Healthcare vs. Sickcare

January 23, 2012 | Kate Montgomery | Make A Comment | Health

It is Time for YOU To Take Responsibility for YOUR Health

Health Care vs. Sick Care

By Kate Montgomery, ND

With the debate over the medical care reform bill… notice I don’t call it ‘health care reform’ as it is not about our health. Like most citizens I have been listening to what the news gives us. I ask myself what this reform will do for me. And my response is “Not much to help me maintain my health”!

I would like to share my definitions of what our medical system is:

The United States has a ‘Sick Care System. It is in place to help those that are ill from any human condition. Those conditions range from obesity, which is touted as the #1 cause that can lead to heart disease, diabetes (considered an epidemic), cancer, stress conditions both internally and externally, hypertension, artery disease, lung disease, digestive problems, colitis, leaky gut syndrome, ulcers, (external habits that cause disease such as poor nutrition, smoking, drugs and alcohol addictions) and more which fill the medical books and journals.

A ‘true’ Health Care System is one that lays the foundation for increasing ones knowledge and instruction on how to prevent illness and to provide therapies that help to maintain your health. This knowledge and instruction would be in the form of proper nutrition, exercise, stress management techniques, meditation, breathing; and a team of practitioners whose therapies would assist and support prevention and maintenance as well as continued education and training in self care. This team would be:

1. Structural Care, an Osteopath or Chiropractor to help maintain proper alignment of the skeletal frame and nerve pathways for 100% conductivity for organ and muscle function;
2. CranioSacral Therapy, a gentle way to help release tension throughout the body for both structural and nerve function by using visceral and cranial release to relax the body and allow it to move gently back into a state of equilibrium with out pain;
3. Muscle Therapy or Massage will help to maintain muscle function, release restrictions, relieve pain, relax both mentally and physically the inner human being. Helps with repetitive strain injuries such as carpal tunnel. It is an unnecessary surgery that is often repeated several times. Muscle therapy is a key therapy to the prevention of carpal tunnel and other musculoskeletal disorders.
4. Postural Therapies such as the Alexander Technique and Feldenkrais, are gentle methods for instructing the individual in a better way to stand, sit and move through life without pain.
5. Acupuncture/Acupressure have been used for 1000’s of years in Asian countries can help to relieve pain but can help to reset the energy of the body and bring it back into balance where organ systems function in harmony.

All of these therapies involve only three systems, bones, nerves and muscles. When all three are kept in harmonic equilibrium, the body hums and is free of pain. It can breathe and move freely. That is what keeps us young!

Next is what you can do for yourself to help the program of prevention and maintenance.

1. Nutrition. Eat good food. I have a saying that I say to my self, “ I only put good and healthy food in my body.” When you give the body what it needs in correct proportions of protein, carbohydrates and fats, along with plenty of water, it will stay healthy. And if you can’t get enough of the right food, remember to take your vitamins and minerals for added support.
2. Herbal and Homeopathic Medicines. Learn about them and understand how to use them appropriately. They are great assistors to help maintain your health.
3. Exercise daily. Just walking 20 minutes a day regularly and gradually pushing a little harder, is a great aerobic workout. You should be able to talk (not comfortably) but talk. Breathe deeply and move your arms to help stimulate cardiovascular changes. Stretch and Strengthen your body to help with your flexibility and toning your body for a fitter you. All for the better! The more you stretch, the more flexible your arteries become.
4. Stress Reduction. Stress kills. The more you worry, the more you agonize over stuff, may lower your life expectancy. Deal with the moments that are in front of you each day. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not here yet. You are only capable of doing your best. No one is super man or woman. So Breathe and Meditate daily. Take 5-10 minutes to visualize your dreams, desires and life.
5. Learn self-care techniques that you can do to stimulate your immune system, detoxify your body, that give you energy, and relax your mind. Take classes in reflexology, Touch for Health Kinesiology, massage; learn about your body so you can better listen to its needs. The better you can tune-in, the better you can help the body regain equilibrium.

New on the talk show circuit is Dr. Oz. He is telling it like it is and opening up a direct channel to answer questions that people seem to be afraid to ask. What a blessing from the medical community. This is what people have been waiting for.

His decision to share the insights of how the human body works and to break down its mystery is necessary for everyone to be able to turn around their unhealthy lifestyle.

