Pain Killer Sales Soar - Why not try Medical Qigong

[Aetherous]

because time heals normally

 

I told this ("the body heals itself eventually") to a PA in my clinical rotation last week, and he said, "No it doesn't. Not cancer...not AIDs".

 

Out of respect I just laughed and said nothing else...he was right about those things...but I was thinking, "Yeah but you're not treating cancer or AIDs here. All you treat are sore throats."

Edited April 8, 2012 by Scotty

[Friend]

I told this ("the body heals itself eventually") to a PA in my clinical rotation last week, and he said, "No it doesn't. Not cancer...not AIDs".

 

Out of respect I just laughed and said nothing else...he was right about those things...but I was thinking, "Yeah but you're not treating cancer or AIDs here. All you treat are sore throats."

 

Hehe this illnees behave more like a toxin.

The more time pass the near the graveyard.

[Owledge]

I told this ("the body heals itself eventually") to a PA in my clinical rotation last week, and he said, "No it doesn't. Not cancer...not AIDs".

 

Out of respect I just laughed and said nothing else...he was right about those things...but I was thinking, "Yeah but you're not treating cancer or AIDs here. All you treat are sore throats."

Not necessarily. When something is treated the wrong way because it is not understood, that can counteract natural healing. And in severe cases, the right healing approach has to be taken. Many cases of AIDS are simply caused by very unhealthy living conditions overloading the immune system, and many are caused by AIDS medication after the misdiagnosis HIV. Cancer can be healed through a change in the psyche.

In both cases there have been 'miraculous healings'. And the alleged discoverer of HIV (Luc Montagnier) stated on camera his opinion that a healthy immune system can get rid of it. That is like medical heresy, ironically.

 

Hehe this illnees behave more like a toxin.

The more time pass the near the graveyard.

The medication is the toxin, and it's a common saying in the AIDS community that the 'side effects' of the medication is what eventually kills you, not AIDS.

Edited April 9, 2012 by Owledge

[doc benway]

We are not advocating anyone to go to a medical qigong therapist if they are gunshot. I certainly wouldn't until AFTER I had visited the medical doctor. Of course that would be an extremely ill-informed thing to do and I honestly don't think anyone ever would. But what you are missing is "what happens after the person has been to the doctor?" The person has to have some pain relief as this is an extremely traumatic injury. Their choice is to take drugs, which in my opinion is the appropriate thing to do for the initial trauma. But what happens if the person shot continues to have pain? Should they continue to take drugs for the pain? This can lead to addiction and in many cases has. These drugs are also toxic in the long term - just read what the pharmacy says about them. Also, the person probably would not be able in most cases to resume work - difficult to function walking around drugged.

 

Also it appears you are making the same assumption that many do make. And I do realize it is an honest assumption. And that is that we are anti-western medicine. This is far from the truth. This is "complementary therapy" - not "alternative therapy". We work WITH physicians and get referrals from physicians and have physicians come to us for therapy. The physicians themselves recognize the danger of long term pain meds.

We advocate taking the best of world medicine and integrating it into a workable system.

 

And while I am not attempting to pick your argument apart as it represents a valid viewpoint, I will point out that only a portion of the population that actually needs long-term use of these type of drugs are able to continue to function with "normal" lives. Often what happens is higher and higher doses are needed, stronger & stronger meds are needed; a vicious cycle indeed and one that leads to a most definite non-normal life. But I too advocate that meds which are needed be available. Due to abuse it has gotten to be an extremely difficult process.

 

I agree with you here 100%, Michael.

I'm a medical doctor and I am strongly opposed to "chronic pain management" as it is handled by the majority of Western pain management docs I encounter. Physician supervised opiate addiction is a very poor method for handling chronic pain in the long term. I guess it can be a transitional tool but it is hazardous. It takes a very careful approach to integrate that into a healthy and holistic recovery program.

 

I think it is a problem to look at pain as an illness and that is what a lot of "pain specialists" are doing and encourage this approach in their patient.

Pain is a symptom, not an illness. If you simply mask the pain with drugs (or other treatments, complementary methods included), you may create additional problems for the patient/client without addressing the source of their problem.

As you describe, I work with complementary providers of a variety of disciplines (massage, acupuncture, nutrition, psych, biofeedback, meditation, reiki, qigong, taiji, etc...). I try to be open to what the person's conditioning and mindset will allow them to accept and engage in most effectively.

