- Chiropractor & Functional Medicine in Marietta, OH & Beyond
- inline4good@gmail.com
- 130 Maple St. Marietta, OH 45750
10 min read
There is something reassuring about having more information.
If your car starts making a strange noise, you want to know what’s causing it. If your phone isn’t working correctly, you look for an error message. If you’re trying to solve a puzzle, finding another piece feels like progress.
Health isn’t much different.
When something doesn’t feel right-or when you’re trying to stay healthy-it seems reasonable to believe that more testing will bring clarity. And today, that’s easier than ever. Comprehensive wellness panels, recurring blood testing subscriptions, and advertisements promising deeper insights are becoming increasingly common.
On the surface, that sounds like a good thing.
Sometime it is.
There are situations where additional laboratory testing is exactly what helps uncover an important answer. Thoughtfully chosen tests can identify nutritional deficiencies, thyroid disorders, inflammation, diabetes, iron problems, hormone imbalances, and many other conditions long before they become obvious. Used well, laboratory testing is one of the most valuable tools available to both patients and clinicians.
But somewhere along the way, it’s easy to begin believing something that isn’t always true:
More information automatically leads to more understanding.
That’s the assumption worth exploring.
Because the goal of a laboratory test isn’t simply to produce another number.
The goal is to answer a question.
And before deciding whether you need another test, it may be worth asking something surprisingly simple:
What am I actually trying to learn-and would that answer change what I do next?
Imagine you’ve been feeling more tired than usual.
Or your joints have been aching.
Maybe you’ve noticed changes in your energy, digestion, sleep, or memory. Nothing dramatic-just enough to make you wonder if something has changed.
You do what most thoughtful people would do.
You start looking for answers.
Maybe you schedule an appointment. Maybe you search online. Maybe you hear about a comprehensive wellness panel or a monthly laboratory testing service that promises deeper insights to your health.
The idea is appealing.
If you’re trying to solve a problem, having more information sounds like an advantage.
In many situations, that’s exactly how life works.
A mechanic wants more information before diagnosing a car.
A detective gathers more information before drawing a conclusion.
So it seems perfectly reasonable to assume that more laboratory testing must also bring more clarity.
Sometimes it does.
But healthcare has an important difference.
Information and understanding are not the same thing.
A laboratory test doesn’t become valuable simply because it measures another biomarker. It becomes valuable when it helps answer a meaningful question-one that changes how you understand what’s happening or what you decide to do next.
That’s why experienced clinicians often begin in an unexpected place.
Not with the laboratory order.
But with a conversation.
“What are we trying to learn?”
That question may seem simple, but it quietly changes everything that follows.
It’s easy to think of laboratory tests as answers.
After all, they produce numbers. They arrive in neat columns with reference ranges, arrows, and highlighted results. It feels as though the report itself should tell us everything we need to know.
But that’s not really how laboratory testing works.
In many ways, every laboratory test is actually a question.
A thyroid test asks one question.
An iron panel asks another.
A marker of inflammation asks something different.
A nutrient test asks yet another.
Each test was designed to answer a different question-not to explain the entire person.
None of them are trying to tell the entire story. Each is designed to explore one part of a much larger picture.
That’s why ordering more tests doesn’t automatically create more understanding.
Imagine sitting down with a thousand-piece puzzle.
You turn over the first piece.
It’s real.
It’s important.
It belongs somewhere.
But it doesn’t tell you what the finished picture looks like.
With each new piece, the picture becomes a little clearer.
Eventually. the image begins to emerge-not because any single piece contains the whole picture, but because each piece gains meaning from its relationship to the others.
Laboratory testing works much the same way.
Every result contributes a piece of information, but no single test is designed to explain everything that’s happening in your body. The picture becomes clearer only when those pieces are considered together, alongside your symptoms, your health history, your lifestyle, and the question that led to the testing in the first place.
That’s why two people can have the same laboratory result and leave with completely different recommendations.
The number may be identical.
The picture is not.
Sometimes one additional puzzle piece changes everything because it connects parts of the picture you couldn’t see before. Other times, it’s simply another piece of blue sky. The value isn’t collecting more pieces. It’s in discovering the one that helps the picture finally make sense.
“The value of a laboratory test isn’t determined by how much information it produces. It’s determined by how much uncertainty it removes.”
