Moved away from Mainstream (medicine)

[freemotion]

If it does make a difference, it would be worth exploring the lactofermented versions if you really want grains in your life. I love wheat, and couldn't bear to part with it! Not everyone can do it, but if it helps, it is well worth it.

 

[freemotion]

I like using Western medicine for diagnosis and alternative medicine for prevention and healing. So, my doctor probably wonders why anybody ever comes to her when we never use her treatments.

There is a note in your chart that says, "Non-compliant!"

 

[me&thegals]

Hey--I'm one of the transcriptionists at our clinic, so maybe I'll get away from that one It does amaze me sometimes, though, how doctors truly expect you to do exactly as they say. I'm always thinking, "Hello? My body here, not yours!" but thanks for the ultrasound/x-ray/lab test, etc.

 

[Zenbirder]

I took DH to see a new doctor yesterday, and I think we will go back to him when necessary. DH has had neck pain, the doctor went over all the tests, showing arthritis and degeneration, and prescribed:

MASSAGE!

He showed me which muscles needed to be worked on and encouraged me to learn and practice.

There seems to be a small trend in our area for holistic practitioners, and alternative minded doctors. We have the most amazing herbal store in town where they will take the herbal prescriptions and make tinctures to order.

 

[Beekissed]

I have heard of a few doctors who prescribed it and it shows good common sense. As of right now, the only recourse they have for soft tissue injury(discs, joints, tendons) is surgery, physical therapy and pallative care~pain relief, ect.) Chiropractic care, if done correctly, can help some, but not all soft tissue problems.

For muscles, tendon, cartilage~ a good massage therapist is key. You really have to search to find one who knows their craft, as the world is flooded with "body rubbers". These folks know basic Swedish massage, in the biz this is referred to as "fluff and buff". While beneficial for many things, Swedish is not going to be an effective treatment for disc degeneration.

Encouraging a lay person to "learn" to do massage to work on a family member is akin to saying to a person, "If you learn to wash the car, it should help fix the engine." Anything feels slightly better when you rub it....the next time you bang your shin on something, this will be the first thing you do. But to work on individual muscles surrounding the vertebrae, only a trained massage therapist can help you there. And, to answer a common question, we don't all learn the same methods and techniques, as Free will tell you.

Its a difficult thing, I know, when there is no standard of massage therapy teaching, to find a really good MT who knows the body in-depth and can utilize good, effective techniques to change the tissues. I am a MT and I can't even find one in my area! :/

 

[freemotion]

Yup, well said, Bee. I just used the car washing illustration last night in conversation with someone...now I'm scared....

My dh and I both teach at CT Center for Massage Therapy, and yes, it is hard to find a really good LMT. The sad fact, especially now with massage becoming so mainstream, is that there are a lot of people who go to massage school because they see dollar signs. Used to be only because they "had a calling."

Lots of students come through the school and pass their exams....my standards are VERY high in my classroom....but then drop the stuff that takes effort the second the license is in their hands. My goal in the 12 weeks that I have them is to light a fire in the ones with no calling and focus my teaching on those that "get it." Inspire them and make sure they know that massage school is merely kindergarten, and their real education begins after they graduate, when they take more courses and specialize.

But the good ones.....WHOA!!!! are fantastic! I would be happy to help you figure out who is worth going to and who is not. I have had people come to me who had been in pain for many years and had seen many doctors and basicly figured they were doomed to increasing pain for the rest of their lives....and have learned to completely manage their pain. Meaning, they know what level of maintainance they need in order to not experience pain on a daily basis. And what to do when they overdo it and pain returns.

So don't look at it as an expensive luxury. Not all massage is. And it is worth paying someone who can vastly improve the quality of your life and slow the progression, or even halt or reverse it.

Soon your dh will feel like this:

 

[Beekissed]

Yup, well said, Bee. I just used the car washing illustration last night in conversation with someone...now I'm scared....

And I've never used it before this day......so now, I'm gettin' scared!

 

[FarmerDenise]

I have been using "natural" medicine all my life. I was brought up with it and practice it as much as I can. To me it is second nature. I learned a lot from my great grandmother, my grandmother and my mother. My great grandmother and grandmother were both midwives and healers in Poland. There were no doctors for the poor people, so the people came to my great grandmother for help. She knew her herbs.
The plants in the US are not always the same and it took us some time to figure out what the translations were.
In Germany where I grew up, you could go to a pharmacy and ask for a remedy for say lower back pain and you would get an herbal tincture along with directions and it worked.
In the U.S. our health care is determined by money not what is best for us. There is not much money to be made, if we can grow and prepare our own medicine.
I grow a few things that I use regularly and have lots of herbal books. There are also quite a few things I just know. I also keep reading and researching the subject all the time. I consider myself a healer, following the footsteps of the women before me.
Eating homegrown fruits and vegetables is probably the most important thing to maintaining good health. And good honest work and play.

 

[me&thegals]

FarmerDenise, it sounds like you will be a great resource! And I could not possibly agree more with your last statement: "Eating homegrown fruits and vegetables is probably the most important thing to maintaining good health. And good honest work and play." Go, veggies!

 

[Blackbird]

I was reading this article in A Grain of Salt;

'Leading Surgeon Advices Against Flu Vaccine;

Dr. Donald Miller, a cardiac surgeon and Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington, recommends avoiding the flu shot and taking vitamin D instead. According to Dr. Miller, "Seventy percent of doctors do not get a flu shot." Health officials say that every winter 36,000 people will die from the flu. But the National Vital Statistics Reports compiled by the CDC show that only 1,138 deaths a year occur due to influenza alone -- more than 34,000 of the "36,000" flu deaths are actually pneumonic and cardiovascular deaths. There is also a lack of evidence that young children benefit from flu shots. In fact, a systematic review of 51 studies involving 260,000 children age 6 to 23 months found no evidence that the flu vaccine is any more effective than a placebo. But there is also a risk of harm from the flu vaccine itself, particularly from the mercury, aluminum, and formaldehyde in may contain.'

I thought it was rather interestin.