Crisis or Health Care, Which do you choose?

Some people only come in to the office for help when they are in crisis. Many others get that in order to stay out of crisis-care, they need to invest in their health-care to stay healthy.

Think of it this way. If you wait until your gas tank is empty to fill up with gas, then you are in crisis because you need gas to fill up to get where you need to go. But, you only have time to fill up your gas tank with $5 every time you stop for gas. Then, how many times will you be visiting the gas station? You'll be in crisis for gas very frequently and since you only have enough time to invest to fill up your tank with $5 worth of gas.

If however, you invest the time and money it takes to fill up your tank, then you can go for much longer without having to fill up again. And, you now have the choice to fill up at 1/4 tank instead of constantly having to fill up on empty. See what I'm talking about?

Another analogy is choosing crisis-care is like constantly treading water. You tread water as long as you can until you need to be rescued, again and again. Others choose disease-care. They decide to get well enough over a period of visits and decide to start wearing a life jacket. Then when something comes up again, they call for help. Still others choose to learn to sail - above the water. They decide they no longer want to just manage crisis or diseases but choose to achieve optimal health. That requires continued monthly visits to achieve.

Health is the same way. If you only see your doctor when you are in crisis because you have limited the time or energy to spend on your health. Then, you will constantly wait to be in crisis with your health before you see a doctor. You will only be getting crisis-care, instead of health-care. I see patients occasionally cancel their follow up appointment because they are doing great. I am glad the treatment worked, but what about your health? It is then obvious that those people only cared enough about themselves to move out of crisis. I then see them call the office for another appointment when they are in crisis again. And, so it goes on and on. If that is what you want, I'll provide that for you.

If however, you decide to stop living from crisis to crisis, and start investing the time and energy it takes to regain your health, you will begin a journey into health-care. Everyone has a choice they can make when seeing a doctor. People tend to make one of three choices, crisis-care, disease-care, or health-care. Crisis-care as you already guessed is waiting until you have a crisis and only coming in when you are in dire need. Disease-care is seeing a doctor just long enough to get over the disease then stop coming in for care. Health-care is when you may have been motivated to come in because of a crisis, but you see the value in going past the disease-care stage and into health-care.

Then you begin to see by investing in your health you are able to stay out of crisis-care and move through disease-care into regaining your health. To move into health-care, it takes building a relationship with a doctor so they get to know your history, symptom tendencies, allergic tendencies, food cravings, emotional blocks and buttons, and everything else required about you. Then especially, over time a doctor can build a bigger and wider view of your situation in order to help you move into optimal health. They can help you move up and up through each of the steps of health to achieve optimal health.

There is something about living in this quick-fix society that as long as we feel comfortable we think everything is great with our health. That is not necessarily so. That is crisis-care. Cancer for instance is quiet and insidious. That person thinks everything was great then suddenly they are diagnosed with it. They think it came out of no where. But it most assuredly did not. They were too busy to worry about their health, as long as they stayed "not sick" they thought they were fine. Now, they have a new crisis. Understand?

I hope you can see the importance of regular office visits and of building a relationship with your doctor. Your MD most likely focuses on crisis-care. That is the purpose of those drugs they prescribe. To get you out of a crisis.

Naturopathic doctors, like myself, are really into the philosophy that "prevention is the best cure" after all. You deserve your health naturally. You deserve to live a long healthy crisis-free life for the rest of your life. I will always be here for you if crisis-care is what you want as well. I hope you decide on health-care. Because then I can help you achieve optimal health. Call the office today to begin your health journey.

in Health and Service,

David Hogg, ND
Naturopathic Wisdom
1101 South Winchester Blvd.
Suite E157
San Jose, CA 95128
408-297-6877
www.naturally4health.com
www.naturopathicwisdom.com