Wellness Program - Integrative Medicine

We also offer comprehensive evaluation and treatment for a variety of chronic health problems utilizing an integrative approach. That is, we apply scientific principles of both conventional and natural medicine to treat disease or help you maintain optimal health. It is our desire to determine underlying causes for your ill health and/or imbalances in your physiology that may be present, often before there are any obvious signs or symptoms of disease. We accomplish this through an extensive history and physical examination and specialized laboratory testing.

Conventional medical approaches usually detect ill health only after disease process is well established. This approach is often unable to give us answers to many chronic health concerns such as chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, chronic yeast infections (candidiasis), hormonal imbalances and the many complications of environmental toxicity, including heavy metals. With an integrative medicine approach there is testing available through certified laboratories that can give us information as to the cause of many of these vague health complaints. At Wright health and Wellness Center, we offer many of these strategies to better assess and find the underlying cause of your health problems.

I. Some of the testing available at Wright Health and Wellness Center includes:

1) Salivary Hormone Testing:

This utilizes saliva as a body fluid to evaluate hormonal status and allows us to detect the active or free hormone levels that are difficult to assess with blood testing. This is often a better tool to evaluate hormonal status for sex hormones, adrenal or thyroid hormones.

2) Toxic Metal Evaluation:

We use hair or urine as a screening method for body levels of heavy toxic metals.

3) Gastrointestinal Imbalances and Digestive Disorders:

This involves an exhaustive analysis of stool sample which can provide for us information in digestion, absorption and the presence of “good” or “bad” organisms within the gastrointestinal tract. Knowledge of the status of our intestinal tract can be very important in determining your overall health status.

4) Liver Detoxification:

This involves specialized testing to assess the functional status of your liver’s ability to detoxify chemical products from both within and introduced from outside the body. Liver function tests through blood samples are helpful, but primarily give us information regarding the evidence of pathology or damage that may have already occurred through the liver. Functional testing can help us determine the presence of imbalances in liver detoxification well before pathology is obvious on traditional blood samples.

5) Thyroid Evaluation:

Conventional laboratory testing primarily examines a blood level known as thyroid stimulating hormone and often ignore the need to evaluate both free T3 and T4 levels. Our clinic emphasizes the need to look at these levels and also salivary thyroid levels. We will also consider basal body temperature, along with the presence of symptomatology that may reflect thyroid hormone status.

II. With our integrative approach we offer a variety of unique therapeutic modalities including the following:

1) Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy:

The replacement of thyroid, male and female sex hormonal imbalances utilizing natural forms of these hormones as opposed to traditional synthetic prescriptions.

2) Nutritional Liver Detoxification:

Therapy utilizing special dietary measures and nutritional supplements to support and allow for liver cleansing. Valuable for all forms of chronic disease and health improvement.

3) Gastrointestinal Cleansing and Restoration:

Therapy directed at rebalancing and restoring proper gastrointestinal function. An important basic procedure to begin the process of healing in all chronic disease.

4) Nutritional Supplementation:

A variety of supplements are available at our clinic from nutraceutical resources only available through physician recommendation.

Horizontal Therapy  | Top | 

Our treatment utilizes bioelectricity for controlling pain and treating circulatory disorders. It is similar to other electrical stimulation therapies, such as found in TENS devices or bone growth stimulators. Like TENS, mild electrical impulses are sent into the area of treatment to change the body’s response to pain and injury. The electrical currents also trigger the tissues’ healing response, reducing pain, spasm and inflammation. Patients beginning a treatment course with Horizontal Therapy often experience significant benefits within the first few treatments. Although, results can vary depending upon the patient’s condition, Horizontal Therapy has often proven effective as an alternative treatment when other treatment options have failed. Depending on the area that will be treated you will usually receive treatment while either lying down or comfortable seated. Anywhere from 3-8 electrode pads will be placed around the treatment site. Small soft electrode sponges will be fitted to the treatment area using suction cups held in place by a gentle vacuum. When treatment begins the therapist will ask you to indicate when you begin to feel a mild tingling sensation. This allows us to set the best dose of electrical energy for treatment. In some cases, you might experience slight muscle twitching in the treatment area. You may feel different sensations, and sometimes no sensation. This is a normal response to the treatment, as the therapy switches from one form of energy to the next to provide maximum benefit. Even when you feel no sensation, the therapy is working at full strength. A course of therapy usually consists of 5-10 initial treatments. These are best when done over consecutive days or every 2-3 days for maximum benefit.

