Bones & Teeth
November 16, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Bone pain from old injuries?
Sudden increase in tooth decay during peri-menopause?
There is an inexpensive and effective solution:
Hydroxapatite (Micro Crystalline Hydroxyapatite Calcium or MCHC) is a form of calcium that reduces pain from bone or cartilage injuries and strengthens teeth. The reason it is so effective is because it is absorbed so much better than any other calcium supplement.
As a biochemist, I think the reason this calcium is so well absorbed is that it is derived from bone and therefore contains most of the cofactors that are the building blocks required to build bone. The cofactors make up 75% of the product, calcium makes up 25%. For example: calcium is 250 mg of a 1000mg pill of hydroxyapatite. This is very different from taking calcium, in whatever form, by itself.
The dose you take is very important. To start: take 4000-5000mg/day. After 2-4 weeks pain from an injury will usually be greatly reduced.
Noticeable tooth strengthening may take 3 months. I noticed much less tooth sensitivity to hot or cold and dental cleaning by 3 months. At the one year mark, my teeth are very tight in their sockets and my gums are much stronger. One gum pocket has disappeared. Flossing 2 times/day with thin floss at the gum edges is very important. The right softness of your toothbrush also helps.
The other building block that must be supplied with the hydroxyapatite is vitamin C. Take 4000-5000mg of vitamin C per day at the same time as the hydroxyapatite. One patient who failed to take the vitamin C, did not experience the pain decrease benefit until she started vitamin C. After my hip injury pain of 35 years disappeared, I decreased my dose to 2000mg/day. The pain returned within days. I now take 3000mg/day and expect to continue that dose for the rest of my life. You can always do the experiment to see if you can reduce your dose.
STORY: A 57 year old woman had “bone-on-bone” in one knee. It became extremely painful. She took 4000mg/day hydroxyapatite and 4000mg/day vitamin C. In 2 weeks she could tell the pain was decreasing. By 3 weeks she was pain free. She could tell the knee is still “bone-on-bone” but there is no pain. She maintains the 4000mg/day dose of hydroxyapatite and vitamin C. NOTE: After 2 years of taking this dose, she reported that the cartilage has regrown so that the knee no longer feels “bone on-bone”.
Free Lifestyle Tips
November 3, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Increase Collagen, Drink Gelatin
If you can ingest about 4 packs of gelatin in juice per day, you will increase collagen and decrease inflammation. In a microwave-safe mug, stir 2 packs gelatin into juice and heat for one minute in microwave. More specific treament of inflammation can done with herbs.
Lose Weight, Eat Soup Before a Meal
Fill up on hot soup before starting to eat a meal. This is especially satisfying in the winter. Add veggies and soy or kelp noodles to your soup for extra flavor and nutrition.
Pomegranate Juice Vs. Alcohol
If you want to have fun at a party without the negative effects of alcohol, try drinking pomegrantate juice (esp. Pom drink) instead of wine. It looks like red wine, tastes great and is good for you.
Essential Oils Treat Infections
Stubborn fungal, bacterial and viral infections often respond to essential oils. You can dilute the essential oil in sesame or almond oil (in a 1:10 ratio) and apply to the area of infection. If the infection is respiratory, put undiluted oil in a diffusor to inhale while you sleep.
Success with Herbs and Microcurrent
October 12, 2011 | Leave a Comment
I hope your new autumn schedules are settling into a comfort zone. In my January post of this year, I reported on a needleless treatment using colored light and “sticky pads” on the skin to deliver a micro-current to specific acupuncture points for release of old emotional patterns. Colored light can also be used alone. I have had very positive experience with this technique on many patients since then:
1) A college aged woman’s ANA numbers (a rating of autoimmune reaction severity) decreased from 12,000 to 650. Normal is about 60.
2) A 14 year old girl had very irregular, very painful periods with excessive bleeding for 10-20 days. After two treatments with the micro-current and colored light, her periods came at 28 day intervals with about 3 days of normal bleeding and NO CRAMPS!
