New E-Book Available For FREE!

I recently put out an E-Book together with another acupuncturist named Kevin Doherty.  We wrote this book to explain acupuncture and Chinese medicine in terms everyone can understand.

Acupuncture can seem so foreign and strange, so mysterious.  Well in our E-Book “How To Thrive in The Modern World: A Layman’s Guide to Chinese Medicine” we break down all those barriers.

I invite you to visit my website www.wholisticfamily.com and download your FREE copy TODAY!

Enjoy!

Deep Vein Thrombosis

This past week the Office of the Surgeon General of the United States issued a press release as a call to action regarding Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). I would like to spread the word about this via this medium. Deep Vein Thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot, usually in the deep and large veins of the legs. If this clot becomes dislodged and moves it can become a pulmonary embolism (a blood clot in the lungs) or it can get stuck in any of the other major organs of the body. It can be fatal.
First some facts: DVT kills more people in the United States than AIDS and breast cancer combined. According to the Surgeon General, “Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism affect an estimated 350,000 to 600,000 Americans each year and incidence is expected to increase as the U.S. population ages. Together, deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism are estimated to contribute to at least 100,000 deaths each year.”
While DVT can occur without any symptoms there are definitive signs and symptoms and certain populations of people with higher risk. Know what the symptoms are and whether you are in a higher risk category.
According to the Mayo Clinic symptoms include (not an exhaustive list and check with your doctor):
Swelling in the affected leg(s), usually it occurs in one leg, but can occur in both; this can include swelling in your ankles and feet.
Pain in your legs; this can include pain in your ankles and feet. This pain often starts in your calf and can feel like cramping or a “charley horse.”
Redness and warmth over the affected area.
Pain or swelling in your arms or neck. This can occur if a blood clot forms in your arms or neck.
Deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism warning signs
Sometimes the first sign of deep vein thrombosis can be the chest pain associated with a pulmonary embolism. If this is the case, seek medical help immediately. The warning signs and symptoms of a pulmonary embolism include:
Chest pain or discomfort. This pain or discomfort usually gets worse when you take a deep breath or when you cough.
Unexplained sudden onset of shortness of breath. This is the most common symptom.
Feeling lightheaded or dizzy, or fainting.
Coughing up blood.
A sense of anxiety or nervousness.
Now of course these symptoms look like a lot of things but better safe than sorry.
Listed on ehealthMD deep vein thrombosis is the result of three principal factors:
1. Reduced or stagnant blood flow in deep veins (venous stasis).
2. Injury to the blood vessel wall.
3. An increase in the activity of those substances in the blood that are part of the normal clotting mechanism, a condition called hypercoagulability (which means a more active clotting state).
A number of factors can bring about these conditions, thus increasing the possibility of developing DVT. These include:
•    Immobilization, such as lying in bed following surgery
•    Having undergone a surgical procedure
•    Having been subjected to major trauma
•    Increasing age
•    Malignancy (cancerous tumor)
•    Heart failure
•    A previous bout with deep vein thrombosis
•    Pregnancy
•    The use of oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy
Need To Know:
Surgical procedures that are most often associated with deep vein thrombosis are:
•    Major pelvic or abdominal surgery, especially for malignancy (cancer)
•    Orthopedic operations involving the hip and knee
•    Neurosurgical procedures
The following factors also put people at greater risk of developing a blood clot:
•    Prolonged immobilization (such as on a long car or airplane trip) - sitting for long periods (4 hours or more) reduces circulation in legs by 50 percent.
•    Diabetes (a disorder in which the body can not make use of sugars and starches in a normal way), which damages blood vessels.
•    Obesity - weight puts pressure on veins, causing them to weaken.
•    Childbirth - physical strain of childbirth puts pressure on deep veins, causing them to weaken.
•    Tobacco smoking - damages blood vessels and doubles the risk of thrombosis.
People over the age of 50 are at a higher risk, but DVT can affect anyone at any age.   And according to the Surgeon General “African-Americans and Whites are more likely than other ethnic groups to develop a DVT or a pulmonary embolism. African-Americans are estimated to be at 30 percent greater risk compared to Whites.”
DVT and pulmonary embolism can be prevented and treated.  If you have any concerns after reading this please talk to your doctor.
At my clinic located in downtown Silver Spring,  MD I offer acupuncture, massage therapy and many other holistic health modalities.  We are near Washington, DC, a few blocks from the Red Line Silver Spring station.

Did You Know the Five Surprising Benefits of Massage?

To the people who know about massage and what it can do, this will be preaching to the choir. But to those who do not you will find an article published in Newsweek on September 4^th quite surprising to quote the article.

I recommend this article as a very good read about the benefits of massage.  Move your mouse over the title and click on it to link to the article.

Five Surprising Benefits of Massage

By Temma Ehrenfeld

Massage is available at my office located in Downtown Silver Spring, MD, close to Washington DC and just blocks from the Red Line’s Silver Spring Station.

Would You like an Inexpensive Way to Lose Weight, Free-up Your Hips and Have Fun?

Today is June 19^th 2008 and it is the fiftieth anniversary of the hula hoop. Did you know that? Well it is! An American icon that of late has gone un-remembered.

