Medical Minimalism
Why I avoid doctors, dentists, and other members of the modern medical establishment when possible.
I went to the eye doctor today, my first visit to a doctor in over a year. I had somehow managed to convince myself that maybe, just maybe, there would be some precautions in place to help keep the patients safe, LOL.
There were no masks, there was no air purification, and everyone in the building, the patients, the staff, and the doctor were coughing.
It was all I could do to keep myself from running out the door.
I have always practiced medical minimalism, which is using the medical establishment sparingly. Unless there is a problem that I absolutely cannot correct myself, I stay away from them.
I have been forced into hospitals for surgeries three times in the last fifteen years. I have never had a colonoscopy, despite warnings that you should have them every year after a certain age, I spent three years trying to fix a hip problem before it got so bad I had to have it replaced, at the time I got the first one replaced the doctor told me that I should have the other one done as well, that was five years ago, and I have managed through exercise and supplementation to keep it in good enough shape that my life isn’t impacted.
I use a willow twig, in addition to floss, to keep my teeth healthy and the last time I went to a dentist he was surprised by how good my teeth looked after not having been to the dentist in years.
I did not have anything against the medical practitioners initially, I just never had the money or the insurance to afford them. Now, since they have dropped the ball in a big way on precautions, I very much have something against them and I feel that my years of learning to live without them is going to serve me well as the current and future pandemics continue to plague us (maybe a pun intended.)
I have also discovered that a basic maintenance schedule for my body will eliminate the need for too much interaction with, what is now, an unsafe group.
I trust that no one who reads my pieces regularly will mistake this for some weird, anti medicine screed, it is not.
It is also not anti-vax or intended as an attack on people who have a very real need of the modern medical establishment.
It is also not intended to suggest that you should engage with any wellness grifters who are, for the most part, as completely clueless as the mainstream medical community.
It is what I have done, by necessity, for most of my life, and it has worked, so far.
I think that avoiding hospitals, medical clinics, physical therapists and others like them is now the best decision that I can make to stay healthy.
My rules for staying functional.
#1 Don’t do anything stupid. If you hurt yourself exercising, especially if you’re older, you’re kind of fucked
#2 Adopt a reasonably healthy and, preferably cheap, diet, not to be confused with any weird paleo shit or other meat based madness. Eat a donut every now and again.
#3 Start moving every day, walking, resistance training, and mobility/flexibility work. Try for incremental improvement every day.
#4 Hope that you’re lucky, like I have been, in avoiding the nasties that are waiting around every corner.
#5 If your sleep hasn’t gone to shit like mine, try to get some.
There are a lot of online resources, among them my current favorites are Upright Health, Will Harlow, Original Strength, and Dan John University.
Stay strong.
My children are concerned that I am going to drop all health insurance, including Medicare Part B, when I turn 65, but there just isn't any medical care I'm willing to submit to that isn't cheaper paying with cash. Dental care, as you point out, is something you do for yourself with good habits, and insurance doesn't even cover fillings anymore. Even a colonoscopy costs less than one month's health insurance premium. I am sure if I did submit to all of the tests insurance "pays" for, I would be on multiple prescriptions, need spine stabilization surgery and a knee replacement, but living in a house with stairs and in a neighborhood with a steep incline gives me all the physical therapy I need, and stabilizes my mood, too. I will get my cataracts fixed before the health care system really craters, and the eye care people I see put on masks when they see I'm wearing one, and I've got gas masks, water purification, basic first aid, and herbal medicinals for the increasingly unhealthy environment we dwell in and have no control over. If I need more than that and can't afford it, I'm content to fade out. What if a significant number of us refused to buy health insurance? What would happen?
I am fortunate in that I have cheap government health insurance. A trade off for all the bad things the U.S. military put me through during my military career. I have no choice but to pay for Medicare but my Tricare for Life is free now. I only pay about $52 a month for Tricare Prime for my younger wife. It used to be $25 not so long go. I do have cheap dental and vision insurance as well. But the downside is that we live in an era of text book medicine. If you complain of an ailment that isn't in their medical textbooks, the doctors throw some shit against the wall and diagnose you with whatever sticks to the wall. I have been misdiagnosed a lot since I retired from the Army. Especially by the VA. They have given up on several things and just awarded me 100% service connected disabled. Better to just throw money at me in disability than spend more money trying to figure out what they did to me while on active duty. I'll take it but I have to wonder what my life expectancy is these days.
The VA replaced one of my hip joints a couple of years ago, telling me that I had no choice anymore. it was either replace it or wait for it to break. I was very close to the break point they said. My right knee was put up for replacement twelve years ago but I refused. I made adjustments in my life style and sleep positions and I'm good for now.
My wife and I try to walk some everyday we can. Even on this epic vacation around the country. At home, I have a rowing machine for morning PT and we walk in the afternoons. We do our best to eat healthy foods and take some, what I call, senior vitamin supplements every day.
Will all of this healthy living prolong my longevity? I can't answer that but it doesn't hurt, yet. I am always wondering in the background whether I will come up with some kind of weird cancer because of all of the things I was exposed to during my military career. I guess I won't know until it happens, if it does. If I do end up with another weird life altering something, the VA will jump thru their usual hoops and end up throwing up their hands again, telling me they can't help me. What a world.