WHILE heading home one evening, media professional Trevor Johnson pulled onto the soft shoulder to accept a phone call.

“I leaned over to the passenger side [and while doing so], someone ran into the back of my car,” Johnson explained. It was later discovered that the driver of the motor vehicle was drunk.

“I had massive back pains, I mean, I would literally cry from the pain during physical therapy,” Johnson recalled.

He sought medical attention and was subsequently referred to one of Jamaica’s top neurosurgeons. However, unhappy with his diagnosis, Johnson was referred by a friend to Dr Danovan Whyte, chief medical director of the Lifestyle Transformation Centre.

“I did not like the idea of having to have surgery to correct the pain I was having in my back, and so my friend told me to try Dr Whyte, as he focused on holistic medicine,” Johnson shared.

When he got to Dr Whyte’s Kensington Crescent office in Kingston, Johnson said a traditional intake was completed which asked him to provide information on his family history and lifestyle. Johnson, not knowing what to expect, was surprised to see that Dr Whyte’s approach to his health issues were vastly different from what he was accustomed to.

“My treatments consisted of chiropractic moves,” said Johnson. “Dr Whyte aligned my back; he shifted parts of my body that were out of alignment.

“I went into Dr Whyte’s office with a walker and, let me tell you, after the doctor realigned my back, I came out of his office without the walker,” declared Johnson.

When asked about his approach to treating Johnson’s back pain, Dr Whyte, a well-known practitioner of holistic/alternative medicine, explained his natural remedies.

“I always believed that illness is due to cause and effect,” said Dr Whyte, who has approximately 30 years of experience as a medical practitioner. “There is always a reason behind a particular symptom.

“As it relates to Trevor, his pain was perpetuated by stress, which is a pretty common interpretative symptom of back pain,” said Dr Whyte. “I recommended lifestyle adjustments that allow you to think and feel a certain way.”

These lifestyle adjustments included encouraging Johnson to have positive, instead of negative thoughts and feelings which were inclined to affect the mind and body negatively.

Johnson admitted being worried about the cost of the medication he was taking for his back pain and described visiting Dr Whyte as a “divine intervention”.

“After receiving treatment from Dr Whyte, I was able to stop taking the tablets,” said Johnson. “I started a vegan diet, started eating and living naturally; I have no more ailments and I am feeling more energetic.”

Johnson is now an advocate for homeopathy, a medical philosophy and practice based on the idea that the body has the ability to heal itself.

“I believe that a complete shift in the current health spectrum is needed. Jamaicans need to be aware that today’s paradigm is that a successful physician will have many sick people [in his care]. However, there needs to be a shift where people understand the other paradigm that a successful physician should have less sick persons [in his care], and more healthy persons out there,” Dr Whyte explained about his reason for getting into holistic medicine.

“Once an individual is informed and knows who they are and how their body functions (they) are more aware of what (their) symptoms represent,” said Dr Whyte. “Another part of that is taking responsibility for what is happening to your body.”

Dr Whyte said when comparing holistic medicine to traditional medicine, “you are more in control over your lives as opposed to having to depend on doctors for treatment”.

Dr Whyte, through the non-profit, non-fee based organisation Natural Healing Foundation, which is open to the public, explores issues of health, including diseases and natural remedies. The purpose of the foundation is to “look for truth in all matters of health”, said Dr Whyte.

Cavalee Freeman is the coordinator for Workplace Wellness 2014, a corporate educational wellness initiative that impacts employees’ mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being. Contact her at info@clubelitelifestyle.com