Over the years, I’ve noticed something interesting.
Every so often, someone comes into my office with a long list of laboratory results-or they’re considering another panel because they want to be as proactive as possible.
I understand the instinct.
In many ways, it’s a good one.
Wanting to learn more about your health isn’t something I want to discourage. In fact, thoughtful laboratory testing can be one of the most valuable tools we have when it’s used to answer the right question.
So instead of asking which test they should order next, I often begin somewhere else.
“What are you hoping this test will help us understand?”
Sometimes the answer comes immediately.
“I want to know if I’m iron deficient.”
“I want to find out whether my thyroid is contributing to how I feel.”
“I want to see if inflammation might explain what’s been going on.”
Those are thoughtful reasons to consider laboratory testing because they’re connected to a question we’re genuinely trying to answer.
Other times, the conversation pauses.
Not because the person has done anything wrong.
Because it’s surprisingly difficult to put uncertainty into words.
After a moment, the answer is often something much more human.
“I just want to make sure I’m not missing something.”
I think nearly all of us can understand that feeling.
None of us wants to overlook an important clue.
The challenge is that trying not to miss anything isn’t the same as knowing where to look.
And that’s where thoughtful testing begins to look very different from simply ordering more tests.
This is where an important shift begins to happen.
The question is no longer:
“Should I get more lab tests?”
Instead, it becomes:
“What would another lab test help us understand?”
At first, those questions may sound almost identical.
They’re not.
One focuses on collecting more information.
The other focuses on reducing uncertainty.
Sometimes the answer is obvious.
If someone has symptoms that suggest iron deficiency, checking iron status may help explain why they’re feeling the way they do.
If thyroid disease is a reasonable possibility, ordering thyroid testing can provide important information.
If a person has already started treatment, repeating a laboratory test later may show whether things are moving in the right direction or whether a different approach is needed.
In each of those situations, the test serves a purpose.
It helps answer a question.
It guides a decision.
Sometimes, however, another laboratory panel doesn’t actually change anything.
The results may simply confirm what was already known, repeat information that isn’t likely to influence the next step, or create new questions that weren’t especially important to begin with.
That’s where it’s helpful to pause for a moment.
Not because testing is unnecessary.
Because every test should earn its place.
Before ordering another laboratory test, it can be surprisingly helpful to ask a simple question:
“If this result comes back exactly as expected, what would I do differently?”
If the answer is clear, then test may be exactly the right next step.
If the answer is,
“I’m not really sure…”
It may be worth stepping back before adding another piece to the puzzle.
Sometimes the next step isn’t another measurement.
Sometimes it’s taking a closer look at the pieces you already have.
One of the easiest mistakes to make with laboratory testing is assuming that every result stands on its own.
It rarely does.
Imagine dumping the pieces of a puzzle onto a table.
At first, every piece looks seperate.
Some have bright colors.
Others seem almost identical.
A few appear especially interesting because they stand out from the rest.
But as you begin putting the puzzle together, something changes.
Pieces that seemed important on their own become less significant when you see where they belong.
Other pieces that looked ordinary suddenly become essential because they connect several parts of the picture.
Laboratory results often work the same way.
A single value can certainly be important, but it usually becomes much more meaningful when it’s viewed alongside other laboratory findings, your symptoms, your medical history, your medications, your nutrition, your sleep, and even how long you’ve been experiencing the problem.
That’s why experienced clinicians are often less interested in finding one abnormal number than they are in understanding how multiple pieces fit together.
Sometimes every individual result falls within its reference range, yet together they suggest a direction worth exploring.
Other times, one result falls outside the expected range but turns out to be far less important once it’s placed back into the context of the entire picture.
Neither situation can be understood by looking at one puzzle piece alone.
This doesn’t mean individual laboratory values aren’t important.
They absolutely are.
It simply means that numbers don’t tell stories by themselves.
People do.
Your symptoms.
Your goals.
Your health history.
Your daily life.
Those are all part of the picture too.
The laboratory results help fill in that picture-not replace it.
That’s one reason a thoughtful conversation before testing is often every bit as valuable as the laboratory report that arrives afterward.
The better the question, the easier it becomes to recognize which puzzle pieces actually matter.
When people ask me whether they should order another laboratory test, they’re often expecting a simple yes or no.