The body is not a scary thing. Learn to be tuned in to it, touch it, feel the pain and go into it, and use your powers of intuition to help yourself. You are the best person to tell the story of what your body needs to become and stay healthy. Just listen and your body will respond.

Have you ever experienced a ‘feeling’ in your stomach that says beware? That is you listening to your body. It is talking to you. Symptoms are the body talking to you. DO NOT IGNORE THEM!

Around the world we see countries that have a one-payer system, or what is call socialized medicine. Within these systems, traditional medical care and complimentary therapies work together to help assist the individual to heal their body. Each of they two systems are to support the health and well being of your body. One is no better than the other to exclusion of bias. Each has a purpose.

IF both systems work together for the good of each person’s health, it will become the foundation of a true health care system.

I see a ‘Universal Health Care Plan’ that includes care for all.

That would include, for each individual, the choice on how he or she wants to proceed to prevent illness and maintain their body’s health and well-being.

A health care plan that has:

1. Major Medical; Annual physicals; lab work; mammograms; prostate check; physical therapy and occupational therapy.
2. Access to reasonable drugs to treat an illness;
3. Birth control options; hormone therapy to help women and men move through the aging process easier.
4. Dental, Vision and Hearing plans. Where does it say hearing is not necessary for the quality of ones life? Yet it is never covered. The Aging population, and the younger population using iPods, will have hearing problems sooner than any other age groups.
5. Chiropractic, Osteopathy for structural stability.
6. Acupuncture/Acupressure for pain relief and energetic balance.
7. Complimentary Therapies – Massage, Craniosacral, Homeopathy, Naturopathy, Herbal Therapy, Reflexology, Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais, each is here to assist the body in achieving harmony, spiritual, mental, emotional and physical balance.
8. Nutrition – eating a balance of the food groups is easy. It is all out there for choice. Fruits and vegetables are affordable. You can even plow up your front yard and grow a garden. Gardening is exercise, increased knowledge and fun.

Cost for complimentary therapies varies depending on where you live. But there are ways to afford it and do it regularly.

Look for schools that train practitioners; community clinics with reduced fees; and free services offered by hospitals for you to be able to check on your body’s health.

• Massage Schools have clinics and offer a reduced price for a massage.
• Acupuncture Colleges have clinics and have reduced fees. Ask about senior rates. In  Boulder, CO at the Acupuncture College clinic, senior rates are $16.00.
• Chiropractic College clinics; check for a clinic and ask for reduced rates for paying cash. Senior rates.

Affordable preventive ‘Health Care’ can be done on a regular basis to improve the quality of your life and reduce symptoms of illness, harmonize the body and reduce the signs of aging. Isn’t that what we want for living longer and achieving quality of life?

I recently listened to a PBS special called ‘Eating”. One of the scariest shows I have seen but so honest and the truth about our eating habits in this country. The best quote I heard from this show and the truest definition of our eating habits was this: “The United States diet is an UNASSISTED SUICIDE.”

Eating junk food, trans fats, sodas, and sugar is killing us and because it has been made to taste ‘good’, we have to have it. The choice is yours to walk away and choose to eat what will nourish and regenerate your body; live pain free and free of disease or you can choose to die early. You are a walking time bomb. The choice is yours.

Health care is not expensive. (Sick care is.) You can maintain your health at minimal cost. Sick care is the most expensive for us all. The new medical care program is all about sickness, drugs and dying.

Doctors are not trained in wellness; They are not trained to keep you from getting a disease, (breast cancer) only to focus on fighting a “war with cancer” once you already have it.

They treat the symptoms of a disease with drugs. The pharmaceutical companies are not there to protect, only to promote their products. They are not interested unless it makes money. Your sickness is a moneymaker for the doctor as well as the pharmaceutical companies. Drugs don’t make you healthy. They kill the bad but they also kill the good that help support your immune system. It is not in their best interest to keep you well.

Practitioners of complimentary therapies are all about prevention, maintenance and wellness. Their goal is to help you achieve optimal health and a longer life with quality.

The time is now to demand a system of health care that is all encompassing and will give you a choice.

Contact your congressman and senators and demand that these therapies be part of the “health care system” not just sick care programs. IT is not too late to take a stand on what you deserve to help you maintain your health and quality of life.

Written in Love and Truth
Kate Montgomery, ND