Urticaria: Causes and Treatment

Urticaria, also known as hives, are one of the most stubborn allergic reactions to treat in Western Medicine. Although many cases of urticaria are caused by allergies or sensitivities, there are some cases in which the cause is not known. Called idiopathic urticaria, these cases are difficult to control and treat and are usually managed through steroids and other pharmaceuticals.

Although Western sciences debate whether all forms of urticaria are allergy-related, for the intents and purposes of BodyTalk, inflammation and redness appearing in various parts of the body are usually treated as allergies through the Body Chemistry technique. There are many cases of urticaria, the most common being environmental factors, such as cold, heat, dampness, and humidity. Once the specific sensitivities are identified, the individual is balanced to each sensitivity. This may take several treatments because each balancing runs like a formula or a computer program through the meridian system. The individual’s body-mind complex must incorporate the changes and then is ready to move onto the next balancing.

The most exciting results in working with urticaria have been seen with chronic idiopathic urticaria, in which individuals are treated for specific environmental factors, as mentioned above, depending on their sensitivity. Once treated completely, individuals usually report a complete cessation of hives and a subsequent recovery without the continued use of pharmaceuticals. This is significant because of the difficulty of avoidance with regard to environmental factors. Success in few treatments with chronic cases makes BodyTalk an important modality worth attention.

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Mental and Emotional Blockages to Healing

Just about everyone is aware that emotions play a part in the disease process. I bet if you thought about it, you could think of a time when you got really angry, upset, or stressed out about something, and then the next day you came down with a cold or the flu. A good friend of mine once told me that she can always tell when her husband is about to get sick, because he will inevitably get completely bent out of shape—yelling and screaming about something that at any other time might only elicit a grumpy response—about something, only to become completely bedridden with some respiratory or digestive “bug” the next day!

In Chinese Medicine, each emotion—anger, sadness, depression, grief, and fear—is associated with a particular organ of the body. This becomes interesting when you think about what organ might be out of balance enough to bring about illness.

The most obvious example is anger, and its associated emotions of rage, frustration, and feeling “stressed out.” All these emotions correspond to the Liver, a “Yin” organ, and its corresponding “Yang” organ, the Gall Bladder. The Liver is associated with the “smooth flow of Qi,” or energy, through the body. When the Liver gets out of whack, energy gets stagnated, stuck, or deficient.

One thing I’ve noticed about people in general is that when it comes to health and wellness, sometimes our health patterns reflect emotional issues. It’s almost like we take a certain issue we’re grappling with—like problems with a co-worker, feeling disconnected from our spouse or lover, or dissatisfaction with our career—and we wrap it in a little ball and stick it somewhere in our body! There it creates “illness.”

In BodyTalk, we talk about emotions being stored in the Diaphragm. As the Diaphragm gets “full,” it sends these unprocessed emotions to the Liver. The Liver, in turn, sends the emotions to an organ, endocrine, or body part, where they manifest as disease.

I recently read a newsletter from Marga Laube, a Vedic Astrologer, who wrote an article called “The Power to Heal.” In this article, she talks about the upcoming full moon on September 4, 2009, which she describes as a particularly good time to reflect on our own disease process and release emotional and mental blockages to healing. She writes: “The full moon in this lunar sign is asking us to let go of the mental and emotional blockages that can be a breeding ground for disease.” She then gives some examples of how to do this. (Click here to read the full article)

This is a great contemplation for all of us who know in our hearts that we have the answers to our health issues inside, if we’re willing to ask the question and listen to our inner voice as it answers us.

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Because It's Good For You

The other day, I was talking to someone who knows that I practice Acupuncture and BodyTalk. She said, “ A friend of mine told me that I should take Apple Cider Vinegar because it’s really good for you.”

This is not the first time someone has said something like this to me. And so I gave her my standard answer: “Sure! As long as you’re not allergic to it.”

We live in a society in which our opinions are profoundly affected by the media and advertising, and we must remember that the sole purpose of every natural supplement company and health food store is not to provide us with excellent health care, but rather, to sell their products! Therefore, we must all exercise caution in accepting their claims without discrimination.

