6 Tips for Avoiding Unnecessary Surgeries

6 TIPS FOR AVOIDING UNNECESSARY SURGERIES



1. HAVE FAITH

When I was a kid, one of my teachers in school had a wooden leg because he lost one of his legs in the "Vietnam War", and said that he would take his wooden leg off at night because it was too uncomfortable to sleep with it on.

He also said that one night he got a phone call in the middle of the night that woke him up, so he got out of his bed and walked to the kitchen to answer the phone. But as soon as he picked up the phone and said, "Hello", he looked down and realized that he had forgot to put his wooden leg on, and that not only was he standing on one leg, but he had somehow walked about 20 steps with only one leg!

He said that as soon as he realized he didn't have his leg on and that he was doing something that was "impossible", he immediately lost his balance and fell down.

I believe his story, and I see it as a unique reminder of the power of belief and the disempowerment of disbelief.

We've all heard of the "placebo effect" (which is when those who believe that they are going to heal are more likely to heal than those who don't believe) but there is also the opposite situation known as the "nocebo effect" (which is when those who don't believe that they will heal are less likely to heal than those who do believe) and both of these phenomena are real.

If a doctor tells you that you have 6 months to live, and you believe it, it will basically a "death sentence" for you. But if you believe that you can heal, your optimism might literally save your life!

And if you need some extra optimism, realize that no matter what condition you are wanting to heal from, there are probably a lot of people out there who have healed from that exact same condition and who you can actually connect with on-line, and you can also watch inspirational documentaries like "Super Juice Me" on You Tube which captured some truly miraculous healings on camera.




2. GET A SECOND OPINION

Lots of people have had the experience of taking their car to a repair shop because it was making a strange sound, and being told by the mechanic that there were several things wrong with their car that needed to be repaired, and that it was going to cost a fortune.

Most people in this situation don't really know anything about fixing cars and would be too intimidated to question the advice of an expert mechanic, so they will go ahead and just agree to whatever repair work they are told is necessary.

But some will feel skeptical enough to get a second opinion from someone else (perhaps from a relative who is really knowledgeable about cars) and will then told that the problem is nowhere near as serious as the first mechanic told them it was, and that it can be fixed for a fraction of the price.

Like auto mechanics, there are some really good and honest doctors out there, but there is a good chance that if you go to see a doctor, you are going to be viewed as a "customer", and the goal of that doctor is going to be to find "something" wrong with you so that he or she can write you a prescription, schedule future appointments, and see to it that you become a "regular customer".

And the more "gullible" and less knowledgeable that you appear to be about cars or health, the more likely that an unethical auto mechanic or doctor will try to talk you into having unnecessary work done. (Whether it's getting your car's tires rotated even though it isn't necessary, or getting your wisdom teeth removed even though it isn't necessary.)

My dad and his dad both had heart attacks, and not only did my mom get cancer, but both of her parents died from cancer before I was even born. So I'm sure that if I went to most doctors and told them my family history they would tell me that cancer and heart disease both "run in my family" and that there is nothing that I can do to avoid these health problems except for scheduling regular check-ups and taking whatever drugs and advice the doctors give me.

But I'm also sure that there are other doctors who would have a different opinion, and who would tell me I could avoid these family health problems by living a different lifestyle than my family...

"Genetics loads the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger"
- Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn

In the past, a lot of women with a family history of breast cancer were encouraged by their doctor to have their breasts removed when they were still teenagers so that they wouldn't have to worry about getting breast cancer later in life, and while that may have seemed controversial at the time, the recommended surgical removal of body parts in the future could be far more controversial than we can currently even imagine if we allow it to slowly creep up on us.

And not only are surgeries very expensive these days (and therefore "big business" to hospitals) but the long-term side effects of a botched surgery that should have never even happened will end up being WAY WAY WAY more expensive for us and WAY WAY WAY more profitable to hospitals in the long-term future!

So please don't let any one person pressure you into having parts of your body surgically removed.




3. TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR TEETH

We all start off with "baby teeth", which eventually fall out and are then replaced with "permanent teeth", and the reason they are called "permanent teeth" is because they will last a lifetime if we take good care of them.


Unfortunately, most people don't take very good care of their teeth, and therefore, "oral surgery" is something that almost 100% of us will have to have at least once (if not dozens of times) in our lifetime.

