Neurofeedback

Neurofeedback therapy is a relaxing and universally beneficial type of brain training that can both improve overall mental functioning and peak performance as well as be used to help with a number of different psychological disorders such as Depression, ADHD/ADD, Insomnia, Anxiety, Chronic Stress, and others.  Neurofeedback is effective on such a wide range of issues because it addresses the underlying brain wave imbalance that all these disorders share.  While Neurofeedback  is still not a common or very well known practice, it has been in use since the 1960’s when it was discovered as a way of drastically reducing seizure frequency; since this discovery, NASA has even integrated Neurofeedback as a part of their astronaut training protocol.

Below is a list of conditions which Neurofeedback has been found effective for:

  • Anxiety

  • ADD(Attention Deficit Disorder)/ADHD(Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)

  • Epilepsy

  • Depression

  • Early Onset Alzheimers

  • Insomnia

  • Chronic Stress

  • Alcohol/Drug Addiction Recovery

  • PTSD

  • Migraines

  • Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Neurofeedback for ADHD

In 2016 the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reported that 6.1 million children (nearly 10% of the children in the United States) have been diagnosed with ADHD and the most common treatment  taken for ADHD by far is stimulant medication (1).  While stimulants can help patients function and focus in the short term, they often come with many side effects and do not address any of the underlying issues of ADHD.

One of the reasons why people with ADHD have difficulty focusing is because their brain is producing too many beta waves.  While beta waves generally help us with focus and concentration, when there is too much beta it becomes difficult for the person to focus on any one thing and very easy for them to be distracted by something new.  Through neurofeedback, the client’s brain begins to be able to recognize that it is over producing beta waves and start training itself to have more balanced brain wave activity.

Alleviating symptoms of ADHD is one of the most common and documented uses of Neurofeedback.  In 2017 a meta-analysis on the effects of Neurofeedback on ADHD and Attention Deficit Disorder in adults showed significant improvement nearly universally in the Neruofeedback groups when compared to the control groups (2).   One of the main benefits of using Neurofeedback for ADHD or other disorders is that is virtually risk free and will have no counter or negative reactions with any other form of medication or treatment.  In fact, time and again studies have shown that traditional treatments are more effective when in conjunction with sessions of Neurofeedback.

Below is a graph from The Neuro Development Center showing significant improvements in a patient’s ADHD symptoms.

For a first hand account of the benefits that Neurofeedback can bring someone with ADHD, please watch the video below:

Neurofeedback for Substance Abuse/Addiction Recovery

Another major application of Neurofeedback has been assisting the recovery of those who have been addicted  to harmful substances such as alcohol and prescription or recreational drugs.  In 2014 the National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that over 20 million Americans had struggled with substance abuse that year (3).  The effects of continued substance abuse (especially alcohol) makes it very difficult for the substance  abuser to change their patterns of thinking or behavior, even if they recognize their own self destructive tendencies.  Neurofeedback can act as a ‘change-agent’ lending empowerment to a substance abuser, and fostering sobriety or rehabilitation.

Those with a history of substance abuse often feel like they have little choice or control over their life.  Neurofeedback helps clients to gain control of their life; patients who complete 10 or more sessions of Neurofeedback experience a greater ability to control and regulate their thoughts and emotions.  Once clients achieve a greater control  over their own thoughts, it becomes much easier for them to take that control and agency in to the rest of their life.

Substances such as alcohol, opiates, and benzodiazepines produce feelings of pleasure through the production of Dopamine.  While Dopamine can be produced naturally through physical activity such as running, an excess of Dopamine has a number of negative effects such as agitation, lowered attention span, and irritability.   It has also been shown that addiction causes structural changes in the brain which can be very difficult to remedy.  Neurofeedback helps show the brain that it doesn’t need the coveted drug to function and that the person can achieve calm and happiness while sober.

While Neurofeedback alone can’t cure addiction, it is a powerful tool in the recovery process.

Neurofeedback through Neuroptimal® 

At The Natural Medicine Center of Lakeland, the Neurofeedback system we use is NeurOptimal®  Advanced Brain Training System developed by the Zengar Institute in Canada.  NeurOptimal® is designed to bring balance to clients’ brain waves by providing instantaneous audio feedback whenever erratic brain wave activity is detected.  These little skips in the music prompt the brain to reorganize its activity and move to a more coherent state of functioning.  Essentially, the system provides your brain with a mirror so it can see how it is functioning and learn where to change and improve.

