Is Natural Medicine or Natural Health Expensive?

Posted on September 3, 2010 by Alex Bhaswara

In countries where basic health care is a right, and supplied free by the government (paid for by your taxes), natural health may appear to come at a price. But only if you compare it against the cost (or lack) of the consultation plus the prescription.

If you have to pay for your health care consultations and full price for your prescriptions, most if not all natural medicine is highly cost effective.

But you can’t just compare the cost of the consultations plus the prescriptions. For a truly accurate assessment of cost comparison, you must also take into consideration the overall efficiency of the consultation – ie how good or effective is the prescription.

As a body, natural health practitioners tend to look at your overall health care, including diet, relationship issues, work environment as well as individualising you as a person, to find those ‘specially for you’ remedies. So the consultation tends to be quite long – usually upwards of half an hour, depending on the modality.

Straight away you can see what value you’re receiving. The practitioner is truly interested in you and wants to find out your particular ‘achilles heel’. Rarely will a natural medicine therapist treat you dismissively, giving you just a few minutes to hear your story. After all, how can you pour out a life into a few minutes?

Natural medicine tends to work far better when the cause is addressed. It’s no good treating the effect, as that tends to make it worse, with more furious attacks later. Take anaphylactic shock, which can occur from a variety of causes. Lets take an allergy to bee stings to illustrate my point.

Those allergic to bee stings can suffer seriously, with swelling going far beyond the sting site, possibly even to your throat making breathing difficult, taking days or even weeks to reduce the swelling and pain. If you’re used to taking antihistamine, you know full well, that each time you have a sting, the condition worsens.

If, on the other hand, you treat the bee sting with a homeopathic remedy such as Ledum or Apis, you will not only resolve the problem more easily and quickly, but each time you are bitten, the reaction will lessen, until it becomes what is considered normal.

So when you are weighing up the cost of natural health versus western medicine, take into consideration the long term view.

As a natural medicine practitioner, I know I don’t get the right remedy 100% of the time. That used to bother me. I used to be concerned that I was wasting my patient’s hard earned cash if I didn’t deliver.

Now I realise that it’s not just me at fault. Apart from the fact I’m human and so do make mistakes, if the patient isn’t forthcoming, I can’t do much.

But what I really admire about natural medicine is that when I do make a mistake, it doesn’t have any real impact on you, the patient. I didn’t take the wrong kidney out, or give you too large a dose of a dangerous drug which pushed you close to or over the edge.

And when you consider the cost of surgery, you can have many, many natural medicine consultations to the same value. Somewhere within them, one natural health practitioner or another will be able to help you.

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Plastic Surgery, Plastic Surgeon, Choose – Take the Time to Make the Right Choice

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Alex Bhaswara

How do you choose the right plastic surgeon? Plastic surgery involves major invasive procedures. You need to make sure the knife is in the hands of the best person for the job. The first thing to consider about any surgeon is their education and background. Any doctor can claim to be a cosmetic surgeon if they hold a medical license. However, unless they have the proper residency training, they do not possess the right skill set to insure a quality job. Before you go to a consultation, check out any surgeon. Find out if they are board certified for plastic surgery. If they are not, find someone else.

What else should you consider when you choose a plastic surgeon? You need to be comfortable with that person. If their credentials check out, the next step is finding out who they are as a person. That doesn’t mean holding hands and singing. It involves building a trust level that puts you at ease. This makes you a partner in all decisions. If you find a surgeon that fails to make you comfortable, find another one. Plastic surgery is still major surgery. You are putting your life into this surgeon’s hands. If you do not trust him, you are making a foolish mistake that could cost you.

Is there anything else to consider when you choose a plastic surgeon? Part of selecting a surgeon is checking out what is around him. What surgical facility does he use? Make sure that you thoroughly checkout that facility. Make sure the facility holds a valid accreditation for you own safety. Are you comfortable with the surgeon’s staff? If you find the customer service lacking, it may be a red flag. You want the entire experience to work on all levels. Check the surgeon’s record with the state medical board. If others complained about him, think about getting another surgeon for your plastic surgery.

Take your time. When you choose a plastic surgeon, it is a critical decision. If you need to interview several doctors to find the best one for your case, it is time well spent. Do not hesitate to take your business elsewhere if you are uncomfortable with any surgeon. Check with his former patients to get a sense of his style. Make sure he has a good reputation among his colleagues. Check him out with your own personal physician. All of this will make you happier with the results of the plastic surgery in the long run.

