Understanding What Your Doctors Cannot Tell You
Recently, a new patient with an autoimmune disorder sought my care with the following urgent question to start:
"I have been seeing a specialist for my autoimmune condition.
It is better than before, but still my symptoms fluctuate a lot.
Alongside the autoimmune condition, I am dealing with pain, digestive issues, sinus problems, hormonal imbalance, and anxiety.
I asked my doctors whether these were connected.
No one could give me an answer.
I feel as if I am missing something crucial.
Can you help me understand what is going on?"
A Familiar Pattern Repeatedly
I am writing this because almost every week, a patient describes something similar.
Especially since I am specialized in chronic inflammation, patients with multiple conditions across the body and the mind seek my help.
In most cases, some type of pain is included and weighing heavy.
There is usually a main condition, which is the reason why they seek my care.
But in most cases they have additional conditions, which usually belong to different bodily systems.
An autoimmune disorder, digestive issues, sinus trouble, hormonal shifts, anxiety, fatigue — each addressed on its own as a separate story.
Typically, each issue is treated by a different specialist, with a different name of diagnosis.
While their issues are all unique, no one alike, they still tend to follow a similar pattern.
One Root, Many Branches
In over 25 years of clinical practice, I have come to see chronic inflammation as a common thread running underneath many of these seemingly unrelated conditions.
Not inflammation in the narrow sense, such as a swollen joint, a visible injury.
But a deeper, ongoing activities within the body that can quietly influence various aspects of our bodily functions: the immune system, the digestive tract, the hormones, even the nervous system's sense of calm or unease.
When this underlying root goes unaddressed, it shows up as one or more clear illnesses with several additional conditions, one after another.
Examples are the digestive flare, the sinus congestion, the anxious mind, the autoimmune symptoms that rise and fall without explanation.
This is where many of you may have learned to take one issue at a time.
Some of you may have postponed care for the secondary issue.
Each looks unrelated on the surface.
However, underneath, all branches may be connected.
This is why a patient can see several specialists, receive several diagnoses, and still walk out with the same puzzling thought: why is all of this happening to me, one after another?
Each specialist is trained to look closely at their own branch.
Few are positioned to step back and ask what is happening at the root beneath all of them.
Why the Root Is Often Missed
Conventional care is very good at identifying and naming what has already gone wrong in a particular system.
It is rarely trained or equipped to ask how and why several systems are struggling at the same time — because that question doesn't belong to any single specialty.
It requires looking at the whole person, which belongs outside their scope of practice.
Conventionally, all bodily systems, the mind, stress and emotional patterns are handled separately and there is no single lab test to show the connection or overall imbalances.
How I Look at the Whole Picture
In my practice, I begin by assembling all of a patient's information to understand the bigger picture: the state of one's health as a whole.
I look into all bodily systems — digestive, immune, nervous, hormonal, psychological, and more.
I also take into account a patient's health history, which often reveals past viral infections, such as Epstein-Barr or a recent Covid infection.
I also pay attention to blood work results brought by the patients. I put all of them together.
This process usually gives me a much clearer picture of what is going on.
The next step is to look for the root causes, based on my 7 types of toxins triggering chronic inflammation, which I will discuss in another article.
Treating the Whole Person, in One Session
My treatment addresses the cause, the weakened foundation, and the symptoms together, in the same session — the physical patterns, the emotional weight a person is carrying as stress, and the deeper imbalance beneath both.
I fill the gap that other practitioners often cannot reach, so as to create integrity in the treatment of the entire person.
Chronic inflammation is the root of many conditions. Treating the root is the key to successful treatment.
What This Means for You
If you recognize the question I opened with — multiple conditions, no one addressing them all together — you may be missing something crucial.
I want you to know two things.
First, this connection is real, even if none of your doctors have offered it to you yet.
Second, finding that root does not mean abandoning the care you are already receiving.
You can absolutely continue your ongoing care — but it may be time to add a layer of full-spectrum care, to support and transform your treatment for all of the conditions, at the root.
Over the coming weeks, I'll be sharing more about what this root-cause layer actually looks like — including the seven types of toxins that I've come to recognize as its most common sources, and what full-spectrum care for chronic inflammation looks like in practice. Stay tuned.
If this resonates with you, I'd love to hear from you. If this helps you recognize this pattern in your own health, please share your thoughts in the comments below — I am happy to respond to each story.
With Love & Compassion,
Master Mika Ichihara
Master Mika Ichihara, M.S., L.Ac., B.Phar., LLM, LLB, is the Healer and Messenger of Sacred Knowledge and founder of Love & Compassion Integrative Health and Healing. For over two decades, she has helped thousands of patients from around the world, blending clinical expertise with ancient wisdom for full-spectrum healing.
Her services include Natural Medicine (Japanese acupuncture, herbal medicine), Energy Soul Medicine, Spiritual Guidance, and Sacred Living (including Feng Shui), as well as teaching meditation, Reiki energy healing, and Universal Qabalah. Services and teaching are available online, and in person in Charlotte, NC and New York City. For more information, please visit https://loveandcompassion.com.