In Pain? Don’t Be So Quick to Pop That Pill

Everyone has aches and pains at some point and time, whether from overdoing it, an illness or injury, or simply from the effects of aging.

When the pain gets bad or lingers for long periods of time, it can disrupt our normal day-to-day lives. When this happens, people start looking for ways to relive their pain.

Unfortunately, most people turn to pills and other medications to find pain relief.

While this works in the short term, the pain relief only lasts for however long the individual takes the medication.

And worse of all, most medications today come with a long list of side effects, many that can be as bad or even worse than the condition you are trying to treat.

Medications and Side Effects

We have all heard the commercials for pain medications to treat chronic pain, fibromyalgia and other painful conditions. They rattle off a long list of terrifying side effects that have been reported while using the drug—hives, rash, ulcers, migraines, heart attack, stroke, cancers and even death!

They always try to present these side effect lists as quickly as possible and in such a way as to distract you from the fact that you’re about to try to fix a health problem by taking an even greater risk with your health.

It has become accepted today for some reason, and this needs to change.

The New Way of Treating Health Problems

Today, thanks to a continued focus on holistic health and overall wellness, more and more people are looking at ways they can take more control over their health.

People today are tired of just getting a blanket diagnosis and being prescribed cookie-cutter treatments and medications that cause more harm than good with only a minimal chance of actually working for them.

They’re looking for more personalized health plans and treatment options that not only restore the body but heal the body as well.

That is why the Tolbert Center incorporates DNA micronutrient testing into our treatment plans for patients. We believe in focusing on the patient as a whole, not just a list of symptoms.

We’ve found that one of the best ways to start treating musculoskeletal conditions and other chronic pain is by assessing a person’s nutritional deficiencies. When the body is lacking the basic building blocks and elements it needs to stay healthy, the body suffers.

Pain, inflammation and poor health are the results and these can quickly accumulate and become compounded over time as the deficiencies get worse and worse with time.

By understanding how your nutritional balance helps with your overall wellness, you can take control of your health, rather than having your health control you. One of the services we provide for this is DNA micronutrient testing.

What is DNA Micronutrient Testing?

Eating a balanced diet, making sure you are exercising and taking your vitamins every day is simply not enough to maintain the proper balance of micronutrients for some people.

Each person’s body is unique in its own way and no cookie-cutter method will work for everyone. Due to the complexity of the human body, an individualized healthcare approach offers the best opportunity to determine what your unique needs are when it comes to micronutrients.

DNA micronutrient tests measure levels of more than 35 nutritional components including vitamins, antioxidants, minerals and amino acids within our white blood cells.

These test results provide valuable insight into the individual’s unique biological chemistry and highlight the unique needs of that individual when it comes to maintaining a proper micronutrient balance and optimal health.

Everyone Should Get a DNA Micronutrient Test

DNA micronutrient testing helps give our patients the very thing they have been longing for: personalized healthcare and options that do not exist with traditional pill-popping pain management practices.

When the body is deficient in a number of these key elements, it can cause problems throughout the body. Swelling and inflammation can lead to joint pain and stomach problems, imbalances in the body can throw off critical systems and lead to conditions such as hypertension, IBS, cognitive issues, bone loss and more.

Many of these conditions cause pain, which could have easily been prevented or, at the very least, lessened by ensuring more balanced micronutrient levels. The following reasons highlight why DNA micronutrient tests are so important:

• Eating right and working out are not always enough. If the body is out of whack at a cellular level, no amount of work and effort on the outside will work until that imbalance is corrected.
• Vitamin, mineral and antioxidant deficiencies have been shown in many studies to lead to conditions such as arthritis, heart disease, poor cognition, osteoporosis, joint pain and even some cancers.
• Personalized medicine has the potential to be a real game changer because it takes medical treatments and tailors it to the individual patient rather than forcing the patient into a cookie-cutter treatment plan.
• Several factors affect nutritional statuses such as age, lifestyle, genetics, medications, absorption rates, gut health, hormones and more, and these DNA micronutrient tests emphasize your biochemical individuality.

How We Know DNA Micronutrient Testing Works

Let’s share a personal story. It was 2002. Dr. Tolbert had just opened the doors to start her medical practice when she succumbed to extreme fatigue.

She developed body aches all over her body. When she brought up the issue with her well intended cousin, a Harvard physician, he suggested Dr. Tolbert might have fibromyalgia, a disabling chronic pain syndrome.

At the time, Dr. Tolbert said she wanted to cry because doing basic tasks required all her energy. With her new practice, Dr. Tolbert knew that this was not going to work. “This must be fixed quick and in a hurry,” she thought to herself.

She scheduled an appointment with her medical physician colleague, who examined her and ran a battery of tests. He came with some news: Dr. Tolbert was anemic (low blood count) and had the lowest vitamin D he had ever seen in his over 35 years of practicing medicine, and Dr. Tolbert had borderline abnormal thyroid levels.

He prescribed Dr. Tolbert a prescription type of vitamin D, iron and said, “Unsure if you want to be on something for your thyroid or not.”

Her body aches immediately subsided after the vitamin D, and eventually everything improved but not at the level she was accustomed to or needed given her active lifestyle, running a full-time medical practice, being a wife and raising three sons.

After a follow-up visit, Dr. Tolbert learned that her labs had returned back to normal. But she noticed she was feeling better but not fabulous. At the Tolbert Center, we want everyone to leave feeling fabulous.

This is when Dr. Tolbert’s colleague forever changed her life by introducing her to the concept of not settling for merely normal lab values but expecting to feel fabulous.

He introduced her to the world of nutritional and personalized medicine.

He drew Dr. Tolbert’s blood, which was sent to a specialized lab where her white blood cells were removed and tested for over 35 different vitamins and minerals.

Without question, there is overwhelming evidence that vitamin deficiencies are associated with the chronic disease process and the overall condition of one’s health. This is how we know DNA micronutrient testing works. Using gene analysis and an immune score was determined all from looking at my cells.

“I used the results of this nutritional panel to determine the root cause of my fatigue, not just treat the symptoms, and my life and practice forever changed,” Dr. Tolbert said.

Conclusion

At the Tolbert Center, we strongly believe that personalized healthcare is the way to achieve optimal and balanced wellness, prevent chronic disease and manage the aging process.

We recommend DNA micronutrient testing as a first step on the journey to feeling fabulous and finding relief from pain.

We know that even the smallest essential elements and nutrients make a big impact on our lives in the long run.

Without a good foundation of cellular health, all the hard work and effort we put into maintaining our health and well being will be for naught.

As Dr. Tolbert says, “Plants need water, sunlight and nutrition to flourish throughout the season. As people, we are the same.” So do yourself a favor, take that first step toward taking control over your health and get your testing scheduled today.