Hey It Is Getting Worse not Better. But You Said….

Don’t you just hate it when things don’t go the way you planned?  I know I do, however I also know that that the best laid plans…
A while back I had a patient who came to me for help in resolving a rash that seemed to get worse with each passing day.  This is a rash that she had had before and was thought to have been a reaction to taking antibiotics.  She was given acupuncture and herbs as well as a strict diet, from which she did not veer.  With some time and patience she got better and the rash completely cleared up.
Recently she is back with the same rash.  She had not been on any antibiotics and was puzzled as to why this rash was reappearing.  We went over her diet and lifestyle and I made recommendations as to what she should and could be eating and what she should not.  Well when she ate the new foods she had more outbreaks and became very upset.  She thought that the foods she was eating that were new to her were making matters worse and how could that be.  Hadn’t I told her that they were OK?
Allow to digress here for a minute or so.  In addition to speaking with her about her diet, I spoke with her about her lifestyle and pointed out to her that she has a lot of stress and no outlet.  She is also very busy, what with her family and running her household, helping with homework and you can imagine the rest.  She ignored this and tried to look past it, blaming everything on her diet.  It took a few tries but I finally made some headway and she began to understand (not totally though) that her main issue was stress and not her diet (although that needed help as well).
I patiently explained that her rash was due to the built up stress creating heat inside and looking for a way out.  The fact that it was getting worse before getting better was the acupuncture and herbs pushing out all the heat that she has inside.  She is still in denial that stress and pent up emotions could be causing all this and until the heat is fully vented and she stops making more she would continue having the rash.
I recommended that she dedicate time for herself everyday where she could relax and unwind. I told her “make it apart of her day just like sleeping, eating and breathing.”  This is something she must do.  Her initial reaction was to laugh.  “How could I do that?” she asked me.  I told her she had to find a way.
Time alone will tell what she will do and how she will incorporate this new diet and behavior into her life.  But to prevent future outbreaks and to regain balance in her life it is something she must do.
Simeon Pollock, Licensed Acupuncturist has his office in downtown Silver Spring, MD, nearby to Washington, DC.  The office is conveniently located a few blocks from the Metro’s Red Line Silver Spring Station and has ample parking in lots nearby.  Call 301-495-0303 for an appointment today.

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!

Fall is Here. Ain’t it Great!

If you’re like me you are enjoying the beginnings of fall.  What with a nip in the air and the leaves just starting to blush, it is just glorious outside.  Go ahead and open your windows and let the sun shine in, let the clear air clear out your house.  I am sure you can sense the change in the energy.  For one I can’t look at the left over peaches and nectarines any more.  Bring on those beautiful plums (so many colors) and crisp apples and pears – YUM!
It is time to relish autumn and its bounty from pumpkins to mums to the color of the changing leaves.  Can’t you just see the fireplace ablaze warming your home while the winds blow?
However some of us also see fall allergies and the oncoming cold and flu season and wonder what type of year it will be for that.  Well I would like to invite to finally Do Something About It!  But what can I do you ask?
Well there are preventative actions we can take as well as reactive actions.  For those of you suffering from Autumn allergies there are treatments that are very effective in either eliminating the effects all together or in lessening the effects.  All of this is done without making you sleepy (well maybe just a little, the acupuncture treatments have been known to relax a person and many people have taken naps while the needles were in).  Treatments can also be designed to help prevent colds and flus while strengthening your defenses.
Don’t you want to take out some time for yourself during the week, isn’t life hectic and stressful?  This just lowers you immune system and makes you more susceptible to getting sick.  It is said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing again and again but expecting different results.  Come on, try something different and help yourself feel better.  It all starts with a simple phone call to make your appointment – (301) 495-0303.

Wholistic Family Healthcare is located in Downtown Silver Spring MD, near to Washington DC, and only blocks from the Metro’s Red Line Silver Spring Station.

Healthcare the Way it Oughta’ Be

If you are like many people I know, you kind of monitor your health from afar. You say to yourself “ I feel fine, why should I see a doctor?” If you don’t have any symptoms, must be there is nothing to be concerned about – right? Wrong!

There are many times when patients come in for the one complaint they want addressed and through my examination other issues are found or revealed that they would really like treatment for. Often I hear “…I did not know that was a problem until you examined me, can you help me with that?” Often I can and if I can’t I refer them to someone who can, be that a physician or a chiropractor or whomever I think will be of help.