 

I see so many people being failed by the Western system and yet the system makes it very difficult for them to get out of the vicious cycle. The people i see who are most negatively affected by the system are those with worker's compensation and auto accident cases. The combination of lack of patient education, lack of willingness to take responsibility, opportunistic doctors and lawyers (and other providers) often creates a situation where people are harmed much more by the "efforts" to help them recover (well-intentioned or otherwise) than they were by the original injury. They get so deeply invested in the role of the damaged and wronged person that they can be very difficult to help. I see it every day and it's terribly frustrating to face. i have a close friend who is very skilled in complementary healing methods and we have this kernel of an idea of a multi-disciplinary treatment center for chronic pain that is linked to detoxification (from drugs but also from other toxins - food, water, energetic, emotional, etc...) and cultivation of health and well being. This group of people would benefit enormously from such an approach but first we need to convince the insurance carriers that the treatment approach is effective. Hence the desperate need for outcomes studies in this area. That's the only thing that will help get these programs into the mainstream, I think. Every thing is about outcomes these days.

 

Do any of you know of any quality Medical Qigong practitioners in the Baltimore/Washington area?

[Kempomaster]

Steve - thank you for stepping forward with your comment.

 

You are correct that quality outcome based studies are needed before Medical Qigong is more widely accepted as a complementary alternative for patients. In addition, it will take many years IMO before Commercial Insurance carriers decide to cover this type of treatment. Even though Acupuncture has had more acceptance in the Medical Community - few Insurance Carriers will actually cover an acupuncture treatment.

 

Now - this may be changing, and some Insurers may be willing to cover an acupuncture visit with limitations as to the number of visits and amount reimbursed which would be reasonable. However, many still choose not to offer coverage in this area - may be optional for the patient to purchase such coverage in the future.

 

Patients as you know can be funny -- we had a patient at a seminar that had a long laundry lists of health problems. He mentioned he had been trying acupuncture and his insurance would cover it at a co-pay to him of $20. When asked if he thought the acupuncture was helping his health problems - he replied - No. We spent approx 1 and 1/2 hours treating the individual and addressed all of his complaints. After the treatments - the patient was asked how he felt post treatment - his skin color had improved, his eyes were much clearer, and he commented that his gut pain was settled and overall he hadnt felt that good for over a year. Sounds great - his next question was - Will insurance cover this? The answer - of course - not yet - but you could receive the same treatment from an Experienced Practitioner (me) the same one that treated you - but for slightly more than your current $20 co-pay. He opted to stay with the treatment that he stated didn't work because it was only a $20 co-pay.

 

I know I would be happy to volunteer my services to be used in an outcomes based study. I know also that these studies can be done multi-centered so if it is arranged in several states there could be less travel. Big question though - is who has the ability to organize such a study. Set parameters, recruit patients, etc, etc and PAY for it. I think we need someone that is wealthy that wants to help further Medical Qigong and has some connections that can help move this forward.

 

Any ideas -- would be welcomed.

 

thanks,

 

Kempomaster

[doc benway]

Will insurance cover this? The answer - of course - not yet - but you could receive the same treatment from an Experienced Practitioner (me) the same one that treated you - but for slightly more than your current $20 co-pay. He opted to stay with the treatment that he stated didn't work because it was only a $20 co-pay.

 

I know I would be happy to volunteer my services to be used in an outcomes based study. I know also that these studies can be done multi-centered so if it is arranged in several states there could be less travel. Big question though - is who has the ability to organize such a study. Set parameters, recruit patients, etc, etc and PAY for it. I think we need someone that is wealthy that wants to help further Medical Qigong and has some connections that can help move this forward.

 

People are funny - that's for sure.

There were times when it would make me angry and bitter.

Now, I really feel for their struggles and it feels good to care.

They do the best they can, for the most part.

It feels great when you can see that you've helped them.

It hurts a bit when they would rather suffer.

 

As far as outcomes studies - universities!

Lots of complementary medicine programs in major universities.

I think the complementary practitioners need to connect to our health education system.

This is where the research will be done - there is no money for it in the private sector because it's not a product.

Same with traditional medical research - the lion's share of the real science gets done in the schools and university hospitals.

Only product driven stuff gets any attention in the private sector.

This is the way it has always been for science.

[Ya Mu]

I agree with you here 100%, Michael.

I'm a medical doctor and I am strongly opposed to "chronic pain management" as it is handled by the majority of Western pain management docs I encounter. Physician supervised opiate addiction is a very poor method for handling chronic pain in the long term. I guess it can be a transitional tool but it is hazardous. It takes a very careful approach to integrate that into a healthy and holistic recovery program.

 

I think it is a problem to look at pain as an illness and that is what a lot of "pain specialists" are doing and encourage this approach in their patient.

Pain is a symptom, not an illness. If you simply mask the pain with drugs (or other treatments, complementary methods included), you may create additional problems for the patient/client without addressing the source of their problem.

As you describe, I work with complementary providers of a variety of disciplines (massage, acupuncture, nutrition, psych, biofeedback, meditation, reiki, qigong, taiji, etc...). I try to be open to what the person's conditioning and mindset will allow them to accept and engage in most effectively.

