Uncommon Cures
For Everyday Ailments
From the Editors of Bottom Line Health
Copyright© 2001 by Boardroom® Inc.
First Edition - ISBN 0-88723-234-5
http://www.BottomLineSecrets.com

In this new age of interactive technology, biofeedback should be more popular than it is.  Consider this: Biofeedback is a minimally high-tech way for people to peer inside their bodies noninvasively--and then take simple actions to control their vital functions, including heart rate, pulse, blood pressure, muscle action and brain waves.  In addition to treating heart disease, biofeedback can help treat sleeping disorders, headaches, back pain, urinary incontinence, digestive disorders an temporomandibular joint syndrome (TMJ).

Biofeedback practitioners hook up sophisticated instruments to the client's head or chest (or other body area) to gauge the level of brain or heart activity.  The equipment used varies depending on the ailment.  In any case, the procedure is painless.  Biofeedback practitioners can take such measurements as muscle tension, brain waves, body temperature and heart activity and display the data on a monitor for the patient.  By following the monitor's readings--for example, a blinking red light or a beeper--the patient can see how deep breathing and other relaxation techniques impact his or her physiology in ways too subtle for ordinary detection.  With this information in hand, the patient can amplify the appropriate technique to noticeably impact his or her condition.

Over time--usually 10 to 12 sessions--patients and clients, once aware of their own physiological reactions, learn to alter and control their responses through relaxation, deep breathing, imagery or meditation.  The more they practice, the more adept they will become, since using the biofeedback method is as much a skill as a medical therapy.  In effect, biofeedback enables people to consciously change physiological and biological responses that Western scientists once considered unchangeable.  In so doing, people can greatly improve their health as they gain control over their bodies and minds.

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Biofeedback's Future

Biofeedback has come a long way since its discovery in the 1930s and its more heady development in the 1960s.  Now, thanks to technological progress, biofeedback is poised to offer patients even more control over bodily responses and reactions.  It appears that thousands of clients may soon be able to receive instant readouts of the gases in their blood while they practice the technique.

Biofeedback professionals in Boulder, Colorado, and in New York City are now using machines called oxycapnometers to teach patients how to control their breathing patterns (and relaxation responses) more efficiently and more precisely.  Why is this so important?  Because when a person's carbon dioxide level is unbalanced, it can cause all kinds of other problems.  So, rather than measuring mere chest movements or sweat responses of the skin, as is done now by biofeedback, practitioners who have access to oxycapnometers can show patients the changes in their bloodstream and nervous system before heavy breathing or nervous sweating sets in.  This means that patients can cut off the effects of stress even earlier in the process.

Now all that remains is to figure out a way to bring the price of the machines down to levels that clinics under managed care can afford.  Today the typical cost of an oxycapnometer can easily surpass $10.000. 

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When you cut off a piece of a hanging mobile, it will shift to rest at a new point of balance.  When you body suffers a physical trauma, small or large, it too find a different balance to compensate for the change.  This new alignment can result in pain and dysfunction over time, if not immediately.  The point of pain isn't necessarily the location of the problem.  A part of the body may experience pain because it is compensating for the trauma to another part, which may feel fine.

A skilled chiropractor will locate the area of imbalance and correct it with musculoskeletal manipulation.  Contrary to common assumption, chiropractic care is not all about the back.  Is uses the spine, however, as the primary means for its practitioners to effect changes in health.  Chiropractors use the spine to correct imbalances affecting the rest of the body--knees, ankles, hips, shoulders, elbows, even migraine headaches resulting from improper alignment of the neck.  These changes are made possible by "un-blocking" the pathway of nerves from the brain to all other parts of the body.

Chiropractors may treat specific conditions and make people feel better, but their goals are more general.  The basic premise of the chiropractic system is that through gentle adjustments, or "treatments," practitioners are able to realign spinal vertebrae that have become displaced through injury, poor posture, lack of muscle tone or stress and are causing a disruption of nerve function.  Through massage and manual manipulation of the vertebrae to relieve pressure on nerves, chiropractors enable the body to tap its immense curative powers.

Chiropractors believe their treatments enable the immune system to perform optimally, helping patients better arm themselves against insults to their good health.

In addition to anecdotal evidence of the benefits of chiropractic care, a major US government agency, the Agency for Health Care Policy Research, announced in the mid-1990s that chiropractic therapy works for many patients, at least for musculoskeletal problems.  This type of endorsement has led insurance companies and interested others to take a new look at a not-so-new profession.

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As powerful directors of the body's actions, the head and spine contain our most important communications pathways.  That is the founding belief of craniosacral therapy, a modern kind of bodywork derived from what used to be called cranial osteopathy.

Craniosacral therapy consists of gentle, noninvasive, hands-on massage that corrects imbalances in the fluid system that connects the brain and spinal cord.  Unlike Swedish massage, which focuses on muscles, or Rolf therapy, which focuses on alignment, craniosacral therapy focuses on a membrane, or sac, that contains cerebrospinal and other important fluids of the nervous system.

The therapy, developed in the early 1970s by osteopath John Upledger, D.O., is based on belief in the disputed existence of the craniosacral system, which, like the respiratory system, cardiovascular system or nervous system, is believed to influence the development and performance of the body.  Therapists say imbalance or restriction in the craniosacral system, sometimes dating back as far as birth, can potentially cause any number of sensory, motor or neurological disabilities.

The therapist uses a very gentle touch to detect restrictions and then subtle movements, often on the plates of the skull, to assist the hydraulic forces of the craniosacral system and encourage the body's natural healing powers.

