Unlock your true potential through functional medicine that heals, not hides
Do we have a disease care system instead of a health care system in this country? Have you wondered if all the medicine prescribed today is part of the problem with our health and healthcare? In the United States we collectively take 50 percent of the world’s prescription medications, and yet we seem to be getting sicker and sicker.
All this medication-taking is what has led us to the opioid epidemic we’re experiencing. Today, Americans are more likely to die from a drug overdose than a car accident. The medical industry wants us to believe that a pill is the solution, but many of these medications are simply a band-aid designed to cover up the symptom, not heal it.
According to the CDC, nearly 17,000 people die each year in the US from a prescription opioid overdose and 50 million Americans suffer from chronic pain.
In 2017 US doctors wrote 199 million prescriptions for opioids, many for people who have what’s called high-impact chronic pain – the type of pain that limits their ability to enjoy and participate in daily life.
Functional medicine treats the problem, not the symptom
When it comes to living your life to your true potential, living with pain or dis-ease can bring you up short. Functional medicine helps you uncover treatments and actions that will move you toward building true health and wellness – not a quick fix that hides the problem and leaves you feeling scared, helpless, and broke. Functional medicine treats the individual rather than the disease through a systems biology–based approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease. Functional medicine practitioners view the body as a whole, taking into account nutritional, environmental, and genetic factors. After assessing the individual patient, functional medicine utilizes diet, exercise, and nutrition as preventive factors in combating chronic disease and pain. The goal of functional medicine and related therapies is to empower the patient to be active in their own healing process and to improve their own health to change the course of the underlying dysfunction.
Chiropractic care is a part of better living without medication
Habits you build today have long term benefits for living a healthy and active life without the need for medications. A key component of a functional medicine regime for pain management includes chiropractic care. In fact, in recent studies, patients who visited a chiropractor were over 60 percent less likely to receive an opioid prescription than their counterparts who went to other healthcare providers. The study’s lead author, Kelsey L. Corcoran, DC, VA Connecticut Health Care system and Yale School of Medicine, was quoted in Medscape Medical News as saying “Preventing opioid addiction and overdose continues to be a significant public health priority; and as part of a strategy to lessen opioid use, clinical guidelines now recommend many non-pharmacological options to be considered as front-line treatment ahead of any medication. Chiropractors provide many of the treatments included in the clinical guidelines for the initial treatment of low back pain, neck pain, and osteoarthritis of the hip, knee, and hand.”
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are beginning to recognize treatment alternatives necessary to stem the widespread abuse of opioids in America. New recommendations focus on fighting the opioids epidemic include supporting access to pain management using a safe and effective range of treatment options that rely less on prescription opioids.
The best way to access your true potential
For patients frustrated with being cycled through the system of diagnosis and drugs without improvement, functional medicine and chiropractic care can offer an alternative to regaining health and wellbeing without unnecessary medications.
At True Potential Chiropractic, we’re sharing an inspiring story of recovery from opioid addition through functional medicine and chiropractic care with our patients and community. Becky’s Story, an expert from upcoming film release, A Better Way, is one woman’s journey from pain and addiction to a normal state of health without drugs. Becky Monto, a 77 year old grandmother, suffered 70 years of her life with severe back pain until she found a better way to live up to her true potential.