If you have watched some of our PATIENT TESTIMONIAL VIDEOS, you quickly noticed how many of the people that I treat on a day-to-day basis have been riding the Medical Merry-Go-Round — some of them for decades. Maybe you yourself are dizzy from riding. If you have ever been on this Merry-go-Round, you realize all too well that once you get on, it can be difficult to get off. It spins faster and faster and faster; and each time it goes around, it costs you money — a whole lot of money. Begin to understand the Medical Merry-go-Round and you’ll begin to see why EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE is largely an UNATTAINABLE GOAL.
Let me give you a good example of what it’s like to ride the Medical Merry-Go-Round. Although this individual would be thrilled to let me use his name, doing so could get him in trouble as you will shortly see.
I recently had a person come to me wanting to get off the Medical Merry-Go-Round. He had HURT HIS SHOULDER at work; and over the course of a year’s time had been through x-rays, orthopedic consults, MRI’S, PAIN MEDS, NSAIDS, CORTICOSTEROID INJECTIONS, MUSCLE RELAXERS, more THERAPY (3x / wk) than you could shake a stick at. He was sick of it and wanted off. But because he had been hurt at work, and because his Work Comp Doctors would not pay for him to come see me (Missouri is an “employer-chooses-your-doctor” state); he decided to come in on his own.
His first question was, “if I pay cash, no one is going to find out I have been here, are they?” I told him that everyone pays at time of service. We give you the paperwork to file your own insurance if you have insurance, and your insurance company pays whatever they pay. He had heard about the work we do and believed it provided a chance to get off the Merry-Go-Round. Unfortunately, he had been told by his employer that if he stepped outside of Workman’s Comp’s recommendations (even if he paid for it himself), he would not only be dropped from Workman’s Comp, he could very well lose his job.
I examined him, TREATED HIM, and told him to come back and see me in a week or two if it helped. I also told him that if this treatment did not help at all, more would not help either). He came back in about ten days and told me that his shoulder was 80% better. Two more treatments and it was 100% (the third treatment was needed because he felt so good that he started STRENGTH TRAINING too soon and aggravated it a bit).
A month or so after seeing me, he went back to see his Worker’s Comp Doctor for a scheduled visit. They were thrilled with the fact that after everything they had done, he was finally making great progress. Good enough that they actually released him from care and declared him “cured” (MMI). The kicker is that he could not even tell them what had worked, but had to sit there and bite his tongue while the doctor droned on about the fact that he “knew” it was just a matter of time before the treatments kicked in and worked.
The problem is, the Medical Merry-Go-Round is alive and well here in America. This case is not rare. It’s not an aberration. It’s not unique. It’s common. In fact, when I combine what I see in practice with the incidence of something the medical community refers to as MUPS, I could legitimately argue that it’s the norm. The cool thing is that no matter your problem, there are people getting off the Merry-go-Round every day (HERE are a couple examples). If you want to get off the MMGR but feel that your problem is too severe, take a look at THIS POST.
Are you dizzy yet? Then read THIS.
