The Health Works
Newsletter
Natural Cough and Cold Mixtures
Beat the coughs and colds this year without having to resort to drugs.
This is an old recipe that I found on a blog of Fabrice Leu (Swiss naturopath) and it reminds me of a folk recipe my German friend told me about. She also told me one about putting chopped onion in old socks round the neck but I can’t quite remember the full protocol of that one and it doesn’t sound very nice anyway! This one sounds delicious.Chop up an onion and put it in some honey, heat it gently through in lidded ovenproof dish on a very low temperature for about 40 minutes. When it is cool, scrape the whole mixture into a glass jar and put in fridge. Have half a teaspoon daily and it is good for all types of coughs for anyone 3 years old and above.
Onions are generally good for the immune system, they help to flush out toxins and they help to repair and renew cells. The good thing about this mixture is that it doesn’t make you feel drowsy, like some over the counter cough medicines.
Another recipe is for colds and flu, this is my invention and it tastes pretty disgusting but it does work well and will make you feel so much better. Your breath will smell so it is a good quarantine remedy too as your loved ones won’t want to come near you.
Take a fresh garlic clove and squeeze it into some freshly squeezed lemon juice, add a teaspoon of cider vinegar, a teaspoon of honey, and if you have some citricidal (grapefruit seed extract – this is anti bacterial, anti viral, anti parasites, anti fungal, anti everything that is bad for you in fact). Knock back the whole delicious mixture about twice a day. It is full of probiotic properties and immune enhancing ingredients and will shorten your cold or flu considerably.
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Make Christmas Shopping Pain Free
Top Tips to avoid Christmas Shopping Aches and Pains!
Think feet:- Wear good supportive shoes which give you cushioning. Trainers are ideal or shoes with soft soles and a small heel.
- Avoid very flat shoes such as ballet-pump style slip-ons: they usually don’t offer much support.
- Avoid high heels - they make the ankle unstable meaning calf muscles have to work harder and your increase risk of injury.
Stay balanced:
- Pack a back-pack: use a small rucksack or day pack especially for heavier items. Make sure you use both straps on your shoulders to stay balanced.
- Try to distribute the weight of your bags evenly between each arm so that you stay balanced and your spine stays correctly aligned
- When carrying heavy items, keep them close to your body to avoid straining the arms and shoulders.
- When picking anything up no matter how light, bend your knees as much as possible.
Take a break:
- Have frequent rests - we recommend a cup of tea!
- Stay hydrated - make sure you have enough water especially if spending time in warm shops in your winter coat as you will lose heat and water through sweating!
- Shopping can be a bit of a work out - if you are familiar with stretching, have a stretch when you get home.
- Take a warm bath to relax muscles and encourage blood flow.
Shop on line:
Avoiding the winter crush and do your Christmas shopping one-line? Avoid computer-related aches and strains too!
- Use your PC or laptop at a suitable height table: don’t be tempted to slouch on the sofa
- Try to keep your forearms approximately horizontal and your wrists straight
- Avoid excess pressure from the edge of your seat on the backs of your legs and knees.
- Don’t sit in the same position for long periods-take a break and get up and walk around the room.
- See the Health and Safety Executive leaflet /www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg36.pdf for a diagram of the best sitting position at a desk
If you have any aches or pains, injuries or strains, book in with one of our osteopaths for a diagnosis, treatment and prevention advice. Osteopathy is suitable for any age and treats any part of the body.
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Health Works Osteopathy Team
Top Osteopaths are here to help your injuries and chronic problems.
We are very privileged to have 4 osteopaths working at Health Works now and they are some of the best practitioners in the area. Do check out osteopathy on the main website to see all its wide-ranging benefits. All our osteopaths are highly qualified, registered and insured. If you need to book in a free 15 minute consultation to ask them in more detail about how they can help, then we can arrange that for you.Aurelie Castiaux and Joseph Manuel Ponce specialise in Cranial as well as Structural Osteopathy, they are ideal for treating babies and children, as well as adults of any age. See our main website for information on Cranial Osteopathy. Manuel lives in Spain half the month and comes to Health Works usually on the first 2 Tuesdays (10.45am – 8.30pm) and Saturdays (10.30am – 7pm) of the month, (this can vary slightly, ring reception for details). Aurelie works on Fridays (11.45am – 8pm) up until Christmas and from the New Year will be working on Wednesdays (11.45am – 8pm).
Geraldine Fahy and Suzanne Cooper are Structural Osteopaths who also use medical acupuncture (dry needling) techniques. They also give exercise regimes to support your recovery should you need it. They are qualified to work with pregnant and post-natal women too. Suzanne works on Mondays (3 – 8.30pm) and Geraldine works on Thursdays (2.30 – 8.30pm).
Our osteopaths are covered by all the major health insurance companies. It is best to check with us first if you wish your insurance company to pay for your treatment as companies can vary with their billing systems.
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Acupuncture for Infertility.
Studies show that Acupuncture is very effective for Fertility Issues
Studies show that Acupuncture is very effective for Fertility IssuesRecent articles and studies have shown an increase in Infertility in both men and predominantly women. This can be due to several factors such as age (both men and women are starting families later in life), stress, physical problems (like blocked fallopian tubes or low sperm count) or just simply unexplained infertility. Whatever the cause, many people feel a sense of failure and anxiety surrounding the baby issue.
