Okay, today I am going to rant just a bit about two fundamental problems in modern America with repsect to medicine.  Before I get started, let me first say this blog post is not a universal generalization or assessment of all people or all physicians.  With that said, here is the email I received from a customer today that has spurred this post:

“I’ve started on the rotator cuff muscle exercises and my right shoulder is already feeling better. The left shoulder, which has been torn for the longest, is not yet showing a noticeable improvement. Considering my doctor told me I’d have to ‘put up and shut up’ I am feeling very pleased.“

So here are the 2 problems:

  1. MD’s are typically trained to prescribe pills and operate as opposed to encouraging and trusting the human mind and body to heal itself with the proper intervention
  2. Too many people just blindly accept the physician’s treatment approach without considering other qualified opinions or asking “why” the MD feels that way

In the case of my client above, the MD obviously told the patient if she chose not to undergo an operation that she would continue to suffer and needed to shut up and quit complaining.  While one shoulder has yet to improve, in less than one week on my program she is already seeing positive improvement.  Hmmm.  Surgery or exercise to relieve shoulder pain.  What would you choose out of the gate?  This is a no brainer in my mind.

Now, this client has a backbone and chose to look at other options.  Thankfully, she believes there is another way.  She did not just say okay and get in line for surgery.  She is optimistic that she can use conservative means to achieve pain resolution and restore function.  Trust me when I tell you the human body is remarkably resilient.  It will generally heal on its own if we simply get out of its way.  Too often, we ignore what it tells us and just do more damage until there is no choice aside from cortisone, pain pills or surgery to allow us to return to what we need to do as soon as possible.  Perhaps we simply need to practice patience over instant gratification.

 So, I want to encourage you to critically analyze what people tell you to do when it comes to your body.  Ask this magic one word question: “Why?”  Always know the “why” behind what you do when it comes to exercise, medication, surgery, etc.  I always have a “why” for every exercise I prescribe and implement in a client’s program.  There is no room for mindless prescription in exercise or medicine.  We need to treat every person differently based on their specific injury, needs, goals, work and life demands, and past medical history. 

My intention in sharing this post is not to bash physicians.  There are lots of excellent docs who practice case by case decision making and serve as true patient advocates.  However, there are also many who need to take a step back and recognize that pills and surgery are not always the answer despite what statistics and tendencies tell us.  If you or someone you know is suffering, be sure to ask their health care professionals “why.”