Misconceptions of Health

Something that I continue to find amazing is how people claim they are healthy when they are really incredibly sick. I really believe that most people do not have a concept of what being healthy is.

I had a consultation with a lady today that came to see me because her right shoulder and right hip were in pain. Granted, most people think chiropractic is some kind of physical therapy treatment, but readers of my column and those who know me know that chiropractic as a whole body approach to health. Medical people have their ideas about health and how to treat illness, and chiropractors have a different philosophy.

Since we do have a different philosophy, I take the time with all my new people to get them to understand a different viewpoint. I want them to know that health is not about the presence or absence of symptoms but rather how the body functions. Symptoms are not necessarily s sign of illness but more often a communication from the body that says something needs to be changed. They are warning signs that need to be heeded, not treated. Health is defined by how the body functions and if loss of function is occurring, then there is a loss of health. And function can change without the presence of symptoms.

The lady in my office today had a history of a hip replacement and two episodes of breast cancer. I had performed my exam on her two days ago and we were going over the results. The exam is to find functional changes in the body. Based on what I found I told her that it was going to take at least 2 years to rehabilitate her to a state of higher health. She was shocked. She just wanted me to "fix her spine and shoulder" which should only take a few visits. Once again I explained to her that "fixing" parts of the body is not what this is about. The changes in her shoulder and spine were do to a lifetime of having sick nerve system tha affected every aspect of her being. She then said, "I just don't see why i need to have all that treatment I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN VERY HEATHY (emphasis mine)." I told her that anyone who has ever had cancer cannot sit here and tell me that they are healthy. Healthy people do not get cancer.

Which brings me to my point. She is not alone in that thinking. I hear it over and over again how people tell me that they are missing organs from surgeries, they are on medications, they have a history of cancer. But they are healthy. Really? Do you claim health because you are not dead? At what point do people think they are sick?

It is a sad state of affairs when people think that living like that is being health, when they can have so much more in life. It's even worse when I try to show them that they can get more out of their bodies, that they do not have to live substandardly, and they walk away because they are happy this way or just don't want to do the work that it takes to get better.