It’s been a fun week at Life Medical Volume 2
BOOK FOR SMOKING CESSATION
A patient came in to see me and asked for a prescription for Chantix which is the most popular pharmaceutical to help people stop smoking.
Instead of prescribing Chantix I suggested that he get this book which in many cases seems to be even more effective than Chantix. It was written by Allen Carr and it is called “Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking”.
The book is very interesting. The author smoked three packs of cigarettes a day and couldn’t figure out how to quit and eventually figured out that he needed to overcome something in his mind. So he wrote a book about what he figured out. It only takes a few hours to read. A large proportion of people who simply read the book and do nothing else quit smoking. It basically brainwashes you somehow.
I actually read it myself. I don’t understand how it works but I personally do not have any addictions. I’ve had two separate cases where two men were reading the book and they both quit reading the book about half way through it. When I asked them why they quit reading halfway, they both said “I was afraid that I was going to quit smoking and I realized that I didn’t want to quit smoking so I stopped reading.” So neither of them quit smoking, but they both thought that the book was going to make them stop.
I’ve had quite a few patients who have actually quit smoking. One of the cases is a doctor that I have referred many patients to for chiropractic treatments. He read the book and he quit.
BACH ESSENCE
This week one of our employees had some stress/a panic attack here in the office. She was experiencing a very high heart rate, was breathing hard and shaking. I talked to her and gave her some Bach essence combination remedy called Bach Rescue Remedy.
The employee took it and within the first two sips she felt what she said was a remarkable effect. Within five minutes the panic attack was over. It comes in a few different forms. This remedy is excellent for any kind of sudden stress or anxiety that comes over you.
I initially tried it in my own family. Years ago I had a fight with my wife and she was very very upset. She took a dose and calmed down right away and became nice again. Rescue Remedy is made of 5 Bach flower essences. It is totally safe and has no side effects. I would say that I have 60 – 70% rate of remarkable response.
CANNABIS
I had a 31 year old male patient come to see me with injury pains he had from a disc herniation in the lower back and sciatica symptoms. He has had injections, physical therapy, the whole gamut of treatments. In August he started on cannabis and I did a follow up last week. He reports that the cannabis has reduced his pain from a 9 out of 10 in August to a 2 out of 10 currently. He is taking some cannabis for long term effect and also takes a puff on an e-cigarette for breakthrough pain for immediate relief. He was able to stop his medications for pain which included: hydrocodone and tramadol (narcotics), ketorolac which is an anti-inflammatory, and gabapentin.
MAGNETS
I have been treating an 87 year old woman homeopathically for several years. She had knee pain on and off and some other pain. She uses magnet therapy. She puts magnets on the places that hurt and says that the pain goes away in most cases. She puts it on her knee, wears it for a few days and is good to go for a month or two and when the pain returns she tapes the magnet on her knee again. This is very simple, very safe, and most of the time quite effective.
It is a known therapy that is used throughout the world. I’d heard of this method for years, and when I first heard about it I was dubious, but then my 75 year old father developed knee pain. He did a proper workup with an orthopedist and had an MRI that showed some erosion of the cartilage of the underside of his knee cap and he was diagnosed with chondromalacia patellae and offered arthroscopic surgery, but we thought we’d try magnets. We bought some powerful neodymium quadripolar magnets from Ebay; they are flat pieces with north and south poles present on each side of the plate. They are recycled from computer hard drives and sold on Ebay for a very reasonable price. I taped one on my father’s knee with some medical tape. In a few days the pain that had been there for a month went away and didn’t come back. The pain completely resolved within a week. I was impressed so I started recommending it to other people.
The first thing you must consider when using a new therapy is whether it is safe. Hippocratic Oath, i.e. “First do no harm” is always in the back of my mind. I believe that magnets are very unlikely to cause any harm. This made them eligible in my eyes for a trial with patients.
So I went online and bought a bunch of magnets on Ebay. I see many patients for musculo-skeletal issues like degenerative joint disease, sprains, strains, etc. My initial magnet trial involved approximately 20 patients. I was amazed to discover that a large proportion of these people improved. Joint pains of long duration resolved or greatly improved in around 70% of cases.
HOMEOPATHY
This week I had a case that involved a 9 year old girl who went to the dentist for some dental work and complained of severe shooting pains in that side of her face for days after the appointment. The mother took her back to the dentist who told her that there was nothing wrong with the girl. There was no good reason for the pain yet the child was clearly very uncomfortable. So I gave her a homeopathic remedy called Hypericum which is very good for nerve injuries. The mom emailed me a few days later and said that the pain had completely subsided.
FIBER-RICH FOOD PRODUCTS
There is a high fiber food product that I am using. It is made by Fiber Gourmet. I suggest it to people for two reasons. The first reason is to help with constipation. The second reason is that it helps fill you up so it is excellent for people on a diet. It is really high fiber; there is nothing else like it. It does not taste like it is filled with fiber it tastes like regular food. You can buy it at www.fibergourmet.com It is also sold in some retail locations but it is a small company, you can get it from Amazon or from the company’s website.
Many patients have given it to their kids for constipation, and one of our employees here at Life Medical uses it as an aid for weight management. When this employee felt like she needed a snack, she ate some of these crackers and they helped fill her up and helped her keep on track with her weight loss. It’s a great suggestion for high fiber food.