Improving fertility is one of our specialities. Our head therapist, Peter Mills, was approached for information on using acupuncture to boost fertility. His piece was published in the latest (February) edition of the Good Health magazine, one of the top health magazines in Australia, with a readership of 287,000.

(The previous article was written by one of our clients, telling her story of how she became pregnant after receiving treatments at our Clinic.)

Chronic childhood conditions are on the rise, with an estimated two million Australian children being affected!  ADHD now affects 1 in 10 school-aged children.  A staggering 1 in 91 children are diagnosed with autism today, as opposed to only 1 in 10,000 just 20 years ago.  Almost 30% of children are now overweight or obese, and it is now estimated that 1 in 4 children have allergies!

Two of our Team, Ainsley Cherry (naturopath) and Nina Master (acupuncturist and allergy specialist), recently attended a comprehensive seminar on these conditions.  The seminar looked at why there has been a rapid increase in these problems, why they are likely to become even more common in the future, and what can be done to treat them.  The seminar was very in-depth.  It covered both the complex bio-chemistry involved, and how nutrition and dietary supplements can be used to profoundly improve these conditions.

Please contact the Clinic if you would like more information on the treatment of any of these problems.

We will be putting our hands up (as well as on people’s backs) to raise money for the handicapped young people at Youngcare, Sinnamon Park.  There are over 6,500 other young people with disabilities living in aged care facilities, simply because there are no other places to house them and take care of them.  Young people deserve young lives.

To raise as much money as we can, 100% of the proceeds of all Gift Vouchers sold before Christmas Day will be donated to Youngcare.  The more we help people’s backs and necks, the more we will also help handicapped young people.  Each year we aim to raise $5,000 for charity, with the bulk of the money going to Youngcare.  This year we have already raised $4,177, so we may even raise over $6,000 this year!

Plus, all our treatments are covered by our ‘Best in Brisbane or Your Money Back’ Guarantee.  If anyone doesn’t think that their massage was the best that they have had, we will give them a full refund!  (No ifs, buts or maybes.)

We are pleased to announce that another top-quality acupuncturist has joined our Team. Camilla Cameron is an expert at musculo-skeletal conditions such as back pain, neck and shoulder problems, knee pain, etc. She also specialises in women’s health, and has a particular interest (and expertise) in treating both fertility and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).

All three of the acupuncturists at the Clinic practice Japanese Acupuncture, which is a more advanced system than regular acupuncture, and considerable extra training is necessary to become good at it. The techniques are very gentle, but can be amazingly effective.

Camilla is highly experienced and popular therapist. If you have a tough back or neck problem, or if you are trying to fall pregnant or have period problems, please ring up and book in to see her soon!

Outstanding Health

“My life is so much better now!”

Why Taking Some Vitamins is a Waste of Time and Money

Special Offer- Complimentary Vitamin & Supplement Check-Up (valued at $40)

Australians spend more than half a billion dollars a year on vitamin and mineral supplements, and most of the time they see little or no results from them. To get improvement from a supplement or herbal product, you must cover all 3 areas of treatment- diagnosis, quality, and dosage.

1.  Diagnosis is the most important area.  There are always variations of each type of condition- for example, arthritis can be a ‘hot’ type, with lots of inflammation, or a ‘cold’ type, where warmth helps it.  (In Chinese herbal medicine, there are over 24 cold and flu formulas, each for a different type!)  Because of this, many good therapists will see another therapist rather than self-prescribe.  Every product works differently, and if you don’t take the one that correctly matches your variation, there may be little or no benefit.  Over-the-counter products are designed to have a broad-spectrum effect, a bit like using a shotgun.  This way they can be used for a wide variety of conditions, but aren’t terribly good for any one of them.  (We had a case where an over-the-counter product worked very well for the husband, but made the wife worse.)  A good practitioner will have a number of products or treatments for different variations, and they will carefully choose the one(s) that will work best for each individual client after performing a thorough assessment.

Taking supplements without a correct diagnosis is like trying to hit a target blindfolded. 

2.  Quality is also crucial.  To get good results, you have to take quality products.  We often hear “Oh, I tried that, and it didn’t work.”  Then our client is very surprised when they start taking our product (with very similar ingredients) and it works!  Unfortunately, the brands that are the most advertised are often the worst quality, despite what the ads say.  At the Clinic, we try to stock the highest quality products we can find (which are often ‘Practitioner Prescribing Only’ ranges), because we want to get results!

