Have you been feeling overly anxious or overwhelmed with “the tasks of life”? Signs or symptoms of anxiety can be feelings of apprehension and powerlessness, fatigue, increased heart rate with sensations of heat, or even a sense of panic or danger around. Being uncomfortable in ones own skin is a common term used in relation to having experienced some sort of anxiety state. Anxiety disorders affect more than 18 million American adults in any given year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Although looked at as bad, anxiety can be viewed, as a sign to observe why this is occurring time and again. Feelings of uncertainty and being fearful of situations lead us to a condition we all know as “stress”. These stressors, or tasks of life, need to be merely managed or reevaluated to find balance within our daily life.
An increased sense of awareness is a great start to more clearly understand the causes of an anxious state. Lao Tzu, an ancient Chinese philosopher, stated, “When one is depressed they are living in the past, and when one is anxious, one is living in the future”. Here we can see how the busy mind and feelings of increased needs can cause the body’s nervous system to react. Moving away from this state and being more still with ones own self can guide one to more peace.
Through Chinese medicine, we can further understand how our emotions have a direct affect on our physical body. Acupuncture, Chinese herbs, food and lifestyle cultivation are great ways to calm anxiety and provide relaxation for the mind and body.
I had suffered foot pain for years. Some days it would be slightly less than others, but it was still a daily battle for me. It got to a point where I couldn’t ever wear heels. I tried numerous treatments, pills and therapies but nothing seemed to work.
So, I decided it was time for me to get rid of it once and for all. I underwent foot surgery.
As always, I was promised that surgery would be the answer to my problems and the end to my pain. Surgery came and went, but my foot pain remained. I went back to pain relievers and physical therapy but still could not find the relief I was looking for.
One day as I was shopping at the Marketplace, on my way to Trader Joe’s, I came across the Advanced Wellness Center.
I walked in and immediately felt like I was at the right place. When I met Dhanell, my acupuncturist, she made me feel like I could really trust her. I began going in once or twice per month, and at times would even go on a weekly basis; that’s how impactful her treatment was on me.
Dhanell treats my entire body, not just my foot. She really took the time to identify my needs and best of all, she has healed my foot pain.
I have recommended the Advanced Wellness Center numerous times and will continue to do so. They did for me something that even surgery couldn’t. Their professional staff and attentive practitioners really know how to heal.
Thank you Dhanell, I’m finally wearing heels again!
My relationship with the Advanced Wellness Center began about five years ago when my son went to see Dr. Barbara Shur. I don’t remember who recommended her to my family, but we are grateful nonetheless.
My son had suffered from a blinding headache for days. Nothing helped. But, after just one visit with Dr. Shur, he was pain free.
I remembered this experience when, last summer, I suffered from extreme sciatica. At first, I saw both Dr. Fuhrman and Dr. Mark, then Dr. Fuhrman took over my care full time. He used a variety of chiropractic techniques and within four weeks I was pain free.
Toward the end of the year I had another bout with that deep debilitating pain, so once again I went to see Dr. Fuhrman. He worked on me and suggested that I add some sessions of acupuncture to my treatment plan.
I made an appointment with Vince and the treatments went very well. By the end of the month, I was again without any pain at all.
For months, I continued to see Dr. Fuhrman for maintenance, since my x-rays show that I have virtually no discs left in my lumbar spine. I want to make sure I take care of myself.
And I hope to go back to him within a couple of months – just as soon as this cast comes off my foot. Dr. Fuhrman doesn’t know this yet, but I broke my foot and needed surgery.
Thank goodness for the Advanced Wellness Center. I know that once I can walk without a cast and see the professionals at the AWC, I’ll be able to get back to a pain-free status once again.
I came to the Advanced Wellness Center in hopes of finding some relief to my chronic foot and ear pain. My friend insisted that I go see Dr. Arnette for acupuncture treatment but I just couldn’t build up the courage to do so.
Finally, I visited my internist and asked her for advice. When I mentioned that I was thinking of going to see Dr. Arnette, she immediately said, “I love Dr. Arnette, go!” She said that she had trust in his practice and continued to encourage me to see him. At that point, I really had no excuse not to make my appointment at the Advanced Wellness Center.
