Preventive Medicine: How We Are Misusing Traditional Chinese Medicine
"The sages of antiquity did not treat those who were already sick, but those who were not sick... When a disease has already broken out and is only then treated, would that not be just as late as to wait for thirst before digging a well, or to wait to go into battle before casting weapons?" (Nei Jing) These words were written over 4600 years ago and are the basis of Traditional Chinese Medicine. We have since brought Chinese Medicine into our Western society and in many ways our model of reactive medicine. I find it a struggle to convince patients to change their way of thinking about the way they aproach their health. We are trained to believe that we should only seek healthcare when there is something wrong and unfortunately that is the way many people use Chincse Medicine. In doing so, they are completely missing the power of this medicine and its ability to help prevent the future need for pharmaceuticals. high cost surgeries, rehabilitation and office visits.
In my 7 years of practice, I may have had a total of 5 people who initially sought Chinese Medicine out when they were feeling great. Most people who come into my office due so to address major imbalances that have built up over their life time. I can generally educate my patients on the need to come in initially to help the issue at hand but when it comes to regular maintenance, many people cannot seem to grasp the idea. It just isn’t something we are used to in our society. The idea of providing regular maintenance on your car makes total sense but when it comes to our own bodies, its incomprehensible.
After a course of treatments, it is essential to continue with maintenance care. All of the outside issues that brought you to imbalance in the first place very likely still exist. The daily stresses of life, environmental toxins, poor eating habits, lack of exercise, lack of mental-emotional self care and repetitve movements can all lead you right back on the path to imbalance.
By truly utilizing the gift of this amazing medicine, we can help maintain immune health, reduce anxiety, stress and depression which lead to a whole range of health conditions and imbalances. It can help maintain hormonal balance and prevent pain from arising in areas where they are generally prone to occur. We owe it to ourselves, our families and society to take care of ourselves in order to create the best quality of life possible. As the saying goes, “Health is greater than wealth”. Without our health, none of the other stuff matters.
I highly recommend working with your Chinese Medicne Practitioner to achieve balance and get to the root of whatever issues you have and then stick with a plan to continue to recieve regular treatments. Once a state of balance is acheived, one treatment a month can be an amazing maintenance plan to prevent any major issues from coming up. This along with following a lifestyle of proper nutrition, mindfulness along with exercise that suits you, can keep you on a path of good health.
Schedule here to get on your path to a better quality of life. You deserve it!