3) A 55 year old man had severe neck and right arm pain, anxiety and insomnia. After ten treatments of micro-current, colored light alone, acupuncture, and herb formulas, he had good sleep and no pain.
I’d also like to report 2 new developments.
A) Herb formulas that allow patients to recover deep quality sleep.
B) Herb formulas that treat digestive problems and weight gain.
Management of stress is often a key factor in producing deep quality sleep. (I have some really efficient methods for this.) But nutritional balance with herbs is often necessary. There is one type of herb formula that is really powerful for turning down your adrenalin production. This is especially useful!
A-1) A 39 year old woman who had been in a recent car accident couldn’t sleep. With a few treatments using the micro-current method and the sleep herb formula I prescribed for her, she reported the deepest sleep she had ever experienced. She started regaining her energy very quickly.
A-2) A 54 year old woman has had intractable insomnia since peri-menopausal symptoms started 7 years ago. She had immediate better sleep and then a longer term, further improvement in the quality of her sleep after taking the sleep herb formula prescribed for her.
Digestive problems run the gamut from acid reflux and food sensitivities, excess phlegm, gas and bloating, to weight gain, fatigue and poor evacuation.
B-1) A 53 year old woman on anti depressants had severe insomnia and some weight gain. She stopped taking one anti depressant, had 6 treatments of micro-current/acupuncture, and took a sleep herb formula that I prescribed. She slept well for 2 weeks, got back to exercising, and has lost most of the weight she had gained.
B-2) A 64 year old woman had severe reflux. Six days of taking an herb formula, and she is free of this discomfort.
Fall and winter are the best seasons of the year to take care of yourself. Care taken at this time of year rewards you with better health and more energy all the rest of the year.
To your health!
Success with Herbs
July 8, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Welcome to my world of composing herb formulas!
Out of 250 herb bottles stacked around me in my workroom, I try to choose the best 3 or 4 herbs to treat each patient. Grouped in formulas, herbs have synergistic (greater than the sum of its parts) effect. Each patient has a combination of symptoms caused by hot/cold, yin/yang, deficient/excess imbalances in the 12 organ systems.
For example: “Sabrina” has hotflashes, mood swings and headaches.
From looking at her tongue and taking her pulse, I can discern that her Liver system is very dehydrated (yin deficient) and stagnant (excess).
I choose 2 herbs to build blood and Liver/Kidney yin that are slightly cool or neutral. She takes 4-8 grams/day.
I give her acupuncture to release the stagnant energy flow in her Liver system.
One week later:
- The hotflashes have decreased to 3 times only at night.
- She reports having “more even moods”.
- The headaches remain unaffected.
She continues to take the herbs at 6 grams /day.
I give acupuncture to Gallbladder 20 (at base of the skull) and GB41(the exit point for stuck energy to be released from the Liver and Gallbladder channels).
She experiences immediate buzzing and energy moving in the whole Gallbladder channel.
Another week later:
- No headaches!
- Even moods.
- “Much better sleep” hotflashes not waking her.
So we have discovered what works to treat Sabrina’s present complaints using a combination of acupuncture and herbs.
Blood and yin(fluids) deficiency is extremely common in women by the age of 30. Stuck energy causing pain or mood swings is also extremely common.
Sabrina may need to continue to take the herbs to maintain freedom from her symptoms.
Microcurrent Treatments
January 3, 2011 | Leave a Comment
I hope you had some rest and relaxation during the winter holidays. Thank you for all your support during the past year. I’m writing this post to let you know about a treatment that produces significant results in my clinic.
The treatment uses microcurrent (0.3 Hertz), through sticky pads on the skin, to treat points located on the torso of the body. A colored light is also applied to the front points for one minute. Since no needles are used, this is a great treatment for kids, or anyone else not comfortable with needles. (Colored light alone can be used as a milder treatment.)
Microcurrent treatment is good for many complaints that are otherwise difficult to treat such as reversing food sensitivities, stubborn pain syndromes, deep emotional issues, migraines, depression, chronic fatigue, and even the symptoms accompanying cancer and chemo/radiation. Torso points, if used correctly, are able to treat at a constitutional level. This means the result affects ones health at a deeper level.
