I am currently reading a book on “wellness”, so I’ll probably be posting frequently on this topic over the next few weeks. Last night one of the chapters started out with a story about a village. I’d like to share that story in my own words.

There was a village in the middle of the jungle. The village sat along a river near the bottom of a waterfall. For the most part the people of this village were isolated. However, one day a tourist on a canoe washed over the waterfall and was injured. The villagers rescued this person, made a makeshift cot, and transported them to a nearby hut. In this hut, they allowed the person to rest until they were well enough to continue on their way. A few days after this person left, two more people washed over the falls. This time they were better prepared, but had to build another cot and make more room in one of the huts. These two people were nursed back to health and went on their way.

Over the next several weeks and months, more and more people washed down over the falls. The villagers were great. Several villagers studied how to best mend peoples’ wounds and apply slings to hold injured arms and legs. They build many cots so they could easily transport the injured to a nearby “hospital” hut that was constructed. After many months of this, they were quite efficient at taking care of people and pretty soon built a second hospital to take care of the increased number of people that were washing over the falls.

Then one day a villager said, “maybe we should go to the top of falls and warn people before they go over”.

I’m sure as you were reading through this story, you were thinking to yourself the same thing. Why not go to the top of the falls? Well, this very same thing is happening in America’s health care system. We know people are heading towards the falls, yet we choose to sit there and wait at the bottom of the falls. Worse yet, many people know they are headed towards the falls, but choose to do nothing about it.

This story illustrates the concept of preventative health care. It’s identifying health risks and teaching people to avoid unhealthy behaviors to reduce the risk of developing various diseases.

Preventative health care is what I consider to be the second best form of health care. For my top choice, click here: Wellness

(Dr. Touchinsky is a chiropractor in Orwigsburg, Schuylkill County . In addition to treating people for neck pain and back pain, he focuses on helping people overcome a variety of health issues through healthy lifestyle and nutritional counseling. If you have an issue you’d like help with or would like a second opinion, call the office at 570-366-2613 to set up an appointment.)