A Three-Tiered Approach to Health

When I was a kid growing up, I was captivated by watching emergency scenes. All the firemen, ambulance personnel, and policemen rushing about, putting out fires and saving lives. When I was eighteen, I joined the local volunteer fire department. It was quite a thrill! Only six months later, the fire chief told me to hang it up because he discovered that I had a pretty bad heart condition. I had no idea who told him. I certainly didn’t! I just wanted to be a part of the action. Shortly after leaving the fire state for the last time, my cardiologist told me I needed to have open heart surgery to replace my failing aortic valve. Although the operation put an end to my short-lived passion for being a fireman, I was allowed to work with the ambulance crew instead. That is what opened the door for my lifelong career in health care and to where I am today.

Starting out as a Respiratory Therapist, I enjoyed caring for people in the hospital setting, particularly in lifesaving situations. At the same time, my eyes and my interests were being opened to natural healing practices. Even though I went on to study to be a chiropractor, all this time I was focused on one dimension of healing: the physical. During the latter half of my days as a chiropractic student, I learned about the other dimension of healing, the nonphysical, which involves both the mind and the Spirit.

Thus, today in my practice I address both the physical and the nonphysical realms of existence using a three-tiered approach. Using chiropractic, medical, and “alternative” methods of evaluating one’s health situation, I embrace a truly integrative system to help my patients achieve their optimum potential.

First, I ask, “Is there nerve tone imbalance?” The nerve system controls every organ and action of the body. When bones become misaligned, stress can be placed on nerves causing them to become too taut or too lax. This imbalance results in abnormal function of one or more of the body systems. How exactly this happens was studied in depth by D.D. Palmer, the founder of the chiropractic profession, during a ten year period from 1885 - 1895. D.D.’s findings were later confirmed in a study done by Henry Windsor, M.D. in 1921. Chiropractic care corrects nerve tone imbalance, thereby restoring proper function to body systems.

If a person’s condition is fairly complicated and affects multiple organ systems, I ask, “Is this a problem that is due to some type of toxic exposure or intrinsic dysfunction?” If this is suspect, then I proceed to the physical examination/functional medicine testing tier of care. If abnormalities with a particular system are identified, I refer my patients to the appropriate medical specialist for further evaluation and treatment while still retaining them as a client.

The third tier of care is what transcends the physical, and I promote this avenue sparingly. Not everyone is open to energy medicine practices. I’ve even had people say to me, “I am a devout Christian, and what you are doing is the devil’s work.” Therefore I now discern more closely who I propose this avenue of healing to. If it is rather obvious to me that this person is under a great deal of mental/emotional stress, or if I feel that their cause of anguish has an etheric source, then I will let them know that there are nonphysical issues that need to be dealt with. If I get a good sense that they are openminded, I explain the concept of chi. I explain that life force energy fills this universe. It is that power that keeps your heart beating, your lungs breathing, your blood circulating, your mind thinking. Because of physical and nonphysical forms of stress, life force energy may not flow in the manner that it should, resulting in physical, psychological, or even spiritual distress. The method of energy medicine that I use is The Usui System Of Natural Healing According To Hawayo Takata, which is the oldest and most potent form of Reiki there is.

When a person comes into my office, I am well prepared to evaluate and treat that person on any level. I usually do not announce right away that I am a chiropractor. Instead, I say that I am a Holistic Physician. Not everyone that comes to my office is there for chiropractic care. By taking an integrative approach, I can address the needs of my patients on multiple levels without having to refer them somewhere else. And, if I feel that they are openminded enough, I tell them to be prepared for anything (hinting to the third tier of care). But I don’t view each tier as taking care of a separate physical, mental, or spiritual entity. Each of these realms of existence is woven into one inseparable manifestation of the person as a whole. Each realm affects the other in some way. If I am giving somebody a chiropractic adjustment, I am allowing for a fuller expression of chi energy to take place. If I am taking somebody’s vital signs, I am measuring the flow of life force energy. If I am performing a Reiki session on someone, I am helping the body, mind, and spirit to balance each other in a state of harmony.

It is important to keep in mind that one who comes to us for help is not just a physical person who feels things, thinks, and performs actions. This person is a manifestation of the Universal Intelligence. It is what that person, because of a thing called ego, puts into their thoughts and into their body that creates illness. Our job is not to see if we can rid this person of a disease. Our job, as integrative, HOLISTIC practitioners, is to bring this great manifestation before us to a higher understanding of themself. By helping him or her to be self-sufficient, proactive and preventive, we empower them to take charge of their own destiny. In retrospect, we are truly facilitators of healing. As Thomas Edison once said, “The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.” He said that in the past, so the NOW must be the “future” he was referring to.

Enter The "Holistic Physician"

Last week while I was working at my security job at the Guthrie Theater, I got talking to a couple of the ushers. Most of the people I work with already know that I am a chiropractor. But what they don't know is that I am very holistic in how I care for my patients. "I address all of my patients' health concerns," I said at one point in the conversation. At that moment, one of the ushers I was talking to perked up and started asking me all these questions about her high blood pressure problems. She wanted to know what natural ways there are to take care of it. I then thought to myself that THIS is why I became a doctor -- to help people with their health concerns in a holistic way. I didn't become a "back pain specialist," and I really hate being mistaken for one. Even though my business card says that I am a "holistic chiropractor," the word "chiropractor" insinuates, in most people's mind, that I take care of only back pain and headaches. I've been in health care for over 26 years now in many different capacities. I certainly never intended to limit myself by becoming a chiropractor!

What people DO understand is the word "physician". D.D. Palmer, the founder of the chiropractic profession, always frowned on chiropractors who would call themselves "chiropractic physicians". Many medical doctors with an ego would also frown upon a chiropractor considering himself to be any kind of physician. I've always been neutral to using this term because, as the Latin origin of the word "physician" implies, a physician is a practitioner of a "natural science". (Source: the Online Etymology Dictionary) So the question would then be, could I simply call myself a "holistic physician"? To answer that, I turned to the good ol' internet, that magical land where all knowledge can be bestowed. Alas, I came up with an article who answered that question with a profound "yes". Here is the link to the article: http://www.radicalmedicine.com/holistic_physician_defined.html .

According to the article, there are six different healing professionals that can use the title "holistic physician": medical doctors, osteopaths, chiropractors, naturopaths, dentists, and acupuncturists. Therefore, I feel at ease to change my business cards to read "Dr. Patrick V. Suglia, Holistic Physician". Then, to be in accordance with Minnesota state law, I would list chiropractic care among the services that I offer. I do offer a slew of others, such as health status testing (which the American Holistic Medical Association calls functional medicine), routine and specialized physicals, Reiki healing (which the AHMA refers to as energy medicine), and others. I won't go into detail about them here because you can always see everything I do on my website at http://sufletesc.twicmn.org .

People haven't quite made the full paradigm shift yet to fully comprehend and appreciate the words of Thomas Edison: "The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest her or his patients in the care of the human frame, in a proper diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease." The human frame IS the specialty of the chiropractor, and the other mentioned items are the concern of any holistic physician. The paradigm shift started only 18 years ago when in 1991, for the first time, more visits were made to practitioners of "alternative" medicine, with chiropractors leading the figures, than to general practice medical doctors. Yes, the paradigm is still shifting. More and more people are learning about the wonderful HOLISTIC benefits of chiropractic care, while the current being created by the medical establishment, who is trying to hold on to their dying ego, continues to try to push us further from the public's interest. Until the paradigm shift is complete, which I hope I live to see, I will, for now, call myself a Holistic Physician.