Areas of Specialty
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Orthopedic- Pain or injury of joints & muscles including neck (bulging discs, ligament damage, whiplash), shoulder (rotator cuff, frozen shoulder, impingement, tendinitis), lower back (SI joint, sciatica, herniated discs, pinched nerves), hip (bursitis, range of motion, arthritis), knee and ankle pain (ligament damage, arthritis, tendinitis). Sports injuries, car accidents and falls.
My Approach
I like to do a full assessment of the body to find out the root cause of orthopedic issues. Unless there has been trauma such as a fall or accident, there is often an underlying muscle imbalance that causes joint and muscle pain. Due to repetitive activities or sedentary life styles our bodies begin to fall into bad habits where certain muscles are over stretched, underutilized or overworked. These imbalances effect the spine, joints and other muscle groups that are associated with the effected area. Over time these muscle imbalances begin to change the natural movement dynamic of the body causing muscle tears, joint friction, scar tissue, atrophy and nerve pain. My approach is to first assess the body, second to break up all the scar tissue, adhesions and blood stagnation in the effected areas, then provide mobility and strengthening exercises to bring the body back to its natural form and function.
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Athletic performance- Professional athletes. For professional athletes, weekend warriors or lifelong athletes who continue to push their bodies for performance.
My Approach
I like to do a full intake and diagnose the body in terms of Chinese and Western medicine. From this point I can identify where the system is lacking in functionality and begin the treatment protocol to optimize the bodies function. It usually comes down to optimal blood circulation, oxygenation and proper nutritional absorption on a systemic internal medicine level. On an orthopedic level I like to focus on muscle imbalances and areas that have adhesions and scar tissue. Once the body is rid of scar tissue and adhesion and the system is providing the proper nutrition, circulation and oxygenation my athletes notice as significant difference in performance and recovery.
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Mental/Spiritual health- Anxiety, depression, bipolar, stress, loss/grief.
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"Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself" (Rumi)
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My Approach
I am a strong believer that mental health is far more than just a psychological matter. In order to fully heal or work with mental health issues, physical health and spiritual health need to be addressed and most importantly behavioral modifications need to be made. I like to use principles and treatment modalities from a combination of East Asian, Central Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern and Western philosophies. I utilize principles from the Tao Te Ching, Sufism (RUMI), Buddhism, Leon Festinger, Sigmond Freud and the principles of TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE to balance the body, mind and spirit. I use herbal medicines, acupuncture, cupping and education to treat my patients.
Physiological- Clinically I think a significant amount of mental health cases are simply caused by physical pathologies that cause psychological symptoms. Patterns such as blood stagnation, phlegm (Chinese concept of clogged synapses), Qi stagnation (improper flow of energy and nerve conduction) and trapped or rising heat in the body (unresolved viral/bacterial/parasitic infections or dysfunction of certain organs). Physical pathalogies in my opinion are the easiest to treat as they can be easily treated using herbal medicine and acupuncture.
Cultural/Societal illness- I also believe there are cultural and social illnesses that effect us as individuals, although it is very hard to change an entire culture, I believe awareness of social illnesses such as self image problems, eating disorders, materialism, technology, addiction and the work hard play hard mentality can have a significant impact on the psyche. I like to say awareness is like riding a roller coaster with your eyes open, with the ability of anticipating turns and drops instead of being blind folded where every second is unexpected and shock to the system. My aim is to help my patients step outside of the bubble they are living in and look at their lives from a different perspective.
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Spiritual- I believe human beings are extremely spiritual creatures with an unlimited potential for imagination and creativity to connect with their spiritual side, unfortunately we have strayed from our nature and are locked into a society where the spirit is neglected. In my experience and based on TCM principles, it is understood that when the spirit is neglected the human being becomes imbalanced leading to pathologies such as insomnia, agitation, anxiety and depression. My goal is to help my patients tap into their spiritual side to bring balance to their system.
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Behavioral- No matter how many treatments a patient gets, how many therapy sessions they attend or how many hours they spend meditation, as long as certain behaviors that are the root cause of a mental health condition are not eliminated or modified, her or she will not get better. One example I use is from something I frequently see in my clinic. I have patients who have picked careers that contradict their morals and their nature. I have countless attorneys who seek my services for stress relief and anxiety and they come two times a week just so they can function at their jobs. I help them maintain their anxiety and stress levels to tolerable levels but they rarely ever overcome their issues. The root cause of their condition is that they have the temperament of a non confrontational, care taking, librarian but they have pickled themselves in a position where there they have to be combative, aggressive and manipulative. As long as this patient continues to be a trial attorney, her/she will never overcome their anxiety and stress. The same goes for a person with an outgoing, aggressive and competitive nature who is forced to sit at a desk and is assigned mundane task. I brainstorm with my patients to see how they can make behavioral modifications to overcome their mental health issues.
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Stress management- In my opinion stress management is the most important way of staying healthy in today's society. I believe stress ranks as high as cigarette smoking and clinical obesity when it comes to devastating the body.
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I took a recent trip to southern Spain recently and was amazed as to how many people smoked cigarettes, drank tons of alcohol and ate rich fatty foods only to come home and find out that their average life expectancy was higher than Americans. How could this be? After 2 weeks of spending time with locals I found that the Spanish lifesyle was some of the least stressful lifestyles I have seen around the world. Obviously there are many factors that need to be considered when making broad statements and when one is designing a study, but as a clinician and based on what I have seen clinically, I am fully convinced that stress is one of the top killers in this country.
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With proper supplementation and acupuncture we are able to help the body go from the fight or flight (sympathetic) system to the parasympathetic system where the body is relaxed and in the process of self repair and healing. Usually the effects of the treatment last for up to 3 days, keeping the body and the psyche calm and away from the stress hormones that can damage the body.
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