Hako-Med Horizontal Therapy

Clinical Uses:

• To stimulate peripheral nerves for the purpose of providing pain relief. • To stimulate motor nerves for the purpose of providing muscle re-education • Chronic pain conditions • Adjunctive treatment of post-traumatic pain syndromes • Relaxation of muscle spasms • Osteoarthritis • Prevention or retardation of disuse atrophy • Muscle reeducation • Increasing local blood circulation • Maintaining and increasing range of motion

It is non-invasive, non-toxic, safe and effective. It has minimal side effects. There has been high patient compliance and satisfaction.

Iodine: Why You Need This Mineral And Its Proper Use.  | Top | 

Iodine is a mineral found abundantly in several tissues of the body and important for many body functions. There is very little emphasis on this mineral in today’s medical establishment, partly because of the lack of knowledge as well as assuming that we all have an adequate supply from our diet. Iodine is necessary for the production of thyroid hormone and actually responsible for the production of all other hormones of the body. It is important for proper immune function and iodine itself contains potent anti-bacterial, anti-parasitic, and anti-viral and anti-cancer properties.

Some of the conditions that proper treatment with iodine can alleviate are the following conditions: attention deficit disorder, dupuytren’s contracture, chronic fatigue, fibrocystic breast disease, hemorrhoids, ovarian problems, and many thyroid disorders.

Iodine is extremely important for proper thyroid hormone production. The iodine molecule is contained in all forms of thyroid hormone, including T4, T3 and T2. Without adequate amounts of iodine, the body is more susceptible to a goiter (enlargement of the thyroid gland with low function) as well as autoimmune diseases of the thyroid, such as Grave’s Disease and Hashimoto’s Disease. People that are deficient in iodine are also susceptible to an increased incidence of anti-thyroid antibodies. In an iodine deficient state we see poor functioning of the thyroid gland, development of goiters, autoimmune thyroid problems and as well as an increase risk for thyroid cancer. In children, iodine deficiency can lead to mental retardation as well as development of attention deficit disorder. And as mentioned previously iodine is found in nearly every cell in the body, however it is most concentrated in the glandular systems of the body. The primary gland with highest concentration of iodine is the thyroid gland, but we also find it in the salivary glands, breast tissue, ovaries, prostate and nerve or brain tissue. As a result of the deficiency of iodine, we can therefore see susceptibility to breast cancer, thyroid cancer, fibrocystic breast disease and prostate cancer.

Iodine is typically not found in adequate amounts in most foods. The food we primarily find iodine in highest concentrations are many ocean foods, such as fish and sea vegetables. Iodine has been added to salt products, that are iodized salt, however several studies have indicated that not only is the amount inadequate, but the form of iodine present in iodized salt may not be the optimal form for absorption. Iodine is somewhat difficult to measure to get adequate body tissue levels and as a result simple blood levels do not give a good evaluation of iodine deficiency. A specialized 24-hour urine test for iodine is available only through certain laboratories. You should consult physicians familiar with this testing to have that evaluation performed.

The form of iodine that should be ingested should contain both iodine and the reduced form iodide in a proper ratio. Once again there are limited sources for this form of iodine.

I refer you to the work of either Dr. David Brownstin or Dr. Guy Abraham for further information on iodine uses and replacement.

Wright Health and Wellness Center does have access to the laboratories that are certified in properly testing iodine body tissue levels and feel free to contact our clinic for further information to have this testing performed.

Hyaluronic Acid Injections For Osteoarthritis Of The Knee  | Top | 

Hyaluronic acid is the type of visco supplement that is available in an injectable form for the knee joint in treating osteoarthritis of the knee. Hyaluronic acid is the substance produced in the knee joint that offers cushioning to the knee joint to prevent deterioration of the knee joint cartilage. Osteoarthritis therefore is a deterioration of the joint cartilage and eventually results in pain, inflammation, swelling and finally extreme debility.

Hyaluronic acid is now available in several different forms in brand names, but the basic ingredient is the same when injected into the knee joint over a series of either 3-5 injections, approximately 1 week apart can restore the cushioning effect for the knee joint and not only relieve pain but inflammation in the joint as well. It is not a cure for osteoarthritis of the knee; however it can offer a significant relief of the pain and swelling for six months or more at a time. It can increase mobility, decrease pain and allow a significant lower requirement for pain medication and non-steroidal antiflamatory medications.

Medicare as well as many insurance companies cover this form of therapy which is available through our clinic. If interested please contact our clinic and we will be happy to evaluate your situation to not only see if you qualify for these injections as far as a therapeutic benefit but also contacting your insurance company or Medicare to see if you would be approved for insurance coverage for this therapy.

This therapy has proved to demonstrate a high degree of success for at least temporary relief of osteoarthritis pain, with very few side effects and good tolerability. If you have further questions regarding this form of therapy please feel free to contact us at Wright Health and Wellness Center.