by THOMAS on Nov 12, 2014 • 2:01 pm
When it comes to the subject of healing or recovery, there is a big misunderstanding on the part of the general public and many physicians as to what constitutes the healing process. However it has been known for centuries that the human body possesses amazing recuperative powers that can enable it to recover from some of the most devastating injuries and illnesses. Hippocrates was aware of many of these powers as far back as 700 B.C. It has often been referred to, historically, as the innate intelligence or “the innate”. The most important decision to be made by the health care practitioner with respect to healing is to determine whether their particular therapy is an intervention or a facilitation. In other words are the therapeutic measures they decide to initiate designed to facilitate the healing process by working with the body, or is this an intervention in which the therapeutic measure(s) are designed to replace or block the body’s ability to heal itself? As a natural medicine or “holistic” health care practitioner, I see myself as a facilitator in that the therapies I use are designed to guide the healing process without disruption or intervention. The goal here is to attempt to guide or focus the healing energies of the body in order to bring about the most favorable outcome. Chiropractic, Naturopathy, Homeopathy, Oriental Medicine, Acupuncture, and Massage Therapy fall into the category of facilitating therapies in that the goal is to work with the body’s healing energies.
I had an opportunity recently to observe the body’s innate ability to heal when I suffered deep lacerations (cuts) to both forearms within a 6 month period. The first incident involved tripping over a box on the patio and running into a piece of garden sculpture where I scrapped the kin off my right forearm. I used the traditional approach by using hydrogen peroxide to clean the wound followed by polysporin and a large bandage. I changed the bandage regularly and cleaned the wound each time. It took about 6 months to completely heal and there is still a scar there today. The second incident occurred when I was working inside my greenhouse cover and snagged my left forearm across the jagged edge of some welded wire fencing. The cut was very deep and bled profusely but I decided to leave it alone and “let it bleed”. Bleeding will help keep the wound clean and allow healing agents to come to the wound site to facilitate repair. At the end of the day the scab had formed and so I simply cleaned off the excess blood from the surrounding area and let things be. I put nothing on the wound, no polysporin, no hydrogen peroxide, nothing. It’s been about two months now and you would be hard pressed to even find a trace of the original wound.
There are numerous examples of the incredible healing properties of our bodies that can be found throughout the literature. Everything from accidents and injuries to cancer, heart disease, stroke, rheumatic conditions, and neurologic disorders. The key ingredient often missing in the healing equation is a healthy life style and nutrition program. Eliminating processed foods, poor quality fats, processed dairy products, sodas and sport drinks, and grain products including boxed cereals and pastas, will go along way towards restoring normal healthy function to your body’s muscle, skeletal, and organs systems. Exercise involving a lot of aerobic activity, moderate weight training, and plenty of active stretching will further enhance your bodies built in healing mechanisms. It is absolutely essential that you first develop a plan before embarking upon any life changes whether it is dietary or exercise.
There is no better healing modality on earth than that of our own bodies. We as human beings are born into this world with the ability to protect ourselves from disease and to repair and restore normal function to our bodies in the event of trauma or injury. Our responsibility is to maintain this amazing healing ability through healthy lifestyles.