Eating a healthy diet is of course an important part of good teeth health, but even if you are eating the best diet in the world, you can still run into serious dental problems...

WARNING If food particles get stuck on or between your teeth, it will provide a source of food for bacteria in your mouth, which means that the bacteria in your mouth will grow and multiply. And just like us, bacteria not only eat but defecate as well, and after they digest the food between your teeth, they will then release it back out in the form of acidic waste which can burn holes in your teeth and give you cavities, so please make sure that you aren't leaving "leftovers" in your mouth for bacteria.

WARNING Fruit is good for you, but unripe fruit is very acidic and can burn holes in your teeth, so if you are eating an orange that tastes really sour instead of sweet, or if you are eating a pineapple that is literally causing your mouth to burn, please stop eating it!

WARNING Many of the tools that dentists recommend for cleaning our teeth can actually cause tooth decay! (Most of the toothbrushes on the market are hard bristled, and are so abrasive that they can scrape away your tooth enamel, and most toothpastes are not only toxic, but can actually interfere with the natural restoration of your teeth.)

10 DENTAL TOOLS THAT I RECOMMEND

You certainly don't need to use all 10 of these tools, but just know that using even one of these tools can be very helpful.

1. Soft Bristle Toothbrush

If you are going to brush your teeth, it would be best to use a soft bristled brush, and to brush gently up and down "with the grain" of your teeth rather than going side to side and "against the grain".

2. Dental Floss

If you drink a smoothie, there will likely be no need to floss afterwards, but if you eat a salad or something else that actually involves chewing, flossing afterwards will be very helpful at removing any food particles that may be stuck in the gaps between your teeth.

3. Water Pick

A "water pick" is a miniature power washer that sprays a small jet stream of water that can provide a powerful deep cleaning for your teeth.

4. Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is so slippery that it can easily slide in and out of the thin gaps between your teeth, so I like to occasionally "swish" a spoonful of coconut oil back and forth between my teeth for a few minutes and then spit out the oil. (Keep in mind that oil can harden and clog up pipes, so instead of spitting the used oil into a sink or other drain, spit it outside or into a trashcan.)

5. Tongue Scraper

Most of the bacteria in our mouth is actually on our tongue, and if you start using a "tongue scraper" and you realize just how dirty the tongue can be, you won't want to go a day without cleaning your tongue. (If you don't have an actual "tongue scraper", a regular metal spoon can also do a good job at this.)

6. Sea Salt

Salt is anti-microbial, and one easy way to clean your mouth is to put a small amount of sea salt into a cup of water, stir well, and then use the salt water to rinse your mouth and gargle.

7. Glass Straw

If you want to drink lemon juice or any other drink that is acidic, I recommend drinking it through a straw to make sure that it doesn't make direct contact with your teeth.

8. Sunlight

I encourage people to go outside and lay in the sun, and I also encourage people to open their mouth for a minute or two while laying in the sun to give their teeth some sunshine too. (This may sound like an odd recommendation, but like they say, "sunlight is the best disinfectant", and doing this will help cleanse your mouth of impurities.)

9. Crunchy Vegetables

If you want strong teeth, you should give them regular "workouts" by eating big salads that are full of hard and crunchy vegetables or by ending meals with a big celery stick!

10. Water

I don't always use a toothbrush or floss after every single meal, but I will ALWAYS rinse my mouth really well with water after eating anything. (Even if I'm at a store, and I just want to try a grape to see the grapes are sweet or not, I will still take a small sip of water and rinse my teeth well as soon as I get a chance.) Water is the best way to keep any part of our body clean, including our teeth.

WATER IS BEST!



4. AVOID SITTING

A lot of people spend more than half of their waking hours sitting, and new research is suggesting that this is not only bad for your back, but that it can be just as bad for your overall health as smoking or being overweight!

USE A STANDING DESK

If you spend a lot of time working at a desk, one of the best things that you can do is to start using a "standing desk". (Which is a special desk that is high enough off the ground that you can stand while using it.)


You can purchase a "standing desk" on-line, or you can just do what I did and convert a regular computer desk into a standing desk by using boxes to prop your keyboard, mouse, and monitor up high enough that you can use your computer while standing.

I've even seen where people will have a standing desk with a treadmill attached to it, so that anytime they they are working at their desk they can walk instead of just standing still!