It’s kind of like shoe sizes. The “average” woman in the United States wears size 7. But that doesn’t mean that we ALL should TRY to wear size 7 because it’s good for us.

Now, please know that I am not saying supplements are bad. I take supplements on a daily basis myself. And if the supplements have been given to you by a doctor or a health care practitioner, then by all means, take them! My only word of caution would be this: If, after taking a certain supplement for a period of time, you notice that you are feeling bad (or worse than you were when you started), consult the prescribing physician and discontinue it.

Several years ago, I decided to do a certain detox program. I ordered a kit online because the website contained hundreds of testimonials filled with miraculous stories of weight loss, resolution of chronic illness, and before-and-after photos. After a week and a half on the cleanse, I had what felt like a urinary tract infection and pain in my kidneys. When I went to my health care practitioner, she tested me for each specific herb in the cleanse, and lo and behold, found that I was sensitive to Urva Ursi, which happened to be one of the ingredients. “But isn’t that supposed to be good for kidney and urinary health?” I asked in astonishment. “Yes,” my practitioner responded, “but it’s toxic to you!”

Who knew? The point is that your body will send you very clear signals that something isn’t working for you. In my case, it was kidney pain that finally got my attention (note to self: pay more attention next time!).

Each one of us is absolutely unique. No one else has our specific body chemistry. We all react and respond to different things in different ways. Because of this fact, we must take responsibility for our own health and notice when something isn’t working for us, whether it’s a supplement, a food, a relationship, or a career. Therefore, what’s good for “everyone” may work for us…or not…because we’re not all size 7.

The Heart, The Emperor

Recently I treated a patient who had just endured a terrible shock. She had just found out that her business partner was embezzling all her money, and had fled the country.

After a few links, which seemed to go very smoothly, heart and all other organs came up as a priority to be linked. After tapping for some time on her head, I realized that I hadn't been aware of the normal "shift" signifying that the link had been formed. I usually feel this shift after tapping on the head and chest. I thought, well, I must have missed the shift, for surely it must have happened by now. But when I checked, the response was "more tapping." After tapping for another period of time, I checked again, and finally had to tap directly on the heart in order to tap in that particular link.

The interesting thing about this link is that it quite aptly describes the traditional Chinese diagnosis of Heart Shock, in which the patient has endured a profound shock to the system. Consequently, all the organs are in disarray.

What makes this happen? In Chinese Medicine, the Heart is the emperor of the body, and is protected by the Pericardium, the covering over the heart which is actually seen as an organ in Chinese Medicine, and is the emperor's bodyguard. When the emperor sustains a blow that the bodyguard cannot catch, the emperor himself takes the hit. This profoundly affects all the other organs.

When Heart Shock happens, the ensuing pattern is Blood Stasis. Therefore, the most important treatment principle in Heart Shock is move the blood.

In traditional acupuncture, we move the blood with herbal formulas (for instance, Gui Zhi Tang/Cinnamon Twig Decoction), but also with specific points: Spleen 10 is always a good choice, as is Liver 3. Some practitioners use a specific point prescription for shock (for instance, Kidney 3-16-27).

In BodyTalk, since we are following the body's lead and addressing what the body has determined to be a priority, the focus is slightly different. Therefore, the specific priority will vary depending on the needs of the individual. The important thing, from the practitioner's view, is to be aware and alert as to the particular client's needs, rather than having one's own agenda. And from the client's perspective, it's helpful to recognize and acknowledge that one's own body has an innate wisdom that will release traumas and heal itself on its own time.

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Switching and the Adrenal Glands

Did you ever feel completely overwhelmed with your life?

I've noticed that many of my patients, in their intake forms, complain of panic attacks and anxiety. Consequently their adrenal glands are either overtaxed or malfunctioning. Excess stress can cause the adrenal glands to change the amount of the hormone cortisol they secrete, often causing weight gain, afternoon fatigue, blood sugar fluctuations, and inflammation, among other things.

