There are many times when people will want my opinion on their personal healthcare issues. Just about all of the times it is concerning a certain drug or having some sort of surgery procedure. I always have to remind them that drugs and surgery are out of my scope of practice. When it comes to any drugs I just tell them this, I haven’t taken any kind of drug in the past 26 years. That also includes Tylenol or aspirin. Eli Lily once said,” A drug is not a drug unless it has a side effect.” Many people don’t know this, but about 95% of the time one of the side effects of a drug is actually the symptom that you are trying to get rid of. For instance if you are trying to get rid of your headache by taking Tylenol, one of the side effects is that it will give you a headache.
You probably noticed when you have ever been in a supermarket that the good things for your health are on the perimeter of the store and the processed food items are on the inner aisles of the store. You should view your health decisions the same way. The alternative or complimentary health care providers are on the outside and less invasive. Mainstream medicine is on the inside and much more invasive. I’m not saying that mainstream medicine is not needed, but I have people coming in my office just after having a failed back surgery or some other invasive procedure. Doesn’t it make sense to have the least invasive procedures first and then work your way to the most invasive procedures not the other way around.
When someone asks me about any surgical procedure I always tell them that it is like going to the supermarket. If you go to the dairy section you will get milk. If you go to the vegetable section you will get vegetables. If you go to a surgeon you will get surgery. That is in no way saying that surgery is unnecessary, but you should always get a second and sometimes a third opinion before you have surgery. Once you have surgery you are changing the structure of the body and once you change structure you have changed the function of that part of your body forever. There are no do overs in surgery. There is also research that the more surgical procedures you have the greater the risk of other health problems, because of the side effects of anesthesia and cutting the body open.
Everybody needs to remember that Hospitals are a business and the more goods and services they sell the more they profit. It’s ironic that unlike most businesses when there is a mistake the hospital can actually profit more because of the more services the patient then needs to use. Remember when the next time you go shopping in the healthcare supermarket to stay on the outside perimeter first. Keep a healthy lifestyle always, so you don’t have to make a difficult decision on whether or not to have surgery. Always remember to get a second and even a third opinion before changing your body forever!