Acupuncture As A Remedy For Back Pain

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If you suffer from back pain you probably would not consider acupuncture as a treatment until you have exhausted many other alternatives. However, acupuncture is a type of ancient Chinese medicine that's been around for over 2,500 years and throughout this time it has been used for back pain relief, increasingly so in these modern times.

While it is not traditionally a part of western medicine, nowadays your doctor is quite likely to send you for this treatment if you are suffering from back or neck pain either persistently or due to accident or injury.

If you are going to have this therapy you may want to know a little about how it works. The general belief is that the body has 20 energy flow patterns called meridians or pathways. Through these pathways it is thought that the life force or vital energy flows, this is known as the qi (it is pronounced chee) and is considered to be essential to maintain good health. There are over 2,000 points on our bodies that connect with these pathways and it is at these points which the hair-thin needles are inserted, this is done in varying specific combinations depending on the treatment required. These actions are believed to either correct the flow of qi or to reinforce it.

Even though it cannot be proven that this works as a type of pain relief, it is thought that as a result the central nervous system is stimulated. Most patients say that they get a pins and needles sensation on the insertion of the needles and indeed into the duration of the treatment, which usually lasts about 15 to 30 minutes. Some people report that they feel energised or even very relaxed so it appears as if the effect can be is somewhat different depending on the individual.

The acupuncturist will use up to 20 metallic needles during a treatment session and the depth they are inserted is dependent upon the area, deeper muscular or fatty areas need more penetration and the scalp for example would be just below the surface. The practitioner may turn the needles one way or another depending on what they are trying to achieve, in my personal experience they were turned on insertion, then again about half way through the treatment. At no point is the treatment painful, there is a mere sensation of the needles going in and they do not feel sharp at all, this is because unlike needles used for injections, an acupuncture needle’s tip comes to a smooth point without sharp edges. They are also very thin, about 20 times thinner than a hypodermic needle. In my experience the most troublesome part of the treatment is lying in the same position without moving for up to 30 minutes, especially if you suffer from back pain or similar.

Although there are many medical experts who believe acupuncture is an effective way to treat certain conditions such as back pain, there is no true consensus. Some adhere to the theories of qi and meridians whilst others attribute acupuncture’ benefits to the biological changes that are brought about in the body as a result of treatment. Needless to say there will always be the sceptics who deny that acupuncture has any effect at all, but in my opinion if you are suffering from ongoing back pain it is certainly worth trying. By David A.Griffiths – For further information see http://www.articlecity.com/articles/health/article_12508.shtml

The Magic Power Of Curative Garlic

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Many hundreds of years ago people thought that garlic had the magic ability to cure illnesses and they even used it during incantations.

The magic power of garlic is derived from the anti-bacterial phytoncids that kill most bacteria. Sometimes garlic is even called a natural antibiotic. And the powerful antibiotic allicin is made of garlic. Also it has essential and fatty oils, inulin, organic acids, mineral salts, vitamin C and vitamin group B. It is very rich in very important micro elements, like germanium and selenium. Germanium stimulates your immune system and selenium prevents tumors. Also, garlic is a great antioxidant because of the combination of selenium, vitamin C and zinc.

Garlic stimulates your appetite, increases the secretion of bile and helps digestion. It has an analgesic and calming effect on your stomach (Take 2-3 pieces of garlic a day with each meal if you get colitis or stomach bugs.)

Garlic has a diuretic effect, increases the activity of your sweat glands, prevents the accumulation of blood clots and helps with sclerosis.

Garlic phytoncids have the ability to slow down the activity of some tumor enzymes. This is a good way to prevent cancer.

Garlic has an anti-toxic effect and has been used as an antidote for hundreds of years. It enlarges blood vessels, lowers your blood pressure, and supports your heart muscle and your brain cells. It helps with diabetes because garlic lowers your blood sugar level.

Garlic is recommended if you lack vitamins or have a weak immune system.

Eating garlic every day will prevent viruses. Garlic gruel will help with festering wounds.

Garlic is not recommended if you have kidney problems, a stomach ulcer or duodenum ulcer, or epilepsy. You should not eat it in large doses for a long time because garlic will suppress your stomach micro flora. Some people can get an allergic reaction to garlic, like dermatitis. But usually it only happens if you eat a lot of raw garlic.

The scent of garlic on your breath is not pleasant for people. But it does not mean that you should not eat it at all. Just eat some parsley, lemon skin, bread crust or walnuts after you eat garlic.

