How to Help Your Patients Through a Healing Crisis
NUTRITION
Todd Singleton
DC
The Process of Detoxification
As a chiropractor, you probably know that you can’t always provide the best possible results if a patient isn’t eating a healthy diet. You can do a lot, but you can’t force a patient into a state of optimal health if they’re not giving their body the right resources. In my experience, that’s where detoxification comes in. When you recommend a detoxification program, you give a patient the opportunity to cleanse their body of all of the toxic foods that they’ve been consuming. This process “resets” the body and facilitates the types of changes that need to happen for your adjustments to be optimally effective.
Think about the routine maintenance that you have to do to keep your car running smoothly. Beyond the basic, day-to-day work that you do to keep your car in good shape (providing gas, checking fluid levels, etc.), you also have to “deep clean” your car every so often by getting an oil change. A detoxification program is for the body what an oil change is for a car. Like an oil change, a detoxification program is a cleansing process designed to ensure that the body will continue to function effectively.
Typically, a detoxification program lasts three to five days, though patients can choose to go longer. During this time, patients drink a liquid-only diet of freshly squeezed lemon juice (sweetened with pure maple syrup) or freshly squeezed vegetable juice. Either option provides a source of easily absorbable nutrition. Herbal supplements should also be used to provide additional nutrients and facilitate the healing process. I especially recommend red clover blossom, Echinacea, goldenseal, dandelion root, yellow dock, burdock, and Oregon grape root.
What Is a Healing Crisis, Anyway?
Caffeine, refined sugar, alcohol, and junk foods each contribute to the buildup of toxins in the body. The body will hold onto these toxins until given an opportunity to release them. When your patients detoxify, their bodies pull these substances out of longterm storage and into circulation where they can be processed for removal. This occasionally causes unpleasant symptoms known as a “healing crisis.”
If you recommend a detoxification program to a patient, you need to explain what a healing crisis is and why it might happen. You never want a healing crisis to come as a surprise! During a healing crisis, a patient may experience a wide variety of syrnp-
‘^Typically, a detoxification program lasts three to five days, though patients can choose to go longer. J J
toms, including headaches, skin breakouts, bowel sluggishness, diarrhea, fatigue, sweating, frequent urination, congestion, nasal discharge, body aches, joint pain, or irritability. These symptoms can last for a few hours or a few days. Typically, the healthier the body is to begin with, then the fewer symptoms there will be. The more the body has to clean up, the harder and longer the cleansing side effects will last.
While unpleasant, it’s important to emphasize that a healing crisis is actually a good thing. It lets you know that your patient’s detoxification program is really working. With that said, it’s also important for your patient to avoid the use of symptom-relieving drags (cough suppressants, decongestants, antidiarrheal medications, etc.) that suppress the body’s natural healing process and drive toxins back into the body. The best way to get through a healing crisis is to let it run its course. Though healing crises aie challenging, they’re also incredibly rewarding!
Troubleshooting: How to Address Specific Concerns
In my experience as a doctor, I’ve found that there are ways to alleviate uncomfortable symptoms without driving toxins back into the body. Many herbal supplements and topical products can actually facilitate the cleansing process and help the body get thr ough a healing crisis more quickly and easily. So, without further ado, let’s discuss three of the most common ways that you might need to help a patient during a healing crisis:
Skin Rashes
If a patient develops a rash while on a detoxification program, I recommend an allatoin-based cream designed to soothe and heal the skin. Allatoin is derived from file comfrey plant, which is famous for its ability to reduce inflammation and expedite healing for a wide variety of shallow wounds and skin conditions (scratches, bug bites, rashes, etc.).
Joint Pain
For a patient who experiences joint
pain, I recommend a topical capsaicin-based cream designed to soothe inflammation and accelerate the healing process. I also recommend herbal supplements including alfalfa, yucca, licorice root, sarsaparilla, prickly ash, burdock, and devil’s claw. Together, the capsaicin-based cream and herbal supplements can provide relief from troublesome joint pain and make it easier for a patient to continue with their detoxification program.
Acne
It’s not uncommon for patients to experience a “breakout” during detoxification. If this happens, there’s no need for alarm! The body is simply expelling toxins through the skin. To help the skin heal quickly, I always recommend that my patients switch over to an all-natural skincare line that actually “feeds” the skin, doesn’t cause irritation, and doesn’t contain any of the harmful chemicals found in traditional skincare
products. In the short term, this can make a world of difference for your patient’s worrisome breakout. In the long term, an all-natural skincare regimen will help your patients avoid exposure to toxins and will keep the skin healthy.
Additional Tips for Success
To help your patients get the most out of a detoxification program, make sure that they’re drinking plenty of water to help flush toxins from the body. This means that each patient should be drinking at least half of their body weight in ounces of water each day. F or example, if a patient weighs 200 pounds, they’ll want to drink at least 100 ounces of water each day. Before sending a patient home to start a detoxification program, make sure they know that hydration is extremely important and verify that they know how much water to drink.
During detoxification, your patients will especially benefit from an infrared sauna. If you offer this service in your clinic, that’s great! Otherwise, you can recommend another establishment in your area (a gym, spa, fitness club, etc.) where your patient can use the sauna. I always recommend infrared saunas over traditional saunas because they promote more thorough detoxification and provide a milder experience that’s better suited to patients who can’t withstand too much heat.
Though healing crises aie never fun, they indicate that a detoxification program is really working. Because they’re so valuable, I like to think of a healing crisis as more of a “healing opportunity.” When
the experience is over, your patients will feel better than they’ve felt in years, which is why it’s so important for them to stick with the program! When you use the troubleshooting tips that I previously outlined, you’ll find that your patients have a much better experience with detoxification. This means that they’ll get better results and report greater satisfaction with your care. What could be better than that?
Dr. Todd Singleton, DC, is an author, speaker, and consultant who has been a practicing doctor for more than 20 years. He ran the largest MD/DC/PT clinics in Utah before switching to an all-cash nutrition model in 2006. He created a very successful cash practice in Salt Lake City and now spends his time consulting and visiting other offices all over the United States.