Recently, I had a patient whose chief complaint was shortness of breath which comes and goes but is worse in the morning. In addition, she showed all the cardinal signs of adrenal burnout. But when I checked her adrenals, they were fine! Although her cortisol levels were clearly out of balance, the problem wasn't in the adrenal glands. When we did BodyTalk, the only thing that came up as a priority was Switching. I performed the technique, and she called me several hours later to tell me that she felt amazingly better. Her shortness of breath was improved but also, she said that her stress was greatly reduced.

I was amazed. How could this one simple technique have such a great effect on her? Later, I realized that the whole purpose of Switching is to raise the stress threshold of the body. As we cope with stress, we all have a threshold, over which our brain shuts down, and we go into overwhelm. We can't usually change the amount of stress we're under...but we can certainly change our response to that stress. That's what switching does: it raises the bar, so that we can actually have a steady mind in the face of our stress--without it stressing us out--for a longer period of time.

This is the power of the Switching Technique, one of the five techniques taught in the one-day BodyTalk Access course. Access is a great course to learn more about BodyTalk and the power of preventive healthcare. As a complimentary health care modality, BodyTalk is non-invasive, safe, and so beneficial to everyone.

www.quantumlinkwellness.com

Summer Heat

It's summer, and although it's cooler in Los Angeles than it is in other places in the United States--in Texas, it's been over 100 degrees for six weeks!--it's still much warmer in LA than usual. Although some people find the warm weather invigorating, summer's heat often challenges people who are intolerant to heat, making their life very uncomfortable.

Believe it or not, Summer Heat is actually a diagnosis in Chinese Medicine. It involves typical heat symptoms: sweating, red face, excessive thirst, dry lips, scanty yellow urine, and headache. In western terms, we would probably call it heat exhaustion.

Why are some people more susceptible to heat than others? The answer to this question lies in their description: they are heat intolerant. People can be intolerant to climactic factors in the same way that they can be intolerant to foods, like when someone experiences nausea or vomiting every time they eat shellfish. It's not a hypersensitivity reaction--they don't break out in hives or anything--but it does make them ill, and so they avoid it...which is not so easy to do with heat.

What causes people to be intolerant of heat? Sometimes it's inherited from their parents. Hormonal imbalances can also cause heat sensitivity. Sometimes certain foods cause heat reactions, and when eaten in a warm climate, can make them be more sensitive to heat. Typical foods that cause excess heat are bread, sugar, tomatoes, and mangoes. Coffee, alcoholic beverages, and certain spices also contribute to heat issues in those who are sensitive to them.

So, in addition to avoiding foods that someone might be sensitive to that cause excess heat in the body, what can be done to reduce heat sensitivity? Here's a short list:

1. Eat lightly and drink plenty of fluids. The best thing to do in the summer is to stay well hydrated.
2. Pay close attention to your physical state, and do things in the summer to keep you feeling cool (swimming, staying out of the sun during the hottest part of the day)
3. Tap out your cortices (http://www.bodytalksystem.com/videos/). Getting the left and right brain to communicate optimally with each other can reduce many sensitivity issues.
4. Breathe deeply. When you take long, slow breaths, it allows your brain to pay attention to every part of your body, and recognize and repair malfunctions.

When heat sensitivity becomes a serious problem, there are treatments for it. Acupuncture, NAET, and BodyTalk all address heat sensitivity and heat intolerance quite well, regardless of the underlying cause.

www.quantumlinkwellness.com

Coming To A Theater Near You!

I've always been wary of herbicides, mostly because I could never figure out how they worked. Pesticides could be made to kill all kinds of insects; that was clear enough, and no one would argue that pesticides are bad for plants as well as the environment. Herbicides, on the other hand, had to be pretty complex in order to kill only weeds but not grass, I always thought. But how do they work? And are they safe?
I read an article years ago in which a mother recounted the story of how each time the gardener at her apartment complex came every four months to treat the grass for weeds, her daughter would lose all bowel control for a week. That's pretty scary, wouldn't you say?
Here's a preview to a movie that sounds really interesting. It's the story of a small town that actually drove the lawn chemical companies out of town...
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18542.cfm

Sugar Addiction and Cravings: It's All About Your Brain...But It's Not Just In Your Head!

