Category: General Information

Environmental allergies can cause severe interruptions in your daily life. Going for a walk, riding with the windows down, and even leaving the house at all can lead to swollen and itchy eyes and a stuffy, runny nose. It’s a miserable feeling, especially when all you want to do is shut yourself inside a HEPA-filtered box. Aside from the basic discomfort, allergies can become so distracting that they impact your performance at work, your ability to enjoy social situations, and your energy to exercise and stay healthy. Continue reading “Customized Drops for Your Worst Environmental Allergies” →

Do you suffer from food allergies? If you do, you are definitely not alone. Millions of Americans, including as many as 1 in 13 children, struggle with food allergies on a daily basis. A food allergy is defined as an unpleasant and dangerous immune system reaction after eating a certain food. Though some are temporary, others last for life. Even if you don’t personally have a food allergy, a friend, family member, or even your own child could have one, so it’s important to understand these four things about food allergies.

There’s a Difference Between a Food Allergy and Food Sensitivity Continue reading “Four Things You Should Know about Food Allergies” →

Dr. Elisha Robinson-Asiso grew up with a father who never took her or her siblings to the doctor. Instead, her father used his training as an herbalist to treat all family illnesses with herbs and herbal remedies. Robinson-Asiso learned valuable lessons from her father, but still went on to pursue a career in traditional medicine. After attending University of Illinois College of Medicine in Rockford, she became a breast cancer surgeon.

However, Robinson-Asiso felt increasingly unfulfilled by the role she was able to play in her patients’ lives. “As I started treating patients, I noticed there were multiple facets to patients beyond just the breasts. I noticed a huge missing link, and that was the whole body component.” Continue reading “This Cancer Surgeon is Turning to Holistic Medicine” →

It’s common to hear someone sniffle and sneeze and mutter, “Ugh, allergies,” but the term allergy is actually a broad umbrella term that encompasses a number of ways in which the body may be rejecting outside elements. In order to know exactly how to tackle your allergies, you first need to understand which type of allergies they might be.

Food Allergy

About 5 percent of the population suffers from a legitimate food allergy, while others are simply sensitive to certain foods. A true food allergy can develop at any age when the body’s immune system overreacts and identifies an otherwise safe food as a danger and stimulates a response to fight the “dangerous” food away. Continue reading “The Different Types of Allergies that May be Causing You to Suffer” →

It’s almost summer, which means congestion, itchy eyes, and sneezing are back. Before you run to the pharmacy for your typical allergy medication, consider the nasty side effects that can leave you feeling even worse than you did to begin with. Instead of buying a pharmaceutical drug, try essential oils to combat your allergies.

The Problem With Conventional Allergy Medication

You suffer from allergies because your body responds to certain allergens by creating chemicals called histamines. The histamines cause all of your common allergy symptoms like runny nose, watery eyes, itching, and hives. Since antihistamine medicines block the histamines from forming, they also stop allergy suffering. Continue reading “The Best Essential Oils to Beat Allergies” →

While inflammation is a healthy and natural response in the body, its chronic presence can cause major health problems. Inflammation is the body’s attempt to protect the body from damaged cells, irritants, and pathogens, all if which can lead to health problems.

In the beginning that inflammation is beneficial because it heals wounds and is a part of our natural immune system. However, continual and chronic inflammation instigates more inflammation in the body, leading to a dangerous domino effect that ends with pain and suffering.  More studies than ever prove that chronic inflammation is the root cause of serious conditions like heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease, so it is more important than ever to combat inflammation before it even begins. Continue reading “How to Begin the Anti-Inflammatory Diet” →

Sometimes the most powerful health solutions are the simplest. Many people are often surprised to learn that bacteria can actually be the key to regaining their health. Yes, that’s right, bacteria. It is a major misconception that all bacteria has to spell out doom. The truth is that healthy bacteria is absolutely critical to the body in order balance the gut, prevent and treat some illnesses, and even help the skin look rejuvenated.

Introduction to Probiotics

Probiotics are the opposite of antibiotics. While antibiotics kill the bad bacteria that causes infections and illnesses, probiotics actually give the body healthy doses of bacteria. This makes sense, since the word probiotic actually means “promoting life”.

When the bacteria in the body falls out of balance in favor of “bad” bacteria, the intestinal tract reacts badly. Probiotics can be found in yogurt, fermented food, and supplements to effectively put the body back in a healthy balance. Continue reading “Could a Probiotic Solve Your Health Woes?” →

Yoga has long been known to improve overall health.  Recent studies have shown that it may also help cardiovascular health.  The benefits were similar to those of conventional exercise such as brisk walking according to a recent Harvard study.  Study participants noticed improvements in weight, cholesterol levels and blood pressure.  Thus, individuals with limited mobility may still able to improve their cardiovascular risk profile.

On average, participants in the study were able to cut five points from their blood pressure reading, and 12 points from their LDL (bad cholesterol) reading.  They also lost an average of five pounds.  Researchers also hypothesize that yoga may help with cardiovascular health due to stress reduction and calming of the nervous system.  There also seems to be a correlation with strengthening the immune system.

Currently approximately 16.5 million Americans attend yoga classes.  There are a variety of different types of yoga, but all will improve strength, flexibility, and balance.  Other health benefits include better posture and calming of the mind utilizing certain breathing techniques.

Hermann Aesthetics & Wellness is a holistic internal medicine practice located in Tampa and Saint Petersburg Beach, Florida.  We offer a variety of  patient services including holistic primary care, acupuncture, weight loss and cosmetic services.  Please contact the office at (813) 902-9559 for more information or to schedule an appointment.

 

Menopause by definition is the absence of a menstrual cycle for 1 year or more. Many women will become symptomatic during this time period from the lowering doses of estrogen. Hot flushes occur in 3 out of 4 women. They will typically last a few minutes and cause flushing of the face, neck and chest. Women may also sweat (perspire) during a flush. The number of hot flushes can vary from occasional to 15 or more daily. Hot flushes tend to start occurring just prior to menopause and usually persist for 2-3 years. The exact physiological mechanism of hot flushes is not known; although it is thought to be related to either adrenergic or serotonergic neurotransmission. Effexor works on both of these neurotransmission pathways.

Effexor (Venlafaxine) is a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI). Along with improving depressive symptoms, it has also been demonstrated to alleviate vasomotor symptoms – such as hot flushes. Effexor has been found to effectively decrease the number and frequency of hot flushes in peri-menopausal and menopausal women. It can safely be used as a non-hormonal treatment to alleviate symptoms in women with contraindications to estrogen containing preparations. This group of women includes survivors of certain types of cancers and women with a history of blood clots. Typically patients will notice symptom improvement almost immediately with Effexor use.

The providers at Hermann Aesthetics & Wellness offer a variety of non-hormonal modalities to effectively treat menopausal symptoms. Please contact the office at (813) 902-9559 for more information or to schedule an appointment.