Many complementary therapies can help with Infertility and Acupuncture is one that has quite a high success rate. A number of studies show how acupuncture can hugely increase the chances of pregnancy for women embarking on an IVF treatment and many patients come to the clinic for this particular purpose. However we always hope that some patients will come well before they start IVF to give acupuncture a chance to do what it does so well: redress imbalances in the body and mind. For Fertility cases, acupuncture works with a woman’s menstrual cycle trying to ensure that a cycle is regular and that ovulation occurs to improve the best optimum chance for pregnancy. It will also help in making sure the womb lining is at it’s best to support a fertilized egg and to aid implantation to maintain a healthy pregnancy. For men it can help increase sperm count, mobility, motility or help with tubal blockages.
S came to see Catherine Aubin with an “unexplained infertility” diagnosis from her GP. She wanted to have acupuncture to see if it could do something for her before putting herself through the committed and somewhat uneasy process of IVF after trying to conceive for 4 years. Catherine started by regulating her emotions and her menstrual cycle. After 2 cycles it had improved beyond expectations. After 3 months she was pregnant She said that she had just decided that she was definitely going to give IVF a try when she found out she was pregnant.
This is definitely a success story, going beyond any usual expectations in terms of the time it took to get the welcome happy result. Generally we would not tell prospective patients that things will happen this fast but it obviously can happen!
R came to see Vera Wong when she was 43 years old; she had been trying to conceive a second baby for two years. There had been no problems with conceiving her first child and since that birth she had subsequently suffered 3 miscarriages. Routine blood tests through her GP had shown her hormone levels were normal. Her first pregnancy had gone well and she had a natural birth at Edgware Birthing Centre and had breastfed for nine months. Although she had a regular menstrual cycle, for the past year it had been erratic and she had been seeing a Homeopath to improve her menstruation. It was her Homeopath who thought it would be advantageous to try Acupuncture to see if this could help her.
It took about 2-3 months of fortnightly treatments to balance R and to ensure her menstrual cycle came back to her normal pattern and to boost any deficiencies from the miscarriages. After the fourth treatment she became pregnant naturally and went on to have a successful pregnancy. She came back early the following year for a natural induction, which was a success as she went into labour within twelve hours of that treatment giving birth naturally 4 hours later to a baby girl.
The combination of acupuncture with homeopathy worked well to help R regain a regular menstrual cycle and to ensure she was ovulating. It also helped her to maintain a healthy pregnancy to full term and gave her the opportunity to have both a natural induction and birth, making the whole process a positive and happy one.
N, 33 years old, came to see Vera after trying to conceive naturally for just over a year. After some medical investigations it was discovered that she had a lower than average ovarian reserve for someone of her age and one of her fallopian tubes was not functioning properly. She had been given a very low chance of conceiving naturally with the added problem that this could turn into an ectopic pregnancy.
A treatment plan was drawn up to help prepare her body for the upcoming IUI/IVF cycles while trying to see if she could get pregnant naturally as she had 6 weeks to wait for her first IUI attempt. Her menstrual cycle was regulated so that any scans would reveal an optimum womb lining in preparation for implantation and to ensure she would respond to the hormonal drugs. N had her first IUI cycle and all her blood tests showed she was responding well and scans indicated a good womb lining. Fortunately for N it was successful! She continued to come every fortnight for a treatment throughout her relatively easy pregnancy and gave birth to a healthy baby girl.
Acupuncture and IVF techniques work well together as indicated by recent medical trials. Acupuncture helps not only in preparing the body in regulating the menstrual cycle and works alongside IVF drugs, but also aids in obtaining an optimal womb lining, helping with mature ova/egg production, oocyte or blastocyst transfers and implantation, maintaining the pregnancy and helping women (especially first time mothers) have a better birthing experience. It is also helpful for post-natal for recovery from labour, milk production and post-natal depression.
Women with an explained or unexplained infertility diagnosis could give acupuncture a try before attempting IVF, without any absolute guaranty of success, of course, as with IVF a positive outcome is never a certainty. However, acupuncture is free of side effects and a more pleasant experience, it is certainly a therapy to consider if you are finding it difficult to conceive.
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Welcome back to Dinah
Counsellor/psychotherapist, Dinah Purton, is delighted to return to Health Works after maternity leave. Congratulations on the birth of her baby!
Dinah will be here on Fridays (2.30 – 8.30pm) from January, offering a range of short and long term therapies to individuals, couples, families and young people.. So whether you're a couple feeling stressed in the aftermath of Christmas or have decided 2012 is the year things are going to change for the better, Dinah will be happy to work with you in a way that suits you.Relationship Counselling
Are you struggling to communicate, faced with difficult choices or wondering why the same problems keep occurring? Counselling can help you understand, accept and make immediate, practical changes so you can enjoy improved relationships and higher self esteem. Dinah is Relate Qualified and specialises in relationship counselling with couples, individuals and families.
Short term solution focused therapy
It's amazing what can change in a few focussed sessions. Solution focussed therapy starts by identifying how xou want things to be by the end of therapy and focuses on taking realistic, effective steps in order to achieve your goal. You will usually have six sessions but are welcome to continue after, perhaps with a new goal. 10% discount if you pay for six sessions up front.
Psychotherapy
Dinah offers long term psychotherapy to individuals looking to explore, understand and improve their emotional lives. Open ended therapy gives you the space and time to look at any issue in your life. It is a safe space where you will be listened to with warmth, acceptance, interest and respect as you unravel the often complex strands of your past experiences, current feelings and personality.
Young people's counselling
Dinah has worked with young people (11-18) since 2007 through Relate's Relateen service. Young people have their own worries and are often uncomfortable talking to someone at school or in the family. Counselling gives them an opportunity to share their thoughts and concerns and feel listened to. Dinah has an Enhanced CRB Disclosure and has also worked as a secondary school counsellor.
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