The reason that Doctors at the Natural Medicine chose NeuorOptimal®, over alternate Quantitative EEG systems is because NeurOptimal®  is exceptionally safe and non-invasive.  Because no ‘current’ is infused, we aren’t forcing any changes in your brain or perturbing body chemistry!  NeurOptimal®  produces no major negative side-effects and can easily be added to any pharmacotherapeutic or counseling regimen.

A session of Neurofeedback includes having five harmless metal sensors placed on the clients scalp and ears while they actively watch and listen to the programs audio and visuals for a little over half an hour.

For a brief explanation on how NeurOptimal®  works, please watch the short animated video below:

Neurofeeedback Rates:

Session Bundles – 5 sessions for $325 or 10 sessions for $600

Individual Sessions – $70

Senior Citizen Discount (Over 55) – $65 per session

References:

1. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/data.html

2.Van Doren, J., Arns, M., Heinrich, H. et al. Sustained effects of neurofeedback in ADHD: a systematic review

and meta‑analysis. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (2018).

3.  https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/addiction-statistics

For even more on Neurofeedback and NeurOptimal® , please follow the links below to see some Facebook live videos and blog posts that we have created.

Facebook Live Videos:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/naturalmedicinecenterlakeland/videos/?ref=page_internal

Blog Posts:

http://naturallakeland.flywheelsites.com/neurofeedback/

http://naturallakeland.flywheelsites.com/all-about-brainwaves/

http://naturallakeland.flywheelsites.com/neuroptimalneurofeedbackmeditation/

Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Device

PULSED ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD DEVICES (PEMF) – For Micro circulation

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Health Basics, Holistic, Motivation

Have you heard the *Buzz* about Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF) Devices?

 

 

PEMF—that is a lexicon you’d be wise to hold at the forefront of your mind. Why? PEMFs exist as a technologic category of devices (different brands / different frequency settings)…but this group of *wellness tools* is evolving quick and gaining in popularity. PEMFs heighten oxygen uptake within every cell of an exposed human’s body. Enhanced O2 uptake means that your body’s metabolism improves. Also, PEMF exposed cells in your body receive the blood and nutrients necessary for healing. PEMF units direct rapid but intermittent magnetic impulses through tissue—which stimulates cellular repair (for review, [1]). This therapy can be used on a concentrated area of the body or on the body as a whole.

Our bodies have between 70 and 90 BILLION cells within them. Cells are healthy / happy when they are both nourished and detoxified. Slow or low blood perfusion in our microvessels sets an occasion for chronic disease development. Here’s some good news: PEMF therapy actually acts to ‘flush’ microvessels. Said differently, the PEMF intensifies blood and lymph circulation. With blood pumping more efficiently, and lymph flowing more readily, body cells eliminate toxins. This is because transiently absorbed electromagnetic energy—much like a physiochemical catalysts–intervenes in and ACTIVATES biological processes [2].

 

How do you use the device?

All you have to do is lie down on the device for 8 minutes once or twice a day. If you want to use the device on a specific body part, many PEMF devices boast an additional ‘area specific’ or focused PEMF accessory. The area specific PEMF accessory can be held over injured or inflamed body parts (e.g., inflamed or swollen knee/ ankle). A stressed or injured region of the body engages immunologic repair mechanisms more quickly due to positive changes in microcirculation, vasomotion, venous outflow, and oxygen utilization [3].

 

Are there Psychic or BioSocial Applications for PEMF units?

Lots of citizens in today’s fast paced society succumb to stress, then experiencing depression. Did you know that electromagnetic field therapies elevate a person’s mood [4]? Mounting anecdotal evidence suggests that the specific PEMF device we are willing to SHARE (come to the Natural Medicine Center) has a mood elevating effect.

 

What else are PEMF units useful for?

Beyond putting more bounce in your steps, preclinical evidence has also made manifest a positive effect of PEMF devices on wound healing and inflammation in eye tissues [5]. Moreover, PEMF units assist with kidney difficulties [6], and with arthritis pain/ swelling [7]. With PEMFs – You’ll Rest Easier

Sleep promotes health, right? Here is a personal testimony: due to my new habit of regularly exposing myself to PEMF, I sleep better. If you took the bold step to become a PEMF owner, you too would be able to sleep all night on this WONDERFUL device. If you are impressed or at least intrigued by the PEMF discussion that I have laid out for you in this blog, please come by the Natural Medicine Center for a free session. I realize that the Lays Potato Chip Company already “coined” this marketing slogan….but several of the patients that I’ve introduced our PEMF device to…well, they say it’s pretty hard to stop with just ONE (session). –Dr Catherine Onuoha, RPh, PhD, BCPP

 

