“Wholistic” health has been the focus of Dr. Randy Schaetzke DC practice since 1977.

At his health-care center in Quechee, Dr. Randy—a Doctor of Chiropractic and Applied Kinesiologist—treats his patients from a holistic standpoint, searching for the root cause of their health issues in order to best resolve them. For Dr. Randy, it’s looking at the whole person that helps to identify why they might experience pain, muscular tension, dietary concerns, and more.

It all comes down to “treating the person who has symptoms, not treating the symptoms that have a person,” Dr. Randy says. Viewing health through a holistic lens means looking for the reasons that someone’s health isn’t optimal, he adds, and there are different ways to achieve this as a practitioner.

When it comes to helping a patient address a new or ongoing concern, Dr. Randy begins by assuming nothing and has a conversation with a patient about how their symptoms started and what other factors might be at play. For someone with chronic back pain, factors that are important to pay attention to might be sleep habits, other injuries, and daily energy levels.

Next, Dr. Randy might try different techniques to see how they address the issue, like a chiropractic adjustment, which frees up joints in the body and stimulates the nervous system. Other techniques Dr. Randy uses include extremity adjustments, cranial techniques, manual muscle testing, and blood testing.

“Greater function is attained through chiropractic adjustments,” he says. “Merge this with diet and nutrition, etc., and you have a unique approach.”

If those initial adjustments or techniques don’t help fix the problem, Dr. Randy then turns to other tactics to look for hidden reasons causing the symptoms.

“What I’ll look for and often find are adrenal fatigue issues and digestive issues, and in the case of digestive issues, we often find a weakening of the abdominal muscles that are no longer supporting the back, which then contributes to weakness in the back,” Dr Randy explains.

Going over their diet with patients and how it relates to healthy organ function in the body is important. It could be a genetic factor or certain food intolerances that are contributing to the symptoms, and the same concept can be applied to patients who experience chronic migraines or frequent headaches, Dr. Randy says.

As opposed to mainstream medical health care, which involves identifying a disease or symptom and treating it directly with prescribed drugs, the holistic approach finds the why behind a person’s symptoms, and, in turn, is often a more effective way of treating a health concern.

“Fundamentally, to treat the whole person you look for factors in the structure (nerves, joints, muscles), chemical (diet, allergens, inflammation, infections, deficiencies), and then the mind (moods, hormones, neurotransmitters, stress reduction),” Dr. Randy says.

“Some people need a comprehensive approach, such as diet, vitamins, and herbs,” he adds. “Others need a more structural approach.”

Looking for the why can be challenging, Dr. Randy says, but in the end, it’s a reward that’s worth working for.