You know, periodically I get requests from people all over the world for advice on knee pain, hip and back pain, arthritis and other orthopaedic problems, or just general health topics. There is a definite hunger out there. People want to know. They are willing and able to assume responsibility for themselves. And that’s a good thing, as Martha would say.
It’s frustrating at times to have to tell people what they don’t want to hear. Many people read my blog and those of others, trying to stay “natural.” By “natural,” they mean no drugs, no surgery. And that’s a good goal, for the most part.
But you have to temper that reasonable goal with some rational thought. Their desire to stay “natural” rests on a belief that the human body is fully capable of healing itself, given the chance. And there’s a lot of truth in that-to a point. But only to a point.
You could say that it’s “natural” to just let someone who is sick die. After all, Nature’s plan (or “God’s will,” take your pick) seems to call for individuals to reproduce, to perpetuate the species, and after that, it pretty much doesn’t matter what happens to you. In fact, it’s better if you die, so that there’s more room for yet another generation.
You could even say that a doctor and Medicine in general are counter-evolutionary forces, keeping alive the lame and the sick, far beyond what was originally intended, when Nature, unassisted, would have them dead. In the Middle Ages, for example, odds are good that I would have been dead for over 20 years by now.
Personally, I believe in the individual. I believe in the worth and in preserving the life and well-being of the individual. And I believe in the improvement and extension of life for the individual, the attempt, however unachievable, of perfecting the individual. For me, the virtue is in the trying.
But there are times when medications and even surgery are not only the options of last resort, but are the best options available, or just the right things to do.
Contrary to a very large body of alternative thought out there, conventional Medicine and the Pharmaceutical Industry do not exist solely to foist poisons and unnecessary surgeries on you and your family, in an effort to enrich themselves, at your expense. There is much good there, as well.
The trick is to find and apply the truth, regardless of the discipline, for the betterment of mankind.
Let me give you one example, from my residency days in orthopaedics. I was on duty in our Pediatric Clinic in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, at the House of St. Giles the Cripple. A mother and father brought in their child with tremendously curved shin bones-they almost looked like two “C’s,” facing each other.
They were vegans, that is, very strict vegetarians, allowing the child no milk from any animal, in favor of soy “milk.” So this child had a disease, virtually wiped out in the civilized world, at the end of the 20th century: Ricketts. This comes from a calcium and Vitamin D deficiency. We’d all read about it, but never expected to actually see a case.
This is an extreme example of a too strict “natural” approach. This child was healed by giving him vitamin D supplements (from a pharmaceutical company) and lots of almonds (which have an enormous amount of calcium in them, far more than milk).
This approach, which I worked out, as their doctor, used medical science to identify his problem, combined with compassion and respect for their desire for a “natural solution,” compatible with their beliefs, to solve his problem. And it worked.
My point is, sometimes the solution to a problem can have multiple options. It doesn’t make sense to cut yourself off from a potential answer, because of a mistaken assumption, such as that all drugs and surgery are “bad.”
So it’s not a question of conventional vs alternative treatments. I believe in using whatever works: without drugs or surgery, when possible, but using them wisely, when they represent the best option for a successful resolution to a clinical problem.
That’s the premise upon which I base all my products, advice and recommendations: to use whatever works.
For example, if you have persistent knee pain, along the joint line, you might have a torn meniscus. And if you do and if it becomes disabling and painful and causes persistent mechanical symptoms, you might eventually come to arthroscopic surgery. But, doesn’t it make sense to try the proven, effective exercises in my PAIN-FREE PROGRAM & DVD, first?
http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
They burn no bridges, they may solve the problem and get rid of the knee pain, for good, and they may help you to avoid that surgery. And if not, you’re no worse off. There’s virtually no down side. If you win, you win big.
And besides, having used these very exercises myself and on my own patients, for well over two decades, I know they WORK. So, if you have knee pain, click the link NOW:
http://www.drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
and take the first step on your road to pain-free recovery.
Til next time, my friend, be well.
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow and your optimal health,
Dr. Bill
“The Wellness Warrior” TM
