What is Alternative Medicine?
Alternative medicine is any form of practice that is outside the realm of conventional modern medicine. It covers a broad range of healing philosophies, approaches and therapies. Parts of alternative medicine are: homeopathy, herbology, reflexology and acupuncture. Massage therapy can also be considered therapeutic in certain medical conditions.
What is Complementary Medicine?
If alternative medicine or therapy is used alone or instead of conventional medicine, it is called 'alternative' medicine. If the treatment or therapy is done along with or in addition to conventional medicine, it is referred to as "Complementary Medicine" as the two practices complements each other
What is Natural Medicine?
Any therapy that relies on the body's own healing powers may be considered natural medicine. These include herbal remedies, diet and water therapies.
Some well-known facts:
• According to World Health Organization (WHO), homeopathy is the world's second leading system of medicine for primary health care.
• All homeopathic remedies are FDA approved drugs.
• Homeopathic medicines are proven and experimented on healthy people, not on animals.
• The English Royal Family has been under homeopathic care since 1980.
• As per an independent qualitative survey, homeopathy is emerging as the first and preferred treatment for more and more people.
• Homeopathic and allopathic treatments can co-exist. Homeopathic medicines can be consumed as you gradually wean away from allopathic medicine.
Homeopathy works according to the individuals own body healing power to eliminate the diseases. The three main targets are: 1) Stimulating the immune system. 2) Powers the lymphatic system. 3) Increasing the efficiency of all seven channels of elimination and helping excretion of all waste metabolites.
Homeopathy is directed at strengthening over all constitution and vitality and not only diagnosing or treating specific diseases. With the help of homeopathy, most of the physical, mental and emotional conditions can be improved.
The homeopathic approach of medicine treats every patient as a unique individual by considering his/her specific symptoms.
Homeopathy is also effective against some diseases which are HARD/ IMPOSSIBLE to cure in other medical systems. Homeopathic remedies are safe and effective for everyone infants, children, pregnant women or older people to use; it has no toxicity, if right potencies are used; it also has long term benefits.
All homeopathy medicine is made from natural resources such as plants, herbs, minerals and also the unique pharmaceutical technique known as 'potentiating' which is used for optimum healing when administered properly.
Homeopathy can treat:
• Diabetes and obesity
• High Blood pressure and cholesterol
• Reproductive system diseases (including Infertility, PMS, Menopause)
• Depression
• Anxiety, Stress, Panic, Phobia
• Different types of pain
• Anemia and blood disorders
• Digestive system diseases
• Skin diseases
• Migraines
• Arthritis , rheumatism
• Immune system diseases
• Children specific diseases
An important part of these procedures are represented by DETOXIFICATION, whatever you consider an organ or the entire body. In these hyper-developed and "synthetic" society, food , air and water are not what they used to be. Polution has left her marks on all our biosphere.
It is one of the reasons why certain diseases are rising and new disease are increasing. Certain toxines can not be avoided, mainly if you live in cities, so detoxification has even more indications today. It will help your body re-gain it's normal self defense mechanism, improve your energy level and general health.
Acupuncture
What is acupuncture?
In Chinese medicine there is a Universal Life force energy called Qi or Chi, present in every living being. This energy circulates throughout the body in specific pathways called meridians.
When the energy is blocked, the system is disrupted, causing pain and disharmony to occur.
Acupuncture literally means 'needle piercing," the practice of inserting very fine needles into the skin to stimulate specific anatomic points in the body (called acupoints or acupuncture points) for therapeutic purposes, although treatment can also be done with acu-pressure only.
Along with the usual method of puncturing the skin with the fine needles, the practitioners of acupuncture also use heat, pressure, friction, suction, or impulses of electromagnetic energy to stimulate the points.
Acupuncture involves stimulating. In the past 100 years acupuncture has become a well-known, reasonably available treatment in developed and developing countries.
Acupuncture is used to regulate or correct the flow of Qi to restore health.
To really understand how acupuncture works, it is necessary to become familiar with the basics of Chinese philosophy. The philosophies of the Dao or Tao, yin and yang, the eight principles, the three treasures and the five elements are all fundamental to traditional Chinese acupuncture and its specific role in helping to maintain good health and a person's well-being.
Healing Applications of Acupuncture
Acupuncture is best known for the control of pain. However, acupuncture can treat a wide variety of common and uncommon disorders.
The following is a list of disorders that can be treated by acupuncture (World Health Organization data), but pathologies that can be treated are much more than these mentioned here:
Respiratory: Acute Sinusitis, Acute Rhinitis, Common Cold, Acute Tonsillitis, Acute Bronchitis, Bronchial Asthma
Eye: Acute Conjunctivitis, Nearsightedness (in children), Cataract (without complications)
Mouth: Toothache, post extraction pain, Gingivitis (gum disease), acute and chronic pharyngitis.
Gastrointestinal Disorders: Hiccups, Gastritis, Hyperacidity, Ulcers, Colitis, Constipation, Diarrhea, Paralytic Ileus , Irritable Bowel Disease
Neurological and Musculoskeletal Disorders: Headache, Migraine, Trigeminal neuralgia, Post –stroke paresis or plegia, Meniere’s disease, Neurogenic bladder dysfunction,
Nocturnal Enuresis( bed wetting), Intercostal neuralgia, Chronic Fatigue, Fibromialgia, Cervico-brachial syndrome( pain radiating from neck to arm), Frozen shoulder, Tennis or Golfer’s Elbow, Sciatica, Low back pain, Osteoarthritis
Psychosomatic disorders: Depression, Nevroses, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Anxiety, Insomnia.
Skin disorders: Eczema, Dry Skin, Psoriazis.
Gynecology:Premenstrual syndrome, Menopause, Infertility, Ovarian Kysts and Uterin fibromas.
In North America, acupuncture is used more frequently for the treatment of chronic pain conditions such as arthritis, bursitis, headache, athletic injuries, and posttraumatic and post surgical pain.
It is also used for treating chronic pain associated with immune function dysfunction such as psoriasis (skin disorders), allergies, and asthma.
Some modern application of acupuncture is in the treatment of disorders such as Hypertension, Diabetes, alcoholism, addiction, smoking, and eating disorders.
Best results are obtained when acupuncture is combined with other alternative medicine methods (homeopathy, herbology, nutrition changes,reflexology, massages, aromatherapy, hypnosis).
Cosmetic acupuncture is a recently added procedure that has increasing interest among our patients as well as our Addiction treatment. We can help you kit smoking but also other addictions.
Acupuncture and weight loss
The actual weight loss to be expected is about two to four pounds a week. Six to ten acupuncture treatments are usually sufficient, and these can be given once or twice a week. Weight loss should continue after the treatments are completed until normal weight is achieved. The effects of acupuncture usually last at least six months and sometimes a year or more.
If the desire to eat excessively returns at any time in the future, a few more acupuncture treatments should relieve it. Acupuncture can affect appetite, intestinal motility, metabolism, as well as emotional factors such as stress. In obese people, it is mobilizing the body energy deposits through lipolysis effect. Body acupuncture or Ear acupuncture can be used with similar results.
Herbal Medicine
Generalities
Herbal Medicine sometimes referred to as Herbalism or Botanical Medicine, is the use of herbs for their therapeutic or medicinal value. An herb is a plant or plant part valued for its medicinal, aromatic or savory qualities.
Herb plants produce and contain a variety of chemical substances that act upon the body.
Herbal medicine is the oldest form of healthcare known to mankind. Herbs had been used by all cultures throughout history. It was an integral part of the development of modern civilization. Primitive man observed and appreciated the great diversity of plants available to him.
The plants provided food, clothing, shelter, and medicine. Much of the medicinal use of plants seems to have been developed through observations of wild animals, and by trial and error. As time went on, each tribe added the medicinal power of herbs in their area to its knowledgebase. They methodically collected information on herbs and developed well-defined herbal pharmacopoeias.
Indeed, well into the 20th century much of the pharmacopoeia of scientific medicine was derived from the herbal lore of native peoples. Many drugs commonly used today are of herbal origin. Indeed, about 25 percent of the prescription drugs dispensed in the United States contain at least one active ingredient derived from plant material.
Some are made from plant extracts; others are synthesized to mimic a natural plant compound.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 4 billion people, 80 percent of the world population, presently use herbal medicine for some aspect of primary health care. Herbal medicine is a major component in all indigenous peoples’ traditional medicine and a common element in Ayurvedic, homeopathic, naturopathic, traditional oriental, and Native American Indian medicine. WHO notes that of 119 plant-derived pharmaceutical medicines, about 74 percent are used in modern medicine in ways that correlated directly with their traditional uses as plant medicines by native cultures.
Major pharmaceutical companies are currently conducting extensive research on plant materials gathered from the rain forests and other places for their potential medicinal value.
Substances derived from the plants remain the basis for a large proportion of the commercial medications used today for the treatment of heart disease, high blood pressure, pain, asthma, and other problems. For example, ephedra is a herb used in Traditional Chinese Medicine for more than two thousand years to treat asthma and other respiratory problems. Ephedrine, the active ingredient in ephedra, is used in the commercial pharmaceutical preparations for the relief of asthma symptoms and other respiratory problems.
It helps the patient to breathe more easily.
Another example of the use of a herbal preparation in modern medicine is the foxglove plant. This herb had been in use since 1775. At present, the powdered leaf of this plant is known as the cardiac stimulant digitalis to the millions of heart patients it keeps alive worldwide.
Herbal Medicine can be broadly classified into various basic systems: Traditional Chinese Herbalism, which is part of Traditional Oriental Medicine, Ayurvedic Herbalism, which is derived from Ayurveda, and Western Herbalism, which originally came from Greece and Rome to Europe and then spread to North and South America.
Chinese and Ayurvedic Herbalism have developed into highly sophisticated systems of diagnosis and treatment over the centuries.
Massage therapy
We are pleased to offer a large variety of massages, performed by professionals trained in Europe and Canada, Registered Massage Therapists. From Medical and Sport special massages, to Pregnancy specific massages, we have one of the largest varieties, including: Californian,
Swedish, Tuina,Reflexology ( feet massage), Aromotherapy, Deep tissue massage, Hot stone massage, Shiatsu.
We also offer Deep tissue massage, very popular and succesful for patients under anti-cellulite treatment with RF or IR laser and body wrapping.
How massage therapy is working
Scientists are studying massage to understand what effects massage therapy has on patients, how it has those effects, and why. Some aspects of this are better understood than others. For example, it is known that:
•When certain forces are applied to the muscles, changes occur in the muscles (although those changes are not clearly understood or agreed upon).
•Massage therapy typically enhances relaxation and reduces stress. Stress makes some diseases and conditions worse.
There are many more aspects that are known but not well understood scientifically, however. Some of the proposed theories are that massage:
•Might provide stimulation that may help block pain signals sent to the brain (the "gate control theory" of pain reduction).
•Might shift the patient's nervous system away from the sympathetic and toward the parasympathetic. The sympathetic nervous system helps mobilize the body for action. When a person is under stress, it produces the fight-or-flight response (the heart rate and breathing rate go up, for example; the blood vessels narrow; and muscles tighten). The parasympathetic nervous system creates what some call the "rest and digest" response (the heart rate and breathing rate slow down, for example; the blood vessels dilate; and activity increases in many parts of the digestive tract).
•Might stimulate the release of certain chemicals in the body, such as serotonin or endorphins.
•Might cause beneficial mechanical changes in the body--for example, by preventing fibrosis (the formation of scar-like tissue) or increasing the flow of lymph (a fluid that travels through the body's lymphatic system and carries cells that help fight disease).
•Might improve sleep, which has a role in pain and healing.
Medical application in: Osteoarticular and muscular conditions( including arthritis, spodilytis, kyphosis, scoliosis,sprains and strains, torticolis, spasms); Neurologic conditions ( from Cerebral palsy to neuralgia, paresis and dystonia), Digestive conditions( Constipation, Irritable Bowel disease, RGO), Pulmonar conditions ( Asthma, Chronic Bronchitis), etc.
You can meet our physian in order to better evaluate what is the best alternative treatment for your condition, no refferal needed.
We also offer Hot Stone Massage and LaStone massage, in a quiet, relaxing environment. More to come...( Indian head massage, Facial Massage, etc)
Osteopathy
Details coming soon, for more info, please call the clinic..
