Sometimes (ok, often) a patient will come in with one thing (say, hip pain) and get a seemingly totally unrelated adjustment (say, cranial bone) and then the original thing (hip pain) magically disappears. The patient, usually a perfectly rational person, while relieved, looks completely befuddled and says something to the effect of, "Wow... that was weird!" Do I see this kind of thing "all the time?" Yep. Does it ever stop seeming strange? Nope. I take it for granted when I'm the doctor, but recently I had some experiences as the patient that I wanted to share.

Food is such a loaded topic. Especially in SF, land of the foodies! There are countless theories, fads, etc. out there, and no matter what you're inclined to believe, you can find some "experts" to back it up. Personally, I'm a fan of Occam's razor, which is the principle that the simplest solution is usually correct. Since San Franciscans REALLY LOVE THEIR PETS, let's make this simple and think of ourselves not as "humans" but as "exotic pets." If you were entrusted with the care of a rare exotic creature, what would you feed it?

Happy 2010! Have you all made your New Year's Resolutions? (Of course not! And chances are, some of you have already BROKEN your resolutions!) I know, it sounds depressing already, but that's not my intent. I'm writing this entry because I've noticed that oftentimes, when someone is doing well in care, they are excited and keep going, but when they fall off the wagon -- whether it be with food, exercise, getting adjusted, etc. -- and lose some ground, they get discouraged, and sometimes quit. They figure, what's the point? I'll never be perfect. And guess what?

The recent freakout concerning this new flu strain highlights how far we have come to rely on medical technology when it comes to health care. A flu strain for which there is no "vaccine"? Pandemonium!!! Well, guess what? Viruses have been around long before there were humans, and they'll be here long after we're gone. (Heck, they may even outlast the cockroaches.) They're masters of mutation, and they always will be. There will always be newer stronger viruses. That's how evolution works, y'know?
So what can you do? Same as always.

One of my mentors says that the best way to have a great practice is to try and put yourself out of business. (Y'know - by getting people REALLY WELL. Not by being a lousy business person!) SO, today, I'm going to give you the biggest cheapest secret to vastly improving your health. Get off the sugar, and increase the water. The End.

After that last downer of a blog post, I thought I'd add one with a lighter tone (but still serious topic). Here's a condition that I might have never heard about if I hadn't had a certain level of trust and rapport with the patients who were experiencing it. Since it's something that causes no pain but can seem "crazy" or embarrassing to ask about out loud, I wonder how many people are worrying about it in silence or frantically typing in Google searches with no useful results. I call it "The Case of the Vibrating Package."

After "thinking about it" for almost 12 years (my whole time in practice), I've finally decided to stop playing the insurance game. Yep, we're turning into one of those offices that "doesn't take insurance." We'll continue to file it for people, and most people with PPO coverage will (probably) get something back. It's just gotten to be way too stressful. So stressful, in fact, that it me made think (a lot) about throwing in the towel all together and just leaving practice. Then I thought, "Wait a minute...

Last week, I went to the funeral of a friend who I had not been in close contact with for some years. It was sad to hear about her passing, but one could not say that it was an "untimely" death. In fact, this friend, a certain Ms. Lillian Flint, had pretty much what most of us would consider "an ideal death." That is to say, she died peacefully in her own home, surrounded by friends and family and flowers (which she loved) at the ripe old age of almost 101.

Since so many people manage to "lose" their liver flush instructions, I've created a static page on this site with the instructions :
http://drkimsf.com/liverflush

So what is this liver flush anyway? Some people make amazing claims - that is magically cures parasitic infections, viruses, liver disease, etc. Others say it's complete b.s. and nothing nothing more than a way to give yourself fancy diarrhea for a few hours.

I can't believe that summer solstice is already upon us (in just 2 days!) and that it's been so long since the last entry. D'oH! Actually, a LOT has happened, and I've made many "mental blog entries," but I guess it doesn't count unless it's POSTED. Lately, I've been amazed (in a good way) that the truth really does ultimately win, and that maybe, just maybe we are on the brink of a new era of health care. Could it be that corporate "health care" is really on the outs??? One can only hope.