Garlic is used a lot in folk medicine. There are probably hundreds of home remedies based on garlic. In this article I suggest that you try a great garlic extract remedy that will prevent getting viruses this winter.

Cut 40 g of garlic into fine pieces, put them into a glass bottle and add 100 g (3 oz) of vodka. Cover the bottle well and keep it in a dark place for 10 days. You can add some mint to make the taste and the scent more pleasant. Take 10 drops of the extract 2-3 times a day 30 min before each meal. By Yulia Berry – For further information http://www.isnare.com/?aid=118845&ca=Medicines+and+Remedies

How Much TURMERIC To Use And The Most Effective Way To Take It.

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It seems that everybody is giving different advice these days on how much turmeric to use, and in what form and how often. So what is the most effective amount to use and the best way to take it?

I am sure you are aware of the potential of this amazing herb, primarily in helping to fight cancer. It has also been shown to protect the heart, lower cholesterol and help prevent degenerative diseases like Alzheimer's.

Turmeric is not absorbed well into the body in sufficient amounts on its own, so a multi supplement is the best route to take.

How much turmeric to use is a question best answered in two parts. First the amount and then the delivery method. You can get supplements with over 600mg, but this is a waste of time and money as they normally have no special coating on them to protect them from the stomach acid.

If you make sure you are getting at least a standardized 95% pure curcumin extract at around 50mg a day, preferably with other synergetic ingredients, then that is all you need. Curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric.

With regards to delivery it is important that the supplement has a natural enteric coating allowing it to pass through the stomach and into the upper intestine where all the benefits are realized. Most on the market today just have a cheap coating and so very little, if any, will reach the bloodstream.

As well as the question how much turmeric to use, you should ask how to take it too. For example, if combined with piperine, from black pepper, its absorption rate increases by up to 2000%!

So you can see that it is not the high dosage that is of importance here, but what turmeric is combined with and the coating, and when these ingredients are put together they create synergy, which means you get the direct benefits of each nutrient and the benefits from their interaction with each other.

So now you know how much turmeric to use, what's stopping you from including this amazing nutrient and others in your daily routine! (By Ric Hawkins)

If you would like to learn more about the synergistic supplements which he personally takes, including turmeric, visit www.natural-supplements-site.info and http://www.articlesbase.com/supplements-and-vitamins-articles/how-much-turmeric-to-use-and-the-most-effective-way-to-take-it-805339.html

Ways To Maintain Your Bones And Joint Health

Your skeleton is the frame upon which your body depends for support. It is more than a simple structure. Its bones conceal and protect vital organs. Without the bones to provide shape and support, you are as formless as the Blob. A joint is the place where two or more bones meet. Joints provide flexibility to the skeletal structure. They allow smooth movement, bending and elasticity. Without joints, you would be like the Tin Man. Keeping healthy bones and joints is essential. If you do not take care of their health, you may feel the effects grow worse over the years. What, then, is the answer to keeping your bones and joints healthy? There are a number of ways of maintaining a healthy skeletal and joint system. Doctors stress various factors in your day-to-day life. They analyze your individual problems, genetic
background and current life choices. They then focus on two distinct fields: diet and lifestyle. Within these two areas are five specific ways to maintain healthy bones and joints. Diet You are, so the saying goes, what you eat. There are certain foods connected with healthy bones and joints. Milk, milk alternatives, milk products and green vegetables are among the list of "musts." The reason is simple. They all contain high levels of calcium. Calcium is necessary for providing and maintaining healthy bones and joints. Calcium is one of the essential ingredients behind the growth of healthy bones. It is aptly called the backbone of your skeleton. About 99 per cent of your calcium resides in your bones. It is stored there. When your body requires more calcium and you are absorbing insufficient amounts, your body withdraws it from your bones. Other substances you need to consider are Magnesium (About 70 percent of it is in your bones.), Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin C. These are also essential to ensuring healthy bones. Vitamin C helps nourish healthy joints and bones. Calcium, magnesium, and other mineral and vitamin deficiencies can be corrected by diet and/or the addition of various supplements. Keep in mind, however, that the specific requirements change with age. Rule number one, therefore, is to ensure your body obtains and maintains the correct amount of calcium and other bone-friendly vitamins and minerals. The best way to accomplish this is to follow the government food guides. These handbooks list the correct amount of the various food groups required to remain healthy. Be sure to include lots of fresh fruit, vegetables, milk and their alternatives e.g. tofu, cheese, yogurt. Realize, however, many minerals, vitamins and other necessary bone and joint strengtheners and builders cannot work on their own. They require something to increase their absorption into the body. Vitamin D is one of the better known. It helps the gut absorb calcium. It is available naturally but you can also take it in supplement form. Rule number two, therefore, is to include Vitamin D and other enablers as part of your diet. Vitamin D is less common naturally than vitamin C. Foods rich in vitamin D include salmon, mackerel, sardines, tuna, eel, shiitake mushrooms and eggs. Other foods such as cereal and milk are fortified with vitamin D. It, too, is available in supplement form. Rule number three: reduce the loss of calcium. Your body loses this mineral through sweat, urine and gut secretion. Furthermore, North American diets drive out bone and joint strengthening through their high-level intakes of sodium and protein and their low-level absorption of potassium and bicarbonate. If you add more fruits and vegetables to your diet, you can reverse the trend towards bone and joint concerns. Lifestyle You have a choice on how you want to live your life. This extends beyond eating sensibly into such factors as smoking and drinking. The smoking of cigarettes, the intake of various drugs and the drinking of caffeine and alcohol negatively affect your ability to maintain healthy bones and joints. Rule number four is to reduce or remove these habits. Everything in moderation is the key to maintaining a healthy life with healthy bones and joints. The final way of maintaining and even increasing bone and joint health is through exercise. Regular exercise, particularly load bearing exercise, is good for you and all parts of your body. Walking daily can keep your body fit. It will keep your bones and joints strong and supple. The five rules or ways to follow are simple. Eat properly, stressing bone-friendly foods. Include in your diet bone enablers and strengtheners. Avoid food and substances that subtract calcium from your bones and get off the couch and exercise your way to healthy bones and joints. By Grant Eckert – For further information: http://www.articlegarden.com/Article/Ways-to-Maintain-Your-Bones-and-Joint-Health/55004

