Doctors Are More Harmful than Germs

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Doctors Are More Harmful than Germs: How Surgery Can Be Hazardous to Your Health— And What to Do About It
By Harvey Bigelsen, MD, with Lisa Haller
North Atlantic Books

“We have been convinced that allowing nature to take its course may be dangerous to our health. And, now we. . . have come to accept surgery as a first resort, rather than a last resort.” Early in this 2011 book, Harvey Bigelsen sets the stage for a compelling and revolutionary argument: that chronic conditions are the body’s attempt to deal with an injury (be it from surgery or an accident) and that surgery is another attack on the body. Rather than promoting healing, surgery creates an energetic brick wall, which can cause complications down the road.

Even the crunchiest among us is likely to have undergone procedures (including those dubbed “minimally invasive”) that will com­promise our long-term health. Everything from orthodontic work to arthroscopy to cosmetic and exploratory surgeries affect the body in the long term. Bigelsen suggests that even scans are ill-advised. Unfortunately, many of us willingly submit to “early detection”—x-rays, ultrasound, MRIs and CT scans—just to “check things out” and avoid sicknesses we fear might sneak up on us. Scans assault the deep tissues of the body with abnormal energy waves. Bigelsen implies that we are looking in the wrong direction with these interventions, quoting osteopath Dr. An­drew Taylor Still: “To find health should be the object of the doctor. Anyone can find disease.”

Consider how people often respond to a cold. When the body starts creating mucus and invites rest as it deals with the “upgrade,” people decide to go to work anyway, so they take meds to tamp down the symptoms. Because they have interrupted the body’s healing process, the cold lingers. Now the body has to deal with the medicine thrown its way as well as whatever it was originally trying to expel.

Surgery interferes with the healing process on a larger scale. The body, in its infinite wis­dom, sees the cuts as an attack and rushes to aid the injured areas. “Surgery is an assault with a knife. Surgery creates scars. These scars trap the inflammation designed to heal an injury. Trapped inflammation settles deeper and deeper into the body’s tissues over the years. Scars permanently alter the structure of the body.”

Lest you think this hyperbole, consider how many layers a surgeon has to cut through to get to the abdomen: the outer skin; connec­tive tissue; nerves and tiny blood vessels; soft tissue; connective tissue; more nerves and small blood vessels; the inner layer of skin tissue; fatty tissue; connective tissue; muscle tissue; nerves and blood vessels; the first fluid layer (a buffer between the inner structural membranes and the outer layers of skin); three or more lay­ers of myofascial tissue; more muscle tissue; more nerves and blood vessels; another fluid layer to lubricate surfaces; a mucous membrane that encases each major internal area; another fluid layer; more connective tissue (the primary “trusses” and slings that hold organs, glands, blood vessels and so on where they belong— some of these are called ligaments and tendons); major blood vessels and large nerves; and the organ, bone, gland or other component.

We are never the same after surgery. Big­elsen does offer detailed stories of those who have found relief and healing without surgery and even post-surgery. Injuries and traumas may not be reversible, but you can release trapped energy to promote healing using modalities like neural therapy, osteopathy, cranial therapy and myofascial release. “Release stagnation, open up your flow, and healing will follow.”

Bigelsen’s insights deepen our understand­ing of disease, healing and surgery. My main criticism is that the book is too short and not very well known. Perhaps this review will help it gain more popularity. It merits an enthusiastic thumbs up.

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