Be your own physician
Real Stories with Mary Lynch • Published 16 Feb 2012 09:30
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When you have a pain, you alone know where you feel it and you alone can describe it to the doctor should you decide to go there. Pain is a warning that something is amiss, be that a little something or a major something.
We now live in a world where we can get rid of the pain in an instant with a painkiller (I have a vision of the painkiller going in with a Pistol or an AK47, the stronger the pain, the stronger the weapon!).
Also we now have extra strength and extra extra strength if necessary (wonder what weapons you need for this!).
This is akin to stuffing something into a child's mouth when it wants to tell you something. You wouldn't do that would you? (Well some might but not you). And then if the child screams louder you stuff even more or something stronger into that mouth to silence it!
Not exactly a very humane way of dealing with things, but we do it all the time to ourselves. We put medication into our own mouths to silence the pain and of course then you have to deal with the side effects - (those which are written in small print somewhere on the package - those which most of us never read).
The amount of medication consumed is deplorable, the excess being flushed down our toilets and where next? Do you honestly believe that it disappears into thin air? No, I'm sorry to tell you, it is recycled into yours and everyone else's life. Is it any wonder we have super bugs and super super bugs in our hospitals causing more problems than the original affliction. Of course sometimes we need medication but did you ever think first of getting in touch with the pain to see what it might be. This is simply like asking the child what is wrong.
As I often said I am the middle child of twelve (well of course there are two of us) and I was the nurse to everyone as we grew up. In our home we had our doctor's box which consisted of a few bandages, sterile gauze and Dettol. These were used for wounds when they were too big to be licked.
Yes at that time we were as smart as the animals so we licked our wounds (the physical ones) thus getting rid of any infection with our saliva; but for anything larger the 'doctor's box' was brought out even though I think I may have been a teenager before I met a doctor!
Not a painkiller in sight in that house and to this day I don't have a painkiller in my house as I don't believe in blocking messages as they are sent to me. They may not be by post, phone or email but they are usually a lot more important and loud and clear when I take the time to listen.
As children when we had a pain we were told to lie down and give the body a rest so that whatever needed to be worked out got an opportunity; of course it wasn't explained this way but it didn't need to be, we did as we were told and it worked.
It was only when I started to meditate that I learned how to go into the pain and talk to it. I was probably going there even at a young age but I was not aware of it. Before you send for the straight jacket, let me assure you it works as I have not needed a doctor in years and only go for checkups in which he continually tells me that I am as healthy as a trout.
I realise all this takes a little time, longer than it takes to swallow a tablet but, the worst case scenario is that when you pop that pill you are masking something that really needs to be sorted, and of course complicated by that other pill that you took to sort something else out a few days before!
Think of all the time you have waited on the phone (in the past) to get a receptionist before you even get an appointment for a doctor that you have to travel to then sit in a waiting room amongst other people's germs. Next time you have a pain, have a rest. If the pain persists close your eyes and go to the pain and ask it what is wrong as you would a child. No need to laugh as you will get an answer when you learn to listen. Well worth a try don't you think and it has only good side effects as it works on everything (that is both mind and body).
Most of the time if this is done immediately you can nip the problem in the bud and leave your doctor free to deal with others with bigger problems and leave him/her more available for you when you really do need him.
As the saying goes, 'a stitch in time saves nine,' and most things in life can be sorted if you only take a little time.
I have been practising this for years and as I said rarely need to go to the doctor but I do know when the pain is different and needs an expert opinion. Alas I was not always this way inclined, because after the good training received as a child I spent my life working to forget things I could not face and I was constantly blocking pain; I overrode the signals with work as it was my medication. It was like I had disconnected the trip switch - the warning signal - the pain until I ended up in crisis which took years to recover from.
I am amused at the amount of people who take the time to service the car as they are afraid that it might let them down if they don't but it never occurs to them to do the same thing for themselves.
Maybe we need to charge people to do an MOT or NCT on themselves and save the taxpayer a fortune in doctor's visits and medication!
Why not spend ten minutes a week alone checking out your body to see if it's okay, you will get to know your weak spots and when you learn to work with your body it will in turn work with you.
You can do all this by sitting in a quiet place, close your eyes and ask yourself how things are going. When your body learns to trust you, it will keep you posted (it may take a little time for you body to trust you - you who have ignored it for decades).
Remember where your doctor is, keep your body checked out but, get in touch with how you work and free up the surgeries full of people unable to take the time to listen to themselves but expecting the doctor to have the time to do it for them!
Don't wait for that crisis like I did. When you feel ill, stressed or have a pain, ask what is wrong, or feel free to come down to me and I will be delighted to show you how simple all of this is.
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