I Went to a Workshop Called “What Do I Take?”The Answer Wasn’t a Shopping List

Our chiropractor, Dr. Dwyer Scott at Advanced Medical Solutions, has been holding monthly health workshops. We’ve attended the last two, and both times the room has been full of people willing to give up a Saturday morning to learn more about taking care of their health.

I always go with notepad and pen in hand and this time I fully expected to be writing a list of supplements that I needed to order.  But that wasn’t where we started at all.  Dr. Scott suggests determining where to focus for the next three months and then reevaluate.  He also distinguishes between a need and a want and categorizes the difference between minimal, worth attention and important priority.  So how do we know what comes first?

He breaks down the process in several steps starting with:

What symptoms do you have
Schedule an appointment with your medical professional
Get objective data which is bloodwork and x-rays
Identify the problem
Target the physiology
Then measure results. 

He defines these steps as our roadmap.  His point was that it’s hard to know what deserves attention without first understanding where you are, which is why measurement is part of the process.

Once you have a roadmap, Dr. Scott begins with the foundation.  For him, the foundation begins with movement which can look very different from one person to another.  From there, other foundational support can be considered based on what your body needs. That might include nutrition or specific supplements. That doesn’t mean supplements don’t have a place. Dr. Scott discussed those too, but within the context of what an individual needs rather than simply accumulating more things to take.

From there, Dr. Scott moved into more advanced options—hormones, peptides, IV therapies and regenerative treatments. Lanny and I have personally explored several of these and I’ll continue sharing those experiences separately.

But something said about peptides captured the larger point for me:

They may help raise the roof, but they can’t build the foundation.

The answer to the question ‘What Do I Take’ turned out NOT to be a shopping list.  It was:

Figure out where you are.
Determine what actually needs attention.
Work on the foundation.
Measure what happens.
Then decide what comes next.

I went into the workshop expecting to leave with more things to take. Instead, I left with a reminder that before adding something new, it helps to understand what I’m trying to improve.

There may be more options available to us than ever before. But more options don’t necessarily make the next decision any clearer. Sometimes the best place to start is still with the basics—and with knowing where you are right now.

Jamie Harrington
Curious explorer of living well in the second half of life