Alternative or Western Medicine: Which if Best?

~Your personal guide for finding your place on the healing journey ~

I had a patient today who was sharing her recent experience with her medical doctor. She was really frustrated because all her doctor could see was the option of giving her drugs.

Another of my patients today was similarly frustrated with her doctor who could only see the option of surgery.

Both of these patients expressed anger and frustration because their doctors were not open to seeing alternatives and complementary approaches to their health problems….. they only saw drugs and surgery as the only options.

While I’m a big supporter of Western medicine and I always support the use of drugs and surgery as needed, there are certainly other options much of the time.

Your medical doctor may not be studying these other options as a part of his or her training in medical school.

Last week I had another patient who was frustrated with her medical doctor when she asked her if she could get a prescription to see me in order to try acupuncture and have it covered by her health insurance — just to see if it could work for her migraine headaches. The medical doctor replied, “But you might get hepatitis from the contaminated needles, so I wouldn’t try it if I were you!”

This just shows the ignorance of some medical doctors. I want to emphasize my support and understanding of Western medicine. But to suggest that one should not at least try acupuncture to see if it works, or to suggest that one might contract hepatitis from acupuncture needles, simply stems from complete ignorance of the fact that the acupuncturist uses pre-sterilized needles and only uses each needle one time.

In my 30 years as an acupuncturist, I’ve never come across a patient who had any sort of infection from my treatment.

And I have seen many patients who were able to forego surgery or the use of drugs because they first tried acupuncture, herbs, homeopathy and a change in their diet.

I want to encourage everybody to open a peaceful, and thought-provoking dialogue with your medical doctor. A dialogue that is not based on conflict or confrontation — but is based on education.

Just as your medical doctor can teach you a lot about healing from the outside, you can share your positive experiences with your doctor about alternative medicine as well.

The feminine approach to healing is holistic, and from the inside out — looking at all alternatives. Whereas Western medicine is more of a masculine approach to healing — from the outside — using a mechanistic approach.

Both approaches need to be integrated — the masculine with the feminine. The doctor of the future will appropriately apply both Western and alternative approaches – each as needed – to maximize their effectiveness in healing the patient.

If you choose to speak to your medical doctor about this subject please speak respectfully and in a kind tone.

If you attack or confront, the conversation won’t get anywhere. Education must be done from the feminine energy, the receptive energy, and the loving energy of the heart. This is what others can hear.

Sharing your own experience is often the most effective way to educate your doctor, your family and friends.

Healing in this life is much more complex than a simple two-dimensional mechanical model of how the body works. The more we’re learning about how disease begins, the more we realize that the energy around us, our emotions, and our life situation, play as significant of role in disease as does genetics and hereditary factors.

So let us educate and support each other into opening up and expanding our ideas of what healing is really about.

Energetic forms of healing like homeopathy, acupuncture, reiki, yoga, and tai chi are sometimes as appropriate as a mechanistic approach like drugs or surgery. And often, when used together, we achieve maximum effectiveness.

One of my patients last week told me that her surgeon suggested she use homeopathic Arnica, Arnica cream, and acupuncture, to recouperate faster from her surgery. So we can all applaud the fact that change and integration is occuring!

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