Otitis Externa (swimmer's ear)

Summer is almost here and alot of ear problems surface around this time of year. From itchy to full blown oozing ear canals, the swimming pool is the enemy.

Body:

Otitis externa is usually caused when the skin is not fully intact, for example in the case of allergic dermatitis. This makes the skin more susceptible to fungal or bacterial infections which in turn leads to itching and pustule formation.

Mind:

As with allergies, thought patterns associated with this condition are those which fall under "irritability" and inability to hear ones thoughts or others opinions without judgment. 

Spirit:

Our ears are an important vessel of communtication, when we fail to hear what pleases us, or continuously hear aggravating words this can manifest in the form of ear ache. 

Also, children who are bullied or teased have a tendency to develop this condition.

Rx:

1. Avoid moisture.

2. If you have an infection, do not ignore it and make sure you get a culture and appropriate treatment.

3. Try to incorporate mindfulness into your daily routine if you are surrounded by "aggressive" conversations. Having a peaceful state of mind can make it easier to disconnect from the impulse to get irritated on the long run.

4. Speak kindly to yourself and to those around you, our words have vibrations and one kind word can go a long way.

5. If all else fails: get to the root of it. Therapy helps in resolving communication issues or irritability.

More to come! Stay tuned!

- here's to a fabulous summer ❤

Diabetes

One of the greatest challenges in healthcare today, with numbers on the rise and the age of onset getting younger by the day, Diabetes is one of my most passionate causes of perusing alternative modalities having seen enough diabetic feet amputated when they could have been saved simply by being aware and empowered.

Body:

Diabetes is a matabolic disorder where your body is unable to store or use glucose properly.

I will not be getting into the different causes of diabetes, but there are two types: type 1 where the pancreas fails to secrete insulin and type 2 where the body fails to absorb insulin. Insulin regulates our blood glucose levels. When there is alot of glucose in your blood, diabetes happens.

Diabetes leads to various systems failing such as the kidney function, cardiovascular disease and nerve damage. 

Like any disease there is a genetic load which is expressed when the lifestyle of the patient (eating habits, exercise and stress levels) are not balanced.

Mind:

Wether anxiety and depression are a precursor to diabetes or a result of it hasn't been identified by research, however, anxiety has been shown to lower the blood glucose control and lead to fluctuations in diabetic readings.

Spirit:

The pancreas from a spiritual aspect is responsible for the sweetness in life, and when it fails then it is said that the person is unable to absorb the sweetness of life. Those people tend to have a certain bitterness and self righteousness where they are unwilling to be directed.

Rx.

1. Having a healthy lifestyle is important either in prevention or treating diabetes. Regular exercise and watching food habits in terms of sugar and calories can have significant benefits.

2. Having a positive mind frame and stepping out of the "chronic disease" fear is vital in achieving optimal results.

3. Tackle emotional issues that result in bitterness, start accepting things for what they are and live in gratitude day by day to be able to find the lost sweetness in life.

4. Take your meds! Having an active approach to the condition can take you miles ahead. 

5. Finally, any condition is treatable, if you believe that it is.

So what will it take to get there?

The one on weight loss

I often get asked what determines the rate or response of following a weight loss regime, why some diets work and others don't, and what type of workout will give the fastest results.

The good news is: whatever diet or exercise regime that feels right to you will probably give you the best results. Now lets dig into the details.

Body:

There are many physical reasons as to why your body might not be metabolising at the rate it is supposed to. Eating habits and caloric intake is one of the main reasons. Also, your thyroid plays a role in the metabolism and any thyroid dysfunctions can result in weight loss or gain. Women with polycystic ovaries often present with weight gain or inability to loose weight too. Other factors include liver disorders, glucose, insulin and cortisol levels.

So make sure all of that is checked out.

Mind:

Eating habits are often learned from home: how often you eat, how big or small the portions are, social eating ( when food becomes associated with socialising), when to stop.

Noting down your eating habits can be a good start. 

Weight loss starts from having a will to make change and eat healthier to feel stronger and look better. 

Thoughts like: "I can and I will" make the biggest difference.

Spirit:

Emotional eating is one of the most common causes of weight gain; this includes a range of emotional conditions from a stressed out day at work to full blown depression. 

This happens when food represents something else: love, security or nurture.

People who have been hurt and are holding on to those emotions have a difficult time letting go of the weight as it represents some form of comfort.

Rx.

So if you are "trying" to loose weight the first thing to change is your mindset. You start loosing weight when you know you can.

Make sure your hormones are in check.

Eat 3 meals and 2 snacks (5 times a day) to keep your juices flowing.

Find a workout that makes you happy: walking for 30 mins a day can make a big difference if it becomes a habit. Any other form of exercise must be enjoyable and shouldn't feel like a punishment: so tennis, swimming, zumba, pilates.. Or yoga. As long as you are happy doing it. Your body responds to love, so fill it with love before hitting the gym and watch what happens.