My experience using the microcurrent method is that I see faster progress toward balance. The treatment usually “feels” very mild. A few people have felt tired the day of the treatment and fine the next day.
Other treatments I use include the following: Moxa (infra red light) on certain sets of points is deeply relaxing. For many patients, a main reason their bodies are not healing is because they cannot relax enough to heal.
Relaxation is the first step. No true healing takes place except in the relaxed state.
Winter is the best season to really take care of yourself. If you take care during winter, you have better health and more energy all the rest of the year. Moxa builds up energy. (So does doing yoga restorative pose.) Very gentle acupuncture with very few needles builds up energy and balances the major systems of the body.
Herbal formulas continue to treat symptoms very effectively. I make custom formulas for each individual. This increases the positive effect. A spoon of powdered herbs taken daily continues the strengthening and balancing begun by a treatment.
With these simple tools we can accomplish a great deal of positive change in your quality of life.
Best wishes for a Happy New Year !
Relaxation & Healing
November 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Holiday activities have you feeling wired and exhausted? Allow your body to remember relaxation. Bodies heal in the relaxed state.
TREATMENTS OF INTEREST
1) Low back and sciatic pain
Example: A bulging disk/degeneration somewhere between lumbar-2 and sacral-1 vertebrae was causing extreme pain to a 73 year old woman. She had received an epideral anesthetic injection into her right sciatic nerve every 4-6 months to be able to live in some comfort. Vicodin was used daily as well. After 7 treatments with low level laser and some needling, she is able to stop taking painkillers and cancelled her next appointment for an epideral.
If you have pain in any joint or tendon, low level laser treatment (LL laser) is highly effective. Most cartilage injury heals much faster with a few LL laser treatments. (If you have a tear of the cartilage that is jagged, it may need to be smoothed surgically before this treatment works.)
2) Cancer chemo support
Example: A 41 year old breast cancer patient had a severe depression reaction to chemo by day 3 after an infusion. Needling of Liver, Gallbladder and Heart points cleared the depression and also her associated abdominal cramping.
Chemo chemicals are very toxic to the Liver and Gallbladder. When Liver & Gallbladder systems are unable to move the energy of the body smoothly, severe depression and fatigue can be experienced even if no emotional reason is present.
Example: A 64 year old colon cancer patient had heartburn 4-5 days after chemo infusion. If he takes the herbal formula I give him, he does not get heartburn.
Chemo chemicals are very dehydrating to the tissues that they target. Herbs can restore the fluids to these tissues and speed healing.
3) Depression
Example: A 48 year old woman experiences bouts of depression like some people experience migraine headaches: feel it “coming on” for a day, the next day is debilitating depression. I gave her an herbal formula and she is feeling “happy” without the bouts of depression.
Some migraines and some depression will respond to herbs that get the energy of the Liver system to flow smoothly. There is no dividing line between the physical and the emotional in Chinese medicine.
4) Hypo- or hyperthyroidism
Example: A 49 year old woman had severe fatigue, slight weight gain, and some hair loss due to hypothyroid function. She has had this imbalance for over 20 years. I gave her 15 LL laser treatments. Also she took herbs that improve digestion and Liver system function. She tapered off the levoxyl and is stable. The levoxyl was giving her headaches and dry skin.
Digestive and liver imbalances almost always precede hypo- and hyper-thyroid symptoms. Some aspect of the thyroid problem is usually autoimmune. Autoimmunity responds very well to LL laser treatment.
Fall and winter are the best seasons to take care of your health for benefit the rest of the year!
Media on Health Topics
June 16, 2010 | Leave a Comment
I hope you are enjoying this beautiful summer. I’m writing this letter to let you know about new programs I’m developing and treatments that have been especially effective. Also, I want to comment on some of the media coverage of health topics recently.
