Is Your Doctor Actually Helping?
Many individuals automatically visit a family or specialty physician for an illness to receive prescription medications that often have side effects, leaving them feeling worse than before. Instead of visiting a traditional medical facility with physicians, everyone should consider going to a wellness center for holistic or nontraditional health care. Traditional physicians are often constrained by insurance regulations to spending only a few minutes with a patient to diagnose one condition as quickly as possible and prescribe a treatment. At a wellness or holistic center, the health care practitioners have a goal to treat a whole patient who often has several health concerns that require remedies or changes in daily living patterns.
Holistic Medicine Provides Whole-Body Care
With holistic medicine, the whole person is considered rather than the one current medical condition that is affecting their well-being. Not only is a physical malady diagnosed and treated, the holistic practitioner learns about the patient’s other needs for improved health such as social and mental treatments. Holistic treatment is often used alone to assist patients but is often combined with alternative medical therapies, including colon cleansing, acupuncture or professional massage therapy. By going to a wellness center, an individual is more likely to determine the exact cause of an illness instead of simply taking medications for the symptoms. In addition to providing alternative or holistic treatments to relieve illnesses, a wellness center might use spiritual healing methods that are traditional or nontraditional. Spiritual healing might include practices used in mainstream religions or in particular indigenous cultures.
Types of Holistic Medical Care Provided at Wellness Centers
Some of the alternative or holistic methods found at a wellness center that are suitable for different patients include:
• Traditional Chinese Medicine – regional herbs or healing methods from China
• Energy medicine – electromagnetic fields to adjust the body’s health
• Naturopathy – allowing the body to heal itself with natural methods
• Homeopathy – using treatments that resemble the symptoms of an illness
• Chiropractic – applying pressure to or manipulating the spine and nearby regions
• Acupuncture – inserting sterilized needles along specific meridians of the body
• Ayurvedic medicine – use of traditional herbs native to India
• Folk medicine – regionally specific herbs or plants to cure illness
• Professional massage- relieves stress or soothes adhesions in the body’s tissues
• Yoga or tai chi – mild forms of exercise to increase blood circulation and energy
• Spiritual healing – prayer techniques used in different cultures or religions
• Herbal remedies – adding plants to the diet to improve overall health
Wellness Centers Provide Whole-Body Treatment to Patients
Patients arriving at a wellness center are greeted by intake receptionists who are often registered nurses or medical assistants with specialized training in alternative or holistic medical care. Instead of rushed appointments with little face-to-face contact with real medical personnel, a patient receives a thorough examination and evaluation to determine their physical, mental and social health. While a patient may want immediate treatment for a condition such as a chronic backache, the practitioners at a wellness facility want to understand completely what is leading to the patient’s pain rather than prescribing painkillers. The practitioner may discover that the cause of the back pain is due to inactivity, poor posture or daily stress at work and home, requiring massage treatment, stress relief and an exercise program.
Todd Nelson, D.Sc. trained at the International Center for Natural Health and Medicine, graduating with both a Naturopathic Doctor degree and a Doctor of Holistic Health Sciences degree. Aside from heading the Tree of Life Wellness Center in Denver, Colorado as a naturopathic doctor, Todd is also a co-author of 3 books.
