We all must learn personal health management in today’s world of complex medical conditions. Anyone with chronic pain, autoimmune disease, or unexplained illness knows that going to the doctor will often lead to a partial solution at best. These days you must become your own healthcare advocate, reading on the internet, talking with friends and family, sharing information about your condition, and looking for clues to the best solutions.
Complex, Stubborn Health Conditions
As acupuncturists, we see some of the most complex, stubborn health conditions – people seek us out when nothing else has helped. Patients with challenging ailments are best served by approaching their personal health management with an integrative mindset, being open to receiving care from both modern and alternative medicine. They must not give up when their doctor tells them there’s nothing more they can do. Nor should they compromise with half-remedies and band-aid approaches to their care, taking prescription medicines that only mask or dull the pain.
The Limits of Prescription Medication
Hundreds of thousands of Americans are suffering despite taking high doses of prescription medications. So many of our patients show up at the clinic in pain even though they are taking high doses of prescription medications. For example, it is common for people to be taking 2400 mg/day of gabapentin for nerve pain, 50 mg of prednisone/day for unexplained inflammation, or 150 mg/day of tramadol for restless leg syndrome while still being in pain.
These medications are not enough to help them – otherwise, they would not be seeking out Chinese medicine in the desperate hope for more substantial relief. So instead, they go online, do their research, and take the initiative to manage their health condition – in other words, they advocate for themselves. The good news is that acupuncture can bring them a higher level of relief than what they are receiving from the meds alone.
Doctors Don’t Have All The Answers
Gone are the days when we turned to our doctors for all the answers. The human body is complex, and no one fully understands its workings. In a recent interview, Bill Maher discussed the fact that doctors don’t know as much as they lead on to know. Regarding medical progress, he commented, “We’re not putting wooden teeth in our mouth like in the George Washington era, and of course we have antibiotics and lots of vaccines and lots of other things that have been miraculous. But in general, we still don’t understand too much about how the human body works”.*
Practitioners Need To Be Open-Minded
All healthcare practitioners need to be open-minded on their patient’s behalf. Acupuncturists, chiropractors, and naturopaths need to work with Western medical practitioners and vice versa. More and more physicians and nurse practitioners are referring their patients for acupuncture.
We also refer out to Western practitioners when we realize that our patients may benefit from medication or a different type of therapy. And patients need to take responsibility for themselves by asking questions, keeping open-minded, being persistent in the face of feeling overwhelmed with their health condition.
Personal Health Management
In this modern age of fast-moving, constantly changing information overload, patients and practitioners alike must keep an open mind, flexible thinking, and an out-of-the-box approach to solving the problems of stubborn, complex medical conditions. Yet, together we can make much better progress for the benefit of our patients who are suffering in epidemic proportions.
Next Steps
For more information about what acupuncture can treat and how we approach the treatment of complex health conditions, check out our website. It’s time to take personal health management to the next level.
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*MATT MCNULTY FOR DAILYMAIL.COM, PUBLISHED: 20:16 EST, 22 January 2022