In my practice my focus is on you, your issues, your problems, what makes you hurt. I take the time to listen to you. In today’s two minute doctor’s appointments, and that’s after you have been waiting in the reception room for 30 minutes, we feel abused and frustrated. No wonder we avoid going to the doctor.

I run my practice on time because I value your time as much as I value my own. I return your calls and you speak directly to me.

If you are interested in quality healthcare, a personal touch and a warm caring office give me a call and I will treat you right! My number is 301-495-0303.

My office is conveniently located in downtown Silver Spring, Maryland just blocks from the Red Line Silver Spring station and with plenty of parking around the office. I offer morning, afternoon and evening appointments for your convenience.

I hope to see you soon!

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]

Acupuncture and Family Stress

Stress is one of today’s most common causes of problems and disease among people today. I don’t think we even realize how much stress we are under as individuals or as families. Nor do I think we recognize what it is doing to us and our lives. Sure there was always stress, it is a basic component of our makeup. Without stress we would have died out as a species.

How can that be you are asking? Well if you are asking that question, you simply don’t understand stress and the important role it plays in our survival. Please don’t be insulted, as I mean no harm. It is just that we are so far removed from nature that we don’t know any more what is natural and what is not.

Every person has an autonomic nervous system. This autonomic nervous system is divided into two parts – the sympathetic nervous system and the para-sympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system controls those responses of our bodies that are not under our control. For example, flight or fight, pupil dilation in the dark, mouth watering when we are hungry or smell good food. The para-sympathetic nervous system controls systems while we are at rest. For example, digestion while resting, breathing while resting.

Stress and reaction to it fall under the purview of the sympathetic nervous system and is part of the fight or flight response system in our bodies. Basically it is a keep me alive warning system. What I mean by this is that we humans along with most animals have an early warning system built in, like when the hair on the back of your neck stands up or when you get the nervous feeling in the pit of your stomach when you know something is wrong. That is the natural reaction to stress. You then have to start processing that signal and decide whether you should stand and fight or run for your life (hence the term - fight or flight). Problem is we can’t always discern what is real and what is only in our heads. The body does not know whether the attack is actual or not. The body does not know if the attack is from inside our brain or if someone is physically coming at us. It just senses stress and reacts.

What are the reactions? Our breathing speeds up and becomes more shallow, heart rate speeds up, digestion stops, our eyes dilate, elimination processes stop (so long as we are not in a sudden scare). In other words all non-essential functions for maintaining life stop and those needed for maintaining life go into overdrive.

In today’s world we all live and work in very hectic and demanding times. Whether it comes from work or relationships or traffic, our reaction is the same, namely we get upset and perhaps get ready for a fight. We will protect ourselves from any perceived assaults.
One can only imagine, or perhaps you don’t need to imagine what this does to our bodies and the people around us.

In my practice I like to use a parable that goes like this: Imagine you are the president. As president you are commander-in-chief and can call out the army to defend the mother land any time you wish. Well what do you think would happen to your army if you were constantly calling it out and sending it to the front to fight, only every time the army got there was no enemy in sight. They would wear out and get very tired of this and perhaps even get angry at you, the president. Well I tell my patients, you are the both the president and the country all in one. Every time you get upset or stressed you are calling out the army. The army is your nervous system and stress is your early warning system. If you keep calling out the troops because your early warning system is constantly being activated, what do you think the result will be?

Now just think how all of this is affecting your job, your family and even your own health. Everyone of those things will suffer and deteriorate. Eventually one could start to lose these things, some never to return. It is time to start reconnecting with what is really important in life, what we should allow to affect our lives. We all have the power to change we just have to have the will. It is the responsibility of changing that we don’t seem to want. We don’t want to do anything that takes effort anymore. We are so used to instant gratification and if we don’t get it, well then….

At Wholistic Family Healthcare we are all about taking the time to heal. Healing takes time, there are no two ways about it. We can help you slow down, we can help you heal, we can help you take stress out of your life. You just have to be willing to make the changes necessary and then you can heal. We are the helpers, we are the healers, but we can’t make you do anything - that is your job. Acupuncture, Chinese herbs and massage therapy are the tools we use to help you heal.

If you are truly interested in making a change in your life and that of your families then let’s talk and see if we can help you. If you are ready to accept responsibility for yourself and your health then let’s talk and see if we can help you. If you want instant results and want to take a pill and hope you feel better in the morning…then we are not for you.

