How Acupuncture Helps Prevent Illness
When we talk about health, there is a spectrum upon which people fall in regards to very healthy or not healthy at all. With the modern day lifestyle and the how fast paced everything is, it is difficult to have the time to get the kids ready for school, prepare for work, and show up looking well-rested while also having to fit in healthy eating, cooking and exercise. The most important decision one can make is trying to prevent illness early on through preventative measures and keeping yourself healthy along the way. This is like cleaning up after yourself daily in the home to prevent a completely trashed house that takes hours to clean later. Little steps can make a great deal of difference. Remember that small measures add up over time, good or bad. If you perform a job and there is repetitive motion involved, years down the line, an injury can form due to the motion that is repeated over and over. This same notion pertains to health- if you eat healthy daily while only splurging occasionally, the overall average of food intake will be healthy. If you exercise a little everyday, this will add up and it makes a difference.
Health prevention means the avoidance of a developing disease in the future, and it consists of interventions to limit the progression of the disease. Leavell and Clark defined three levels of prevention:
Primary prevention focuses on preventative measures and taking action before a disease has a chance to start. Healthy eating, exercise, taking supplements, yoga, acupuncture and meditation are all parts of this. The point of this is to reduce the risk or exposure of a certain disease from forming.
Secondary prevention focuses on early identification of health problems. This is typically when people come to Acupuncture. The problem or pain is no longer bearable and therefore the person seeks help. This intervention is to alleviate the health problem and go back to a state of balance.
Tertiary prevention focuses on restoration and recovery after a disease has been discovered. Cancer patients, post-surgical patients, and those who have been diagnosed with chronic illness fall into this category. The goal here is to reestablish health, wellness and balance in the body.
Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine helps individuals at any of these stages and it is a remarkable modality to help re-balance the body. However, it is important to note that like keeping the home clean, it is much easier to work preventively by keeping the body in the primary prevention stage. Many people come in for acupuncture for maintenance- to keep pain at bay, to keep hormones balanced, to calm anxiety, to alleviate stress, etc. Acupuncture is a safe and effective modality that can be part of the weekly maintenance routine, and it can only help. If you can get your internal nervous system reset each week back to a stable point, it is highly beneficial. Remember that it is about the small steps-making good choices, eating healthy 80% of the time, trying to fit in a little bit of exercise vs none at all, taking 5 mins a day to relax or meditate, lighting candles or essential oils in a diffuser. All of these small things add up to more peace of mind!
The Holistic Clinic offers acupuncture for health, wellness, chronic illness, cancer, pain, stress and much more! If you have questions, please give our Acupuncture clinic in Franklin TN a call!
