As women, we often look to women to heal us—female doctors just make a lot of us feel more comfortable. But we also want alternatives, as in alternative medicine.
In 2003, after 12 years of chronic pain, and countless visits to doctors, I was diagnosed with endometriosis. Like my mother before me, whose first doctor told her “one must tolerate pain,” I didn’t know about alternative medicine and the physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits it can bring.
Endometriosis (like childbirth) taught me that women are tough in many ways; we are able to hold together more than what’s imaginable and still be there for others. It also taught me to look to the East, as Western medicine alone wasn’t able to relieve my suffering. The practice of alternative medicine shows empathy for patients in chronic pain and looks at the person as a whole being and not just the sum of their various parts.
Acupuncture helped relieve my pelvic pain and aided in better circulation—something I very much needed. I also leaned that with chiropractic care I could rid myself of lower back pain and had less muscle fatigue.
More and more women have made “healing” their way of life—becoming professional massage therapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, and offering doula support. There are more doctors—female and male—who study Internal Medicine and choose homeopathic medicine as their sub specialty.
And, like me, many people are realizing the benefits of these professions. The healing arts are in demand, for patients and practitioners, now more than ever. According to Kitty Devlin, a licensed acupuncturist who works for Harford Holistic Center in Bel Air, Maryland , this has a lot to do with society and how we are always in a “rushing mode.” Many working moms start the day as early as 5am and the next time their head hits the pillow it may be 10pm at night…with a slew of must-do today items along the way, lest we forget any bumps in the road like your little one running a fever or the older one who missed the bus and is freaking out alone at school. We try to maintain our professional and personal life, and remember to breathe, and in the process, develop a great deal of stress. Stress often translates to ailments and many ailments can be healed holistically.
The turn towards “healing” services helps women in need find balance.
Read the rest of Michelle A. Osteria's piece here at WorkingMother.com.
