Got Pain?

Some Causes of Pain That You May Not Know About

by Mila McManus MD

I’m going to make this short and to the point. I want to make this topic concise yet meaty. Some of the items below have links if you wish to delve deeper.

Here are some causes of pain that you may not know about:

Certain foods due to their nature, such as grains and sugar (read more here)
Food sensitivities and intolerance
Dysbiosis (aka microbial imbalance in the gut)
Adrenal fatigue (test yourself here)
Low thyroid function (test yourself here)
Chronic infection(s), whether obvious or in disguise, such as a tooth abscess, infection in the gastrointestinal tract, or chronic lyme disease (the existence of chronic lyme disease is still very controversial in the medical field).
Alcohol
Poor posture
Certain Medications (prescription as well as over-the-counter) e.g., statin drugs used to lower cholesterol
Being overweight which causes inflammation throughout the body
Healing process that stalls out (read about how PEMF can help with this)
Nutrient deficiencies (e.g., vitamin D, B vitamins)

As you can see, there are many ways you can address chronic pain other than with pain medications. Call (281) 298-6742 today for more information on how we can help you address your chronic pain, and forward this newsletter to someone you care about who suffers with chronic pain!

By Admin|2016-11-01T07:09:25-05:00October 31st, 2016|General|

Eating Should be Painless

by Nancy Mehlert MS

When I first met Dr. McManus, she made a remark to me that I’ll never forget. Never because I did not want to believe what she said, and never because she proved to be right. You see, I came to her with significant body pain. My wrists, hands, knees, and lower back were chronically painful. I had joint and muscle pain. So what did she say that I’ve never forgotten? She told me that she believed more than 50% of my issues, especially around pain, were a result of the foods I was eating. That was hard for me to swallow (pardon the pun) because I love food and I loved the foods she was suggesting I eliminate. However, several weeks later, after cleaning up my diet (specifically removing wheat and sugar), my body pain was gone and I realized that she was right! When anyone tells me they have joint, muscle and nerve pain, a first priority is to clean up the diet. Specifically, below are the foods you would be wise to eliminate to see if you experience significant reductions in pain.

Sugar in all forms. Look closely at your diet. Be aware of the collective sugar. It is surprising to see that several somewhat innocent choices can add up to considerable sugar in a day. For example, one cup of organic brown rice pasta, one ounce of dried cranberries and a cup of watermelon is digestively over 60 grams of sugar. Sugar sources include fruit juices and smoothies (no matter how fresh pressed or organic they are!) and even some fruits such as grapes, watermelon and ripe bananas which have little to no fiber. The more obvious forms of sugar are included such as agave, maple syrup, honey, coconut sugar, and corn and rice syrups. Less obvious are the carbohydrates that digest rapidly to glucose (i.e. sugar) such as wheat, rice, corn, and potato as well as gluten free grains. Remember, your approximate one gallon of blood only needs about 1 teaspoon, or 4 grams of sugar in it at any given moment for optimal function. Anything more than that is suboptimal and harmful, i.e. inflammatory! Inflammation is PAIN. We would all do best if we kept added sugar to zero, and grain intake to very little or none. Whole fruits with good fiber content are fine but the low to no fiber fruits are best kept to a minimum or avoided all together. Most of your healthy carbohydrates should come from the vegetable world and all others should be kept as low as possible and certainly should not exceed 15-25 grams a day.

Processed Foods of every kind. This is where all breads, cereals and pastas fall, especially the glutinous wheat products. Also included here are the additives, preservatives and food chemicals that are so harmful to the nervous system, organ systems and digestive tract. Monosodium glutamate, nitrates and nitrites, artificial sweeteners, especially aspartame, are all potential pain creators by stimulating pain receptors. This makes the receptors more sensitive, irritating muscle tissues, disrupting sleep and compromising the immune system. Dairy is another culprit due to pasteurization and often times added sugars where the end product is highly processed food. Casein, one of the proteins found in dairy can be very difficult to digest and causes pain for many.

Allergy Foods, those foods to which you are allergic often manifest as pain. It is wise to test for food allergies and eliminate those foods to quiet the immune system and reduce pain and inflammation.

Foods that Reduce Pain and Inflammation

Thankfully there are many foods that help to reduce inflammation and pain. Here are some of the best: ginger, olive oil, green leafy vegetables, walnuts and almonds, turmeric, salmon, celery, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and cayenne pepper. It’s no surprise that these are all real, whole, natural foods and spices from the earth that naturally do the work of pain relief.

Resources:

http://blogs.naturalnews.com/21-foods-reduce-pain-inflammation-boost-immunity/

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/09/28/sugar-industry-research-manipulation.aspx

http://blogs.naturalnews.com/8-worst-foods-people-arthritis-joint-pain/

By Admin|2016-10-31T10:42:06-05:00October 31st, 2016|General, NANCY’S NUTRITIONAL NUGGET|

Deep Blue

The soothing combination of CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade® essential oils of

Wintergreen, Camphor, Peppermint, Ylang Ylang, Helichrysum, Blue Tansy, Blue Chamomile, and Osmanthus create the doTERRA Deep Blue proprietary blend. Available in a cream, roll-on, and supplement, Deep Blue provides soothing effects and targeted benefits.

