Alternative Medicine

I wrote a little about alternative medicine in The Graceful Art of Falling, I mentioned that chiropractic care was one of the only things I believe improved my health.  Now, I know a lot of people don’t “believe” in this type of medicine, especially western medical doctors. I find that extreme considering acupuncture has been around for thousands of years- before modern medical technology.  Either way, I can only talk about my experiences with these therapies.  

 

Having a chronic disease for which there is no treatment or cure, one often asks herself: okay so what else can I do?  Interestingly, when I first started seeing my amazing holistic chiropractor when I was 16, she told me she thought she could decrease the severity of my muscle degeneration.  She also told me that she repeatedly tested me for MD and my body never reacted positively.  I wish I had picked her brain on that one… could it have been the type of MD she was testing for was not what I had?  While I was (probably) falsely optimistic starting chiropractic care, she did treat, cure, or improve any other issues I was having.  And to only have to deal with a chronic muscle disorder IS easier than dealing with a muscle disorder in addition to say, an ear infection causing dizziness, a stomach virus, or severe moodiness.  

This past week I visited an acupuncturist for the first time.  I haven’t been receiving the kind of chiropractic care I would like in several years- I probably should have sought out an alternative sooner. For any of you who may be considering acupuncture I need to be honest... you absolutely can feel the needles… well some of them.  Some you can’t feel at all, which is bizarre.  But like other alternative medicines, practioners target the places you are having issues.  Luckily, it only hurts for a second, and once they are all in it is very calming.  I had more energy after my appointment than I had in over a month.

My reason for the visit to the acupuncturist was that I had been having trouble with kidney stones and UTIs for the past month and a half.  If you’ve never experienced kidney stones, consider yourself VERY lucky.  I had two urgent care visits, and a visit to the ER in the past month.  Unfortunately, they don’t really do anything for kidney stones... you are given pain meds and anti-nausea meds (which are truly useful), but nothing about how to prevent them or really treat them (unless they are so big that intervention is needed).   I finally saw a urologist three weeks after my ER visit, and it was a useless waste of my time.  The images from the CT scan were so old that he couldn’t determine anything, he didn’t want to do a urine screen because he wasn’t sure if the stones were still in there, and for some reason he thought it would be a good idea to talk about “prevention tips” at our next visit.   

What?  I waited a month for this appointment and you did absolutely nothing for me.  I was told I needed to get another x-ray in a few weeks, bring the images back to him, and then we can discuss the other things.  Perfect example of why I am not a fan of western medicine.  Don’t get me wrong, if I needed surgery or was having a baby I would be all about a hospital, but I can’t wrap my head around the way we (as a country) handle “preventative care.”  It makes so much more sense to treat the cause, like alternative medicines do, rather than just the symptoms.

Needless to say, I will continue to go to the acupuncturist and see how that works out for me.  It’s always worth a try.