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”.

Category: Case Studies, Lifestyle Tips, Peri-menopause

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!

Category: Case Studies, Herbs, Microcurrent

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.

Category: Case Studies, Herbs