How Long Has Your Oil Light Been On?

If you want to remain in good health throughout your life, you must learn to recognize and listen to the messages your body gives you. This may be a challenge at first—most people are not very body-conscious, and feel their bodies only when they’re in severe pain. To become more body-conscious, you must listen to your body when it whispers to you, not just when it screams. To become more body-conscious, try the following exercise twice a day, morning and night, just before you start or end your day:

Take a few moments to sit or lie down in a comfortable position. Let your mind feel your body. First, put your attention on your feet and legs, being aware of how they actually feel: loose? tight? hot? cold? achy? Now, let your attention wander slowly over the rest of your body. Are you aware of any part that doesn’t feel as good as the rest? What does that feel like? Is it a sign of something new? Did you have this feeling the last time you did this exercise? Has it changed or progressed?

Do this exercise each day and you’ll begin to become much more familiar with the way your body normally feels. That will make you more likely to recognize a symptom when it first appears. But once you’ve become aware of your symptoms, you must make a choice about addressing them. An illustration common in the chiropractic profession is the Oil Light Analogy:

Imagine that you’re driving along in your car and the oil light comes on. What are you going to do? Ignore it and hope it will go away? If you do, you might be able to drive the car quite a bit longer, but eventually the lack of oil—which is, after all, the problem the oil light is designed to alert you to—will ruin the engine and render the car useless.

Or, when the oil light comes on, are you going to stop, add oil, drive until the light comes on again, then stop and add more oil, and so on? Adding oil over and over is similar to adding pain relievers to your body. The symptom (the oil light) may disappear for a while, but it will return when the problem gets worse again (when enough oil has again leaked out or burned up). The underlying issue (the oil leak) is never addressed. Most of you probably don’t treat your car this badly, but your bodies might be another story.

Or, when the oil light comes on, do you call the mechanic and make an appointment to take your car in for service so that he or she can find out why it lost so much oil? Probably so. You want to fix that oil leak before it creates more problems in your car, costing you more money and inconvenience. You won’t wait till your car overheats or the engine seizes up just because of a simple lack of lubrication.

The oil light is similar to your symptoms. When your body malfunctions, it tells you so by exhibiting some type of symptom. The most dangerous way to deal with symptoms is to ignore them or hope that they’ll just go away.

Sometimes symptoms are subtle—fatigue, muscle tightness, loss of appetite, or a change in sleep patterns. This is the body whispering. At other times the body will scream for help, in the forms of pain, strong allergic reactions, or a reduction in organ function.

In most cases, the problem causing the symptoms has been there a long time, and the symptoms have worsened with time. (Remember, if the symptoms are getting worse, so is the underlying disease process.) I can’t tell you how many patients I’ve seen with severe health problems who waited a year or more to seek care because they “thought it would go away.” Meanwhile, their symptoms got only worse. In many cases, by the time the patient seeks care, the disease has progressed to a point where it is much harder to treat.

I often ask patients what prevents them from seeking care as soon as they’re aware of their symptoms. The most common responses are “I thought it would go away on its own,” “I didn’t have/didn’t want to spend the money,” “I didn’t have time,” “I was afraid of what the doctor might find,” and “I was afraid of how the doctor would treat me.” All

of these hinder people from receiving the benefits of early intervention. Let’s look at each of them.

First, if you think your symptoms might go away on their own, well, they might. But when the symptom goes away or is covered by drugs, is the underlying problem really gone? The body has an amazing ability to protect you from problems. In many cases, your symptoms will eventually go away because your body’s ability to speak to you is weakened. Your symptoms are gone, but the underlying problem persists until the body again tries to alert you, usually with more severe symptoms. Don’t ignore symptoms, and don’t cover them with drugs.

If money is a concern for you when you have symptoms, I suggest you build a good relationship with an alternative healthcare provider. A doctor of chiropractic, homeopath, doctor of Oriental medicine, or naturopathic physician are all good choices. These doctors are well qualified to act as primary-care physicians—that is, the first person you see when you have questions about your health. They can evaluate you and your symptoms and advise you on what steps you should take, including referrals to specialists, if necessary.

Many providers of alternative care offer consultations and appointments at reasonable prices, and are more likely to offer some sort of payment plan for those in need. Don’t wait until you’re really sick to make the initial contact—become an established patient before you really need to. The initial consultation is generally the most costly visit and takes the most time. Once you’re an established patient, most providers can do a follow-up checkup, as needed, for much less money. If you see these providers for your yearly checkup and maintenance needs, then they’ll already be up to date on your health history and will be able to help you when serious symptoms do arise.

I offer this advice to those of you who ignore your symptoms until they’re severe because you “don’t have time” to go to the doctor: First, review the “Make Your Health a Priority” chapter. Your health is so important that a trip to the doctor to get some advice should be a priority in your schedule. These days, more and more doctors’ offices, offer some evening and/or weekend hours. I know that many doctors’ offices can keep you waiting a long time. This is another good reason to build a relationship with a doctor before you really need a doctor. A few visits to a doctor’s office will give you an idea of how time-conscious the practice is. Your time, too, is important; your appointment time should be respected.

Doctors’ offices can get backed up for two reasons: emergencies and overbooking. Emergencies are understandable, but should be the exception rather than the rule. If you always have to wait for an appointment, it could mean that your doctor is trying to see too many people in the time available. Rushing patient visits is very stressful and can be a cause of mistakes. You might want to see another doctor.

If you’re the type of person who puts off getting healthcare because you’re afraid of what a doctor might find, remember: with many devastating and deadly diseases, early intervention is the key to survival. If you wait, it may be too late.

If you’re very afraid, take a friend or family member with you to the doctor’s office so they can help you deal with your fear. It’s easier to be brave when you’re holding the hand of someone who cares for you. Be sure to let the doctor and staff know that you’re afraid. Most support staff in doctors’ offices are wonderful when it comes to quelling patients’ fears—after all, they do it all the time. Let them know what you’re feeling, so they can help you be more comfortable.

Many people hesitate to seek care because they’re reluctant to take the drugs offered by allopathic practitioners. This is another reason to get established with an alternative-care provider first. They can tell you if your problem can or can’t be handled in a drug-free manner, because that’s what they provide: drug-free care. If they’re not qualified to treat your condition and you do need drugs, they’ll refer you to an MD.

Last but not least, if you’re already an established patient with a doctor before an emergency occurs, you’ll already know how well your doctor listens and how comfortable you are with him or her. That way, you won’t have to face an unknown condition and an unknown doctor at the same time.

Learn to listen to your body, and pay attention to your symptoms. Choose early intervention so that minor health problems don’t become major ones. These two things alone will help you live a longer, healthier life.