My first consultation was great! Dr. Arnette took more than an hour to get to know my medical background and me. I really liked that. When I came in for my second visit, I already felt at home and extremely comfortable with his treatment.
I have now been going in once a week for the past three years. I love going in for treatment and getting a chance to meditate as my pain goes away. Before my treatment, Dr. Arnette usually spends about 15 minutes examining my body for any other things that may be wrong. It feels like no matter what pain or sickness I come down with, it is never something he can’t fix.
Dr. Arnette has taught me the importance of mind and body health. He’s a healer, he knows me, and he knows how to fix my body. I found the relief I was looking for in my foot and ear and much more! Go to the Advanced Wellness Center, they’re great!
It’s never too late to start. Research is showing that working out with weights may strengthen the heart muscle, reduce depression, lower the risk of diabetes, improve cognitive performance and more.
Studies are finding that strengthening muscles has a ripple effect throughout the body. For example, during resistance training, muscles generate more force than what’s generated during endurance exercises. The heart, being a muscle, is strengthened as well. During strength training, the heart’s muscle tissue contracts forcefully to push the blood out. Like all muscles, stress causes small tears in the muscle fibers. When the body repairs those tears, it’s building muscle. The result is a stronger heart that is also more efficient at pumping.
Here are a few other benefits of strength training:
Moderate to intense strength training builds skeletal muscle and increases bone density.
It improves glucose metabolism, which can reduce the risk of diabetes. Strength training boosts the number of proteins that take glucose out of the blood and transport it into the skeletal muscle, giving the muscles more energy and lowering blood-glucose levels.
Researchers found that kidney dialysis patients who had more lean muscle mass were 37% less likely to die than the patients who had the least.
Research in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that women ages 65 to 75 who did resistance training sessions once or twice per week over the course of a year improved their cognitive performance, while those who focused on balance and tone training declined slightly.
More studies are showing that you don’t have to be an athlete to benefit from strength training. All you need are some light weights, a little instruction, and persistence. The professionals at the Advanced Wellness Center are here to help!
Source: LA Times, “Pumping Iron Isn’t Just for Muscles,” Jeannine Stein
Healing Tip of the Week
Practice the 5-minute rule! If you’re not feeling like exercising, give yourself 5 minutes. Tell yourself you will exercise for 5 minutes. If at the end of 5 minutes, you’re not getting into it, you can stop. Most of the time getting started is the hardest part. Once you get going, chances are, you’ll keep going, because it just feels good! Smile at your strength!
I made my first appointment with Vince Koeller to discuss the digestive problems I had been experiencing for some time. I had previously tried acupuncture with another therapist, but unfortunately did not find the relief I sought. So when a friend recommended that I see Vince, I decided to give acupuncture another try.
During my first appointment, Vince took the time to review my medical history and hear about my current symptoms. He analyzed my lifestyle and worked with me to develop a comprehensive solution to my symptoms. These included what and when I’m eating, exercise, water intake, sleep, as well as environmental and social causes of stress.
After the very first treatment I felt amazing. Not only did I experience relief from my symptoms, but also found that I had so much more energy.
Vince prescribed a custom formula of Chinese herbs to supplement the acupuncture. He also counseled me on diet and lifestyle. I have been seeing him for about four months and feel 100 percent better.
I’m really glad I listened to my friend and gave acupuncture another chance. And I’m especially happy to be working with someone I know I can trust. In this short period of time, Vince has done so much for me to improve my health and well-being.
As we make our shift into the spring season, a world of change takes place. From Mother Nature, to our own individual lives, we notice instant subtleties to the environment and how they affect our health. Spring brings more light and activity from the tranquil, shorter winter days. And, thoughts of cleaning out old and preparing for new can uplift our spirits and clear our minds.
In Chinese medicine, Spring is a time of “sprouting” as the yang energy (or sun) becomes more abundant during the day. This corresponds with the movement of growing upward and extending out. We see this in nature as the flowers begin to bud and vegetation starts to thrive. So yes, it is time to get outside and enjoy the environment around you. But, climate of spring is ‘windy’ and can stir up conditions like allergic rhinitis or asthma, skin rashes, frequent colds and arthritis.