The truth is, the better question is usually this:
“If we had this result tomorrow, what would we do differently?”
That’s the question I find myself coming back to again and again.
Because a good laboratory test doesn’t simply produce another number.
It helps move the conversation forward.
Sometimes it confirms a suspicion.
Sometimes it rules out a possibility.
Sometimes it points us in a completely new direction.
Sometimes it provides reassurance that we’re already on the right path.
In every case, it changes something.
It reduces uncertainty.
That’s what makes the test valuable.
If the result isn’t likely to change how you understand your health, guide the next decision, or influence treatment, it may be worth asking whether the test is answering an important question-or simply adding another piece of information that doesn’t yet have a place in the picture.
That doesn’t mean the test is “bad.”
It simply means it may not be the right test – or the right time.
I’ve found it helpful to think about laboratory testing less like collecting information and more like making decisions.
Each test has a cost.
Sometimes that’s financial.
Sometimes it’s time.
Sometimes it’s the emotional weight of seeing another page of numbers that aren’t easy to interpret.
Those costs are often worth it when the information will genuinely help guide your care.
But thoughtful testing isn’t about measuring everything that can be measured.
It’s about choosing the measurements that are most likely to answer the question in front of you.
That’s a small shift in perpsective.
Instead of asking,
“What else could we test?”
you begin asking,
“What do we still need to understand?”
At this point, you might be wondering whether this means more laboratory testing is usually unnecessary.
Not at all.
In fact, there are many situations where additional testing is exactly the right next step.
Sometimes new symptoms appear that deserve a closer look.
Sometimes treatment has already begun, and the next question becomes whether it’s actually helping.
Sometimes an earlier laboratory result raises a new question that couldn’t have been anticipated beforehand.
And sometimes the passage of time changes the picture entirely.
Health isn’t static.
Neither are the questions we’re trying to answer.
That’s why thoughtful laboratory testing is often a process rather than a single event.
Each step should build on what came before.
Not because we’re collecting more information for its own sake, but because each result helps answer the next meaningful question.
That’s very different from repeating tests simply because they’re available or because more data feels reassuring.
The difference isn’t the number of tests.
It’s the purpose behind them.
One of the things I appreciate most about my patients is that many of them are genuinely curious.
They read.
They listen to podcasts.
They ask thoughtful questions.
They want to understand what’s happening in their bodies.
I never want to discourage that curiousity.
In many ways, it’s one of the greatest strengths a patient can bring into a healthcare relationship.
The goal isn’t to become less curious.
It’s to give that curiosity a direction.
Instead of wondering.
“What else could I measure?”
The question gradually becomes,
“What question are we trying to answer next?”
That small shift transforms laboratory testing from a collection of numbers into a conversation that continues to move your understanding forward.
“The goal of laboratory testing isn’t to collect more pieces. It’s to discover the piece that helps the picture finally make sense.”
When people ask whether they need more laboratory tests, they’re usually asking a much bigger question.
They’re asking whether there’s something they’ve missed.
Whether one more piece of information might finally explain what they’ve been experiencing.
Sometimes the answer is yes.
Sometimes another laboratory test reveals something important that genuinely changes the picture.
But often, the greatest value isn’t found in ordering more tests.
It’s found in asking better questions.
Good healthcare isn’t about eliminating every uncertainty.
Very few things in healthcare are completely certain.
It’s about gradually reducing the uncertainties that matter most-one thoughtful conversation, one meaningful decision, and sometimes one well-chosen laboratory test at a time.
Like a puzzle, your health is rarely understood from a single piece.
The picture becomes clearer as each piece finds its proper place.
And sometimes the most valuable piece isn’t the newest one.
It’s simply the one that finally helps everything else make sense.
Good healthcare isn’t about having every answer. It’s about asking better questions, making thoughtful decisions, and gradually reducing the uncertainty that matters most.
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David Norris, DC, MS, DACBN
Board Certified Clinical Nutritionist
Doctor of Chiropractic
For more than 18 years, Dr. Norris has helped patients identify underlying contributors to chronic symptoms through chiropractic care, functional medicine, nutrition, and advanced laboratory testing. His clinical interests include hormone health, environmental toxicology, gastrointestinal health, inflammation, and personalized nutrition
