Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) refers to healing modalities that don’t fall into conventional Western medical philosophy, including bodywork, acupuncture, herbology, homeopathy and mind/body techniques. CAM is becoming a more familiar term as approximately 125 million Americans suffering from chronic illness — arthritis, back pain, hypertension, and depression — look for solutions that conventional medicine can't provide.
"The tiger is ready to go. That was grrrreat!” These are words spoken by an 82-year-old man who had recently been released after a month in the hospital. He had just received his first session of Comfort Touch. Peg, the massage therapist who relayed his story to me, had recently attended my workshop “Comfort Touch for the Elderly and the Ill.”
Another therapist, Kathleen, shared her experience of using Comfort Touch in a hospital: “It is incredible. You look in the eyes of the patient, knowing you made a difference.”
In the past few years there has been a seeming explosion of interest in aromatherapy. From scented candles, incense, air fresheners, and potpourri to organic essential oils and massage and skin care products, the consumer is presented with a vast array of aromas to tease the sense of smell. Some of these products are marketed as ways to improve your home and work environment. Others are assigned special significance for healing or as ways to enhance the quality of your physical or emotional health.
Emotions, of themselves, are not a problem. Everyone experiences a range of emotional feeling throughout their lives: Sadness, anger, joy, worry and so forth. They are a natural part of our embodied experience and a normal response to our environment. They are neither positive nor negative. They only become problematic when they are notably intense and excessive and, especially, when prolonged over a long period of time, without expression or acknowledgment. Everyone feels anger at times, but it is normally a strong, but short-lived, response to a direct and immediate stimulus.
On a sunny windowsill are rows of glass containers. The liquid within them glows in delicious shades of smooth yellow, warming amber and fiery red. Some jars contain fluids that look like they were squeezed directly from the earth — juicy greens and dense ochre. The contents resemble something an ancient alchemist whipped up with thunderbolts and lightning. But looks can be deceiving. Herbal oils are remarkably simple to create, requiring only a little patience and some basic cooking utensils.
1. If you’re over 60, take supplementary vitamin B12. One in five people over 60 and two in five over 80 can’t absorb B12 properly from food. Since the vitamin is necessary for proper neurologic operation, including the functioning of neurons in the brain needed for memory, it’s best to play it safe. Even people who can’t absorb B12 from food can absorb it from
supplements.
Even with today’s medical advances in childbirth, one simple truth remains — a woman must eventually do most of the work herself. Understanding how to best utilize a woman’s inner strength and harnessing her body’s wisdom can make the process that much easier and healthier for both mother and child.
The use of complementary therapies is one of the best ways to harness that wisdom and strength, giving a woman in labor the tools to control her fear surrounding childbirth in an instinctive and natural way.
Scoliosis affects 1 in 1,000 children, with approximately 500,000 children in the United States suffering from the debilitating condition. Unlike cancer and heart disease, scoliosis is rarely fatal. However, it can have a severe impact on a child’s quality of life, both physically and psychologically.
In June of this year, a medical team traded in their lab jackets for bicycle shorts to embark on the grueling Race Across America, a 2,922-mile course from San Diego, Calif., to Atlantic City, N.J. The goal of the team, representing Florida Orthopaedic Institute (FOI) in Tampa was to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation. The goal of their team massage therapist, Clinton Wynn, was to keep them racing at peak performance. Providing massage in the back of a rolling motor home, Wynn worked all hours of the day and night. He didn’t sleep much.
Yoga may ease nausea and anxiety in breast cancer patients undergoing treatment, according to a recent study conducted at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York. Subjects included 126 women with an average age of 53, and most with stage I or stage II breast cancer. One group was assigned to 12 weeks of classes, three times a week, and daily home practice, while the control group was put on a yoga class wait list.
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