A patient came to my office recently, in tears. “I can't stop eating sugar!” she wailed. “I try and try but I just can't stop!”
I can't tell you how many times I've had this conversation with people in my office. There are several variations on the theme--”I crave sugar at night”/”I have sugar cravings after spicy meals”/”I'm craving sugar in the afternoon”--but the underlying message is the same: “I have a sugar addiction and I don't know how to stop.”
Sugar is in everything. It's all over. Even if you put a slice of lemon in your water, and test the water, the water will test positive for glucose. Glucose is the chemical building block of many foods—breads, dairy products, and fruits, for instance. Managing a sugar addiction isn't like quitting smoking; you can't just go cold turkey because sugar is in a lot of foods that are necessary for a well-balanced diet.
More importantly, sugar cravings are an indication that there's an imbalance, and the reason it's such a strong craving is because the imbalance is in your brain. Sugar is one of the three things your brain needs. The other two are water and amino acids (amino acids are the building blocks of proteins.) But your brain is just like you—when it's hungry, it wants food NOW. Sugar gets into the blood stream immediately. Therefore, your brain will never tell you, “I need some water,” or “I need some amino acids.” It will only ever tell you, “I need some sugar!” Therefore, staying hydrated by drinking water (not soda, not coffee, not tea) and eating sufficient protein at mealtimes will keep you from craving sugar.
“But I DO eat protein! And I drink TONS of water!” you may say. “My problem is that I am craving sugar after meals!” If you become obsessed with sugar after a meal, it may be an issue of what you're eating. Michael Macaluso, a nutritionist from New York, says that sugar balances strong flavors like peppers, and that eating a meal that includes strong pepper flavors (like Indian or Southwestern Mexican foods) can bring on a sugar craving because your body is trying to balance itself. By the same token, eating a meal with fatty meats, heavy sauces, or high salt content creates a need to balance those heavy foods with something lighter, like sugar. He also suggests eating a dark green leafy vegetables instead of something sweet because the dark green leafy vegetable will balance the heaviness in the same way that sugar will.
If, on the other hand, your sugar addiction doesn't fall into one of the above categories, there may be a deeper issue. Many healthcare professionals have noted sugar cravings when seratonin levels are too low. Seratonin is a neurotransmitter in the brain responsible for mood stability and appetite control. Although many people have attempted to control their seratonin levels with the latest class of antidepressants, the best way to moderate mood fluctuations is by balancing seratonin through allergy elimination. The root of the craving may be in your body's relationship with seratonin; however, more frequently, the real problem is in one of the seratonin precursors, such as 5HTP or Tryptophan.
So the next time you start craving sugar, take a moment, take a deep breath. Ask yourself, when was the last time I had a glass of water? Did I have enough protein at my last meal? Did I just eat something spicy or heavy or salty? Or is this an emotional pattern? Understanding the cause is the first step in controlling the symptoms, especially when it comes to cravings and sugar addiction.

http://www.quantumlinkwellness.com

Staying Young

I never imagined that I would ever get old. It never occurred to me. I watched my parents age, I watched my friends get old and fat, but never thought it would ever happen to me.

Upon entering the fifth decade myself, I began to notice alarming signs that I was no longer as young as I used to be. It began with my eyesight—which was fine one day, but then suddenly my arms just weren't long enough—and ended with my waistline suddenly swelling like the top of a banana walnut muffin.

To understand how to stay young, you must first know what makes you old. Signs of agedness—grey hair, creaky swollen joints, loss of waistline (when the six pack degenerates into a keg), farsightedness, dry skin and bat wings—have a lot to do with what Chinese Medicine calls Jing Cycles, which are sets of years in which we grow, mature, age, and die. Here's a quote from the Su Wen (Simple Questions), written sometime around the Second Century BCE:

In a man, at the age of 8 the boy's kidney energy is abundant, his hair and teeth grow. At the age of 16 his kidney energy is even more abundant...and he can produce a child. At the age of 24, the kidney energy peaks, ...the wisdom teeth appear, and growth is at its peak. At the age of 32, tendons and bones are at their strongest, and the muscles are full and strong. At the age of 40, the kidney is weakened, the hair begins to fall out and the teeth become loose. At the age of 48, Yang Qi is exhausted, the face becomes darker, and the hair turns grey. At the age of 56, the liver energy is weakened, the tendons cannot move...and the body begins to grow old. At the age of 64, hair and teeth are gone.

