to start working out to get stronger. You start with very light weights to warm up. Now it's time to start adding more weight to build those muscles. As soon as the weight feels a little bit heavy, Mr. Universe comes running in and grabs the weight and does the reps for you. Every single time it even gets the least bit heavy, he comes running in.

Now how strong do you think you are going to get if your muscles never get stressed? If someone is always lifting the bar for you, don't you see how this does nothing for building stronger muscles. They have to be stressed and broken down in order to build more muscle and get stronger. The exact same thing is true for your immune system. If every time your immune system is stressed you start drinking NyQuil or popping pills to break fevers, then you are not allowing your immune system to complete its workout. You are preventing it from getting stronger, or at least delaying its ability to get stronger.

I say all this to raise your awareness. I am guilty of all the same things as you. I have to fight the same tendencies as you. Most of us consider ourselves "healthy" because we minimize our problems probably as a natural coping mechanism. Use a little sanity next time your health is stressed. At minimum, don't tell yourself you don't want to take medicine or have surgery and only consult a physician who can offer those solutions.

I look forward to reading your comments....

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