I specialize in pain relief and internal medicine. By internal medicine I mean: nutrition, acupuncture, herbal medicine and exercises used to treat symptoms of: fatigue, infertility, menopause, high Prostate Specific Antigen scores, thyroid imbalances, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, post-chemotherapy & radiation and others.
HERBS
The biggest news is how well custom herbal formulas are working for these various complaints. I am starting my third year of weekly private sessions with a Chinese master herbalist trained in both western and Oriental medicine. Each week we discuss any patient’s case that is not progressing as I would expect. My teacher gives me suggestions for a different approach or different herbs to use from his over 50 years of experience. I currently use 220 herbs in my pharmacy. I make custom formulas for each patient. This gives me a lot of subtlety for treating each person with their individual complexities.
Part of the reason herbs work so well is that herbs are absorbed by the body like food. In fact, without herbs in our diet, we are missing some of nature’s nutrition. These herbs are especially easy to take. Even my busiest patients can manage to put powdered herbs in hot water and drink it in the morning. If you need the herbs in capsules, we can do that too.
FOOD THERAPY
Nutritional or food therapy is another way we have gained very positive results recently. If you have any food cravings, weight gain or weight loss, your body is telling you that there is some nutrition that you are missing. When we figure out what is missing, you will feel calmer and well nourished without overeating. This method has allowed recovery for many patients from severe fatigue, weight gain, and allergies. Sinus congestion is usually related to a diet that is in some way not best for you.
NEW TOOL: ENERGIZING OVERWORKED SYSTEMS
My new electrical moxa machine warms acupuncture points with infra red light. This energizes weak systems in your body, while relaxing you. It treats fatigue, pain, cold, digestive weakness, and phlegm. Results happen much more quickly than with only acupuncture and/or herbs. The mid-section weight gain that doesn’t respond to calorie restricition or increased exercise responds to the moxa machine. Osteomyelitis and fibromyalgia are two complaints that have responded very well also.
HOT TOPICS
Heart disease and strokes are referred to in the media as if they pop up out of nowhere. Actually, there is usually a build up of arterial plaque over at least a 10 to 15 year period of time. Your pulse reveals this gradual change. This gives us plenty of time to use herbs and other gentle supplements to decrease the thickening of the blood that leads to plaque deposition. We have seen choresterol levels decrease dramatically with this approach.
Cancer tumors also usually develop over 5 to 10 years. There are some immune markers of tumor formation now available through blood tests. Herbal treatment of symptoms related to tumor formation are highly developed in China and almost unknown in the US.
Infra-red thermal imaging has been shown to reveal areas of heat on the skin that can be predictive of tumor formation 5 to 10 years in advance. This method is particularly good for breast cancer prevention.
I have developed a progream of methods for decreasing the risk of breast tumor formation. It involves exercise, dietary modifications, herbs and acupuncture. This program has decreased thermal imaging markers indicating increasing risk of breast tumor formation after being used for 2 months.
The possibilities for preventing the symptoms of these and other diseases using herbs, acupuncture, and nutrition are exciting and very much within our reach!
To maintain good health, most of us need to balance the yin and yang in our lives. (Restorative yoga does wonders!) The balance for stress and activity, is rest and beauty or enjoyment. Peace and harmony are at the core of what we all desire.
New Developments & Effective Treatments
April 2, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Spring has come early this year! Thank you for all your support during the winter season. I’m busy and I appreciate seeing you.
I’m writing this post to tell you about new developments and effective treatments. First, I want to encourage you to call me about any health condition you might be experiencing, to get the Alternative Medicine perspective. Whatever the problem, Alternative and Oriental Medicine view the meaning of symptoms quite differently from the mainstream assumptions that we usually make in our culture.
The holistic nature of Oriental and Alternative Medicines, can often offer clues that specialists might miss. Since October, I have been learning from a master herbalist trained in both western and Oriental medicine. The results of this experience have been very positive. I have been able to successfully treat many complaints. I may be able to offer you another option, or save you from unnecessary surgery.