My clinic is located in Silver Spring, MD close to Washington DC.

What is Wholistic Medicine?

My practice name is Wholistic Family Healthcare and I practice acupuncture, massage therapy under the umbrella term of Traditional Chinese medicine. My clinic is located in Silver Spring, MD which is close by to Washington DC. To me Chinese medicine is a Wholistic Medicine (some would spell it Holistic Medicine) and what I mean by that is that we look at a person, not the parts that hurt or are sick.

Looking at the whole person and taking into account the various aspects that make up a person is the hallmark of Chinese medicine and what wholistic medicine should be about. Here is what I mean when I say “take into account the various aspects that make up a person.” I will explain by recounting a recent patient’s success.

About two months ago a female came in complaining of having recently being diagnosed with high blood pressure. She was very upset by this because she had never had this issue before and her doctor scared her to the core and prescribed a few medications to control her blood pressure.

After having her fill out the intake forms and performing a detailed interview, which included asking about her diet, her lifestyle, her family life, her work life, what she does for fun, any illnesses, her emotional well being to name a few, I came to the conclusion that her high blood pressure was due to the onset of menopause – that’s right – menopause (a detailed explanation can be the subject of another post if there is sufficient interest).

After treating her for a little over two months with acupuncture, Chinese herbs and having the patient take her own blood pressure and chart it, she went to her doctor for a follow-up exam. The nurse got a reading of 142/78 and the doctor’s own reading was lower. The doctor was so flustered she could not even get her mouth to tell my patient the reading. According to my patient the doctor refused to chart her reading. The doctor remarked to her that her medications must be working. My patient told her that she was only taking one of the medications (I need to put in a disclaimer at this point. I am not a physician and so at no point do I ever advise a patient to take or to discontinue taking a medication prescribed by a physician) and that she was getting acupuncture. My patient reports that she then told her doctor that her acupuncturist told her that her high blood pressure was due to menopause. Her doctor responded by saying “I knew that”. My patient was just flabbergasted and exclaimed “So why didn’t you tell me that?” The doctor just did not respond.

Watch her testimonial below.

The point is that her doctor looked only at her high blood pressure and did not look at her holistically. I looked at the whole of her and saw something the doctor did not. I treated her (the person) and by treating her I treated her high blood pressure. That is Wholistic Medicine.

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.

Investing in your health – your #1 Asset!

Lately I have been reading a book entitled RICH DAD POOR DAD by Robert T Kiyosaki, and in his book he stresses the importance of investing in assets – things that produce income. I thought to myself what is a person’s #1 asset? Well of course the answer is oneself and one’s health. Without these two “things” one cannot produce anything let alone an income.

I speak to groups all the time about protecting their health, being proactive in maintaining their wellbeing – mind, body and spirit. The one example I use is that of one’s car. Who does not make sure to change the oil and other vital fluids in their vehicle to make sure it runs well. Ask any mechanic what the #1 maintenance item is for any vehicle and they will tell you – “change the oil every three thousand miles or every three months whichever comes first” – right?

Let me ask you a question – why don’t we do the same for ourselves? Now I don’t mean we should change our oil, but we should be taking care of our bodies, minds and spirits.
Massage is a great way to enhance your health. A massage can loosen and invigorate tired muscles. It can also relax the body and calm the mind and thereby relax the spirit. This can lower blood pressure, increase range of motion, calm, lower stress, reduce pain and so much more.

Acupuncture is another great way to enhance your health. An acupuncture treatment
can also relax the body , calm the mind and relax the spirit. Acupuncture can reduce pain, improve digestion, help with conception, reduce reaction to seasonal allergies, reduce or eliminate PMS or menopausal hot flashes and sweats. Acupuncture can also make changes in the qi the body’s energy, which if functioning properly maintains your health.
Combining these two modalities along with others that I know can have Powerful benefits for you mind, body and spirit. These benefits are dividends that your body will pay. Some of these dividends are – clearer and sharper thinking, being more productive, having a better attitude and disposition with friends and loved ones, a calmer home and office, more or increased flexibility, decreased sickness, decreased lost work days and the list can go on.

So get to it, invest in yourself! Pick up the phone and call me right now to schedule your appointments to get started on the road to riches!  My clinic is located in Silver Spring, MD which is close to Washington DC.

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