Knowledge
is power and obtaining information relative to a healthcare decision
is most important. There is so much controversy surrounding
healthcare both traditional and nontraditional that decisions
should not be made without having serious thought and research
behind them. Education in regard to options, understanding specializations
and asking questions should be paramount in all patients’ minds
when determining directions in their healthcare.
So how do you know; which treatment, modality and even practitioner
you should be seeing, and whom do you put your ultimate trust
in?
For a century or so we have been conditioned to believe that
traditional western practitioners hold all the answers. In
our time, we have had the option of many different types
of nontraditional
practitioners from nutritional counselors to naturopathic,
acupuncture and chiropractic physicians. Some people have
become so disillusioned
to only believe in traditional western practices that they
totally shun allopathic medicine and distrust anyone associated
with
it.
Western Medicine has wonderful and awesome abilities in emergency
medicine, surgery and diagnostic capabilities. However
we fall short of success in long term degenerative and
auto
immune
diseases.
Alternatives to western medicine such as Natural medicine,
Oriental Medicine and Chiropractic Medicine all have
wonderful concepts
and treatment strategies to compliment allopathic medicine
and should be considered as valid and useful.
I have always preferred a blending of both thus utilizing
in the truest sense the term complimentary medicine.
Many holistic minded medical doctors have incorporated
some form of natural medicine, typically supplement
based into
their practices.
In my opinion many western physicians simply trade
prescription pharmaceuticals for supplements to justify
the natural
approach.
Most supplements are better in the long run for the
patient, if they really require supplementation but
typically
none are covered by insurance drug plans. Of course
medical doctors are not the only professionals who
practice this
way, chiropractors,
acupuncturists, naturopaths and nutritionists can and
are
in
the supplement game.
The sale of supplements is a cash business, a very
lucrative cash business.
Keep this in mind when any practitioner tells you that
you simply must have all of these supplements to
achieve health.
In my opinion
the human body cannot handle too many ingestables
at one time and requires the skills of observation and
timing to create
the balance necessary for health. Toxic terrain also
plays
a big
part in the ability to digest and utilize the components
of the supplement.
Asking questions about your treatment plan and why
you would be taking this particular course of action
whether
it is
a plan of care from an acupuncturist or a plan
of care from an
oncologist.
The eagerness of the particular physician to explain
their reasoning signals a well thought out process
rather than
a routine plan
of action. Individualized plans of care are a superior
way to practice and will have profound effects
for the patient.
Finding a practitioner you can communicate with
is priority. If your practitioner, no matter
their specialty,
cannot
explain the why and how of what is happening
to you, then find another
practitioner.
Options in healthcare are of course varied and
the responsibility for health lies not in the
modality or the practitioner
but in the patient. We all must take responsibility
for our own
health
and utilize all the resources we have available
to
justify the choices we make.
Remember life in this particular body is short.
Eighty or ninety years runs out
quickly and while you’re here. Why not have ……….better
health, better life……….
Christina Captain, DOM, AP, is a doctor of oriental medicine
and the owner of the Family Healing Center. Her clinic
is located in
Sarasota
at 1219
East Avenue South, Suite 104. Please call 941-951-1119 or visit
www.familyhealingcntr.com.
|