Source:

doterra.com

By Admin|2016-10-06T13:38:27-05:00October 6th, 2016|General|

MSM

MSM is short for methylsulfonylmethane which is a substance that’s naturally occurring in the body. MSM has been extensively studied in humans and animals. It is a ‘methyl donor’ and a ‘sulfur donor’ which help reduce inflammation and support detoxification. It can also boost energy!

Here are some of the common uses of MSM:

pain
muscle recovery after exercise
osteoporosis
hair loss
skin disorders
allergies and asthma
high blood pressure
fatigue
dental and gum disease
leaky gut syndrome

Talk to your functional medicine specialist about whether MSM is right for you and about appropriate doses for your specific needs.

References:

www.draxe.com

www.mercola.com

www.msmguide.com

By Admin|2016-10-06T13:32:24-05:00October 6th, 2016|Articles, General|

Energy Medicine

by Mila McManus MD

We use energy medicine every day in main stream as well as alternative medicine. If you’ve ever had an x-ray, mammogram, MRI, CT scan, or ultrasound, then you’ve experienced the wonders of energy medicine. Besides using energy for diagnostics, we use energy for therapies, such as with ultrasounds and lasers. If you’ve ever had acupuncture, you’ve experienced energy medicine. When you understand that our bodies, the universe, and everything in it are made up of energy and molecules, you can begin to understand that energy medicine is not voodoo.

What most people experience in modern medicine is chemistry, e.g. pharmaceutical drugs, when it comes to treating their ailments. I’ve been a physician for many years and my main focus has been using chemistry (hormones, vitamins, dietary interventions, and when necessary, pharmaceuticals) to treat and detoxify my patients. Well, since 2018, The Woodlands Institute for Health & Wellness has been exploiting the powers of the universe and the body’s innate ability to heal itself. We incorporate energy medicine to facilitate healing and I’ve seen some pretty amazing things using a device that emits pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF). There are many PEMF devices out there and they are not all created equal. Our technology is top notch and my only regret is not having this device years ago!

When you hear the term “EMF”, you may be thinking of dangerous scattered EMF related to cell phones, laptops, wi-fi, and baby monitors (yes, baby monitors are the worst offenders!). PEMF devices use focused, therapeutic low doses that actually jump start the body’s healing process. PEMF also stimulates cellular detoxification. Imagine a bottle neck traffic jam on the highway due to construction on the road. Four lanes merge into one and it’s painfully slow to get from Point A to Point B. Now imagine the electrical highways throughout your body that are required for communication for your body to have any action (for instance, for you to raise your arm within a millisecond of wanting to raise your arm, your brain must send an electrical signal to your arm in order to contract the right muscles that allow you to raise it). Well, due to injuries, infections, toxins, and inflammation, our electrical highways can get traffic jammed. An injured joint, for example, requires not just blood supply to rush in, but also requires energy to get to that area to provide the correct signals for healing and function. PEMF therapies unjam that traffic to allow normal speeds of communication to allow the body to heal itself, whatever ails it. A great analogy I read about distinguishing the speed of chemical reactions (e.g. pharmaceutical drugs) vs energetic reactions is understanding the difference in how long it would take to walk across the country vs fly across the country. I’ve seen patients’ pain disappear immediately after a session before they’ve even left the office. Not everyone responds this quickly though. What’s also pretty unique about the PEMF device that we use in our office is that it incorporates biofeedback which directs us not only to the specific frequencies with which someone should be treated at that particular time, but also helps us to locate the areas in the body that have the disturbance. And you might be surprised to know that the area where you may have pain, for example, may not be the area at which the PEMF needs to be directed.

Important benefits to note regarding the use of PEMF include:

Increases oxygen delivery to your cells
Improves ATP production (the energy source for our cells)
Enhances circulation
Speeds healing
Stimulates detoxification
Reduces pain
Reduces swelling
Reduces inflammation
No known side effects
Non-invasive
Non-painful
Non-pharmaceutical
Antioxidant properties
10,000+ scientific papers and 2000+ double blinded studies to back up its claims

It’s important to understand that we cannot say that PEMF therapy “diagnoses, treats, or cures any disease”. It’s facilitating your body’s ability to heal itself. Also, the only contraindication to using PEMF therapy is pregnancy. Having metal implants (e.g. hip or knee replacements) does limit the areas that can be treated.

Check out our Current Promotions page for ONDAMED specials!

Click here to read one of many patient testimonials about ONDAMED.

Find upcoming information and demonstration sessions here.

References:

http://www.pemft.net/

www.ondamed.net

By Admin|2021-10-20T10:39:53-05:00March 1st, 2016|Articles, General|