 

___________________Work Cited_____________________________________

1. Indian J Exp Biology (2009);47(12):939-948

2. Biology of Sport (2008);25(2):p.147

3. Journal of Complementary & Integrative Medicine (2013);10(Suppl): pS39

4. Acta Neuropsychiatry (2014);26(3):155-160

5. Opthamalogica (2003);217: 143- 147

6. Bull Exp Biol Medicin (2014);157: 440 -442

7. Life Sciences (2007); 80:2403 -2410

7 Reasons Why Functional Medicine is FOR YOU

Breast Health, Environment, Get Help, Health Basics, Holistic, Hormone Health, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Motivation, Psychiatry, Symptoms

Why Functional Medicine?  Well, if you’re not sleeping well, seem cranky all day and your stomach seem always upset.  In addition you’re feeling a bit down and just can’t figure out why.  You head to your primary physician for—if you’re lucky—a 10-minute talk about what’s going on with you. The physician listens, nods his/her head a few times and then hands you a prescription or two, shakes your hand, and says “this should help”.  Case closed unless you call for another appointment.

You get home and Google the prescribed drugs to read all the potential side effects, constipation, dry mouth, dizziness, confusion, thoughts of suicide, lower sex drive and the list goes on.  Does this approach actually make anyone better? In a word, no.  It’s an attempt to mask the actual cause of your symptoms verses address them to heal.

Why Functional Medicine?

It’s the most profound and effective way to treat patients—particularly those with chronic health issues and here’s the 7 reasons why Functional Medicine is FOR YOU:

1. Functional Medicine is all about you

In simplest terms, think of it as the ultimate in personalized, one-on-one, therapeutic relationships. It’s a health-focused, patient-centric partnership, in which doctor and patient work together to dig deep and find out the causes of illness and disease. We examine not only the patient, but also their unique history, environment, lifestyle and underlying factors, and then develop a health-enhancing, usually drug-free plan to help restore the patient to good health and get him or her on a life-long path of wellness. With Functional Medicine, we look beyond the laundry list of symptoms; the whole person is taken into account.

3. Functional Medicine is not assembly-line medicine

Our current healthcare system is, to a large extent, governed by profit-driven conglomerates that essentially force physicians to manage huge caseloads and keep people moving through the system as quickly as possible. It’s mass-produced, assembly line, quick-fix, put-a-band-aid-on-it medicine, with little hope of creating long-term health. To it’s credit however, Conventional Medicine is great at managing medical and surgical emergencies, medical crises, acute infections and trauma, but falls way short when it comes to treating chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, gastrointestinal problems, chronic fatigue, autoimmune diseases, functional disorders, musculoskeletal problems and stress related disorders. This is where Functional Medicine is near perfect with its more comprehensive, thoughtful individual approach.  After all, you are unique and so should your health recovery plan be.

2. Functional Medicine is artisan medicine

With Functional Medicine, the patient experience is anything but conventional. One might even call it ‘artisan medicine’, because it an art of balance, involves time, care and patience, since true healing doesn’t happen overnight. With Functional Medicine, we treat the person who has the disease rather than the disease the person has. It’s not unusual for my colleagues and me to spend an hour or more with patients, listening to their histories, doing the detective work, asking questions, and examining the genetic, environmental, and lifestyle patterns that effect health. By addressing the underlying causes of illness and disease, Functional Medicine practitioners are able to design unique, personalized healing plans that Conventional Medicine literally doesn’t have the tools, training, or the time for.

Why Functional Medicine is For You Holistic homeopathic Herbal Natural Medicine Center Lakeland Central Florida Polk County

4. Functional Medicine is the best of both worlds

Functional Medicine is not an either/or system, but rather a true combination of Conventional Medicine and many different alternative and complementary therapies. It acknowledges the strengths of Conventional Medicine for acute and crisis-care, but also realizes that this approach does not have the tools for preventing and treating chronic diseases. Unlike conventional physicians, we are able to tap into all the tools of healing—drawing from Western, Eastern, alternative, preventative and integrative medical practices—to help our patients heal. By pulling from all of these approaches and by paying special attention to diet, exercise, nutrition, supplementation and the workings of the mind, we’re not just giving patients a band-aid, we’re giving them the tools to create sustainable wellness and vitality. To me, is what true healing is all about.

5. Functional Medicine looks for the cause

In Conventional Medicine, doctors try to make a diagnosis and then apply a treatment for that particular diagnosis. In Functional Medicine we are less concerned with making a diagnosis and more concerned with the underlying imbalances or dysfunctions. These are the mechanisms of the disease process. We aim at treating those underlying disease mechanisms and ultimately look for the causes of those imbalances.

