More people than ever are seeking and using Acupuncture and Chiropractic to heal their bodies. It is estimated that over 30 million people use Chiropractic every year and according to an Acupuncture Today survey the same is true of Acupuncture.
The reasons for people seeking care from healers outside of their western medical route is varied. Many people report that they don’t want to continue taking medications or going through obtrusive surgeries in order to get better. More still simply don’t get the relief they want from the standard western model.
In addition to trying to heal an illness, the more savvy and health conscious individuals are well aware that using Acupuncture and Chiropractic as well as staying healthy and fit are some of the best ways to stay out of the hospital.
With studies like the one put on by The Journal of Public Safety showing that the number of accidental deaths in hospitals may be over 400,000 a year it is no wonder that people are doing whatever they can to stay healthy and avoid them.
The Hospital Safety Score put accidental hospital deaths as the 3rd leading cause of death in America and their number is 440,000.
To help patients avoid getting sick in the first place, wellness centers across the country have been popping up that offer everything under one roof. Very often the primary focus is to treat the person using the most non-invasive and drug free methods possible and this usually includes chiropractic and acupuncture along with physical therapy and others modalities.
Illness can have many roots and in today’s busy world many people are living their lives with elevated levels of stress hormones over prolonged periods of time. The primary stress hormone associated with illness is Cortisol. This hormone is linked to many ailments including weight gain, sugar imbalance, immunity suppression, digestive disorders, cardiovascular disease, and fertility problems.
By getting regular treatments of acupuncture, chiropractic or massage people are lowering their stress levels, taking their bodies out of fight or flight and therefore lowering the amount of cortisol. Part of the challenge in the Unites States is that many people wait until an illness is already starting to manifest before they seek help. At that point too many people are still deciding to simply take pills instead of participating in their own health and wellness.
The medical system in this country is stressed due to the sheer volume of people that doctors need to see every day. Many people are going to outpatient clinics or emergency rooms making it close to impossible to see the same doctor more than once. Doctors have a hard time getting to know patients due to time constraints and too many patients, and ultimately patients tend to slip through the cracks of the broken western medical model.
Thankfully, more and more people are learning that they need to be their own primary care providers and in doing so seek out a healthy lifestyle and connections to health providers that have time and energy to spend on their patients.
(Christian Cristiano is an acupuncturist in LA, TV host of Wellness for Realists and writes on wellness regularly for CityWatch. Christian can be reached at 323.935.3420. twitter: @CristianoWFR)
-cw
How to Avoid an Accidental Hospital Death
