Beyond Medicine

Beyond Medicine – June 2011

admin — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 20:59:32 +0000

Sun and Skin Cancer

If you have light skin, or if you have a family history of skin cancer, remember the importance of getting your skin checked from head to toe by a trained healthcare provider on a regular basis; it could save your life. The Environmental Working Group provides great consumer information about non-toxic sunscreens, check out their website: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/

Essential Oils
Cypress
Botanical name: Cupressus sempervirens
Native to France & Germany

Uses: Cypress has antiseptic, antispasmodic, astringent, and diuretic properties. Cypress strengthens an overburdened nervous system, and restores calm, especially when angry. Cypress is beneficial for painful transitions such as bereavement and loss. Cypress’ astringent and vaso-constrictor properties make it useful for circulatory problems such as varicose veins and hemorrhoids.

Thinning your Garden

To allow for greater plant growth, consider thinning your garden. Thinning means pulling out some of the younger, smaller plants to allow for more space (and thereby greater growth) of more mature ones. Remove the weakest looking plants keeping in mind about how much space each mature plant will need. Continue this process until you have the correct amount of space between each plant, which will allow the plant to reach its greatest growth potential.

Chinese Medicine

Chinese Medicine associates summer with the fire element, and recognizes it as the most yang season. Movement, joy and love are expressed with a healthy fire element, while negativity, hate and impatience show up in excess when the fire element is out of balance. Keep your fire healthy with daily exercise, bitter and spicy flavors, and a lot of water. Also sleep and wake with daylight, and rest at midday to make the most of the energy of the season. Summer is a time of growth and change, so take advantage of the fire in summer and improve your lifestyle!

Gardening and Yardwork Safety

admin — Tue, 24 May 2011 23:20:51 +0000

It wouldn’t be surprising if you scoffed a little when you read the title to this article. However, gardening and yard work injuries are very common reasons for patients presenting to my office in acute pain. Seemingly simple activities can lead to anything from mild to significant injuries if you are not careful about using proper body mechanics and general common sense.

Some of the more common injury causing activities include:

Lifting pots, bags of dirt, landscaping rocks/ pavers
Digging, shoveling
Pull starting a lawnmower or chainsaw
Rototilling (particularly with the old front tine tillers)
Weeding

Often times, injuries result not necessarily from the activity being a bad thing to do, but from improper technique or just doing too much all at once. With a little preparation, thought, and attentiveness, you can decrease the risk of injury.

Proper lifting technique
Proper lifting technique is critical to avoiding a low back injury during any lifting activity, whether it is in the garden, at the grocery store, or in the gym. A common misunderstanding is that people have learned to “lift with their legs” and “keep the low back straight.” When lifting, bending at the knees and lifting with the legs is appropriate. However, during the lift the low back should remain arched, not straight, to avoid injury.

The low back naturally has a front to back curve called a lordosis, which protects the intervertebral discs (the shock absorbers for your spine) from injury. Particularly in the low back, the discs are normally somewhat wedge-shaped, with the front being taller than the back part of the disc. This helps encourage the normal lordotic curve in the low back.

If the low back is straightened and put under a load, i.e. – lifting, then excess pressure is put on the back portion of the discs. This excessive posterior disc pressure leads to a higher likelihood of a low back and/ or disc injury. In fact, the most common way of injuring a disc in the low back is to be in a bent forward and twisted position, then trying to lift something.

Look at Olympic power lifters as an example. When they pull a heavy weight from the floor, they always maintain a strong curve in the low back by actively arching their low back and sticking out their rear. While most of us are not Olympic power lifters, the principle is the same.

Proper lifting technique is:

Bend from the knees
Actively maintain a good natural arch in the low back
Lift with the legs as much as possible

Work into New Activities Gradually
Like I said earlier, a large number of injuries I see fall into this category. People get hurt by too much of a new activity, all at once, without enough preparation. Most of the time these injuries end up being minor inconveniences that resolve relatively quickly. However, over the years I have also seen a number of cases that were quite severe and even several disc injuries that ended in surgeries which could have been avoided with a little common sense.

So, when you hit the garden with the rototiller, the shovel, a hoe, or the flat of tomato plants, listen to your body. Work into the new activities slowly. Set out timelines that are modifiable to how your body tolerates the activity. If you have a lot to do, try setting up a loose schedule of trying to make multiple, shorter, 15-45 minute jobs throughout the week, rather than a 6 hour session all at once from the get go. I’m not saying you can’t go out and have the 12 hour gardening bonanza when your body is ready for it. If it is, go for it!

With some common sense and good technique, you can have fun, do what you want, and reduce your risk of injury. Have a bountiful growing season and enjoy your time outdoors!

