What does prevention mean to you?
Mind & Body
At Rebel Med NW, we’ve learned that prevention means different things to different people. Although people generally think of prevention as preventing ill-health from happening, it is actually so much more than that.
While preventing ill-health from happening is a noble concept, it doesn’t begin to address the realities that we face as human beings that live in a social, economic, political, and cultural world that is not completely in our control. Prevention can be a focus of anybody, no matter where they are on the health spectrum.
So What is Prevention Then?
The Foundations of Health
At Rebel Med NW, we value prevention in all its forms. Prevention could be doing all the Foundations of Health:
- Keep a whole foods-based diet that is minimally processed – as best as your resources allow.
- Get regular exercise appropriate for your physical condition – as best as your resources allow.
- Get enough sleep.
- Have time to engage in relaxation – building a relaxation plan into your day or week.
- Get your annual check-ups and keep track of current baseline health through labs and physical exams.
- Get relevant vaccinations appropriate for your lifestyle factors – (such as the Covid-19 vaccine so that you prevent transmission and severity of diseases for yourself and for your community.)
- But prevention goes beyond this.
Preventative Medicine
Services
Where Can We Apply Preventative Medicine?
Depending on your constitution and phase in life, prevention can mean keeping healthy and avoiding ill-health. This is Prevention of Occurrence: being able to maintain your current health status. This could mean getting your annual check-ups and establishing baselines so you are in touch with your physiological functioning. It could also vary with your lifestyle routines and choices. For somebody who works a job that is hard on their physical body, prevention could mean getting regular bodywork done such as Spinal Manipulation, Acupuncture, or Massage Therapy. Keeping in mind that working a desk job from 9-5 is also hard on your body, prevention is getting the postural coaching and physical therapy exercises necessary to undo that chronic stagnation and tension.
For a lot of people, their health condition is a part of their life. Whether it is an auto-immune condition, diabetes, or other health issues that are not likely to go away, you can still practice prevention through the management and make sure that you slow down disease progression as much as you can. In some cases, the condition can even go into remission for a period of time. Remember that we are not static beings that are either healthy or unhealthy. We are human beings managing our health in the best ways that we can.
If you have recently had to undergo a procedure or intensive treatment plan in order to rid yourself of an acute disease or heal from an injury, then our goal is to help you with appropriate after-care so that you can prevent the complications that can arise. Therapies necessary for healing such as surgery and antibiotics come with their own injuries to our bodies. Appropriate education and after-care to make sure that the investment that you just put towards your health pays off in the long run.
Along the same lines as preventing complications, at Rebel Med NW, we also want to help you prevent the re-occurrence of ill-health of possible. Have you been trapped in a cycle or loop with your current health condition? Maybe you need more education about your personal health and condition so that you can appropriately prevent it or even manage it on your own in the future before it becomes something that requires professional treatment. The providers at Rebel Med NW understand the importance of educating patients so that they can be more accountable and empowered in their health.
Education
& Advocacy
There are two sides to our therapeutic relationship. We are the experts when it comes to physiology, therapies, and treatment plans, you are the experts when it comes to you, your health history, and your life. We make sure that we are educating you in a way that you understand more about your health and the processes going on behind it. In doing so, we hope that you are more empowered by this information and accountability so that you can take charge of your health for the entirety of your lifetime. When it comes to prevention, nothing is more important than solid information and education so that you can make the best choices for yourself. No matter how you build your care with us, where you are in the process, or who you choose to see, prevention is what we practice here at Rebel Med NW.
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