Treating the Root Cause of Your Symptoms

“Root cause refers to the fundamental reason for the occurrence of a problem”
~ Collins English Dictionary

A root cause is an initiating cause of a causal chain which leads to an outcome or effect of interest. I have heard that ancient Chinese traces the root cause to a tree: The patient is like a tree, the disease symptoms are the branches, but the root cause is deeper and maybe even be in the soil. They have written that there are times when you must treat the branch (biao) first, however, whenever possible, the wise doctor must instead treat the root of disease (ben). The Chinese character for ben not only suggests the root cause, but also the stem, the part of the plant behind the fruit and tip of the branch that’s connected to the trunk.

I first learned about Chinese Medicine which is very similar to Ayurveda Medicine (Indian Medicine) when I was in school for massage therapy. No one is quite sure which one was used first in history. They are both ancient medicinal practices that focus on treating and finding out what the root cause of a problem is and how to fix it using the things available to us from mother earth.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been around for over 2,500 years. This practice of medicine includes treating and focusing on the root cause of an issue and not treating the symptoms at hand. Their practice focuses on the use of acupuncture, massage (tui na), gua sha, cupping, exercise (qigong), dietary therapy along with planetary philosophies of yin-yang and the five elements (Wu Xing) of Wood (mu), Fire Earth (huo), Metal (jin) and Water(shui). The five elements represent the interaction between internal organs. Their belief that the body’s vital energy known as Chi or qi (acupuncture points) circulates through channels called meridians. These meridians have branches connected to bodily organs and functions. The principles of TCM are deep-rooted in texts called Yellow Emperor’s Inner Canon and Treatise on Cold Damage.

Ayurvedic Medicine focuses on steam bathing, balancing the Doshas, dietary changes, massage,herbal remedies, yoga, bloodletting, purging, shirodhara treatments and massage. Their beliefs are very similar to Chinese medicine. It is a holistic approach that considers the human body as a temple. They believe that every human has three distinct doshas (vata, pitta and kapha) which one remains predominant and decides the character and persona of an individual. When one of these doshas is out of balance, illness or disease will occur in one’s self. Vata imbalance will present as insomnia, loss of memory, fever, dry skin, constipation, restlessness and fear. Pitta imbalance will present itself as anger, high blood pressure, disgust, heartburn, ulcer, jealousy and skin irritation. Kapha presents itself as congestion, delayed digestion, sluggishness and obesity.

Focusing on the root cause can sometimes be confusing to individuals that are not familiar with Chinese medicine or the concept of such a practice. When you get a headache, that is a sign from your body that something is wrong, your first reaction might be to go to the medicine cabinet and take Advil or Tylenol and the headache seems to go away, but, all you did was mask the pain with a drug. The headache may still be there when the medicine wears off or come back the next day and again your first reaction might be to take more medicine. What you should do is figure out what caused the headache and fix that problem first: are you dehydrated, is your hair pulled back too tight, did you sleep wrong or was it from something you ate, are their chemicals in the air you are breathing, candles, plug in air fresheners, perfume and so on, this is the root cause of the headache, fix this issue and the headache will not return. The first thing I do when I get a headache is drink 8 ounces of purified water and think to myself when was the last time I ate, these are two main causes of headaches. It’s the same with a fever; most people panic and go for the medicine cabinet; you should never break a fever in an infected child that wasn’t caused by a traumatic event just before hand. A traumatic even would include surgery, vaccinations, medications, serious injury. It’s your body’s natural way of attacking the root cause of your sickness, the body’s natural defense system. You should look at a fever that burns off rubbish (pathogens and microbes), this type of fire needs a safe place to burn (in bed with you), it needs to be watched closely while the body heals itself. I will talk more about this subject in the future. Cancer is another warning sign that your body needs to be balanced; most people think of it as a death sentence and go straight for surgery, Chemo and radiation therapy. I personally would want to know why I had cancer and what in my life needed to change. I would drastically change my diet, cleanse out my organs so that they could work properly and begin supplementing with quality vitamins and minerals in hopes of resetting my internal clock and activating my self-healing mechanism so that my body could be in a state where it could heal itself. I would also consult with the Hoxey Clinic or The Gearson Therapy Clinic, both are cancer centers in Mexico.

Preventative maintenance of the body is the best way to attack the root cause of any issue before it becomes an issues. Cleansing the body on a yearly basis is the best way. I have tried many different cleanses throughout the years, being raised with these fundamental beliefs and I have finally found a Doctor that I trust to remain true to his cause of teaching the masses how to heal themselves. Cleansing the organs in the proper order with earth derived herbal formulas will help the body reset its internal clock and ultimately activate the self-healing mechanism we were all born with. Everything you read in this blog is meant to help you along your journey of reclaiming your birthright to optimal health. With the times we live in it’s almost impossible to get all our nutrition from food and our organs need help in detoxing the body. We are bombarded with chemicals in our food, water, the air and our daily work environment, our body is capable of ridding itself of many of these daily invaders but the modern era has just become too much for the body to handle on its own. Through my years of seeking out the doctors who have done the research I truly believe cleansing is the best self care one can do to get to the root cause of any issue. The more you cleanse the fewer symptoms you will have. Going through the body organ by organ allows the body to reset its internal clock and your machine will start working the way it was intended to.