In Chinese Medicine, we talk a lot about the Kidneys. The Kidneys store your Essence, also known as Jing. Jing controls your growth and development, as well as your sexual energy and fertility. As such, it is seen as a very important and precious substance.

Basically, in a nutshell, longevity is based on two main things: your pre-natal Jing (which you inherited from your parents) and your post-natal Jing (which is entirely up to you). There are two things that determine the state of your Jing:

1. The food you eat
2. The balance in your life

This is why we talk so much about balance in Chinese Medicine. Aging really can be controlled, but it takes a considerable amount of discipline. The more stressed out you become, the more you work overtime, the more alcohol you drink, the less you exercise, and the more double-ended burning you do on your candle, the faster you will age.

Luckily, the aging process is reversible, and it's relatively easy to do. Besides exercising regularly and eating healthily (which only you can do), regular acupuncture or BodyTalk treatments will bring your body back into balance. And you can eliminate your food, hormone, and enzyme sensitivities, which will repair broken energetic pathways and allow your body to function optimally, like it did when you were twenty. Honestly, it's the best preventive medicine available anywhere.

http://www.quantumlinkwellness.com/

Tapping: The Reset Button

Recently I ran into one of my former patients in a grocery store parking lot. When she asked me what I was doing these days, I told her that I'd incorporated BodyTalk into my practice. After a short description of BodyTalk, in which I mentioned that the Cortices technique in BodyTalk might help her son's asthma, she remarked with amazement that she recalled tapping on her own head as a child to stop her wheezing.
You might have noticed that some of the newer treatment modalities involve tapping: there's EFT, which works on emotions, there's NAET, best known for allergy elimination, and BodyTalk. Aside from the tapping, all three modalities seem very different.
Why do they all use tapping? Well, for starters, tapping has been around in indigenous cultures for centuries. Tapping wakes up the body and the brain and helps bring about healing.
Think about your spine. Inside your spine—and surrounding your brain--is cerebrospinal fluid which, according to osteopaths and craniosacral therapists, moves in its own rhythm. In NAET and BodyTalk, we are gently interrupting this rhythm to change our relationship with a substance or to call the brain's attention to something. The interruption of this rhythm is communicated to the brain and other places in the body via the cerebrospinal fluid and spinal nerves, which travel up and down the interior of the spine and emerge out of each vertebra.
We've all had a similar experience when we've contracted a case of the hiccups, which miraculously disappears when someone comes up behind us and startles us...and the hiccups miraculously disappear. We've just been reset, and our diaphragm no longer spasms with each inhalation.
It's like having a conversation with a friend, and just as you're in the middle of relating how your boss gave you so much work to do, someone runs up and interrupts you very loudly by shouting something in your face. Your mind goes blank. You can't remember what you were saying.
The same thing happens with tapping. As you tap on your head (or as your practitioner taps on you), causing a gentle interruption of the natural rhythm of the cerebrospinal fluid, your brain is surprised enough to be able to change its relationship with that substance, as in NAET. Or as in BodyTalk, your brain notices a lack of communication between your lungs and your spleen that has been causing coughing and phlegm for the past two weeks, and re-establishes the connection.

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Can't Stop? Gotta Have It?