 

I see so many people being failed by the Western system and yet the system makes it very difficult for them to get out of the vicious cycle. The people i see who are most negatively affected by the system are those with worker's compensation and auto accident cases. The combination of lack of patient education, lack of willingness to take responsibility, opportunistic doctors and lawyers (and other providers) often creates a situation where people are harmed much more by the "efforts" to help them recover (well-intentioned or otherwise) than they were by the original injury. They get so deeply invested in the role of the damaged and wronged person that they can be very difficult to help. I see it every day and it's terribly frustrating to face. i have a close friend who is very skilled in complementary healing methods and we have this kernel of an idea of a multi-disciplinary treatment center for chronic pain that is linked to detoxification (from drugs but also from other toxins - food, water, energetic, emotional, etc...) and cultivation of health and well being. This group of people would benefit enormously from such an approach but first we need to convince the insurance carriers that the treatment approach is effective. Hence the desperate need for outcomes studies in this area. That's the only thing that will help get these programs into the mainstream, I think. Every thing is about outcomes these days.

 

Do any of you know of any quality Medical Qigong practitioners in the Baltimore/Washington area?

I will check through my lists and see if I can find someone in your area,and will get back to you.

 

Thanks for your heartfelt reply. This is the type of information needed for everyone to consider.

 

"... i have a close friend who is very skilled in complementary healing methods and we have this kernel of an idea of a multi-disciplinary treatment center for chronic pain that is linked to detoxification (from drugs but also from other toxins - food, water, energetic, emotional, etc...) and cultivation of health and well being."

 

I have been hoping for such ventures for a very long time and indeed have made the attempt to do so myself. We almost had it with a MD working inside my clinic doing medical acupuncture (as certified through Berkely Med school). The problem occurred with the stupid insurance companies not only not allowing any help for the patients but in the state we were practicing charged the physician about 13,000 per year extra to cover her doing acupuncture as in that state it was classified for some really dumb reason as a "surgery technique! IN the end after 2 years, even though we were extremely successful as a pain clinic/integrated Western-Eastern approach, financially, due to us not turning down folks that had no money, the cost of insurance made it so impossible to continue.

But I do commend you for thinking or planning this and surely hope you have success in such a venture. IMO this is so drastically needed now.

 

Also I have taught at 2 university medical schools and one research hospital but none there including researchers, staff, nor students, despite intense efforts on my part of volunteering my time, were really interested in implementing any type of research or continuous program other than a survey type course in medical qigong that I taught for several years to both 4th year med students and in another hospital program the same survey type course to nurse practitioners. I guess I just never found the right person that was interested in implementing such.

 

I do at this point believe, as Kempomaster mentions, that it would take a benevolent benefactor to pay for any intense research into efficacy of various medical qigong applications. I also volunteer my time for any such valid study any researcher wishes to implement although I don't have the funds to pay for my travel expenses. I think Kempomaster would be better for this as I live in an extreme rural area of the country and he is more centered in a larger populated area.

 

I have spoken to many university researchers and have as of yet not received any positive response to do any study. One such proposed study, and I certainly do not have any statistical background to work out any details, but I have always thought for a study in bone healing efficacy that includes both pain relief from initial trauma and statistical average of time line regrowth (don't know proper way to phrase this), range of motion, etc versus control group. Also migraine headaches, arthritis, or general back pain. Another would be TMJ syndrome - man is this one a hot potato as the existing treatments for many have very little efficacy; I have always had results with this with medical qigong and Taoist medicine therapeutic application. There are really so many avenues that would benefit from efficacy research. Hope it happens one day.

 

It is a frustrating thing, but we have made many inroads and I personally will keep trying until I die.

 

Thanks you for having the openness to consider these complementary therapeutics in order to help others. Keep up the good work.

[Ya Mu]

Any paradigm shift takes measurable time to gain mainstream adoption.

You are simply an innovator in this country. Your students and patients are early adopters. And as this trailblazing group steadily grows up to 16%, only then will it hit the tipping point into the mainstream...and then "go viral" much more quickly..

But, we're already starting to see a little mainstream exposure to alternative healing, even now though..

This episode on Oprah actually featured energetic & TCM treatments for eczema & vitiligo for "mainstream sheeple" - both with noticeable results in time!!!

 

So, I see this stuff following the same trajectory as yoga, which spread amongst the fringe underground here for years until it finally exploded out into the mainstream and is now so popular it's trendy (for better and worse). Once the sh*t hits the tipping point, look out!!!

Interesting post. I had not seen this 16% figure but this makes perfect sense. Growth rate could certainly multiply with just a single tipping point.

Yeah, I think others and I have known we were pioneers of this and have had a realist view that it would be an amazing but unrealistic thing for awareness to be raised in our lifetimes to the point where medical qigong is mainstream in every medical clinic and hospital. But I also think many of these others feel like I do and that is that many of our students WILL see this awareness occur in their lifetimes. Really wouldn't mind seeing it now, though, as it would help so many people.