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Treating patients in a world dominated by short attention span theater
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Alternative medicine practitioners have a mixed blessing in this world dominated by Tivo, sound bites, and YouTube clips. On the plus side alternative practitioners have time on our side, a typical homeopathic appointment can take up to 2 hours, that’s 2 hours of undivided attention, a chiropractic appointment usually lasts 35 minutes to an hour and an acupuncturist will usually give you at least 30 minutes to let the needles do their work, and that doesn’t even include the body workers who spend hours hands on with their patients. Contrast that with the 7 minutes an allopath (medical doctor) is allotted by their HMO and you see one of the big draws of alternative care.
The downside that practitioners face is that our patients are used to being treated like a number, they are used to being made to wait for weeks for an appointment, to sitting in a waiting room and then exam room seemingly forgotten until they finally get their time and their doctor tries his best to get all the details and vitals in that 7 minutes and to make the patient feel that they were heard and that the doctor actually cares enough about them to help the patient is given a prescription and sent on his way. Doctors seem to feel that part of the customer service of being a doctor is the expectation of a prescription of some kind or it may be perceived that they don’t care.
Patients then expect to feel better magically and quickly, because of this we have seen the rise of super antibiotics now instead of a low dose over 2 weeks to fight off an infection you are given a mega dose antibiotic to take for 3-4 days. This kind of treatment can have a devastating impact on the human body. The body needs time and tools to heal and more and more we expect larger hammers and less time, subtlety is a dying art in the medical world.
Comparatively, a homeopath can take 3-4 days to research a patient’s case and decide on a remedy and course of treatment. That course of treatment will be tailored to the patient and homeopathic patients have to knowledge that they are not getting the same treatment as the next guy, each remedy is carefully selected to work optimally for each patient. What homeopaths and all alternative practitioners face is that often times, in chronic cases, like asthma or arthritis for example, the remedies can take a long time to act and the action may be so subtle that the patient doesn’t even notice it is having an impact. That is what we strive for, a subtle deep change that means the body is rebalancing for good and not just in the short term.
When you see your homeopath or other provider remember that they often don’t take insurance and while their fees may seem higher than a medical doctor’s they are actually in line with what your doctor charges your insurance company for treating you even though you only pay 20 dollars for your co-pay. A homeopath has to put hours and hours into your treatment plan and remedy selection and you should remember that your body will need time to adjust for it to be permanent. We strive to maintain your optimal health and you are the reason we practice give us the time and the patience to help you reach your health goals.
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