The emotional component of the spring energy is related to the liver, which if disturbed can cause imbalance. Developing good life habits and regularity should be the focus during these months to ensure the stability of our emotions. An erratic lifestyle filled with rage, worry and anger will disturb the mind and hinder digestion. Therefore, regular nutritious meals, rest and physical/mind exercises (i.e. yoga, meditation, tai ji, walking with friends, etc.) will help cultivate energy as you move into the summer months.
Chinese medicine encompasses acupuncture, herbal medicine, food as medicine, as well as exercise and healthy lifestyle choices to create a peaceful approach for each individual.
Ask your acupuncturist how he or she can help guide you along your path and help with health concerns. Here is a list of common conditions related to spring:
As I follow trends for my business and talk to my patients, I realize how many people try to get their help from Google to solve their pain. I have treated hundreds of back pain patients, and it’s almost always the same. They were given a wrong diagnosis, or one that was limited to x-ray or MRI. There’s so much more to the body we just can’t see yet! So don’t be fooled.
The problem is the information out there generally is so poor, or so weighted with someone trying to make a sale, that people:
End up diagnosing themselves with something far worse than they have.
Make their pain worse by obsessing for hours on the computer.
So, where does back pain come from? Why do we have millions of dollars in healthcare spent every year on back surgeries and pain medications? Because we’ve failed to take a functional look at the pain. Here’s a quick list of common causes of back pain:
Decreased hallux dorsiflexion (aka, your big toe doesn’t bend), limiting hip extension on walking.
Tight calves
Weak Tibialis Anterior
Tight Quads/Psoas Major
Poor hip rotation (usually from one tight and one weak hip). This usually involves other muscles up and down the body’s muscular chains.
Poor pelvic rotation (aka, your hips always turn one way). This can be caused by seated posture, or any of the above.
Hip hiking (usually from one quadratus lumborum, or latissimus)
On a more holistic note, back pain can even be linked to faulty emotions, abnormal breathing patterns, adrenal dysfunction, digestive issues, or poor diet.
You get the picture!
All of these cause Spinal Subluxations or Joint Pathology to occur. Your spine is like a gigantic circuit breaker. Any of the imbalances listed above will cause the electricity of your “spinal circuit breaker” to become dysfunctional. That is why many folks that come to me for back pain realize after they’re out of pain that the adjustment to their spine caused them to also have more energy and sleep better. Many patients that commit to yearly checkups also report getting sick less throughout the year.
If you don’t take anything else away from this, it’s that most injuries are LARGELY DUE TO NERVOUS SYSTEM DYSFUNCTION. Mainly, once movement stops, it’s literally like a switch gets turned off to some very important nerves in your joints called: mechanoreceptors and nociceptors. Chiropractic adjustments turn the switches back on! This is why it’s so useful for painful conditions; we’re rebooting the “circuit breaker!”
Healing Tip of the Week
Don’t go it alone with your pain. You’ll thank yourself for going to see a holistic practitioner, because not only will you get to the root of you pain, you’ll probably come away with even greater health and balance in your life!
Carpal Tunnel is a wear and tear injury. It’s what is categorized as a repetitive stress injury. When tendons and muscles become overused, they often develop scar tissue and inflammation as an adaptation. As the tendons and muscles tighten, they become more and more inflamed, even beginning to impinge on nearby nerves, blood vessels or ligaments. Especially in the case of carpal tunnel, entrapment is the key word. Looking at the anatomy, the nerves of the wrist literally run through a “tunnel”-like opening made up of the flexor tendons, the carpal bones of the wrist, and the median nerve.
Carpal tunnel is often accompanied by tingling, or paraesthesia, and hand pain. What’s often overlooked in carpal tunnel is the BIG PICTURE! Local surgery to the carpal tunnel often needs to be repeated soon after, and the pain often does not cease. Exercises alone often do nothing to deal with tissue inflammation and scar tissue. Icing alone, or anti-inflammatories, never fix the movement, muscle and joint dysfunction.
