TRR photo by Tom Kane Healing touch practitioner Betty deMaye-Caruth works on a patient. (Click for larger image)

New approach to medicine is growing in Wayne

By TOM KANE

HONESDALE, PA — In case you haven’t noticed, complementary medicine, a new approach to medicine, has been appearing more and more frequently in Wayne County.

“The term ‘complementary’ best explains that this new approach in medicine doesn’t oppose conventional medicine but complements it—works with it,” explained Jamie Stunkard, owner of Nature’s Grace Health Foods and Deli in Honesdale.

“Some call it alternative medicine, but it’s far better to call it complementary,” Stunkard said.

Complementary medicine treats the whole person and not just the diseased organ, Stunkard said.

According to Betty deMaye Caruth, a Honesdale healing-touch practitioner, complementary medicine recognizes the power of the body’s immune system to heal itself. To her and others like her, nutrition, diet and exercise play a significant role in the healing process and should be included in any approach to wellness.

“We work hand-in-hand with conventional doctors and depend on them,” said Anna Wilmot of On Centered Wings, a complementary medicine center on Main Street in Honesdale. “We find that doctors often deal only with the symptoms and not the root causes of disease like stress in one’s life, attitudes and style of life issues that can cause disease.”

“Many physicians who practice traditional medicine, called allopathic medicine, are beginning to recognize the value of some complementary medicine practices,” said Public Relations Director Emily Paulsen of Wayne Memorial Hospital.

One of the mainstays of complementary medicine—yoga—is regularly scheduled at the hospital, Paulsen said.

The Wellness Program at Wayne Memorial incorporates supervised exercise to reduce stress and nutrition education to instruct people about proper diet, Paulsen said.

“We deal with lifestyle issues for both patients and non-patients,” she said. “People can come in and take advantage of our programs.”

The hospital has classes to help people stop smoking and utilize stress management in their lives, she said.

“I think the things that we offer are the joining point between the two philosophies of medicine,” Paulsen said.

“I feel that we should integrate what is best in each of the forms of medicine,’ said Dr. Stephen Nezezon, a psychiatrist. “We shouldn’t put all our eggs in one basket. In 14 years of practice, the patients who get the best results are those who work on their lifestyle, who exercise, watch what they eat and reduce stress. All these are the aims of complementary medicine.”

Patients shouldn’t just take a pill, he said. This usually leads to taking more and more pills that can have bad side effects.

“Complementary medicine gets us to tap into the sources of our health and not the sources of our illness,” he said.

“I like the term ‘holistic’ medicine,” said Dr. Carrie Demers, medical director of the Health and Healing Center at the Himalayan Institute of Honesdale.

“Allopathic medicine can only do so much,” she said. “It’s good in a crisis but not so good otherwise. Health is really about your lifestyle, something the allopathics don’t look at. How you handle stress, how you eat, how you exercise, if you breathe deeply. If you get sick and continue to eat at McDonalds and watch television all night, you won’t allow your immune system to help heal you. This is what complementary medicine is supposed to be about.”

Some of the forms that complementary medicine take are acupuncture, a Chinese form of medical treatment that involves inserting thin needles into meridians, or energy circuits throughout the body and reflexology, the pressuring of these meridian points that end in the feet.

Shiatsu uses pressure on meridian points to release blockages and aromatherapy involves the inhaling of flower essences that have healing powers.

Yoga, an ancient Hindu practice, affects the energy flow of the body, while tai chi, a form of Chinese exercise, affects the rhythms of the body.

Reiki is an activity that brings healing through the practitioner’s hands, while therapeutic touch is a form of body work in which the practitioner “feels” the disease or the blockage of energy and helps release it.

Massage is bodywork that relieves the tension spots in the muscles and nerves of the body.

Centers where some of these therapies can be found in the Honesdale area are: Minerva Educational Center, 570/253-8060; On Centered Wings, 570/251-4340; the Honesdale Wellness Center, 570/253-6621; the Wayne Memorial Hospital Wellness Center, 570/251-6530; the Center of Health and Healing at the Himalayan Institute in Honesdale at 570/253-5551 and in Bethany, PA, 570/647-1550; and the Center for Integrative Medicine at Inner Harmony in Clark Summit, PA, 570/585-4040.

Information about other providers of complementary medicine may be obtained at Nature’s Grace Health Foods and Deli, at 947 Main Street, in Honesdale or by calling 570/253-3469.