Have you ever noticed that sometimes you eat something (chocolate, for instance, or potato chips), and it just tastes soooo good, you just want that taste running over your tongue forever, and you keep eating and keep eating? Sometimes do you notice that you just can't stop? And then later, do you find that your stomach hurts, or you're just really bloated, or you get diarrhea after one of these episodes?
Or do you ever eat one thing and then really crave something else? Whenever I eat Indian food, for instance, I really REALLY want something sweet afterward.
What is this phenomenon? Why does this happen? Is it really that we have absolutely no control over our palates?
Actually, it's not you.
It's allergies.
You see, sometimes allergies look and behave a lot like addictions. If you know anything about Alcoholics Anonymous, you'll know that the first step is admitting that you're powerless over your addiction, and secondly you acknowledge the disease concept of alcoholism that your body is allergic to alcohol, and that's why you can't stop drinking. They even describe alcoholism as an “allergy.” And the truth is, they're absolutely right.
The reason you can't stop eating certain foods, or drinking, is because you happen to be allergic to that specific thing. The allergy creates a biochemical reaction in your body that makes you want more.
This also explains why some people are addicted to sugar and others aren't—it's the same reason why some people are alcoholics and others aren't...because everyone's biochemical makeup is unique.
This is why allergy elimination is so powerful. After preparing the body by normalizing the immune system with a certain number of treatments, we can treat you for the thing you're addicted to. Suddenly, it doesn't have the same pull it used to.
I remember when I was treated for my sugar addiction. I happen to be the adult child of a carb and sugar addict. For those of you familiar with addiction, you know that dual addictions are often more difficult to treat. And as a patient of mine once said, “I never met a piece of bread I didn't like.” I couldn't go to a party without standing next to a bowl of pretzels or popcorn and eating it all. I couldn't pass up a plate of doughnuts without having at least one and usually two. Yet after treating sugar, I suddenly didn't need to do that. I could pass up the doughnut because truthfully, I didn't want it anymore. I still appreciated the taste, but I could stop, and I could say no.
Don't misunderstand me. I'm not simply using the language of addiction to make a point; rather, I'm using the language of addiction to demonstrate how powerful allergies can be, and to assure you that it's not in your head. It's not because your character is weak. It's not because you're not good enough. It's because there is a biochemical process that is causing you to lose control. And now, with allergy elimination, there's hope. You can have control over your addiction.

http://www.quantumlinkwellness.com/

Cold and Ancient China

For thousands of years, Chinese Medicine has said that cold enters the body via the acupuncture points on the back of the head and upper back when the protective energy surrounding the body is weakened. An entire system of acupuncture, known as the Shang Han Lun, was developed some 1700-1800 years ago, that traced the invasion of “cold” into the body. As cold penetrated deeper and deeper, an individual got sicker and sicker until they eventually died. Herbal formulas and acupuncture point prescriptions were developed for each stage of illness, beginning with the simple cold, continuing to high fevers, to abdominal pains and exhaustion, to urinary tract infections, and to complete depletion and death. This is how doctors in ancient China kept people alive. Oh, and by the way, the doctors of ancient China only got paid when people were well. So there was a great incentive to keeping people from being sick.
If we were to engage our universal translator, we'd look at the last paragraph and say, “Oh, back then they had viruses, just like we do, except they didn't have antibiotics. And this is what it looks like when you have a virus that you don't treat—it weakens the immune system until the white blood cells can't fight anymore, and then you die.”
Of course, back then they didn't have antibiotics. People tended to stay home and rest when they got sick, rather than going to work because they didn't have sick days or because they had to finish a project. When a major contagious disease swept through a village, people were quarantined, and they complied voluntarily to try to contain the disease as much as possible. Their very existence—and the existence of their towns and villages—depended on it.
Life in ancient China was different in other ways, too. People had a pretty ascetic diet. There was no fast food, hardly any sugar, and not a lot of alcohol. Life was hard, and people didn't party like we do.
What in the world does this have to do with you or me in 2009?
I would argue that it has a LOT to do with us!
If we focused on preventive health, instead of palliative or curative medicine, health care in the US would look completely different than it does today. But even if the rest of the world doesn't change, we can focus on preventive health for ourselves and the people we care about. Here's a brief list of things we can do, taken from simple wisdom of Ancient China:
1. Pay attention to how you feel. Notice when you start to feel tired or run down. Respond by RESTING, not pushing through it.
2. Cut down or eliminate sugar, fast foods, and too much partying.
3. When you get sick, take a day off. Chances are you will nip it in the bud rather than spreading it around your whole office.
Best wishes to all of you for a prosperous and healthy 2009!

www.quantumlinkwellness.com