Aloe Vera Remedies

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Aloe Vera has proven to be very effective in healing skin problems such as minor burns, and scratches. But unknown to many, it has been recently discovered that it is very useful in oral care as well.

Aloe Vera aids in the healing of gum problems. Gum diseases like gingivitis or periodontitis can be treated easily with this herb. Gingivitis caused by bacteria building up between the teeth and gums that cause inflammation and bleeding. It has been proven that Aloe Vera greatly reduces the instances of gum bleeding. With it soothing and healing properties, gums tend to stop the restored to health faster.

Periodontitis is the advanced case of gingivitis. Tooth loss apparent if you have periodontitis. Aloe Vera reduces the swelling of the gums, and the soft tissues in it. Once swelling is reduced, bleeding stops.

Aloe Vera is also known to have antifungal benefits. It prevents denture stomatitis, which is the redness and soreness of the mucous membranes covered permanently by a denture. Not only the teeth but also the mouth is a subject of fungal infections. The cracked corners of the mouths are prone to fungus. With the application of Aloe Vera, fungal growth is prevented.

Aloe Vera also promotes the healing of tooth cavities when placed inside extraction sockets. The gums are almost like the skin, only tenderer. Just like the way aloe helps in treating a wound, it also would in gum abrasions.

Another application would be in root canals as sedative dressing and as file lubricant. The nerve ends in a root canal are very sensitive. Aloe Vera greatly helps to lessen its sensitivity.

Aside from these applications, Aloe Vera is added to toothpaste. It is know to be a whitening agent for the teeth. It is also rich in Vitamin K and provides natural protection for those susceptible teeth and gums.

Dentists and doctors alike have come up with an Aloe Vera activator spray, which is good for certain throat infections. This herb has the capacity to prevent not only fungal but viral infections as well. The same spray is also being used to ease the painful growth of a wisdom tooth and the joint pains that is associated with it.

Aloe Vera is not only for topical applications. It can be drank or ingested. Several pills and juice drinks are being manufactured as dental medicines to promote the healing of dental surgery patients and other similar instances.

Aloe Vera has found its way through dentistry and soon enough, all other fields will be able to find uses for it in more ways than one. Researchers have been working overtime to fully maximize the healing benefits of Aloe Vera. This herb has been tagged as nature’s well-kept secret because its abundance of application has yet to be discovered.

We all should benefit from an Aloe Vera. It’s an all around wonder for the body. It pampers the skin, the hair, and now, the teeth. Aloe Vera has to be enthroned, as nature’s most valuable gift to man as well. By Patrick Carlow – For further information http://www.isnare.com/?aid=47737&ca=Medicines+and+Remedies