SOHMA: The Path to Tai Chi & Qi Gong Mastery

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Dr. Daniel Hoover

What Is An Herbal Pharmacy And Why You Need To Know

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What is an herbal pharmacy?

An herbal pharmacy is a place where traditional medicine practitioners create herbal formulas based on traditional recipes that date back thousands of years. Often stocked with raw fresh or dried herbs, spices, seeds and roots.

Herbal medicine is rooted in ancient Chinese medicines used and practiced before other alternative medicines like acupuncture or cupping. Before the invention of pharmaceuticals, herbal formulas and remedies were used to treat ailments of their time.

While in modern times pharmaceuticals have surpassed the use of herbal remedies, they are steadily on the rise now that people are recognizing and searching for alternative and natural forms of healing.

There is a large range of traditional and modern formulas as well as combinations of herbs that may be used to establish a baseline and produce individualised formulas. These can be adjusted according to changes in your body. The formula can be changed or modified to parallel these changes.

There are many ways in which herbal remedies can be applied. The most common of which is a liquid form, consumed in the form of an herbal tea or tincture. Another form is topical applications in the form of essential oils.
At SOHMA we have our own herbal pharmacy. This allows our patients to make the best choice for them while they are searching for alternative methods to improve their physical condition.

Herbal Teas and Tinctures

Possibly the most common way to consume herbal remedies is by drinking it in the form of a tea. Some teas can be used to help unwind, boost the immune system and even reduce pain and soreness. Many of the same herbs used in teas are used in their oil forms, for the same benefits as well.

To help unwind after a hard day of school or work, have some chamomile or peppermint tea, chamomile is a favorite to help calm and soothe the mind, helping you relax and even aid in falling asleep. Peppermint contains menthol which is a natural occurring muscle relaxant.

To Boost your immune system consider dandelion, ginseng or cayenne tea. Dandelions are most commonly associated as a garden weed, it is not only edible but used in herbal teas as it contains high levels of antioxidants that help eliminate toxins and assist the immune system against infections. 

Ginseng tea is used in Asia to increase overall health producing more white blood cells and even shortening the common cold.

Commonly used to spice up food dishes in the kitchen, cayenne tea is surprisingly a good choice for sore throats. The capsaicin in the pepper helps thin out the mucus irritating your throat.

Turmeric tea can be used to help reduce swelling as it is a natural anti-inflammatory. It can soothe some pain from arthritis, migraines as well as muscle pain from a workout.

Some people may not be familiar with what tinctures are. But tinctures have been around for thousands of years as well. Usually a tincture is a concentrated extract from herbs, spices, seeds or barks. Unlike teas, tinctures use alcohol or vinegar instead of water. The alcohol or vinegar pulls the active ingredient from the plant parts making it much stronger than tea. Inexpensive and easy to make, tinctures can be prepared at home.

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy works through skin absorption, and the sense of smell using:

  • Diffusers
  • Inhalers
  • Bath salts
  • Oils 
  • Creams
  • Lotions for Massages

These can be used alone or in any combination and can help reduce pains, improve sleep quality, reduce stress, soothe joints and boost immunity among other benefits. Fortunately there are many different oils in the market.

Essential Oil Massages and Baths

Combining essential oils during a massage is also very common. Your body can absorb the oils through the skin to gain their relaxing and healing properties. Many of the essential oils derived from herbal teas can also be used here as well with the same benefits. You can do the massages yourself just pick your favorite oil and warm it in your hands before you begin massaging the affected area.

Consider using essential oils in the bath. Not only will the warm water relax your body, the smell of the oils can aid with relaxing the mind. The body can also absorb the oils infused in the water to help ease tension or soreness depending on the oil used.

Take the Next Step In Improving Your Health by Contacting SOHMA Integrative Medicine

Our goal is to help you improve your health. You can reach out to us and ask us if we are right for you. Located in Long Beach, CA we help individuals from the surrounding cities.

We look forward to helping you take the next step in your journey to better health.

Cupping Therapy and 3 Surprising Benefits

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Massage As Part Of Your Therapy

Cupping therapy? 

You may not be familiar with it, what it does, it’s history, or how it can help you. Today we invite you to discover more about this therapy how it can help you.

Cupping Therapy has been around for thousands of years. Early pictographic records show Egyptians may have invented cupping as early as 1500 A.D. and can be traced back to traditional Chinese medicine as far back as 280 A.D. 

In recent history western doctors began the use of cupping therapy in the 1800’s. Not long ago during the Olympic games many athletes popularised and brought cupping to the attention of the masses when reporters noticed round marks around the athlete’s shoulders and backs. This is why when you come to SOHMA Integrative Health Center we are not lying when we say we treat you like an olympian by providing cupping therapy.

