Symptom Chasing vs Healing: What Are You Actually Asking For?
- Dec 7, 2025
- 5 min read
Most people don’t come in saying,“Hi, I’d like a multi-layered, non-linear healing journey.”
They come in saying,
“Make this pain stop.”
“Fix my gut.”
“I just want to sleep again.”
“I want this gone.”
That’s human. When something hurts, the nervous system is wired to want it off.
But there’s a big difference between:
Chasing a symptom
Committing to healing
…and if we don’t name that difference, both patient and practitioner will end up frustrated.
This is me naming it.
What Symptom Chasing Looks Like
Symptom chasing is all about one question:
“How do we make this feeling go away right now?”
It can look very conventional:
Pain → take a painkiller
Heartburn → acid blocker
Anxiety → quick sedative
It can also look very “natural”:
Headache → essential oil + herbal pill
Bloating → another “gut cleanse”
Fatigue → yet another energy supplement
Different toolbox, same pattern:
“I don’t like this symptom. Make it disappear.”
Again, there are times when relief is appropriate. Acute pain, emergencies, crisis moments: we need symptom control.
The problem happens when short-term symptom relief becomes the entire strategy, and we call it “healing” when it isn’t.
What Healing Actually Is
Healing is a different question:
“What is this symptom trying to tell me about how my body is functioning, and what needs to change?”
Healing is:
Looking for patterns, not just isolated episodes
Working on systems (nervous system, gut, hormones, fascia) instead of single spots
Expecting a process, not a magic eraser
Healing often means:
Changing what you eat, how you sleep, how you move, how you respond to stress
Supporting digestion, detox, circulation, and the nervous system over time
Accepting that some symptoms may shift, lessen, or evolve gradually, not vanish overnight
Working on core emotions and wounds
Removing people, situations, patterns, and rituals that contribute to bypassing the wounds
Healing is not always comfortable. It is, however, meaningful.
Symptoms Are Not the Enemy
We’re conditioned to treat symptoms like a moral failure or an enemy attack.
In reality, symptoms are signals:
Pain = something is overloaded, inflamed, compressed, suppressed, or irritated.
Bloating = digestion and motility need attention.
Fatigue = energy systems, sleep, hormones, mood, or all of the above are under strain.
Anxiety = nervous system and brain chemistry are on high alert.
They are messages of dysfunction, not proof that your body hates you.
When we only ask, “How do I shut this up?” we’re effectively putting tape over the warning light on the dashboard and driving faster.
Healing asks, “Why is the warning light on, and what is it trying to prevent?”
Supplements Are Not Pharmaceuticals (On Purpose)
This is an important piece of expectation-setting.
Pharmaceuticals are designed to:
Override or block specific pathways
Act quickly and strongly
Force a change in the system (for better or worse)
Supplements—nutrients, herbs, botanicals, certain nutraceuticals—are typically designed to:
Support or correct function
Provide raw materials (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids)
Gently influence pathways (inflammation, detox, circulation, neurotransmitters, etc.)
Can supplements be potent? Yes.Can they be “medicine”? Absolutely.
But they are not just “natural drugs” in a different bottle.
If you take a supplement expecting it to behave like a pharmaceutical—instant, dramatic suppression of your symptom—you will likely be disappointed.
Supplements, used correctly, are core corrective measures:
They help rebuild, re-balance, and restore function.
They work with food, movement, sleep, and nervous system work—not instead of them.
They often need time, consistency, and context.
So when someone says, “That supplement didn’t work, my symptom didn’t vanish in three days,” the better question is:
Did it have the right target?
Was it part of a larger plan?
Was it given enough time and support to correct function, not just numb a sensation?
The action is not always the medicine.
It was once said to me that "actions speak louder than words." No they do not.
You can act from a vacant space just as easily as you speak from it. Your body will know the difference and show you where you have blocked or hidden from a necessary change.
You can bypass truth, change, and healing with any action.
It matters most where the action comes from.
By that I mean, are you searching for a bypass or a healing? Is the action designed to cover-up and perform? Or is the action designed to get to the core, to process, and to transform things?
You can bypass with anything:
A pill
Exercise
Weight loss
A supplement
A spiritual practice
A cold plunge
A glass of wine
Bypassing says:
“I don’t want to feel this. Make it stop so I can keep doing exactly what I’ve been doing.”
Healing says:
“I’m willing to understand this. I may not like it, but I’m going to let it guide me toward what needs to change.”
Bypassing can use very “healthy” tools:
For example, using meditation only to ignore your body’s cry for rest and boundaries.
Or using supplements to push through burnout instead of actually changing your schedule and demands.
Same tool. Different intention.
Bypassing = avoid the message.
Healing = listen, respond, integrate.
The Patient’s Role: Be Clear About What You Want
This is the part that isn’t talked about enough.
Before you work with any practitioner (including me), ask yourself:
Do I mostly want symptom relief right now?
“I don’t care why it hurts; I just need to get through this week. ”This is honest. Acute care, urgent care, or short-term strategies might be appropriate.
Or am I ready to work on healing?
“I’m tired of cycling through the same issues. I’m willing to look at what my body is actually asking for and make changes.”
Neither is “right” or “wrong”—but they are different goals.
Once you’re clear, then ask:
Is this practitioner aligned with what I’m asking for?
Some clinics are built for quick symptom relief.
Others, like functional medicine or integrative care, are built for longer-term pattern work.
If you hire someone who focuses on whole-system healing but demand a fast pharmaceutical-style “cure,” you will both feel frustrated.
If you hire someone who only does quick fixes when you really need comprehensive support, you’ll feel like you’re on a merry-go-round.
In My World: What You Can Expect from Me
In the Natural Wayz / Solstace universe, my focus is:
Understanding patterns: nervous system, fascia, organs, hormones, gut, energy levels
Using tools like VRA, labs (when needed), physical exam, and history to see how your systems are interacting
Using supplements as corrective tools, not just natural painkillers
Supporting the body with light, heat, mechanical input, nutrition, and lifestyle shifts grounded in physiology and physics
Can I sometimes help symptoms calm down? Yes, and I want you to feel better.
But my primary commitment is to function and healing, not just symptom erasure.
That means:
I will celebrate your body’s signals instead of declaring war on them.
I will ask what the symptom is pointing to, not just how fast we can silence it.
I will use supplements and therapies like tools to correct and support, not as a “green pharmacy” to swap out one pill for another.
The Takeaway
Symptoms are messengers, not enemies.
Supplements are corrective tools, not magic bullets.
Bypassing is not the same as healing, even when the tools look “healthy.”
You, as the patient, have to be clear about whether you’re asking for immediate relief, true healing, or a blend of both—and hire accordingly.