6. Functional Medicine is medicine on a mission

I call myself a health evangelist, in part because I am a man on a mission. I aim to show the unwell how they can transform their health. Certainly they will need to do the work as I can’t do it for them, but we will work as partners to restore balance and health to their lives. And participating in the process, that slow transition from illness to wellness, is one of the greatest joys of Functional Medicine—for both patient and practitioner.

7. Functional Medicine is true Health Care

Functional Medicine is true health care, unlike the disease care model of Conventional Medicine. We now have the knowledge to go beyond the current crisis care model and offer patients a much better approach to their health. We can incorporate lifestyle medicine, nutrition, supplements, stress reduction and exercise to improve the functioning of organs as a means of preventing disease and creating vibrant, sustainable health.

Functional Medicine is literally FOR YOU.

Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Device

HAVE YOU HEARD THE BUZZ ABOUT PULSED ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD DEVICES

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Health Basics, Holistic, Motivation

Have you heard the *Buzz* about Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF) Devices?

 

 

PEMF—that is a lexicon you’d be wise to hold at the forefront of your mind. Why? PEMFs exist as a technologic category of devices (different brands / different frequency settings)…but this group of *wellness tools* is evolving quick and gaining in popularity. PEMFs heighten oxygen uptake within every cell of an exposed human’s body. Enhanced O2 uptake means that your body’s metabolism improves. Also, PEMF exposed cells in your body receive the blood and nutrients necessary for healing. PEMF units direct rapid but intermittent magnetic impulses through tissue—which stimulates cellular repair (for review, [1]). This therapy can be used on a concentrated area of the body or on the body as a whole.

Our bodies have between 70 and 90 BILLION cells within them. Cells are healthy / happy when they are both nourished and detoxified. Slow or low blood perfusion in our microvessels sets an occasion for chronic disease development. Here’s some good news: PEMF therapy actually acts to ‘flush’ microvessels. Said differently, the PEMF intensifies blood and lymph circulation. With blood pumping more efficiently, and lymph flowing more readily, body cells eliminate toxins. This is because transiently absorbed electromagnetic energy—much like a physiochemical catalysts–intervenes in and ACTIVATES biological processes [2].

 

How do you use the device?

All you have to do is lie down on the device for 8 minutes once or twice a day. If you want to use the device on a specific body part, many PEMF devices boast an additional ‘area specific’ or focused PEMF accessory. The area specific PEMF accessory can be held over injured or inflamed body parts (e.g., inflamed or swollen knee/ ankle). A stressed or injured region of the body engages immunologic repair mechanisms more quickly due to positive changes in microcirculation, vasomotion, venous outflow, and oxygen utilization [3].

 

Are there Psychic or BioSocial Applications for PEMF units?

Lots of citizens in today’s fast paced society succumb to stress, then experiencing depression. Did you know that electromagnetic field therapies elevate a person’s mood [4]? Mounting anecdotal evidence suggests that the specific PEMF device we are willing to SHARE (come to the Natural Medicine Center) has a mood elevating effect.

 

What else are PEMF units useful for?

Beyond putting more bounce in your steps, preclinical evidence has also made manifest a positive effect of PEMF devices on wound healing and inflammation in eye tissues [5]. Moreover, PEMF units assist with kidney difficulties [6], and with arthritis pain/ swelling [7]. With PEMFs – You’ll Rest Easier

Sleep promotes health, right? Here is a personal testimony: due to my new habit of regularly exposing myself to PEMF, I sleep better. If you took the bold step to become a PEMF owner, you too would be able to sleep all night on this WONDERFUL device. If you are impressed or at least intrigued by the PEMF discussion that I have laid out for you in this blog, please come by the Natural Medicine Center for a free session. I realize that the Lays Potato Chip Company already “coined” this marketing slogan….but several of the patients that I’ve introduced our PEMF device to…well, they say it’s pretty hard to stop with just ONE (session). –Dr Catherine Onuoha, RPh, PhD, BCPP

 

 

___________________Work Cited_____________________________________

1. Indian J Exp Biology (2009);47(12):939-948

2. Biology of Sport (2008);25(2):p.147

3. Journal of Complementary & Integrative Medicine (2013);10(Suppl): pS39

4. Acta Neuropsychiatry (2014);26(3):155-160

5. Opthamalogica (2003);217: 143- 147

6. Bull Exp Biol Medicin (2014);157: 440 -442

7. Life Sciences (2007); 80:2403 -2410