Other nutrients in the formula are often very important, eg calcium must be taken with magnesium in a 2:1 ratio, zinc must be taken at night on its own, vitamin C dramatically increases iron absorption, etc. The better products will take all this into account. 

3.  Dosage is the final key.  The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is the level that, if you take less than this amount, you are likely to develop symptoms. This amount can be much lower than what is needed to keep you at peak health.  The RDA is the minimum amount needed for prevention, which is often much less than the dosage needed for treatment.  If you have developed symptoms from not having enough of that nutrient, you will likely need much higher doses to bring you back to good health.  For example, if you are anaemic, your doctor would prescribe much higher doses of iron than the Recommended Daily Allowance.

However, taking too much of some nutrients (or without combining them correctly) can be just as bad. Never take high doses without consulting an experienced therapist trained in their use.

Complimentary Vitamin and Supplement Check-Up  

Having a quick consultation with our naturopath could help stop you wasting money on products that aren’t doing you any good, either because the quality or the dosage isn’t right, or they are not what you really need.  Or there could be another product instead that will make a vast difference to your health.  Please ring or email the clinic and mention this article to receive a Voucher for a Complimentary Vitamin and Supplement Check-Up with our naturopath Ainsley, valued at $40.  You can also click here for further information on How to Avoid Damaging Your Health with the Wrong Multivitamin.  Over time, this Check-Up could save you many hundreds, or even thousands of dollars, as well as guide you towards a healthier life 

Outstanding Health

“My life is so much better now!”

The Most Common Undiagnosed Cause of Fatigue

Do you still feel tired when you wake up, even if you have had a really good sleep?  If you feel like you have poor energy all the time, you could be suffering from Adrenal Fatigue or Adrenal Exhaustion.  Your adrenals produce adrenaline, which is part of your body’s emergency response system.  If a tiger jumps out at you from behind a tree, your heart suddenly beats faster, your breathing gets faster, various muscles will tighten, your blood sugar levels rise, and non-emergency systems in your body are suppressed (such as your digestive system).  Your body is now in ‘fight or flight’ mode.  This is great for emergencies, but if your body gets stuck in this mode, it will eventually make you feel very run down, and it doesn’t seem to get much better no matter what you do.  (In the long run, it can also put a strain on your heart, and increase your chances of developing diabetes).

The main symptom of adrenal exhaustion is constant tiredness, but because the body gets very run down it can often cause stress, irritability, depression or anxiety.  The immune system is very sensitive to your energy levels, so immune weakness, allergies, or auto-immune diseases can develop.  Adrenaline is part of your hormone system, so adrenal exhaustion can also cause all types of hormone imbalances, including PMS, menopause symptoms, thyroid problems, or low libido.  Poor sleep and digestive problems are also very common symptoms.

The main causes of the body getting stuck in emergency response mode and causing Adrenal Exhaustion are

• Any type of trauma or shock, which could be recent or in the distant past.  It could be from a car accident, falling out of a tree when you were a kid, etc etc.  The trauma could be physical, mental or emotional.
• Prolonged stress, such as from work or an unhappy relationship.  (Again, could be recent or in the distant past.) 
• Overwork, or not getting enough sleep for a long period
• Any chronic illness or pain
• Severe pain
• Surgery
• Medications- steroid medication, antidepressants, strong painkillers, thyroid medication

When treating Adrenal Exhaustion, it is important to address 3 areas.

1. The adrenals themselves.  (Vitamin C is good for the adrenals, however stronger tonics are normally needed.)
2. It is important for the therapist to check the body’s nervous system and treat that as well if it needs it.  Specific treatments or supplements to clear out the current stress or the old, accumulated stress in the body are often necessary.
3. Because the body is quite run down, tonics for the body as a whole are important, and for any areas badly affected by the adrenals, such as the digestive system, immune system, or hormonal system.

Please  click here for a more complete Report on Adrenal Exhaustion. 

Both acupuncture and naturopathy are very good at treating Adrenal Exhaustion.  (A combination of the two is ideal.)  If you suspect that you may have Adrenal Exhaustion, please book in for a Health Assessment so that we can check and let you know if you do, and inform you on how best to treat it.

At a recent Australia-wide Conference of therapists and clinic owners, the top clinic asked to owners were asked to give a presentation on their clinics, and were then voted on by their peers.  We won the ‘Outstanding High Achievement Award‘ for our ground-breaking methods of helping people achieve greater health and wellbeing.

CNTC Spring 2011 Newsletter