Cupping is a form of alternative medicine, in which a local suction is created on the skin with the application of heated cups although it is now more common to use a machine to create the desired effect. Cupping practitioners use this therapy for a wide array of medical conditions including:

  • Fever
  • Lower Back Pain
  • Poor Appetite
  • Nasal Congestion
  • Cramping
  • Knee/Leg Pain
  • Headaches
  • Mental Health

Once the cup is applied to the skin and suction begins, the skin and muscle is sucked into the cup flushing the localized area, stretching the tissue, and increasing blood flow. This will draw fresh oxygenated blood through the tissue. It also stretches the fascia, which are layers of tissue around the muscle. Slight soreness may occur as the skin, fascia, and muscles are being drawn into the cup.

Benefit #1 Diagnostic

Do not be alarmed if you notice marks after a cupping therapy session. Usually a round mark is left behind by the cups, not to be confused with bruising as those are normally caused by blunt force. The marks left behind by the cups can say a lot about the condition of the area being treated. 

It’s normal for some marks to show after cupping, if the treated area has no marks or if the area is pale it can mean there is a lack of blood flow therefore not letting the body heal.

If the mark left behind is light pink this means that the area being worked on has a very good blood circulation and does not need to be worked on. These marks usually fade away within the hour after the therapy session.

 A slightly lighter red can represent an accumulation of toxins the cups are flushing out of your system. Moderate stagnation will usually show a more intense red mark. These marks represent the need for more work to be done in the affected area.

A very deep red mark tends to mean severe stagnation of toxins and bad circulation. These tend to be the parts of the body that require the most attention. These marks tend to take the longest to heal, as much as 3 days if the injury is fairly new, and up to 2 weeks if the injury was left untreated for longer.

Benefit #2 Promote Blood Circulation

Although the body has organs designed to remove toxins from your body already, our modern lifestyle sometimes over works that system. Build up of toxins can appear in your body because of poor diets, stress or lifestyle. Cupping focuses blood flow which boosts our bodies ability to remove these toxins.

With the suction pulling the skin muscle and tissue into the cup, this will naturally increase blood flow into the area being treated. The increased circulation will flush any stagnated toxins as well as attract your body’s immune cells to the area being treated. The increased blood flow can assist with cell repair and help new connective tissues to form. Additionally, the added blood flow can help with inflammation and reduce the time needed for the body to naturally repair itself.

Benefit #3 Mental Health

Cupping therapy soothes the parasympathetic nervous system which is in charge of the organs that help cleanse the body. By engaging the nervous system cupping encourages deep relaxation and easing anxiety. Anxiety is characterized by panic attacks, feeling of worry, or stress that is disproportionate to its cause.

The treatment has the ability to relax the patient and can help improve sleep duration and quality. Poor sleep has been shown to significantly worsen the system’s mental health issues. Sleep helps us to not only recover physically, but mentally as well. Poor sleep can increase poor health and poor health can make sleep difficult. Making it an unhealthy vicious cycle.

At SOHMA Integrative Health Center, we have specialists that can assess and answer any questions about Cupping Therapy you may have.

Take the Next Step In Improving Your Health by Contacting SOHMA Integrative Medicine

Our goal is to help you improve your health. You can reach out to us and ask us if we are right for you. Located in Long Beach, CA we help individuals from the surrounding cities.

We look forward to helping you take the next step in your journey to better health.

Massage As Part Of Your Therapy

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Massage As Part Of Your Therapy

Massage therapy is the hands on manipulation of soft body tissue, such as muscles, tendons and ligaments. It was passed down through generations to heal injuries, relieve pain, and prevent and cure illnesses. It’s been practiced in some form for thousands of years, originating in 3000 BCE or earlier in India, considered a sacred system of natural healing.

Today we know it can reduce symptoms of an array of conditions such as:

  • Cancer related fatigue
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Tendonitis
  • Headaches
  • Fibromyalgia

Although on its own massage therapy can be very helpful in recovery, it can not be denied that when combined with other forms of therapy you can see far better results. At times, you can expect to see results even after the first session.

Massage Therapy with Physical Therapy

When deciding to combine massage therapy, understand when is the best time to do so, before or after a physical therapy session. Depending on your physical therapy sessions, there are advantages in getting massaged before and/or after each one.