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Nutrition Tips For People On A Weight Loss Program

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Alex Bhaswara

People on weight loss programs often focus so much on losing weight that they forget an important aspect of staying healthy that is, providing nutrition to the body. If you are on a weight loss program, you should follow the important diet tips given here. Include A Lot Of Vegetables And Fruits In Your Diet Vegetables and fruits are a good source of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. They are low in calories and high in fiber. Therefore, you should include plenty of vegetables and fruits, of varying colors, in your diet. This will help you to lose weight faster and also keep you full. Avoid Empty Calories Empty calories refer to food items that are high in calories but low in nutrition. Some examples of such food items are aerated drinks, French fries, cookies, white bread and so forth. These food items are not useful for the body.

They make the digestive system sluggish and inefficient. It is best for a person to refrain from consuming these food items irrespective of whether he or she is trying to lose weight or not. Have Small Meals At Regular Intervals Instead of having three big meals a day, you should eat five to six small meals at small intervals of three to four hours. Eating small meals helps in improving metabolism. It also helps in easy digestion and maintaining uniform energy level throughout the day. You should include a variety of foods in your meals so that your body gets proper nutrition. For example, if you have a sandwich, which is high in carbohydrates, for breakfast, you should have fruits and nuts in between breakfast and lunch, and tofu or lean meat, which are high in proteins, for lunch. In this manner, your body will get all the essential nutrients, minerals and vitamins. Never Skip Breakfast Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

You should never skip it; otherwise you will tend to consume high calorie foods during the later part of the day. A wholesome and healthy breakfast is essential for good health. Read Food Labels Before buying any packaged or processed food, you should read its label. Check the nutrition facts. Learn to interpret the information on food labels to avoid falling prey to marketing gimmicks. For example, a low-fat food or a low-sugar food does not necessarily mean the food is low in calories. Do Not Completely Eliminate Carbohydrates From Your Diet Many people on weight loss programs make the mistake of avoiding carbohydrates all together. Carbohydrates are a good source of energy. A well balanced diet should contain around 40 percent of carbohydrates. For your daily carbohydrate requirement, you should choose whole grains, vegetables, and fruits. Drink Plenty Of Water Water helps the body in transportation and assimilation of nutrients. You should consume at least eight glasses of water everyday. That will not only help your body absorb nutrients and eliminate toxins, but will also help you feel full. It is best to seek advice of a dietician or a nutrition consultant before starting a weight loss program. They will be able to chart a diet plan for you so that you can lose weight without compromising on nutrition.

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Chinese Medicine Doctors

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Alex Bhaswara

Find Chinese medicine doctor programs in the United States and Canada. Chinese medicine doctors offer health and wellness services that are often used as an alternative or complementary medicine. In order to practice in the field, Chinese medicine doctors must have received adequate training and education to fulfill necessary requirements in becoming a professional practitioner.An oriental or Chinese medicine doctor majorly uses healthcare therapies like acupuncture and moxibustion and tries to find out the energy imbalance in a patient’s body and if diagnosed, treat it is through acupuncture cupping, needling, and other Chinese herbal remedies. Today it is counted among few alternative medicines that are completely free of side effects and deliver numerous benefits.A TCM doctor is going to do things differently. She takes a look at your overall health. She’s going to have you come in and work through some surveys. She’s going to ask you how you feel mentally and emotionally – in addition to physically. She’ll completely profile your health.

Stomach – It is thought that the stomach naturally tends to be warm, which explains how it helps initially in digestion of food. But, this heat can easily form more heat, which can lead to spots and pimples along the stomach channel, which manifests on the chest and the face. They also think, the dampness in the stomach also may be a contributory factor, leading to increased sebum on the skin.Doctors who take their time: When you see a Chinese physician for the first time, you will probably be amazed by the intake process. The process is extremely detailed, and Chinese physicians take all of your concerns under advisement – not just those that fit neatly into a simple diagnostic category.

According to Chinese medicine texts, diseases caused by yang pathogens usually present themselves with heat symptoms while diseases caused by yin pathogens usually present themselves with cold symptoms. Efforts to diagnose Yin or Yang pathogens result in intake forms with questions such as, “Do you prefer hot or cold drinks?” or “What is your optimal time of day?”Another major difference between Chinese medicine and Western medicine is that Chinese medicine often incorporates Western medicine into the medical system. For example, in Beijing hospitals, a doctor may carry out surgery in the Western manner with state-of-the-art equipment, while the anesthetist may use acupuncture and herbal preparations for preoperative and postoperative treatments. The Chinese are using the best from over four thousand years of experience to complement Western medicine. Results have proved that traditional Chinese medicine works even though it may not always conform to the current Western scientific theories.

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Questions to Ask When Shopping for Hearing Aids

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Alex Bhaswara

You may be shopping for hearing aids for yourself or helping a parent choose the right hearing aid. For whatever reason, shopping for hearing aids can be tricky. There are a variety of styles, sizes and features available and knowing which questions to ask will help you pick the perfect hearing aid for you or your family member.

