8 tenets of integrative treatment

By Patricia Delzell, M.D., Advanced Musculoskeletal Medicine Consultants, Inc.

At Advanced MMC, the following eight core tenets help us create successful integrative treatment plans for our patients with chronic pain:

1. Patient and practitioner are partners in the healing process. It’s a collaborative effort. I listen and find out where you want to go.

2. All factors that influence health, wellness and disease are taken into consideration. These include body, mind, spirit and community.

3. Appropriate use of both conventional and alternative methods. This approach facilitates the body’s innate healing response and may include yoga, meditation, breathing techniques, botanicals, supplements, and infrared light therapy.

4. Effective interventions that are natural and less invasive. Before altering biomechanics with injections or recommending surgery, we try to get the body to heal itself with movement, nutrition, quality sleep, and positive social interactions.

5. We neither reject conventional medicine nor accept alternative therapies uncritically. While we do use conventional medicine—including injections, topicals, physical therapy, and referrals for surgery—we do so in conjunction with alternative therapies.

6. Good medicine is based on good science. Good medicine is inquiry-driven and open to new paradigms. The alternative therapies we employ have a scientific basis to them and have been proven to reduce pain.

7. The broader concepts of health promotion and the prevention of illness are crucial. Instead of treating a disease process, we treat the person, which includes ongoing prevention and improvement of overall health.

8. Practitioners of integrative medicine should exemplify its principles and commit their lives to self-exploration and self-development. In other words, practice what you preach. For example, I do qi gong and yoga, use supplements, and rely on whole foods-based nutrition.

Advanced Musculoskeletal Medicine Consultants is at 8398 Kinsman Road in Novelty, Ohio. To schedule a complimentary Chronic Pain Phone Consultation, call 440-557-5011. Visit AdvancedMMC.com for more information, including blogs and videos.