If you decide before, massage therapy increases soft tissue elasticity, reduces muscle tension and relieves stiff joints. Promoting blood flow and relaxation to the hurt area making it easier to find muscle knots or faulty tissue. This will be beneficial in having a better range of motion, and getting the muscles ready to move and work enabling a better session with your physical therapist.

If you choose post physical therapy, a massage would provide nutrients to tissues recently undergone therapy by increasing blood flow. This in turn would help reduce residual muscle soreness, muscle fatigue, and improve recovery rate.

Massage Therapy with Chiropractic

Chiropractic adjustments and massage therapy work better in tandem. Patients usually notice instant relief from symptoms, improved range of motion in joints and overall flexibility. By loosening muscles and tendons you can discover whether the pain you are feeling is soft tissue or if you need to work your way deeper due to impacted nerves, or spinal issues. This will narrow down the possible adjustments needed to the targeted location in order for the Chiropractic specialists to commence your body’s manipulation.

Depending on how stiff your body is usually because of sports, but it could also be from the large amount of time we subject ourselves to sitting in front of a screen due to most people working from home. It’s not uncommon for some bodies to need to be decompressed prior to a deep tissue massage and occasionally a deep tissue massage may be needed to loosen up a muscle allowing for the joint to be adjusted.

Standalone Massage Therapy

Perhaps standalone massage therapy is the option that works better for you. On its own, massage therapy is still very beneficial at releasing endorphins, the body’s natural pain killer, which also helps with anxiety as well as muscular pain. As most chronic pains come from soft tissue injury like muscular imbalances, muscle tension, and muscle knots, focusing on the muscles is a great place to begin the healing process of body and mind.

After each session, our patients are visibly more relaxed, and stress free. After every visit patients are able to move muscles that may have been stiff and tight prior to their visit. It can never be understated that the feeling of pain melting away and relaxing your body and mind goes a long way in recovery. Consider integrating massage therapy to any of your personal therapy sessions as it has been shown that it can have better results than your stand alone therapy.

Not all pains are created equally, so we recommend having a conversation with your physical therapist to see if massage therapy would improve recovery rates.

Take the Next Step In Improving Your Health by Contacting SOHMA Integrative Medicine

Our goal is to help you improve your health. You can reach out to us and ask us if we are right for you. Located in Long Beach, CA we help individuals from Long Beach and the surrounding cities.

We look forward to helping you take the next step in your journey to better health.

3 Benefits of Acupuncture

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3 Benefits of Acupuncture

The thought of having needles poking you sounds terrifying on paper, but acupuncture needles are very small and as thin as a human hair. This traditional chinese therapy has many mental and physical benefits. Once the needles reach their intended depth you may feel a slight tingling sensation and the feelings of warmth may arise from the acupuncture points.

By stimulating specific pressure zones in your body, it is said to balance your energy, what would be referred to as qi (pronounced chi) by Chinese medicine practitioners. This in turn causes the chemicals in your body to release into your muscles, spinal cord, and brain and these changes may promote physical and emotional well-being by stimulating the body’s natural healing abilities. This results based therapy has been making a difference in the lives of many of its patients.

The short and long term benefits of acupuncture have been seen time and time again. Research suggests that it can relieve pain, and it is also used for a wide range of other ailments, like:

  • Headaches
  • Tennis Elbow
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Lower Back Pain
  • Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
  • Sprains

So much so that many insurance providers now cover acupuncture therapy and saving yourself potentially hundreds if not thousands of dollars. All without the need of invasive surgeries or drugs.

At SOHMA Integrative Medicine, our acupuncture specialists are trained in this traditional alternative medicine. Our SOHMA specialists assist the body by unlocking its natural healing abilities, relaxing the muscles, and alleviating tensions from repetitive motions from your day-to-day life.

Let’s explore the top three benefits you may enjoy after starting your acupuncture therapy.

Benefit # 1 Reduction of Back and Joint Pain

Whether it’s because of work, sports, or an accident, this traditional acupuncture can be beneficial in the recovery process by targeting the points meant to release tension in your neck, and along your back.

This relaxes the muscles which helps alleviate some pain that would otherwise hold back your recovery process. If you’re suffering from stiffness, swelling or joint pain, acupuncture can be a beneficial medicine to reduce these conditions without the need for conventional medicines or drugs.

Acupuncture can sometimes be so beneficial it may prevent invasive surgeries.

Benefit # 2 Sleep quality and headaches

A good night’s sleep and overall rest is incredibly important when it comes to recovery. Nearly 70 million Americans have a sleep disorder, insomnia being the most common. By focusing on specific pressure points, usually around nerves, the needles can stimulate said nerves to release hormones like endorphins which is the body’s natural pain killer. This in turn helps with relaxing the mind and maintaining a more consistent sleeping experience, a very important part of the recovery process.