Applied by itself or in concert with other kinds of bodywork, craniosacral therapy can be used to help relieve whiplash, head and neck injuries, temporomandibular joint syndrome (TMJ), balance problems, effects of trauma and a host of other disorders.  Today, a variety of health professionals perform craniosacral work, including osteopaths, chiropractors, acupuncturists and physical therapists.

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Once you find out, or are reminded, that aspirin was developed from extracts of the willow bark tree, you may begin to view herbal medicine a little differently.  Around most of the world outside North America, in fact, herbal, or botanical, medicine is traditional medicine.  To the contrary, in the West, we have come to think of our pharmaceutical-based, increasingly high-tech healing system as "traditional" and the other systems around the globe as "alternative."

In herbal medicine, "herb" means any plant--or any part of a plant--that is used to make medicine, food flavorings or aromas (for aromatherapy).  You can find herbs in whole form, extracts, tinctures, oils, ointments, teas and tablets.  Because everyone's physiology is different, some experimentation is necessary to find the right herbal remedies for you.

The chemicals that occur naturally in herbs have been observed and studied for centuries, but have only recently achieved "scientific" recognition by American doctors and researchers.  Despite great strides in the acceptance and understanding of using herbs as medicine, there is no licensing body to regulate herbal medicine in the US.  Thus, herbs--some quite powerful--can now be bought in health food stores, supermarkets, herb shops and specialty drugstores.  Herbs are regulated as dietary supplements, like vitamins, not as drugs, even though some of them can have the same effect as drugs.  (In brief, manufacturers can't make curative claims on the label.)

Care must be taken when seeking advice from an herbalist, for training can be quite varied, or even lacking.  Consumers should be prepared to research herbal medicines on their own before starting any kind of serious regimen.  Consider including a naturopath in your decision, as naturopathic education includes training in both herbal medicine and physiology in a medical school-like setting.  And always consult with any doctor who may be treating you for a particular ailment before going on an herbal regimen.

In the near future, we can foresee that many more people will experiment with herbal medicines for everyday ailments like coughs, colds, sore throats, menstrual problems, minor cuts, scrapes and burns.  In such cases, natural herbal remedies may be as effective, no more expensive, and have fewer side effects than conventional over-the-counter drugs.

HOW TO BUY FRESH HERBS

Since herbs lose their essential oils, and thus their efficacy, over time, fresh is best.  Whenever possible, shop for herb in herb shops or in the busiest natural food shops.  According to herbalists, you want to use herbs as close as possible to the time they were harvested.

The standard rule is that you should never buy more of an herb at one time than you will likely use in a year.  Better yet, if you have easy access to an herb store, buy medicinal herbs in amounts that will be consumed within three months.

Of course, buying fresh herbs and mixing concoctions at home is trickier and more time-consuming than buying prepackaged varieties of aloe, echinacea, ginkgo biloba and peppermint leaf, for example.  But if you have the time and energy, you may find that growing your own fresh herbs will dramatically enhance your health.

HOW MUCH BETTER IS A "MASTER HERBALIST"?

Not much, it at all, according to the people at the Herb Research Foundation in Boulder, CO.  Training and knowledge in botanical medicine is what matters, not the title an herbalist might possess--especially since almost any herbalist can call himself or herself a "master."  Why?  Because some schools that offer courses in herbalism consider all their graduates "masters," while other schools that may provide a more thorough course of study simply call their graduates "herbalists."

HOW TO PREPARE HERBAL TINCTURES

Tinctures are herbal preparations made for medicinal purposes using fresh or dried herbs and, usually, alcohol.  Throughout this book "uncommon cures for everyday ailments" From the Editors of Bottom Line Health, Bottom Line Books, you will come across a number of remedies that recommend using herbal tinctures.  You can make tinctures yourself at home, but it is strongly advised to enlist an herbalist's help for safety reasons, as well as to answer questions of potency.

The basic process is as follows:

1.  Start with finely cut or powdered herbs in a wide-mouthed jar (general rule is 8 ounces of dried herb per 1 quart alcohol/water).

2.  Fill the jar with a 50--50 mixture of food-grade grain alcohol and water (this is the general rule for dried herbs ONLY), and close tightly.

3.  Shake the jar each day, a few minutes at a time, a few times each day, for at least 14 days.

4.  After 2 weeks, strain the mixture into a bowl.  Also squeeze the excess moistened herb through a cheesecloth into the bowl.

5.  Take the liquid in the bowl and strain again into a jar, this time through a coffee filter to capture the small particles that remain.

6.  Using a baster, transfer the liquid into small, dark-glass dropper bottles.  (Many pharmacies sell, or will special order, these dark bottles.)  Store the tincture in a cool, airy place out of direct sunlight.  Now you are ready to treat family members from your own kitchen dispensary.

HOW STRONG ARE HERBAL REMEDIES?

The truth is, few people know the actual strength of herbal remedies.  One big problem in herbal medicine today is the lack of comparative standards.  Three bottles of Echinacea herbal extract, for instance, could have widely varying potency, yet exactly the same price, leaving the consumer not knowing which is strongest or weakest.

Standardization of herbal products is a thorny issue because the natural foods and herb industries do not want to invite too much government influence or intervention.  Nevertheless, consumers have a right to know what they are buying.  You must rely on consumer research and a trustworthy vendor for advice on which brands have the best reputation for product quality.  Or, of course, you can grow your own.

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Herb Research Foundation
1007 Pearl Street, Suite 200
Boulder, CO 80302
800-748-2617
303-449-2265
http://www.herbs.org 

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