Author: Elva Edwards

There is nothing like a good massage, is there?

I often suggest that husbands and wives give each other a massage, But not everyone is good at giving a massage.

I’ve talked with patients about buying a massager they can use on each other. But what if you live alone?

I found the answer. Here is a massager that you can use on your back YOURSELF!! What a concept.

It is not expensive. I have one and if you want to try it out the next time you see me, just say so.

Using it for a couple of minutes changes things for me. Even if you are married, sometimes it is just nice to fix your neck or back yourself!

I bet you will love it.

Sometimes we don’t want to hear the truth because it creates so much intellectual and emotional dissonance in us.  We WANT to believe that people will do what is best for us.  If you have a child or plan to have a child or if you truly value your own health, please read the book, “The Real Anthony Fauci” by Robert Kennedy Jr.  DO NOT take his word for it.  You do not have to because it is one of the most referenced books I’ve ever read.  If you don’t believe something he says, look up his references.  I’d love to hear from you after reading.

There are people who do not want to know information that is different from what they already think.   Adulting is taking in ALL the information and using your own brain to determine what you think is best.  If you add experiments to prove one way or the other, that is the scientific method.   In other words, the responsibility falls squarely on our shoulders.  

In science everything is considered.  They might laugh at your idea, but in real science, it is PROVEN one way or the other, not mandated.  For example, when I was a kid and people had a stomach ulcer, medicine thought it was because they were worried and anxious.  A doctor from Australia wrote a paper proposing there was an infection often involved with an ulcer.  He was laughed at mocked, derided.  But 10 years later when the “experiments to prove him wrong” came in, oops, he was right.  How many of you have been treated for helicobacter pylori?  That is the infection.  He was right. 

The vagus nerve has been a hot topic for the last couple of years. It can be injured. Here is a short video with a couple of exercises for you to do to for stress and anxiety relief.

This video will help you relax. It can also be used for headaches and TMJ problems. It is short so Enjoy!

Instead of making numerous New Year Resolutions, try to make one for your health. Maybe it is around exercise, maybe around food, maybe around getting care or perhaps intermittent fasting or even fasting one day a week. Just make one and be persistent and determined. Keep track of it. And then tell me about it in a few months. It isn’t what we do one day, but what we are consistent at doing that will change things for us.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! (don’t forget to schedule some fun!)

When I shop at a health food store, I expect to buy healthy food.  Back in the day, a health food store did not have coffee.  Certainly not chocolate.  It was about pure food that was fresh.

Today we are busy, busy, busy.  We need to cut some corners with cooking.  Believe me, I get it. 

But do we have to sacrifice our health?  I want to start a write in campaign to “health food companies” and ask them to use ingredients that don’t cause many of the illnesses we have today, like macular degeneration.

Many illnesses have increased at the same rate that vegetable oils have increased in our diet.  Vegetable oils are not our friend.  So why are all the processed health foods processed in vegetable oils?   Almost all of them have safflower oil or sunflower oil.  It might be organic, but it is a vegetable oil.

To avoid them, we need to eat unprocessed foods.  Or they need to change their oil. Let’s start a write-in campaign and ask them to change their oils. They do not need to use vegetable oils that cause us illness.

Science is interesting, isn’t it?  Recently I’ve heard people say, “I believe in science.”  Don’t we all?  But honestly, we don’t have to “believe” in science because it can be proven.  That is the scientific method.  

Through the scientific method, we can determine if something works or does not work as presented, that is, if the scientific method is allowed to complete its research.  And that is why it is so important to support our good scientists and make certain they can rely on science and not have to support a narrative.

The scientific method is skeptical.  Someone says, “this will work.”  For instance, when the doctors wanted to use ivermectin or any other drug, the scientists would then set to prove that they are wrong.  That is the skepticism of science.  Let’s see if we can prove them wrong!

And the scientist do their research and find that they can or cannot prove that the person is right.  It is continued until there is enough research to determine they are right or they are wrong.  It is a beautiful system! There is much discussion back and forth. All ideas are welcome and must be considered because EVERYTHING can be ruled in or out with your work out in the public where other scientists can view it and comment.

Because we know numbers can be fudged and that is why other scientists go through their work, trying to poke holes in it or re-do the research to see if they confirm the original conclusion or find a different conclusion.

That is the scientific method in its simplest form.  If this has not been done and reported in such a way that we, and other scientists, can read it and re-do the experiment, it is NOT the scientific method. It is awesome when all scientist come to the table to find the best outcome.

A common problem is neck pain. Have you looked at your posture? I think it is wise to do so and change it if you can.

One item I have people buy for neck pain is a cervical traction unit. This is a good one and it is cheap. Your results will be equal to your persistence at using it.

A patient was in my office with neck pain. I know she has a traction unit at home and I asked if she was using it. Yes, about every other day. I said, change that to daily. Upon her return she was laughing saying, I was right. All it took was using it more.

This traction device is very easy to use. You don’t want to over-stretch the neck, but just a little distraction will help so much. Of course, there are some conditions it might not help. If you have pain when doing this, you have too much traction. A little dab will do you.

This is simple, easy and inexpensive. If you have a low level neck ache, try it. Most people like it.

The holidays are upon us and there are many opportunities to be out and about.  To become more self-aware, notice the posture of other people.  You will see many different varieties, for sure.  If you watch children, for the most part, they all have pretty good posture.  Watch teenagers.  Watch young adults.  Watch people in mid-life.  And watch the oldsters, like me.  

Posture changes over the years and you might note that it is usually for the worse.  All kinds of things affect our posture, not the least of which is accidents, too much phone, improper posture day in and day out.  Posture becomes habitual.  So changing your posture has to be intentional.  You have to work on it to change your posture.  

Let someone take a photo of your from the front, side and back.  Work with yourself to improve your posture.  Even little improvements help.  The head forward position is critical to change because it stresses the discs in our cervical spine.  Next time you are in, let’s spend a few minutes on improving your posture.

Have you ever heard of “Stiff Person Syndrome?” When people complain of something and doctors can’t figure out what it is, they slap a name on it and call it a syndrome. That means a person has symptoms and we have no idea why. If you are stiff and don’t know why, consider yourself as having stiff man syndrome.

There are times people are stiff and we know why. For instance, people can be stiff when they have any kind of arthritis.

If you see the word syndrome on the end of a diagnosis, you can always know, they don’t really know much about what causes the problem. And if you don’t know what causes it, it is pretty hard to fix it.

When we don’t know, my thoughts go to: could it be some kind of toxin? For instance, people can feel stiff in their joints from eating too many oxalates. How would you get oxalates? Drinking green drinks is one way. They have become very popular. If you have a lot of spinach or chard, make sure you steam it. I always prefer eating food instead of drinking it.

If you wonder if your green drink is bothering you, stop it for a few weeks and see if you are feeling better.

Having a body is a never ending process of literally, “what is going on?”

My shoulder, my knee, my ankle, or my back is not feeling like it always has and what do I need to do about it? Sometimes it is from trauma. If you are my patient, you know that sometimes you need a good adjustment. Sometimes you need a supplement, or more than one. And sometimes you need to move your emotions that are stuck in your body. Right? Most often it might be a little of this and a little of that.

I think the biggest “hidden” culprit lies in plain site. Often we don’t want to hear it.

If you, or someone you know, experiences joint pain, this may be an eye-opening video where my mentor talks about chemical causes of joint pain. ENJOY!