Healthcare is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States today. In a small town such as Oconomowoc, we have two state of the art regional hospitals and numerous satellite clinics. Healthcare groups fight bitterly and struggle to gain market share. They seem to be in a perpetual state of expansion and growth and all claim to be the most advanced around. In a city of 15,000 residents, I can’t help but wonder, “Is all of this necessary?”
One of the major topics of debate in healthcare reform is the high cost of healthcare. When healthcare groups are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on hospitals and clinics; we fit the bill. There may be a tendency to shake our heads and blame the size and power our current healthcare system; however, when we consider the consumer driven nature of our economy, we have nobody to blame but ourselves. Simply put, if we weren’t abusing our personal health and overusing the healthcare system, there wouldn’t be funding or justification for the multitude of medical facilities.
Dr. James Chestnut, DC, once compared the medical world to the fire department. If your house is on fire (if you are having a health emergency), the fire department can save your house or your life and we are extremely thankful that we have them. However, what condition is your house in after the fire? Do we call the fire department back, with their hatchets and hoses, to clean up the mess? The obvious answer is no, so why do we continue to abuse our bodies over and over? We have medicated aggressively and repeatedly which has given us stronger, deadlier bacteria. We also turn off the fire alarm by covering symptoms with painkillers which eventually leads to surgery and lifelong medication. When you really step back and look, you realize that our faith in medicine is actually leading to more problems and making us sicker.
Our bodies have an unlimited, innate ability to adapt and heal. The body will always do everything it can to adapt to the stresses that we put it under. An infection takes hold, and we develop a fever, a cough or a runny nose in order to fight off the invaders and expel them. If we ingest food or drink that is contaminated or toxic, we vomit or develop diarrhea to “clean out” our system. Stress on our musculoskeletal will result in swelling, pain, tenderness and heat during the healing process until our muscles bones and joints can grow stronger, or more flexible to accommodate. If we cut ourselves, we clot… and the list goes on. Our bodies are truly remarkable. Unfortunately, we lose sight of this fact and in the process, lose faith in ourselves. Obviously, if we are losing blood too quickly to clot or contract a disease that overwhelms us, our bodies will need help, but these situations are far rarer than the majestic facade that our medical facilities would make us think.
Take responsibility for your personal health by eating well, exercising, and practicing good hygiene (spinal, dental, and physical). By becoming and staying healthy as individuals, we can save money and lower healthcare costs for everyone.