Full circle, huh? Perhaps. It seems this happens in a lot of areas. We swing one direction too far, then we go to extremes the other way. Then, finally – fingers crossed – we find some nice middle ground. Not middle as in wishy-washy. Middle as in reasonable balance.

While you might think I’d be cheering the, “Here, eat this root” portion (and I am), let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. Can we stop making anyone and everyone wrong and simply find what’s new that is good and combine it with respect and use for the old? It’s not all of one or all of the other.

Ah, my dream world: Respect for the medicine of ancients along with wise – and judicious – use of modern medicine. Complemented by a true allegiance to the idea of first, do no harm.

In other words: Say you have back pain. Try something non-invasive and non-toxic that can’t hurt first. Chiropractic care, acupuncture, massage, etc. If that doesn’t work, keep moving up the scale. Don’t jump first – or soon, even – to something like back surgery.

It still makes me catch my breath when I think of my daughter’s back issues that started in her teens. The doctor’s suggestion? Back surgery. Scary. Luckily, I had enough experience then with alternative care that we pursued other options. (Massage and chiropractic adjustments were the main.) Her back issues subsided; she never had surgery.

What if I didn’t know other areas to investigate first? It scares me to think of what may have happened. Her good friend’s sister had back surgery … and ended up in a wheelchair for life. That doesn’t mean that would’ve happened to my daughter, but it was a risk I don’t think anyone should take unless they’re out of options. We weren’t. We ran through a few safe, can’t-do-any-harm choices and got her back to normal.

My back started bothering me last year. I didn’t run first for back surgery, meds with side effects and the like. I started trying to figure out why this had cropped up. Long story short, what I needed was some strength training in that area. Problem solved. Safely.

If you have time, you have options. Find them. Once you cut into vertebrae (cut, fuse, whatever), for example, you can’t un-cut them. But you can get a massage and not do permanent damage to your body. You can try a chiropractic adjustment, and do no harm. (Of course, do some homework first, and find good practitioners you can trust.) You can try some other alternative medicine methods. You can get traditional medicine advice (do your homework yet again and also go in empowered and wise), and consider it as well.

Just don’t take the drastic measure as the only answer. Living now, we are lucky enough to have access and knowledge about a whole buffet of health care choices. The 4,000 years worth. But it’s up to you to become informed and make a wise choice.