WHAT IS THE HOLISTIC APPROACH?
Holistic medicine addresses the patient’s entire body and lifestyle. Our holistic approach doesn’t just look at one, two, or even three areas to determine the best approach for overcoming the patient’s health obstacles; rather, it looks at the entire picture. The body is like a puzzle; all of the pieces must be put together in relation to another, instead of blindly looking for the match for one single piece at a time. When considering the whole picture, we can more accurately determine the root cause of the patient’s health challenges.
To do this, we look at the patient’s physical, psychological, and social needs to determine what’s benefiting their health or negatively influencing it. We examine how organs and systems affect each other, for instance, is the patient’s dental hygiene linked to their heart health? We exhaust every option before making decisions for diagnosis and treatment. Our holistic style focuses on getting the person back in charge of their health condition, instead of keeping them a slave to prescriptions and drugs. We want our patients to experience holistic health.
HOW THE HOLISTIC APPROACH WORKS
When I first came to the United States, I bought a 10-year-old Honda Accord with no working air-conditioner. I was living in Miami and it was unbearably hot. I took the car to an air-conditioning specialist who changed the entire AC unit. I was so happy that I drove it off right away and turned the AC on full-blast. However, when I turned the dial, nothing happened. Hot air was still blowing out. I brought it back to him and after taking another look, he said some valve or other wasn’t working. I paid him more money than I initially came to America with (which wasn’t much, but still!). When the valve was fixed, I took it home. To my dismay, the AC still wouldn’t kick on. I took it back to him and he replaced the entire radiator. At this point I was scraping for every last piece of change. However, after the radiator was replaced, the AC simply wouldn’t work.
Giving up on the specialist, I resolved to spend the summer sweating. That got old fast and I took my car to a very simple repair shop. He took a quick look and said, “Your car is not switching from hot to cold.” The dial in the car was simply broken. “You’re getting hot air because it’s not coming from the AC but the heating system. Your AC works fine.” I maybe paid $10, he put some oil in it, fixed the switch, and just like that the air conditioner started working.
This story stuck with me all the way through medical school. When I took the car to a specialist, he was so focused on his field that he couldn’t see the simple solution, even when it was right in front of him. Medicine is the same way. A conventional specialist may look at one health issue in different patients all day long, eventually treating most cases the same way (believe me, it’s hard not to!). Trying to fix one part of the body instead of looking at how all of the parts work together can very well be a waste of time and money. Since it’s human lives at stake, and not a silly car, we have no time to waste.
WHAT MAKES OUR HOLISTIC APPROACH DIFFERENT?
As a medical professional, I vow to do everything in my power to make accurate diagnoses and avoid harmful chemicals and drugs.
By using a holistic approach in my practice, I am allowed the time to do that. I spend hours with each patient, dwelling over their wellness possibilities and doing everything necessary to solve their issues. After spending time getting to know the patient’s lifestyles, routines and health practices, I stand a much better chance of finding and fixing the root cause. My goal is to help the patient lead a healthier and more whole life, not to get them in and out as fast as I can. That’s what it means to be a holistic doctor.
HOLISTIC SOLUTIONS
Let me give you a sample situation. Imagine a patient comes to me with a cough. His physical examination is normal, and a simple cough syrup could be the solution. But if the patient was on a long flight before developing the cough, then this seemingly innocent issue might portend a deadly blood clot in the lungs. Imagine another situation: a patient comes in with a few episodes of vomiting. Simple benign food poisoning would be the easy diagnosis. But if the vomiting is associated with an unsteady gait then it may be signifying a deadly stroke that requires emergency treatment.
In order to be thorough with each patient, I spend time inside and outside the office thinking of the best ways to approach each patient’s health challenges. I am dedicated to learning all I can about each patient’s puzzle in order to find the accurate solution to their illnesses.
If you live in the New York City or Long Island, NY area and would like to know more about our holistic approach and how we could support you, give us a call or visit us at our Long Island or Brooklyn location. We are easily accessible from any borough in NYC, whether you’re from Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island, or the Bronx.