1. Ask whether the hearing aid you want is best for your hearing loss. Although you may want aid that is completely in the ear, if your doctor or hearing specialist says that your hearing loss is profound, this probably isn’t the best choice. Don’t sacrifice your ability to hear because of vanity. Some hearing aids aren’t designed to amplify enough to overcome severe hearing loss. Others are particularly well suited for this type of hearing problem.

2. Ask if the hearing aid has a noise reduction feature. This is a newer technology in hearing aids that allows for “noise reduction” that muffles background noise and interference. This allows you to more clearly hear speech without it being drowned out by background noise. This is achieved through a digital noise reduction circuit that reduces the amplification to cut down on background noise.

Noise reduction can be a particularly nice feature if you frequently dine out or attend events where there will be lots of background noise. By essentially “turning down the volume” on the background sound, these hearing aids provide users with a more comfortable listening environment.

3. How many bands or channels do the available hearing aids offer? In general, the more bands or channels a hearing aid has, the more finely tuned it will be to pick up and enhance sound without distortion. Multi-channel compression will split sound into several parts, using a different frequency for each region of the hearing spectrum. With the right compression applied to each channel, volume levels are fine-tuned and then the signals across each channel are recombined. If you vary in the amount of hearing loss you suffer from, which most people do, a multi-channel hearing aid may be a good choice.

4. Ask if there is feedback cancellation on any of the company’s hearing aids. No one likes to hear the high-pitched whistle of a hearing aid that is experiencing feedback. If you’re the person wearing the hearing aid, the screech you hear can be painful, so more and more hearing aids today feature feedback cancellation to prevent this irritating and loud sound.

5. Ask if the available hearing aids have noise smoothing technology that controls sharp noises such as dishes clattering and doors slamming.

6. Make sure you ask about directional microphones in your hearing aids. These tiny, finely tuned microphones are designed to pick up sounds in front of you while minimizing sounds behind you. There is no other feature that will help you more with hearing in noise. It’s ideal for church services, noisy restaurants and other situations where you want your hearing aid to focus on the person you’re conversing with or your television program you’re watching, not what is going on behind you. Directional microphones are not available on all styles of hearing aids.

7. Ask about the whether your hearing aid has a volume control or a remote control option. For some patients this can be a very valuable accessory because sometimes they find the hearing aids are not loud enough or too loud. A volume control provides a very easy to use remedy. Patients with dexterity issues may not want this feature.

8. Don’t forget to ask if any of the hearing aids you’re considering are covered by a warranty. Most reputable hearing aid providers offer a warranty that will cover most, if not all, of the parts in your hearing aid for a year or longer.

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An Introduction to Oriental Medicine

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Alex Bhaswara

Oriental Medicine (OM) is one of the major forms of alternative medicine that is primarily based on the concept of balanced flow of energy through human bodies. It is one of the major traditional Chinese medical practices that primarily include some of the traditional therapies and oriental diagnosis. Practiced for almost 2000 years now, this is one of its own kinds of medicinal system that generally classifies body patterns into the different types of diagnoses with corresponding treatment plans.

The most commonly known treatment method of Oriental Medicine is acupuncture. In this form of treatment, very fine needles are inserted into the body at specific locations just to balance the flow of energy. However, this practice not just includes acupuncture, but also herbal medicine, nutrition, Tui Na (a major type of therapeutic massage), and Qi Gong (popular as breathing exercises). The most interesting part is each of them shares the long history, practice, and effectiveness in dealing with different sort of illnesses and maintenance of good health.

Moreover, the fundamentals of this system of medicine even make use of images and descriptions from nature to explain the relation of health and disease. Just for an example – Yin and Yang is generally referred to the shady and sunny side of a mountain. Adding to this, the five major elements mainly Earth, Metal, Fire, Water, and Wood are yet another vital paradigm of health and disease. This is yet another system in Oriental medicine system that allows for a more inclusive explanation of the cycles of nature and the interaction of different forces.

Today this form of alternative medicine system has gained worldwide recognition and many people are looking to make their career in this field. In fact, almost millions of people have turned towards it, and many students are even looking forward to making a career as an oriental medicine doctor. So if you are planning to make a career in this field then you need to enroll yourself in an oriental, naturopathy or holistic medicine program. Enrolling in this medicine course is very helpful and useful as it gives one training in addition to vast practical exposure. Apart from this, the major benefit of this oriental medicine program is once you complete the program, you gain the knowledge on anatomy, physiology and other traditional Chinese medicine theory and practices.

Once you complete the course you would also be able to perform collaboratively in a wide range of healthcare settings, including multidisciplinary clinics and hospitals. In fact, you would be able to exhibit elementary knowledge of the past and philosophical foundations of oriental medicine, as well as its diverse medical theories and clinical approaches.

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