Saved from Surgery
A patient had one salivary gland removed surgically because it had become swollen and did not reduce with antibiotics. Recently, the gland on the other side became swollen. I was able to give the patient an herb formula that reduced the swelling. We are now treating the underlying cause for such blockage of fluid drainage.
The following cases are examples of health problems that I approach in a manner that differs from the mainstream.
Muscle Pain Related to Drug-induced Tissue Dehydration
A patient came to me complaining of pain in her arm muscle that did not respond to massage, physical therapy, or cortisone shots. The site of the pain was on the Large Intestine meridian. She had previously been treated with an anti-fungal medication that had severely dehydrated her intestinal tissues. Acupuncture and herbs were used to return hydration to her digestive tract, and the pain in her arm disappeared.
Dehydration is a common side effect of many western medications. Since dehydration is a major factor associated with aging, it is best to not ignore it. Herbal supplements provide an inexpensive, highly individualized source for treatment of most side effects.
Allergies, Nutrition, & Weight Loss
Symptoms of allergies are often related to sinus congestion. There are a group of acupuncture points in the lower body, which specifically treat sinusitis and digestive complaints. Many patients have gained long term relief from these symptoms after a few treatments using these points. To maintain this relief, nutritional changes are the next step. With such nutritional changes, weight loss, if appropriate, is usually a result.
Chemotherapy Recovery
Since the nature of chemo drugs is extremely toxic, it is no surprise that the body needs some assistance in clearing itself of this toxicity. One patient experienced fluid retention and yellowing of her skin. I used detoxifying acupuncture and a custom herbal formula to reduce both of these symptoms. From her pulse and tongue analysis, there are aspects of detoxification with no visible symptoms to address as well. Further herbs and acupuncture are capable of completing this process.
Herbal Hormone Replacement Therapy
There are herbs that contain the precursors of the three estrogens and progesterone. I have experience using these herbs to replace the class of hormones that are not bio-identical with human hormones, such as Premarin. I have also used these herbs to replace the human bio-identical progesterone found in yam cream. The result in both kinds of cases, was less water retention, decrease in upper body weight, and softening of breast tissue.
These results are associated with a better prognosis for avoiding breast cancer. My impression from these cases is that an herbal source of hormones is more easily integrated into the body metabolism. This may be because the cofactors that carry out the integration have not been removed from the hormones. The lower incidence of breast cancer in Asian women consuming a traditional diet may be related to the herbal/nutritional source of their hormones.
Thyroid Imbalances
Many women experience hypothyroid symptoms – low energy, feeling cold, weight gain. Some have these symptoms without thyroid hormone levels in the blood being below “normal” range. Some given thyroid hormone supplementation, begin to experience hyperthyroid symptoms. All three scenarios have responded well to individualized treatment with herbs and acupuncture.
Tendency to Fungal Growth in the Body
I have seen many patients with yeast or fungal infections at many sites in their bodies. If we think of the body as an ecological environment, cold and damp conditions encourage fungal growth. We live in a climate that is mostly cold and damp. Antibiotic use creates further cold and damp. Herbs and acupuncture are capable of changing the cold and damp environment in the body by strengthening the sources of warmth and drying that we naturally possess.
Injury Migraine Responds to Herbal Clearing of “Old Blood”
Concussion injury to the head usually produces bruises concentric to the eyes. This indicates that blood is present outside arteries and veins inside the skull. When this blood coagulates, it is particularly difficult for the body to remove and can cause severe “stabbing” pain. A patient who sustained such an injury 25 years ago, had “stabbing” pain migraines that began within 2 years of the injury. Osteopathic/chiropractic realignment and hypnosis helped. The stabbing pain remained. After 2.5 weeks of herbs specific for clearing “old blood” and targeted to the head, the patient experienced a migraine-like episode without stabbing pain.
I hope this information can be helpful to you or someone you know. Best wishes for the spring and summer seasons!
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Recent Posts
- Bones & Teeth
- Free Lifestyle Tips
- Success with Herbs and Microcurrent
- Success with Herbs
- Microcurrent Treatments
- Relaxation & Healing
- Media on Health Topics
- New Developments & Effective Treatments