(Keeping and Breaking Tradition . . . )
On a parallel track, while I still had my practice in Oregon City, I had referred a few people to chiropractors and more than a few to osteopathic physicians. In desperation, I sent one fellow to an acupuncturist. He had the misfortune of being in a helicopter crash and sustained a shattered spine. After multiple surgeries including the insertion of foot-long stabilizing rods and their subsequent removal, he continued, like me, to be troubled with unremitting pain. To my pleasant surprise, his pain began to abate. I still see him, some four years later, to perform his FAA flight physicals, and he reports that an acupuncture treatment every three weeks keeps him relatively pain free.
Patty, my wife, purchased two massage therapies for me as a Christmas present, and I joined the local Nautilus to use the low back machines. Then she met Toni Gilbert, RN, MA, at a small group meeting and was intrigued by the possibility that therapeutic touch and visual imaging might be beneficial for me.
By this time I was willing to seek out any legal and ethical option to get rid of the pain. I called Ms. Gilbert. During our first session she chided me about my poor but comfortable posture, presented me with the probability that the discomfort was really my own psychology having an effect on me, and suggested I consider a course in Tai Chi. During the next visit she taught me how to visualize the area that was uncomfortable and to “listen” to what it was telling me. She encouraged me to, somehow, communicate back with it in a peaceful and soothing manner, and to visualize a color or a cool mist.
Whatever, my pain was beginning to abate. I still do not understand all she tells me about energy fields and meridians, but know enough to realize that the Chinese have had documented success with acupuncture as an analgesic and anaesthetic, even for major open heart surgery, as witnessed by some of my very reputable professional colleagues. And I am, for the first time in several years, experiencing days in which I am pain free. In addition, I have been able to return to many of the physical chores that I enjoy. And my friends and associates have noticed a difference in my disposition and my posture.
What I appreciate about where I’m at is that no one is making ridiculous claims of success in their discipline. And no one has suggested that I regard their practice as the sole answer to my discomfort. Ms. Gilbert believes in the appropriate use of analgesics, as do I, and, on days when I begin to have discomfort, I certainly will take a couple of aspirin. But now, I’ve also learned to communicate with the offending site, to breathe with my abdominal muscles, and to lie on the floor and to get those muscles to respond.
I fear that too many people are programmed to expect miracles and make unsubstantiated claims about the advantages of a new or different therapy. That is where so many “alternative providers” fall short. Acupuncture is not the answer for diabetes. Diet and maybe insulin are. Manipulation is no cure for an underactive thyroid. Replacement hormone is. In order for the people who provide these services to obtain credibility they need to have demonstrable results and to recognize that herb tea may not be the answer for all that ails us.
There is a place for all types of medical care. This is being generally recognized, as evidenced by the fact that several medical schools now offer alternative medical disciplines as courses for their students, there is a national office under the auspices of the National Institutes of Health that does rational investigation of alternative techniques, the Federal Government has come out with the recent advice that we really do need vitamin and mineral supplements to our diets (we’ve done it for farm animals for years but refused to acknowledge that humans might benefit), and more and more insurance companies are willing to pay for alternative therapy.
I would have to agree with Toni Gilbert when she objects to the term “alternative” and regards her practice as that of “complementary” medicine/nursing. Whatever has happened, I, the long-time skeptic, am feeling better and am more functional. The gym, the Tai Chi, the Imaging and Therapeutic Touch, the vitamin supplements, and the aspirin, may not be for everyone, but it’s working for me. And a good outcome is what we all strive for.
I have to agree that all of these measures, including the much needed surgery, have been complementary to each other. I am pleased for the opportunity to have approached this with (if not an open mind) a mind that was not totally closed. And I am grateful for my wife’s patience with me and the professionalism that I have seen in the other disciplines.
I have lived through some wonderful times in my medical career and continue to marvel at how far we’ve come. We can only appreciate this when we look back and see where we have been and remember to not discard the tried and true without good reason.
Joseph Intile, MD, FACP, is Medical Director, Oregon Office of Medical Assistance Programs. He is retired from private practice as an internist in Oregon City.