HANG UPSIDE DOWN

Gravity is constantly pushing down on us (which is why people will actually get shorter as they get older) and this can contribute to crippling spinal problems over time.

A lot of people who once had chronic back pain and were told that they would eventually need surgery, were able to get a lot of relief just from using an "inversion table". (Which is a device that allows you to safely hang upside down and reverse the effects of gravity by stretching and decompressing the spine.)


When hanging upside down, you will be a little bit taller than you are when you are standing up, because your spine is being stretched by gravity instead of being compressed by it, and while you are upside down it can be beneficial to do some deep breathing exercises and gentle spinal twists.

One of the greatest feelings for me is when I have been feeling a lot of tension in my back, and after hanging upside down for a while I will suddenly feel a really big and loud crack in my back where I was feeling all the tension, and the instant it happens I will not only feel relief in that area, but I will even be able to breathe better because the energy flow going up and down my spine is no longer constricted.



5. KNOW THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE DIS-EASE

We have been led to believe that there are 10,000 different health problems, and that they all require their own specialized treatments.

But if a teenage boy gets a pimple on their forehead after eating some greasy pizza, and a middle aged man gets erectile dysfunction after years of eating greasy foods, and an old man dies from a heart attack after a lifetime of eating greasy foods, it sounds to me like all 3 of them are actually suffering from the exact same problem, and that the only reason their problems seem different is because the problem is in different phases of progression.

In the same way that pouring bacon grease down a sink can clog up the drain, consuming a lot of greasy foods can clog up our internal piping, and can ultimately lead to our #1 cause of death ("heart disease") as well as a long list of seemingly unrelated health problems that are actually the early stages of "heart disease".

A cleaner diet could have prevented the pimple, the erectile dysfunction, and even the heart attack, and as long as the actual cause is never addressed (poor diet) the number of health problems (as well as the number of drugs that have to have to be taken to address them) will continue to increase until the person is on so many drugs and has so many symptoms that their body simply can't take it anymore and death occurs.

If a young and healthy person gets the flu, they will probably get over it and be back to normal within a few days. But if a 91-year-old grandmother gets the flu, and she has been a diabetic for the past 30 years, and she uses a motorized wheelchair to get around due to being morbidly obese, and she is on so many different meds that she needs a list just to keep track of them all, getting the flu could easily be "the final nail in the coffin" for her.

Labels can be limiting, and if we put 10,000 different names on our poor health, and then we focus all of our attention on just one of them, then in theory, we might have a chance of someday living in a world where we only have 9,999 health problems, but if we can start to look at the multiple health problems as having the same root cause, then we could potentially fix multiple health problems all at once.

I want to stress that that there are definitely times when surgery can be helpful and even lifesaving. (Like if you are in a serious car accident.)

But even if you fall off a ladder and break your leg and a surgeon puts the broken bone back together for you, that surgeon isn't "healing" you, but rather, he or she is putting the pieces of the broken bone back into the proper position so that the bone can heal on its own over the next several weeks while you rest it, and the role of good surgeon, doctor, or nurse should be to put their patients into the position where healing can take place on its own.

And even if a surgeon can successfully remove something harmful from your body (like a tumor) it will almost certainly come back in the future if you don't address what caused it to show up the first time.




6. LOVE YOURSELF

"Cosmetic Surgery" and other elective surgeries which are intended to change our appearances and our identities are rapidly becoming some of the most common forms of surgery, and I want to remind people of what the famous painter/sculptor "Michelangelo" said when someone asked him how he was able to take an ordinary stone and carve it into something as beautiful and magnificent as the "Statue of David".

"Michelangelo" answered the question by saying that "David" was already in the stone, and that all he had to do was chip away the excess that was covering him up. And that is exactly what the recommendations on this website are designed to do...

To chip away the negative excess in your life that is covering up a far greater version of yourself. (The unhealthy foods and drinks that are making you unhealthy, the limiting beliefs that are limiting your actions, and the unnecessary material things that are costing you your time, your money, and your freedom.)

The seemingly small choices that we make on a daily basis (like what we eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner) will slowly add up over the days, years, and decades, and will ultimately become some of the biggest influencing factors on whether we are healthy or unhealthy.

I believe that our bodies have the potential to heal themselves of virtually anything (from a simple shaving cut to cancer) and that the main reason we aren't living up to this potential is because our potential is buried so deeply underneath all of the excess that we just need to let go of.




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