I started The Wellness Digest in 2010 as a resource for clients, friends, and family. I wanted to help others understand the complexity of muscle pain. The Wellness Digest has now become a resource for people worldwide to research and understand the interconnection of muscles and body pain.
My Life Past and Present
I have spent most of my life working with show, pleasure, and race horses. My other accomplishments include:
- Caregiver
- Writer and researcher for health and sports sites.
- Massage Therapist (18+ years experience).
- Developed and ran a successful Internet home décor store which I later sold.
- Designed commercial, business, and personal websites.
A few things I have learned through the healthcare school of hard knocks:
- To question everything: diagnoses, treatments, and prognosis.
- Sometimes, the tried and true treatments don't work.
- Sometimes, doctors make mistakes.
- Just because you repeatedly see and hear the same things does not mean it is true.
- Published studies, clinical research, and clinical trial results can be skewed by the media and the people conducting the study, research, or trial.
- Over-medication is more common than we think.
- Compelling anecdotal evidence can be a good enough reason to try an unconventional treatment when conventional treatment is not working.
- There are a lot of shysters out there pushing cures for everything from hang nails to cancer.
- Alternative methods can be healing but can also do harm and even be deadly.
The Three Important Lessons I Have Learned When It Comes To Health
- Everything in the body is connected. Dysfunction and pain in one area of the body will affect other areas of the body. This applies to muscles and soft tissues as well as your vital organs. A pulled muscle in the back of the thigh will often cause knee, hip, and lower back pain and stiffness that continues long after the injury has healed.
- Dysfunction in an organ affects the whole body, often causing fatigue, pain, stiffness, and a general feeling of blahness.
- Every body is different. Each body handles stress, illness, injury, and life's ups and downs in its own unique way. Each body reacts differently to treatments, medication, vitamin regimes, diets, etc. What works for a friend or a stranger on the Internet may not work for you. This is true for standardized medical care and alternative care.
For total health, the whole body must be considered and treated. Finding the primary problem and treating it is, of course, a priority. But treating secondary symptoms must also happen to restore health.
I am neither a doctor-basher nor a medications are evil person.
Doctors are good, medical advancements are amazing, and medications save lives. However, doctors, medical treatments, and medications are not the beginning and end-all when it concerns your health.
I am not a holistic and alternative guru.
Many alternative treatments have been proven or show evidence of being beneficial for health. Some are preventive / maintenance measures, and others are treatment options that have helped people. There are alternative methods that some individuals believe helped, while others find it did not help. Unfortunately, there are many unscrupulous scammers out there pushing "magick potions and devices" that are dangerous and bring the credibility of the entire alternative / complementary medicine industry into question.
My Main Focus Is Muscle, Joint, and Soft Tissue Injury and Dysfunction
I study muscles; they fascinate me! I have 1,800 hours of additional training in massage and other health-related matters. I research studies, trials, and publications to find new and old methods and treatments that might help someone. The Wellness Digest will provide an avenue to bring together this information, the medical, the alternative, and the holistic, so you can see other options are available. Because my area of study is muscle and soft tissue function, these will be The Wellness Digest's primary focus. However, I will also bring you other health news that is important and interesting.
Remember that what affects one area of the body affects the body as a whole!