Lastly, any unresolved traumas or hurts can stay in our bodies if we don't release them. So look into that too.

What would it take to have a healthy metabolism and beautiful bodies?  

Here's to that!

Gastritis

Another common medical condition in family practice is Gastritis: a condition where your gastric mucosa (the lining of your stomach) is inflamed and irritated resulting in various symptoms ranging from indigestion, heart burn, or stomach aches.

If untreated gastritis can lead to serious complications such as peptic ulcers and stomach cancer.

As I talk about the different aspects to health and wellbeing I will be structuring my blog posts to tackle the 3 main attributing factors to any medical condition: the body, the mind, and the spirit.

Body:

From a physical perspective gastritis can be caused by medications such as aspirin, a bacterial infection (H.pilori) which is a bacteria that normally resides in the stomach but starts to create symptoms when your resistances are low. Predisposing factors such as pernicious anaemia, smoking, alcohol consumption and stress have all been identified to play a role in this.

Mind:

Thought patterns identified with people with recurrent gastritis include angry worry some thoughts. Angry thoughts can be directed to self or others but often  get aggravated to reach an "eating yourself up" with resentment or guilt or anger, which can lead to ulcers flaring up.  

Spirit:

Our stomach is where we digest food and absorb nutrients, hence when one can't "digest" circumstances or "absorb" love an energetic imbalance is created.

Rx.

So if you have a stomach upset, look at the food your eating, your lifestyle habits, and make sure it's not an H.pylori infection.

And then still your mind as often as you can and try to identify the cause of anger, rage, or resentment. This can be done on your own or in conjunction with a therapist.

Once you are in communion with your body and acknowledge your emotions, it's only a matter of time before you start choosing thoughts that would bring you at ease and release the emotional blocks.

So what would it feel like to be able to digest every circumstance thrown at you with ease , and absorb the love that resides in everything around you ?

Happy digestion!

On headaches

Every thought you think has a vibration.

Every thought you think brings out an emotion, whether good or bad. 

Our bodies are continuously trying to communicate our emotional status to us if we would only be in communion with it and pay attention to the signs.

Today I will discuss headaches, one of the most common symptoms in family practice.

From a medical stand point, headaches can be caused by an array of reasons ranging from dehydration, low iron levels, eye sight problems to more serious conditions such as meningitis and brain tumors. 

Migraines on the one hand have been linked to sleep pattern changes, food intake and stress levels.

Our brains, as magnificent as they are, have a lot of deciphering to do when it comes to our thoughts. 

A lot of decision making, memory storage, good, bad, ugly. The works. Continuously at work.

But when you don't take the time to actually look at those thoughts that are going on in your head, what happens is that they tend to accumulate in a way that would ultimately lead to a block. An energetic block that would then lead to a headache.

So when you start feeling a heading coming over, take a few steps back, a few breaths in and out. And just observe what's going on inside your head.

Is it judgments? Or is it kindness?

Is it nagging? or is it tender?

Is it a lot of noise?

Or is it serene?

What thoughts are you choosing at that moment?

What else could you be choosing?

And remember, that every thought we think has a vibration.

And every thought brings out and emotion. One that your body responds to automatically, and communicates back to you.

So what would it take for you to think thoughts that resonate with the lightness within?

Blessed

Tonight before you pass out, take a moment and recap your day.. As you do that, notice the feelings that come up with the snapshots you have of the day. How many of those made you smile? And how many made you frown?

Did you feel blessed? Or did it stress you out?

Now take a moment and try to find the blessings in today.. Maybe even feel thankful for what worked, and what could be working better.

Being blessed is a mind frame, created by your perception of what's going on around you.

What if you can count your blessings and fall into a peaceful slumber every single night?

Have a blessed night :)

What is health?

We all want to be healthy.

To be able to have toned abs and slender figures, to digest food fully, to carry our kids and grow old to see them prosper.

But what is health to you? is it absence of disease? or is it embracing the vitality that you were meant to have?

I have always been interested in the mind-body relationship. Ever since I started practicing medicine I noticed the close relationship between how one thinks and feels and how the body reacts to it.

This led me to explore various modalities of approaching the influence of emotional behavior and thought patterns on health. Research has shown that breathing techniques, meditations and yoga were found to have a positive impact on health , and better recovery rates after major incidents (eg. myocardial infarctions, cerebrovascular disease and other traumatic incidents) along with an overall increase quality of life. Which is ultimately the objective of achieving health.

It is indeed important to address the biological (or pathological) aspect of a disease but also as important is to look at the underlying emotional causes and discords and address them to achieve optimal health and recovery.

So my thought out to you today is the following:

What if having a healthy life wasn't just about dodging the illness bullet, but about embracing the vitality within?

And what if all it took is to think healthy thoughts and feel happy?

Wouldn't that be great?


- To healthy living!