Benefit #3 Carpal tunnel syndrome

In this current day and age people of all ages are in front of a computer for longer periods of time. It could be that you are going to school online from home or maybe you have been playing too many video games out of boredom.

Perhaps you are clocking in extra hours from your new home office. Carpal tunnel syndrome may be far more common than we are willing to admit. Over 8 million people are affected with carpal tunnel syndrome each year. Acupuncture has been shown to improve sensory and motor functions, as well as aiding in the repair of nerves that are often damaged due to repetitive motion. Acupuncture helps with the symptoms related to carpal tunnel like numbness, pain, and tingling sensations.

Take the next step in improving your health by contacting SOHMA Integrative Medicine. Our trained Acupuncture specialists want to help you recover in the most natural way possible. Remember that sometimes your body needs a little push in order to begin healing.

Our goal is to help you improve your health. You can reach out to us and ask us if we are right for you. Located in Long Beach, CA, we help individuals from Long Beach as well as neighboring cities.

We look forward to helping you take the next step in your journey to better health and recovery.

Take the Next Step In Improving Your Health by Contacting SOHMA Integrative Medicine

Our goal is to help you improve your health. You can reach out to us and ask us if we are right for you. Located in Long Beach, CA we help individuals from Long Beach and the surrounding cities.

We look forward to helping you take the next step in your journey to better health.

Migraine Treatment with the Myer’s Cocktail

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IV Therapy Administered

Migraine Treatment with the Myer’s Cocktail

Before we get too deep into things today let’s get a couple of points out very quickly:

  1. The Myer’s cocktail is not something you are going to order at a bar (we will go over it today in detail)
  2. Migraines are difficult and range in severity and our goal is to help our patients get back to their lives

With those two items out of the way let’s dig into our topics for today. Our goal is to help you decide if the Myer’s cocktail could help you with your migraines.

As a note the Myer’s cocktail can help with more than just migraines. We cover that in our post on 5 Benefits of IV Therapy.

What is the Myer’s Cocktail & More Importantly How it Can Help

The Myer’s cocktail is a mix of different ingredients that is delivered via IV. In other words it’s delivered via a drip. It was developed by Dr. John Myer who used it to treat different ailments such as asthma, chronic fatigue and you guessed it, migraines.

The drip itself is made up of several components which we will outline below:

  • Magnesium Chloride is used to treat or help prevent a deficiency of magnesium in the body. The body needs magnesium and if it doesn’t have the right amount well then problems can occur.
  • Calcium Gluconate has several different applications. Technically it is classified as calcium salt. It is used as medication to treat multiple issues such as hypocalcemia.
  • Vitamin B Complex which is made up of multiple sets of vitamins. The body uses vitamin B in multiple functions of the body and is part of a healthy body.
  • Vitamin C is a needed component of the body to grow and used in the repair of body tissues.

A common question we are asked is why should this happen via drip when I can take some of this orally?

The cocktail being delivered via a trip means it is going straight to work in the body. It doesn’t have to go through your body’s digestive process. This makes the delivery more potent and quicker.

This is one of the main reasons why the cocktail is so effective.

How does any of this help with Migraines?

Let’s be clear there are multiple causes of migraines, theories, and methods for treatment. The best treatment for migraines is the one that works best for you and has been thoroughly discussed with your medical team.

There are a couple of reasons that lead to migraines. Without going into an exhaustive thesis on migraine theory here are a couple:

  • A deficiency of magnesium has proven to lead to migraines for those who are prone to them
  • Stress is one of the biggest culprits of migraines and is a known trigger in almost 70% of those who suffer from them

The Myer’s cocktail has been proven effective in the treatment of migraine headaches. Part of this is directly related to the magnesium chloride that makes up a component of the cocktail. The added vitamins also aid in providing additional material for the body to make repairs and help in overall health.

For those suffering from migraines who have not found a proven solution or are looking for one that is more suited to their needs we believe looking at the myer’s cocktail is in their best interest.

Is the Myer’s Cocktail Right for My Migraine Situation?

This is a very personal question that we would have to answer one on one. We would invite you to fill out our contact form and let us know that you suffer from migraines and you have a question about the Myers cocktail.

Take the Next Step In Improving Your Health by Contacting SOHMA Integrative Medicine

Our goal is to help you improve your health. You can reach out to us and ask us if we are right for you. Located in Long Beach, CA we help individuals from Long Beach and the surrounding cities.

We look forward to helping you take the next step in your journey to better health.