Carpal tunnel often begins in the neck. The phenomenon of triple crush syndrome means that the median nerve is entrapped initially as a nerve root at the neck (C5-T1); thus, if the neck has chiropractic vertebral subluxations or misalignments, the impingement can actually begin here.
Thoracic Outlet Impingement: The muscles of the front of the neck and shoulder can impinge on the brachial plexus as it exits the shoulder, inflaming the nerve as it transits down to the carpal tunnel and hand.
Pronator Teres Entrapment: A muscle deep in the forearm can actually be the hidden cause of hand pain and tingling sensations (paraesthesia).
Some more nasty and serious causes that are more rare, include diabetic neuropathy, cervical disc syndrome, and cervical rib syndrome (true TOS). The number one key to experiencing relief is to see someone who specializes in this subject.
Healing Tip of the Week
Carpal tunnel often comes from an area you would not likely expect that is away from the area that you feel pain. Chiropractic and Soft Tissue Adjustments are extremely successful at managing carpal tunnel.
Have you ever wondered: Is my monthly cycle normal? Or, does everyone experience the same monthly symptoms I do? Most women experience a wide variety of symptoms prior to their menstruation, including lower abdominal cramping, increased tension, headaches, fatigue, and depression. All of these symptoms can be prevented or significantly limited with some simple lifestyle modifications. It can be as easy as eating a balanced diet, enjoying regular physical exercise, and working toward greater mental clarity. Environment, diet, and emotional stability all have a direct relationship with the regularity of female hormones.
A regular cycle is considered 28 days, plus or minus 3 days. The duration of the actual period ranges anywhere from 3-7 days, depending on the individual. Paying attention to these cycles and qualities has a direct correlation on overall women’s health. Balanced hormone levels early on are essential for a healthy pregnancy and easy transition into menopause.
Practicing good habits are a vital component to find regularity and ease from month to month. Chinese medicine teaches us this is a fragile state, as interior fluids are shed and the body is exposed to the exterior, leaving the body vulnerable. Vulnerability, in this case, means the body’s vulnerability when exposed to environmental factors, both emotional and climate. Through Chinese medicine, we learn ways to cultivate our life through common daily practices as they are listed below. The focus is on prevention rather than emergency care.
Ask your acupuncturist how he or she can help you in all areas of women’s health.
Healing Tip of the Week
Here are some helpful tips of things to avoid or incorporate during your menstruation:
Avoid heavy physical work
Avoid emotional stress
Avoid overexposure to damp and cold conditions
Avoid working with your hands in cold water
Avoid constipation
Get plenty of rest
Abstain from sexual intercourse
Good Habits to Support a Healthy Menstruation
Have you ever wondered: Is my monthly cycle normal? Or, does everyone experience the same monthly symptoms I do? Most women experience a wide variety of symptoms prior to their menstruation, including lower abdominal cramping, increased tension, headaches, fatigue, and depression. All of these symptoms can be prevented or significantly limited with some simple lifestyle modifications. It can be as easy as eating a balanced diet, enjoying regular physical exercise, and working toward greater mental clarity. Environment, diet, and emotional stability all have a direct relationship with the regularity of female hormones.
A regular cycle is considered 28 days, plus or minus 3 days. The duration of the actual period ranges anywhere from 3-7 days, depending on the individual. Paying attention to these cycles and qualities has a direct correlation on overall women’s health. Balanced hormone levels early on are essential for a healthy pregnancy and easy transition into menopause.
Practicing good habits are a vital component to find regularity and ease from month to month. Chinese medicine teaches us this is a fragile state, as interior fluids are shed and the body is exposed to the exterior, leaving the body vulnerable. Vulnerability, in this case, means the body’s vulnerability when exposed to environmental factors, both emotional and climate. Through Chinese medicine, we learn ways to cultivate our life through common daily practices as they are listed below. The focus is on prevention rather than emergency care.
Ask your acupuncturist how he or she can help you in all areas of women’s health.
Vincent Koeller, LAc
Licensed Acupuncturist
Healing Tip of the Week
Here are some helpful tips of things to avoid or incorporate during your menstruation:
