Health

The Benefits of Combining Medical and Spa Treatments

Medical treatments and spa treatments are often seen as separate entities, each with their own distinct purposes. However, when combined, these two types of treatments can provide a range of benefits that can help to improve both your physical and mental well-being.

Advantages of Combining Medical and Spa Treatments

Here are some of the key advantages of combining medical and spa treatments:

Improved Health and Wellness

Medical treatments can help to address specific health concerns and conditions, while spa treatments can help to promote relaxation and reduce stress. Combining the two can help to enhance overall health and wellness, by addressing both physical and mental needs.

Enhanced Relaxation and Stress Relief

Many medical conditions can be exacerbated by stress, and relaxation techniques can help to reduce stress levels and promote healing. Combining medical treatments with spa treatments like massages or aromatherapy can help to promote deep relaxation, reduce stress levels, and improve overall mood.

Enhanced Beauty and Appearance

Some medical treatments, such as cosmetic procedures, can help to enhance physical appearance. By combining these treatments with spa treatments like facials or body wraps, you can further enhance your appearance and improve your confidence and self-esteem.

Improved Recovery from Injuries and Medical Conditions

Spa treatments like massage therapy or hydrotherapy can help to promote healing and improve recovery times from injuries or medical conditions. Combining these treatments with medical treatments like physical therapy or chiropractic care can help to enhance the healing process and improve overall outcomes.

Examples of Combined Medical and Spa Treatments

Here are some examples of treatments that combine medical and spa elements:

• Facial rejuvenation treatments that combine medical-grade skincare products with relaxation techniques like facial massage or aromatherapy.
• Massage therapy that combines medical knowledge of the musculoskeletal system with relaxation techniques like hot stone massage or reflexology.
• Acupuncture, which is a medical treatment that can be combined with spa elements like calming music or aromatherapy to enhance relaxation and reduce stress.

How to Find a Medical Spa that Offers Combined Treatments

If you’re interested in trying out combined medical and spa treatments, it’s important to do your research and find a reputable medical spa that offers these services. Look for spas that employ licensed medical professionals, and be sure to schedule a consultation to discuss your specific needs and goals.

Combining medical and spa treatments can provide a range of benefits that can help to improve both your physical and mental well-being. From improved health and wellness to enhanced beauty and appearance, there are many reasons to explore the benefits of combined treatments at a medical spa.

Pemmican and Traditional Medicine: How It Has Been Used to Treat Various Ailments

Pemmican and Traditional Medicine: How It Has Been Used to Treat Various Ailments

Pemmican, a traditional food of Native American and Canadian Indigenous people, has been used for centuries not only as a dietary staple but also as a remedy for various ailments. Made from a mixture of dried meat, berries, and animal fat, pemmican is a rich source of protein and healthy fats that can provide energy and nourishment to the body. However, its medicinal properties are less known. In this article, we will explore how pemmican has been used in traditional medicine to treat different health conditions.

Pemmican: A Delicious and Nutritious Food

Pemmican is a high-energy food that can provide sustenance for long periods. It is a combination of dried meat, usually buffalo or beef, berries, and animal fat, which is then pounded and mixed together. This mixture is then shaped into small cakes or bars that can be eaten as a snack or meal. Pemmican is not only loaded with essential nutrients, but it is also a delicious and convenient food that can be stored for a long time without refrigeration.

The History of Pemmican and Traditional Medicine

Pemmican has been used for centuries by Native American and Canadian Indigenous people as a dietary staple and as a natural remedy for various ailments. The First Nations people of Canada used pemmican to treat wounds, as an anti-inflammatory, and to boost the immune system. They also used it to treat cold and flu symptoms, digestive issues, and joint pain.

Pemmican as a Remedy for Cold and Flu

Pemmican contains high levels of vitamin C, which is essential for a healthy immune system. When taken regularly, pemmican can help prevent cold and flu symptoms. It also contains zinc, which can reduce the duration of cold and flu symptoms.

How Pemmican Can Help with Digestive Issues

Pemmican contains probiotics, which are beneficial bacteria that promote a healthy gut. It can also help alleviate digestive issues such as constipation, diarrhea, and stomach pain. The high-fat content of pemmican can stimulate the production of bile, which aids in digestion.

The Benefits of Pemmican for Joint Pain

Pemmican is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which have anti-inflammatory properties that can help alleviate joint pain and stiffness. Omega-3s are also essential for maintaining healthy joint cartilage.

Pemmican: A Boost for Your Immune System

Pemmican contains high levels of antioxidants, which can help protect the body from harmful free radicals. It also contains essential vitamins and minerals that can boost the immune system, such as vitamin A, iron, and magnesium.

Traditional Medicine and Pemmican for Anxiety

Pemmican contains tryptophan, an amino acid that helps regulate serotonin levels in the brain. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, and low levels have been linked to anxiety and depression. Eating pemmican can help increase serotonin levels and reduce anxiety.

Using Pemmican to Improve Brain Function

Pemmican contains healthy fats that are essential for maintaining healthy brain function. It is also rich in choline, a nutrient that is important for memory and learning. Eating pemmican regularly can help improve cognitive function and prevent age-related cognitive decline.

Source: Buy Pemmican (Steadfast Provisions)

Acupuncture: It Really Doesn’t Hurt

Acupuncture is a procedure where a trained professional sticks needles into a person to cure certain health problems. You may have seen photos of people with needles stuck in them and thought ouch! That must hurt!

Surprisingly enough, it doesn’t hurt at all. The needles used are extremely thin, not at all like hypodermic needles used to give injections or draw blood. And the trained acupuncturist knows how to insert the needles so you will feel only a slight pricking sensation.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has determined acupuncture is effective for treating forty different medical problems. They include asthma, chronic pain, addictions, hypertension, diabetes, depression, and respiratory conditions, just to name a few.

There are different forms of acupuncture: acupressure, auriculotherapy, electroacupuncture, and moxibustion. Some forms don’t use needles. So if for some reason needles can’t be used on you, you can still benefit from acupuncture.

If you have a chronic medical condition (acupuncture is most effective on chronic problems) talk to your physician about the possibility of acupuncture. Many medical doctors scoff at the idea of acupuncture curing anything, so he may just laugh at you. However, if you’re really serious about curing a chronic problem, check out an acupuncturist.

How long acupuncture has been around is in disagreement. Some say 3,000 years, some say 5,000 years. However, everyone agrees it started in China.

Legend has it acupuncture was discovered when a Chinese soldier recovered from a long standing illness after being shot by an arrow.

After many years of experimenting with needles (the first ones used were made of bone and wood) Chinese doctors came to believe that certain points on the skin were associated with certain body functions.

Acupuncture was first introduced in the United States in the 1800s when people from China started immigrating here. However, the practice didn’t catch on with Caucasians.

It wasn’t until the 1970s that acupuncture really made news her in the United States. On one of President Nixon’s trips to China, James Reston, a New York Times reporter, fell ill and had to have an appendectomy. He was in a lot of pain after the surgery so the Chinese doctors used acupuncture to treat the pain. Mr. Reston was greatly impressed with the results and wrote several newspaper articles about acupuncture.

These articles, written by an educated man and published in a large, respectable newspaper, sparked a lot of interest. Many people were now willing to try acupuncture to relieve their pain.

Today, the number of people receiving acupuncture treatments is growing because people believe it works and have learned it doesn’t hurt.

The Chinese believe that there are fourteen pathways or meridians that direct energy they call chi (pronounced chee) throughout the body. When the chi gets stuck or blocked in one of these meridians, pain or illness occurs. Acupuncture unblocks this energy allowing it to move freely again, reducing pain and improving health.

The chi is unblocked by inserting hair-thin stainless-steel needles into the skin at specific points. Because the needles are super thin, you don’t feel any pain other than a slight pricking sensation.

Each meridian is associated with certain body functions such as breathing or digestion. There are many acupuncture sites along each meridian. The total number depends on how long the meridian is. The shortest one has nine points, while the longest one has sixty-seven points.

The acupuncturist, after examining you, will know which meridian and which acupuncture point to stick to make you feel better.

Western doctors believe acupuncture works because the needles stimulate the nerves and muscles to release certain hormones in your body. Endorphins and enkephalins are released which are natural pain killers. Adrenocorticotropic hormone (ATCH) is released which fights infections. Prostaglandins are also released which help wounds heal more quickly.

Skeptical Western doctors claim acupuncture to be nothing more than a placebo. But if that is true, why does acupuncture work on animals?

Many scientific studies are now being conducted in the United States to see if acupuncture really does work. Some studies have shown that for certain problems acupuncture does work.

If you have a nagging health problem that isn’t getting better, maybe it’s time to check out an acupuncturist.

Acupuncture and Trigger Points. Pain Relief from Pressure Points

Most people are familiar with acupuncture and its non-needle counterpart acupressure. Even if they have not tried either of these therapies they know that acupuncture has its origin several thousand years ago in China.

However few are aware of trigger point therapy, acupuncture’s much younger cousin, even though it is used in an increasing number of health care clinics. A trigger point is a tender area in a tight band of muscle or tendon that has been strained or injured. The key point is that trigger points can be just as effective as acupuncture points in relieving pain.

A common example of trigger points is the formation of tender areas in the thin layer of muscle at the temples which often occurs in tension headache. It becomes almost instinctive to press these areas with the fingers in an attempt to relieve the pain. This common reaction suggests the reason why trigger point therapy is so useful: pressure on these points can be effective in relieving pain, especially in muscles and tendons. Trigger points are also responsible for the formation of the tender areas that develop in the forearm muscles with tennis elbow.

Early Work on Trigger Points

The existence of trigger points was noted at least as early as 1843 by Froriep who found them in muscle in conjunction with what he called ‘rheumatism’. Most of the modern research was pioneered by Janet Travell in the 1940’s and 50’s and later with David Simons. Their research showed that trigger points could be treated in a number of ways: heat, cold spray, ultrasound, injection of local anaesthetic and finger pressure; this last of course, has echoes of acupressure.

Interestingly it was found that placing a dry needle into a trigger point was often just as effective as injecting local anaesthetic; nowadays trigger points are frequently treated this way.

Given that trigger points and acupuncture points are often treated in the same way, is there any difference between them or are we just describing something that the Chinese found long before us?

The evidence suggests that they are not quite the same but there is considerable overlap between these two types of pressure point. Traditional acupuncture has the concept of ‘ahshi’ (ouch!) points. These are points that can develop anywhere on the surface of the body, away from the traditional points, in response to injured tissues. Melzak and colleagues found a 71% correspondence between trigger point locations and classical acupuncture charts. On the other hand acupuncture is often used for conditions other than musculoskeletal, for example; anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome and morning sickness; trigger points rarely so, if ever.

Whether a tender spot in strained muscle is an acupuncture point or a trigger point doesn’t much matter, a bit of deep massage in the area may well ease the pain.

This article is intended for information only. If you have any health concerns you should first of all consult health professional.