Dr. Neely

Beyond Medicine – May 2011

admin — Wed, 18 May 2011 05:14:21 +0000

Fertility
Springtime is ripe with possibility. Infertility is a growing problem for many couples. Increasing environmental toxicity, stress, sedentary habits and the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) contribute without a doubt. If no medical cause of infertility exists, couples must focus on holistic self-care of the mind, body and spirit. A healthy child will sprout from well cared for soil. There is no better time to do an extensive cleanse than before conception to optimize fertility and protect your baby’s development.

Essential Oils
Ylang Ylang
Botanical name: Cananga odorata
Native to Philippines, Madagascar

Uses: Ylang Ylang (pronounced e-long) has antidepressant, hypotensive, sedative and nervine properties. Ylang Ylang is useful in reducing rapid breathing and promotes relaxation of the mind and body. It is particularly beneficial for nervous depression that is accompanied by severe tension, and can help reduce the severity and symptoms of PMS. It has a balancing effect of sebum, making it useful for oily and dry skin alike.

Women and Bone Health
Calcium is no longer the only natural way to treat Osteoporosis and Osteopenia (thinning of bone tissue). Vitamin K, Strontium, Vitamin B12, Vitamin D and Magnesium all have research supporting their ability to prevent fractures and increase bone density. Calcium should be taken with Vitamin d and Magnesium to improve absorption. Be sure to take Strontium eight hours away from Calcium in order to get the maximum benefit. Supportive nutrients include Boron, Silica and Manganese. Bio-Identical Hormones should also be considered as well.

Watering Your Garden
Knowing how and when to water your garden is essential for the health of your plants. It is important to water in the early morning or late afternoon to increase the root absorption of the water. Also, young plants need more water so water them at least once a day. Older plants need water less than once daily. If plants are appearing yellow, they are receiving too much water. If plants are appearing wilted, they aren’t getting enough water. Water plants on the soil at their base, not on the plant itself. Water on plant leaves can increase the risk of fungal issues and plant diseases. When using a hose, use a gentle stream to avoid disrupting the soil.

Essential Oils ~ Haley Sanders, LMP

admin — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 02:04:16 +0000

When it comes to massage, I have never been drawn to things that seem froufrou. I felt like essential oils were just things that make you smell good, and sometimes not even that. (Not all of those oils smell good!) I like things that are scientific and have some kind of evidence to back them up.

Imagine my surprise when I learned that essential oils are effective for a variety of things, and not just because they smell! Essential oils work through the olfactory membranes-so in the simplest terms you could say they work because they smell. However, it gets much more specific (and scientific) than that. The olfactory membranes have receptors in them that respond to the chemical components in essential oils, and those receptors transmit signals that generate nerve impulses. These messages are sent via the olfactory tract to higher olfactory regions of the brain.

Here is a study that shows how essential oils affect our brains. “Investigations at universities in Cincinnati and Washington were performed where by subjects took a 40 minute vigilance computer test whilst breathing oxygen through masks. The persons given intermittent does of peppermint performed 25% better than those given pure air only.” (The Complete Guide to Aromatherapy, by Salvatore Battaglia, pg. 100) Studies in Japan showed air scented with lavender, jasmine and lemon significantly decreased the number of errors per hour made by workers. What a powerful effect from essential oils!

Essential oils also work in another way. Applied topically, essential oils are lipophilic. This means they are drawn to fat tissue, and from there they are absorbed into the blood stream. It takes about 60 to 90 minutes for essential oils applied to the skin to be absorbed into the body. This fact makes essential oils the perfect partner for a massage. The oils work immediately through the olfactory membranes. Within a short time after you get up off the massage table, the essential oils applied during your treatment kick in and go to work. Did you come in with tendonitis, chronic pain or inflammation? A few drops of German chamomile and black pepper will decrease pain and inflammation and help make the effects of the massage last longer. What if you’re recovering from a cold or flu? A few drops of cajeput, eucalyptus and basil will help break up congestion, ease cough, and help boost your immune system. Do you suffer from headaches or migraines? There are oils to treat that; depression, anxiety; stress, fatigue-you name it- there’s an essential oil that will help treat and prevent it. If you worked out hard at the gym and have congested sore muscles from lactic acid buildup, certain essential oils can help your lymph system flush out the lactic acid.

I could go on-but you get the point I am making. Essential oils work scientifically. It’s not just froufrou. So the next time you come in for a massage, let me know what’s bothering you-and we can find an oil that will not only smell good but help you feel better during and long after your massage.

Haley Sanders LMP

Welcome!

admin — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 19:46:01 +0000

We are excited to have our new site up and running. In the coming weeks our practitioners will begin sharing information through our Beyond Medicine blog. Look for educational pieces on topics such as gardening, women’s health, nutrition, chinese medicine, essential oils, IV Therapy and many, many more. We look forward to having you as part of our healing community.

The Team at . . . → Read More: Welcome!