What is your definition of health?

In 1948, the World Health Organization defined health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” I like that this definition is focused on overall wellness, not just on lack of symptoms and diagnoses.

Since my practice focuses primarily on physical health, I want to dig a bit deeper into what “complete physical well-being” really means.

Before we begin, ask yourself:

• What does “complete physical well-being” mean to you?

• If you could change anything about your health, what would you change?

Understanding symptoms

When people come into my office, they generally have a list of symptoms that they want to remedy. What, exactly, are symptoms? The first thing to remember is that a symptom is not the first stage of something gone wrong in our bodies. Generally speaking, once symptoms occur, there has been a functional breakdown of the body over a period of time. The symptom is the body’s cry for help when it is starting to lose the battle of trying to maintain homeostasis (physiological equilibrium).

This concept holds true for both mechanical and physiological symptoms. If the body’s mechanics are impaired in one area, the whole body will begin to compensate, throwing things off both “up and downstream.” Pain and discomfort often appear after this pattern has become entrenched. Similarly, if the cells and organs aren’t functioning optimally over time, symptoms will start to occur as the body’s physiological functions begin to break down.

Think of the difference between an acute illness like the common cold and a chronic illness such as Type 2 diabetes. The cold is something that hits quickly, and the body wins the battle in a few to several days. With diabetes, on the other hand, blood sugar regulation begins to break down slowly and insidiously, until the body loses the battle and a diagnosis is made.

The second thing to remember about symptoms is that the body isn’t necessarily healed when the symptoms disappear. Total health restoration takes time. All the mechanical and physical functions must be restored so that the symptoms don’t recur. This is why many allopathic approaches are seen more as symptom management as opposed to healing the body. For example, if someone is constipated and drinking more water and taking in more fiber doesn’t fix the problem, a laxative will be prescribed. No further investigation into what might be causing the constipation in the first place will be done.

Total health restoration takes time

To fix a mechanical problem, the primary symptom, pain, needs to be handled first. Next, muscles need to be stimulated or relaxed, joints need to be mobilized, and the whole musculoskeletal system needs to be coordinated. There are many ways to get this job done: acupuncture, bodywork, chiropractic, physical therapy, and exercise training. Sometimes surgical repair is also necessary. It often takes more than one of these treatments to totally restore function.

Restoring physiological function is also a complex endeavor, but definitely worthwhile. Think of it as a cellular construction project. We need to replace 70 billion cells per day. This is a big job, but also a great opportunity. It is our opportunity to heal! In order to replace old cells with new healthy ones, we need raw materials and a clean environment. In other words, we need high-quality, organic nutrition and strategic detoxification. With these two tools, the body can heal itself.

To give you an idea how long total health restoration can take, think about the different rates at which various tissues are replaced. Skin cells turn over relatively quickly, at every 27 days. Blood cells turn over every 90 to 120 days.  Muscle, bone, and nervous system cells take much longer: 1 to 3 years, 2 to 4 years, and 7 years respectively. Of course, there is a constant cycle of cell replacement, so you start to feel better gradually over time. As the tissues are replaced, symptoms disappear and your energy, vitality, and wellbeing are restored.

Please ask yourself the following questions again

• What does “complete physical well-being” mean to you?

• If you could change anything about your health, what would you change?

Are your answers any different after reading this article? Are you more motivated to work on restoring your health? I would be honored to work with you and assist you and your body through this process. It takes effort and time, but in the end, it is totally worth it!

Roadblocks to healing

Is something preventing you from healing?

Earlier in my practice when someone came to me with a particular complaint, I tried to figure out how to directly treat the symptoms and condition, then balance the energy in the body. 

Sounds good, right?

Sometimes the results were good. But, sometimes they weren’t—the symptoms lessened temporarily, but then came right back. This was not only frustrating for my clients, but for me as well. I knew that there was something missing in my approach, and I had to figure out what it was.

Scrolling forward, I have learned that what needs to occur is to identify, clear, and treat roadblocks to healing. More often than not, the thing or things that are blocking you from healing are masked and difficult to identify. Fortunately, I have found two modalities, German auricular acupuncture and Nutrition Response Testing, that make it possible for me to identify, monitor, and treat these roadblocks. Using these two techniques has significantly improved my results so that many more of my clients can heal and improve their health. 

What can cause a healing roadblock?

Focus activity

A “focus” is a stubborn and hidden blockage to healing, caused by either a body/brain memory of a particular stress or trauma, or from a physical or emotional wound that is concealed within the body. The body becomes consumed with healing these blockages and can’t attend to healing other day-to-day issues. 

The person who has such a blockage will experience chronic conditions, possibly without having experienced obvious injury or illness. Perceivable, diagnosable conditions can be ameliorated by lessening the stress load on the body by treating focus activity. Focus activity can be identified and treated with German auricular acupuncture, using needles and/or low-level laser therapy. 

Obstructions and confusion in the nervous system

Our nervous systems can get disrupted from time to time by various stressors in our bodies and environments. When this happens, the body just won’t heal. It’s stuck. Using Nutrition Response Testing (see article in March-April 2014 newsletter), I can find out if your nervous system is stressed or confused, figure out what is causing it, and help you to fix it. These obstructions and confusions are most often caused by one or more of the items listed below under body stressors.

Body stressors

Throughout our lives, our bodies are exposed to many stressors, such as toxic substances and foods that are less than nutritious. The most common body stressors include food sensitivities, immune challenges, chemicals, heavy metals, scars (which also fall under the focus activity category), as well as things like watches, jewelry, cell phones, etc. These exposures can stress and assault an organ, a joint, or any part of our body over time. 

When someone comes to the clinic with a particular complaint, it is important to identify whether or not their complaint is being caused or exacerbated by a particular body stressor. If it is, they won’t heal completely without avoiding exposure, detoxing, or treating that stressor. 

Using Nutrition Response Testing, the exact source of body stress can be identified and treated. Treatment methods include avoiding certain foods, nutritional counseling, nutritional supplementation, herbal therapy, and low-level laser therapy.

As you can see, if you’re not getting better, it’s important to dig a little deeper.  You might be surprised by what’s causing a roadblock in your healing.

A late summer plant walk

I found these two beautiful kidney remedies growing near each other on the same day in late August in Silverwood Park.

Joe Pye Weed – Eupatorium purpureum

This is a plant that grows where water and land meet. It often has calcifications stuck around its roots, which explains its other name: gravel root. These two signatures point towards its primary use in herbalism to balance water and solids. This makes it an excellent kidney remedy. It can help to flush out excess fluids, as well as to pull out calcifications from the kidneys and joints, i.e. kidney stones and arthritis. This powerful plant can free up and lubricate frozen joints as well as help to heal broken bones.

Goldenrod – Solidago canadensis

Goldenrod has strong diuretic properties brought about by stimulating the kidneys. Thus, it is useful to treat swelling in the body. As well as being draining in nature, it is also cooling, making it a useful urinary tract infection remedy. Much as it clears fluid and inflammation from the lower part of the body, it can also clear mucous and inflammation from the sinuses. It can be a useful addition to an allergy protocol.