In my office, in Silver Spring, MD, I often recommend to my patients who have hip and lower back issues that they take up hula hooping. Why? - you may ask.

Hula hooping is a fun, low impact sport. It gets all of the muscles in the low back and hip moving. These are muscles that don’t move much in most of us, as we are sedentary and do a lot of work at a computer or behind a desk.

Did you know that hula hooping is a great exercise that works all of the core muscles?

And according to Mayo Clinic physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist Edward Laskowski, M.D., “Weighted hula hoops, available at most sporting goods stores, are bigger and heavier than traditional hula hoops. You can use weighted hula hoops as one component of an overall fitness program or simply as a fun way to burn calories. In general, the bigger you are, the bigger the hoop should be. The weight of the hoop is up to you. Lighter hoops require more energy to keep them going. Heavier hoops are easier to keep going, which may lead to a longer workout. You may want to avoid using weighted hula hoops if you have a history of back problems.”

In an article that appeared in The Telegraph – an English Newspaper in 1993 - it reported “In recent trials carried out by Conrad Earnest, an exercise physiologist at the Cooper Institute for Human Performance and Nutrition Research in Dallas, it was shown that vigorous waist-circling with the Heavy Hoop for eight minutes burns as many calories - about 110 - as running an eight-minute mile. Even less strenuous hooping uses a similar amount of energy (85 calories) as you would expend on a slow 12-minute jog.”

That is pretty darn good for having fun. It is also a way to de-stress and do something with your children. One of my patients who is a grandmother and started hula hooping at my direction did so in front of her grandchildren one day. They had such a blast, she said watching her hula hoop.

I urge you to call my office and make an appointment. Let us help you get more mobility into your lower back and hips. Let us help you get healthy while having fun and becoming more able to relax.

Wholistic Family Healthcare is conveniently located near the Silver Spring Metro station in downtown Silver Spring, close to Washington, DC.

Relieving Stress Boosts Your Profits!

Everyone experiences stress as it is a natural part of life. A recent report in the San Francisco Chronicle said that according to the American Psychological Association one third of Americans are living with extreme stress. The most cited source of that stress was the workplace.

This is very costly to employers as it affects the bottom line. [Read more]

Simeon Pollock Present at Bill Signing

Simeon Pollock was present on Thursday April 24, 2008, as Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley signed into law an act creating the Maryland State Board of Chiropractic and Massage Therapy Examiners.

Acupuncture and Fatigue

“I thought acupuncture was only good for pain, that’s what I’ve been told.”Well I am here to tell you that acupuncture can also help a person beat fatigue and the devastating effects that fatigue can have on a person.

As with anything, when working with any issue we at Wholistic Family Healthcare, in Silver Spring, MD look at the whole person. This is why we spell wholistic with a “W”. That said when you come in for treatment of fatigue you will be asked a lot of questions about you and your lifestyle. From a Chinese medicine point of view there are many reasons for fatigue and the answer is not always – sleep more. Sleeping more can surely help – sometimes - and may even be a component of the treatment plan but it won’t be the only thing you can do.

Once your Chinese medical diagnosis is made a treatment plan will be created expressly for you. A typical plan will include acupuncture, Chinese herbs and perhaps dietary and lifestyle changes. This plan will be jointly executed by you and us. Your active participation and compliance is a vital component to insuring your success.

Some examples of what, we like to call pathogens in Chinese medical parlance can be damp, qi deficiency, blood deficiency, qi and blood deficiency, Spleen qi deficiency, or a combination of any and all of the above. If these terms sound weird or strange to you, rest assured that is fine. They were strange and weird to me too when I first heard of them. Today they make so much sense to me as they truly help explain why one feels the way one does. They also give us a plan on how to resolve the issues at the core of your problem – fatigue.

Here is the catch, it takes time to resolve these issues and hard work on both our parts. If you are willing to put in the effort (come in for treatments take the herbs, make changes in diet and or lifestyle) and be patient, allowing your body to heal and change (how long exactly is a little like trying to predict the weather) you should see results.

I would encourage you to watch Amy’s testimonial, below and you will get a sense of what can be accomplished if you stick to the program.

Want To Have A Great Day? Here’s How!

I was driving home from a meeting today and a song was playing on the radio that made me think. The song was “SO YOU HAD A BAD DAY” BY DANIEL POWTER. My thoughts went in the direction of how could a person who had a bad day be helped. How could he/she turn it around and have a great night? How could he/she turn it around so that tomorrow (another great song by the way) would be a better day? [Read more]

Fatigue? Don’t Allow It To Get You Down!

Recently I have been seeing patients complaining of feeling tired all the time, not being able to focus on tasks and having a hard time getting up in the morning.

Perhaps something is in the air lately; I don’t know the reason for this spate.
I do know that they don’t all suffer from fatigue for the same reasons. [Read more]

Stress in Your Workplace?

In an article published in the Business section of the Washington Post on February 19, 2008, author Vickie Elmer discussed the effects of stress in the workplace.

In her article, Ms. Elmer that if you are “angry and overloaded because your hours keep growing as the staff gradually shrinks, don’t expect much help from management.” [Read more]

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