After one-and-a-half hours of taking a very complete history, my naturopath doctor determined that I was suffering from general “inflammation”. This combined with a malfunctioning adrenal gland accounted for my struggles with headaches, insomnia, back pain, and plantar fasciitis. She was now ready to outline a therapeutic plan for my recovery. First, she suggested some exercises I should do for my back and feet. She placed two tennis balls in a sock and demonstrated how to use these to massage my lower back and neck using the floor or a wall as resistance. She suggested some stretching exercises for my feet and recommended I pick up marbles with my toes to strengthen my foot muscles. Also, I was to hang upside down from my hip crease to create a gap between my vertebrae and to focus on building my “core” muscles. These all seemed like reasonable suggestions, much like one might hear from a physical therapist.
Only when she started to devise a regimen of dietary supplements and homeopathic medications did she really surprise me. She seemed vexed while trying to find the appropriate remedy for my headaches. She pored over one of her books on homeopathic remedies, struggling to find the correct treatment. It appeared that my headache did not fit into any of the well-categorized groups outlined in her text. She probed deeper, asking me about the location of my headaches: “Are they more on the right or the left side? What triggers your headaches? What time of day do your headaches occur?” Finally, she paused and looked up from the book laid out in front of her and said, “You might think this next question is a bit odd.” I must admit she did not disappoint. She asked, “Are you afraid of snakes?” Had I misheard her? No, she actually had asked if I was afraid of snakes! The implication was that this might have some bearing on the as yet to be chosen headache remedy! “No,” I stated. “I actually am quite fascinated by snakes. In fact, we own a ball python named Monty.” Disappointed, she again immersed herself in her text. After flipping through a few more pages, she inquired if being hungry precipitated my headaches. Happily, I said, “Why yes, I often get a headache when I am hungry or I miss a meal. In fact, I am often able to stave off a smoldering headache by getting something to eat.” She seemed pleased with this information, and added two new homeopathic medicines to the regimen, Nux Vomica and Tuberculinum. Not the prettiest sounding medications, but I held my tongue.
The doctor printed out my personalized treatment plan. The focus was on an “anti-inflammatory diet”, several exercises, dietary supplements, and 4 homeopathic medications. She explained that homeopathy was founded on the “law of similars”. Basically, the goal is to administer a substance which provokes the very symptom you are trying to cure, but at very miniscule doses. In fact, she explained, “the more dilute the dose, the more powerful the effect.” As she expounded on this bedrock principle of homeopathy, I thought to myself how very counter-intuitive it seemed. Already, I could tell that I would be losing the “placebo effect” due to my inherent skepticism.
With two pages of printed out treatment plan in hand, the doctor personally checked me out and gave me the listed remedies. It was 6 p.m., two hours after I had arrived. In hand, I had eleven prescribed remedies that would cure my “inflammation” and control my adrenal gland. I left strangely satisfied. Despite being 400 dollars poorer, I had received two hours of a doctor’s personalized attention, and I had a dizzying array of new therapies to try out!
[Next week…. The “anti-inflammatory” diet]
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