The term holistic gets thrown around in healthcare and is one of the most commonly misused buzzwords. Another example of this is โall naturalโ on product labels. It doesnโt make something more healthy just because itโs stamped with a buzzword, though we often get fooled by it. This is because it is easier to sell the illusion of health rather than health. Anybody can claim to have a holistic approach, but often many are just giving a natural form or symptom relief, never really addressing the underlying cause of symptoms that people are experiencing. What is a holistic doctor?
The term holistic just means โwhole.โ A holistic doctor is simply somebody that treats that body as a whole rather than many isolated parts. This is important when looking for the root underlying cause of where symptoms are coming from. When looking at the body as an isolated group of parts, it gets us into trouble. If you understand what has happened in the medical industry then this makes more sense. We have exploded with so many specialists who deal with a specialized focus looking at just a few square inches of the body, and ignore everything else. We lose sight of the bigger picture, often chasing focal symptoms-costing us more time and money in the end.
Overuse Of The Term Holistic
Just google the phrase โholistic doctor Austin,โ and youโll see it plastered all over. The reason I raise an eyebrow is because of thousands of patient encounters, and many encounters with our local healthcare providers who claim to be holistic. Often people go to a healthcare provider only to get natural quick symptom management, but then the problem returns, and continues to get worse. Holistic and natural are not the same thing.
While we love natural solutions to problems, many of them often give symptom relief but donโt address the underlying cause like a holistic approach does. Just like we know drinking a cup of coffee can give us an energy boost, and you know I love my coffee. While this is โall natural,โ it does not provide a holistic approach to understanding and addressing why people get tired and fatigued right after lunch. This typically leads to what we call the specialist shuffle. Seeing many different doctors for many seemingly unrelated symptoms! Then many medications are typically prescribed. Chances are you probably know somebody who has gone down this road. Actually thereโs about a 60% chance this is you. Keep reading and youโll see why. According to the CDC, 6 out of 10 adults in our country have at least one chronic disease, like heart disease, cancer, or diabetes.
Symptom management vs true health restoration
A symptoms management approach typically sees the body as isolated parts. What happens when symptoms are treated in isolation?ย We are constantly chasing the smoke instead of never finding the fire. An example we regularly see is low back pain. This could also be seeing the low back pain as a low back problem, or seeing a digestive problem as a stomach issue like low stomach acid, ear infections in kids as an ear issue, or knee pain as just arthritis of the knee. These are all really common examples we see as Austin chiropractors.
To take a holistic approach, you almost have to forget what a person’s symptoms are. A phrase we say in our office is that anything can cause anything, and everything affects everything. This means we donโt know where your symptoms are coming from unless we ask a lot of (seemingly unrelated questions) and also do some sort of testing!ย
When people come in with low back flare ups from the gym or neck pain due to โa poor pillow,โ my first questions are typically, โHow has your sleep been over the past week?โ or โHas your stress level changed recently?โ
This holistic approach to health is really important because we understand pain or muscle tightness are just downstream effects of something deeper. Seeing the body as a whole allows us to look for potential root causes. The most common causes of these examples listed above are lifestyle factors that contribute to inflammation such as stress, lack of sleep, toxins, and lack daily of movement.
The Specialist Shuffle: A Real Life Example
Sometimes it is easier to see something if we give a concrete example. This example is from a case we recently saw in our office. Unfortunately this is far too common and something we see just about every week.
A patient came to use after going to multiple chiropractors, medical doctors, nutritionists, and physical therapists looking for low back pain relief. All the providers this individual saw used different tactics but a similar strategy. Their strategy was to treat the low back as a low back problem to reduce the pain this individual was experiencing. Chiropractors would do adjustments to the low back or to โalign the hips,โ medical doctors tried anti-inflammatories to target the inflammation around the low back, physical therapists tried core and low back exercise, but nothing seemed to help. Why?
All of these professionals did little to no testing to figure out the root of the problem. They did not question lifestyle much if at all, especially past lifestyle factors dating further back more than a few years. They saw the low back problem, as a low back problem that just suddenly happened.
Holistic Doctor Austin- An Alternative To The Specialist Shuffle
We took a holistic approach to this same low back case mentioned above. Again, what is a holistic doctor, and how do we approach this kind of problem as a holistic doctor? One that sees the body as a whole and typically takes a less is more approach. A less is more approach can be taken when the true root cause is discovered.
This means we donโt assume that low back pain is coming from a problem in the low back. Remember, anything can cause anything, and everything affects everything. How do we know the low back problem is actually a low back problem? We donโt, until we do an exam! We asked all about lifestyle and past history dating back to 20+ years, along with performing our INSiGHT scans to look for nervous system imbalance that could be contributing to any symptoms. More on why this is important later on.
During our assessment we found that this individual had a past car accident (among other significant injuries) that seemed insignificant to them. They didnโt feel injured in this accident (or the others) even though the car they were hit by was traveling over 30mph! Our INSiGHT nerve scans found that the deeper problem was in the neck, affecting the nervous system.
Many wonder how a past problem in the neck could be the source of low back pain today? A car accident typically leads to scar tissue in the neck and a significant nervous system imbalance. This leads to muscle tightness, loss of motion, and compensatory or altered movement patterns. The body starts moving differently to adapt to the injury. A smart response, until it becomes problematic and starts to hurt down the road.
The Holistic Control Center
The main system of the body that interconnects all the parts is the nervous system. The nervous system is made of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. They serve as the wiring system that gives electricity or power to every part. When supplied with the proper signal or power supply, we function in harmony. This means we move well, we have little to no muscle tightness, we feel at ease in our body, we can sleep well, and have no trouble digesting our food.
When lifestyle habits stress our nervous system and we become out of balance, we lose a bit of function. The greater this imbalance becomes, the more we pay for it. The good and the bad news is that we are incredibly resilient as human beings. We can take a lot before we really have to pay for it. The bad part of this is that we can push it off and push it off, until it blows up in our face.
This is one of the biggest reasons why we are so sick as a country. Remember 6 out of 10 adults have a chronic disease in our country. We all pay for our health. Paying now in the form of good lifestyle choices and things to balance our nervous system, like nervous system focused chiropractic care ensure we live in harmony now and for years to come. Paying later means we shake it off until it blows up.
Balancing The Nervous System For Optimal Health
If youโve tried the same tactics that focus on treating isolated symptoms, even the natural ways, but still havenโt seen results, itโs time to try a nervous system approach. Check out one of our other recent blogs for free tips to get started balancing your nervous system at home. These tips typically revolve around improving the nervous system through optimizing sleep, stress, movement, and more.
Beyond the foundational elements at home, people often need more support to jump start their nervous system due to the sheer amount of injuries, stress, or trauma many of us have been through. This is where nervous system focused chiropractic comes in. As a holistic doctor Austin clients frequently recommend, we specialize in nervous system-focused care to help your body heal from within. Get started with one of our nervous system focused chiropractors today!
