Do You Need To DO Something In Order To Heal?

The Time Problem In Healthcare

Have you ever gone to your doctor with a list of items you wanted to address, waited 30 minutes or more past your appointment, only to have the doctor come in and spend just a few minutes with you before leaving without addressing all your concerns?

Unfortunately, this type of experience is becoming more common. The average doctor’s visit lasts only 16 minutes and the doctor interrupts the patient after only 11 seconds! This may suffice for a sore throat or cold, but if you’ve got a complex problem that you’ve been dealing with for months or years, is 11 seconds really enough time to fully understand the problem?

We see patients nearly every day here at More 4 Life who have been dealing with chronic pain that has lasted for years and often appears in many different body parts. They’ve seen multiple doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists, massage therapists, or even had surgeries, and they still haven’t found relief. And the #1 complaint is that no one seems to care enough to take the time to listen to them! They get written off as complainers, malingerers, or drug seekers. They’re told, “you’re just getting older”, “it’s just arthritis”, or “it’s all in your head”. And they start to wonder, “Am I going crazy?”

The solution? They get yet another prescription (that they didn’t really want) to get them out the door, and they’re told to call back in a month if the pain doesn’t go away… which it doesn’t. “But why call back? He didn’t listen to me the first time!”

The "Therapeutic Alliance"

Psychological research, and recently even physical therapy research has demonstrated that the power of "therapeutic alliance", the relationship between a healthcare provider and a patient may have just as large a role in the "effectiveness" of a treatment as the actual treatment technique itself.  This means the extent to which your therapist listens to your concerns, connects with you on a personal level, and understands your needs, goals, and values can have a profound effect on the outcome of your treatment, particularly in the case of chronic pain.  And that's exactly what we do at More 4 Life... we take the time to listen to your goals and customize your treatment to your needs, goals and values.

Have The Tools, But Know When To Keep Them In The Toolbox

Sometimes you DO need to DO something to fix the problem. Having great clinical knowledge and skills is important.  However, the saying "If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail" often applies in healthcare. Chiropractors tend to advise spinal manipulation.  Massage therapists tend to advise massage.  Physical therapists tend to prescribe exercise. Medical doctors tend to prescribe medicine.  Surgeons tend to prescribe surgery.

At More 4 Life, we use a wide variety of different tools such as spinal manipulation, massage, exercise, posture and movement training, stress management, sleep management, and dietary consultation.  But it's important to know which tool to use on whom, AND when to keep the tools in the toolbox and just listen. After all, even the most skilled architect and construction crew are doomed to fail if they don't understand what kind of building their client wants or for what purpose it will be used!