Someone must ask "why"?

I just examined and reported to a family about the findings of their 18 year old daughter who is a pretty good runner. She's not run for 2 months, has been in back pain for over a year, and has visited several docs and orthopedists. An MRI revealed 2 bulging discs in her low back with degeneration in the facets (back of each vertebrae). All at 18 years old.

Her treatment is ibuprofen, an over the counter anti-inflammatory. The ortho who recommended it said he now knew the problem (MRI showed bulging discs) and that in most cases, her discs will heal and she only needs the ibuprofen to help reduce inflammation along the way.

The flaw in this story is that no one, at any point, asked "Why does an 18 year old girl have 2 bulging discs in her low back?". If this question were asked, then the biomechanics of the athlete would have to be considered, as the cause of the disc injuries is a biomechanical cause. Unfortunately, most docs out there are totally unfamiliar with biomechanics (norms and abnormals) and therefore, would only show their ignorance if they ever asked the question. Also, in our "I haven't got time for the pain" society we live in, ibuprofen and "it will heal on it's own" is the solution we'd all want to hear.

What disturbs me is, this girl doesn't understand how long life is, and that at her present state, this is the best she'll ever be unless she's willing to begin the process of "fixing" this condition. Which takes work. It takes time. There are ups and downs, but great improvement lies ahead for those willing to fix their problems rather than mask them.

It always goes back to the same thing; our healthcare crisis in this country will never be fixed as long as our healthcare providers stay nearsighted. We need to stop making healthcare a profit industry for many, and make it a guide book to a longer and better life for the individual who wants to participate and be proactive.

When that day arrives, this girl will have a chance at a better and more active future, and the crisis we now know will begin it's long journey back to "healthy".

My Thoughts...

Modern sportsmedicine ignores the mechanical information that is readily available on all athletes, and prefers to "react" in the treatment of injuries that are largely the result of these mechanical abnormalities.

Unfortunately, this approach is short sighted, as the causes of these injuries are rarely addressed, making a recurrence highly probable.

Fixing the Healthcare System

All of us watched as McCain and Obama discussed fixing our healthcare system. Last year, Americans spent more than $2.3 trillion dollars on healthcare. That's more than $7,600. per person.

There recently was a report on the internet that listed 11 ways to slash your healthcare expenses. With great interest, I printed the report out to learn what pearls of wisdom would be listed.

I've wondered if our government can ever spearhead a movement that will actually "fix" the broken healthcare system, as those who are consulting and recommending are actually a big part of the problem. We don't have a broken healthcare system, we have a healthcare system set up for profit, not health.

The laws for health have never changed. Sleep well, eat well, exercise, help others, have good energy and good spirit. Somewhere along the way, pharmaceuticals and crisis care took the steering wheel, and here we are, $2.3 trillion a year.

In order to "fix" the problem, we must rid the roundtable of consultants who are looking for profit rather than solutions. We must promote the "alternatives", such as massage, nutrition, accupuncture, chiropractic, etc. Or any other "effort" that makes sense.

Taking drugs as a primary treatment never makes sense. Drugs should be a last resort. But, the consultants to the "system" write prescriptions. They don't know what the alternatives can do. We need the alternative people to be the consultants. We need the public to get more active and to begin pro-actively getting involved in their health.

The 11 steps to slashing healthcare costs never mentioned anything to do with getting healthier. They all had to do with money and health insurance issues. The answer cannot get away from people getting healthier. We're a country of lazy, comfortable people who don't know the laws of health.

This blog could go on forever. So, I'll stop here, and continue sometime in the near future. Thanks for stopping, and please kick into helping out to change the way business is being done.