Choosing the holistic approach
By: Kristina Krawchuk
It's an inevitable change -- for whatever the reason you are now forced to find a new primary care doctor.
Patient Patti Canterbury of Amsterdam said, "This has been just a perfect pairing because he is so positive and has such a positive energy that emulates from him."
Canterbury is describing her new primary care physician Dr. Bill Papura of Amsterdam. She and her husband JB consider him their medical miracle guy. Why? Well he taught them how to live a healthier life.
"We talk about how have I been, what's going on in my life? How am I feeling in general. What's the specific problem? And then we talk about what we can do about it and what the options are," JB said.
Patti said, "We had to make changes, changes to diet and changes to exercise and attitudes towards your health and attitudes towards your job and towards life in general."
It's a holistic approach to medicine. Dr. Papura isn't an MD -- he's a D.O. which stands for Doctor of Osteopathy. They meet the same requirements as a medical doctor, but D.O.'s go to Osteopathic colleges and focus special attention on the muscular-skeletal system.
"They have the ankle pain, but where did it come from? Are they wearing improper footwear. Is it bad posture at work or when they are exercising or something else has had to contribute to it?" Dr. Papura said.
D.O.'s also use osteopathic principles and techniques to diagnose and treat their patients with a focus on OMT or Osteopathic Manipulation Technique.
Dr. Papura said, "We are first of all going to a diagnosis and what we term as a systematic dysfunction. And that's a loss of range of motion in certain joints that may impact not just the bones and the muscles and the ligaments but also the nerves and blood vessels that surround those joints and the OMT is used to free up those restrictions to get a more normal range of motion."
That combined with a few life style changes has the Canterburys taking on a whole new life.
"Weight loss, muscle gain, feel better, do more -- you know just a lot of different ways life has improved," JB said.
Patti added, "I feel very confidant about my health going into the future. I don't feel like I'm 45."
Just another choice in the books for healthier living.
Really? I guess it's a small world. I'm from CA but just stumbled across this article on the internet.
