I have a morning routine that I've been doing for years, but I only recently shared it with a stranger while we were discussing our daily habits. It occurred to me that my routine is quite ritualistic and resembles a luxurious spa treatment. As I was describing my routine, I thought about how I sounded like Christian Bale's character, Patrick Bateman, from the movie American Psycho, when he described his morning routine and saw the humor in it. As much as I see the benefits to doing it, it also sounds comical, so I am going to share it in this post in hopes of amusing most of you and, maybe, enlightening some of you to some lesser-known health interventions. I hope you enjoy it.
Read MoreLast week, I discussed the importance of taking charge of your own health and promised to provide tips for maintaining your well-being. Now, let's explore some habits that might lead to poor health. If you want to be unhealthy, make sure you…
Read MoreMany individuals who suffer from chronic pain often attribute their discomfort to the weather. However, there is no clear scientific evidence to support this belief. This is mainly due to the challenge of obtaining a large dataset of patients frequently recording their pain symptoms during various weather conditions. But things have changed. A study called “Cloudy With a Chance of Pain” used a unique way of collecting data to see if weather correlates to pain. They have the best data to date on the subject. Their findings were surprising.
Read MoreAll animals, including humans, evolved to contact the Earth. We mostly walked barefoot or with footwear made of animal skins and slept on the ground or skins. Humans routinely do not touch the Earth anymore due to shoes with synthetic soles, modern homes, and beds. Insulating ourselves from contact with the Earth has had negative health consequences that few are aware of, including health care providers. Have you ever noticed that you feel better after a barefoot day at the pool or beach? It isn't just the sun and fresh air that is responsible. The contact with the Earth is too. This post will cover the numerous health benefits of routinely contacting the Earth's surface, a practice called Earthing or grounding.
Read MoreI spend lots of time trying to relieve patients from painful teeth. Of course, there are numerous causes of tooth pain, but today, I want to focus on a prevalent and typically easy-to-treat one that has to do with the forces we place on our teeth called hyperocclusion. Hyperocclusion is when we generate forces that exceed the ability of our teeth and supporting structures. As I always say, teeth should glide together, not collide together. This post will discuss how it happens and what your dentist can do about it.
Read MoreIn my daily practice, I often find infected teeth that the patient is entirely unaware of. Most often, I find asymptomatic infections on radiographs (x-rays). Sometimes, I can see what appears to be a pimple on the gums adjacent to the tooth, usually at the level of the root tip. The pimple is usually on the cheek side (buccal). However, they are occasionally found on the tongue side (known as the palatal on the upper and lingual on the lower). Technically a pimple around a tooth is known as a dentoalveolar fistula. I will talk about what they are, how they form, what to do if you have one, and how to prevent them.
Read MoreTraditional thinking views our bodies as vessels containing thousands of coordinated chemical reactions. While this is true, electromagnetic processes occur simultaneously but get less attention. The reality is that since the discovery of electricity and its cousin magnetism, scientists have been looking into how they interact with biological systems. The classic example of how the body uses chemicals to produce electrical impulses is our nervous system, but every cell does the same thing using electrical potentials. This post will give a little background on the biology of electromagnetism, how it relates to our cells and tissues, and, finally, some of the benefits of applying low levels of electromagnetic energy to optimize health. The technology is called pulsed electromagnetic field application.
Read MoreThis is the presentation I am giving today at PaleoFx in Austin Texas.
Read MoreMany of you may have experienced painful teeth while suffering from a sinus infection. Dentists frequently encounter this phenomenon. Because the roots of some teeth touch the floor of the maxillary (cheek) sinuses or even protrude into them, sinus infections can often cause the teeth to hurt, even though they have no pathology. This post will discuss some of the unique aspects of the tooth-sinus connection.
Read MoreI am sure you have all experienced in the doctor's office not being seen on time, techs taking more tests without an explanation from the doctor, incomplete understanding of symptoms, lack of rapport with the staff and doctor, lack of communication, procedure-driven ideologies, expecting compliance without questions, discounting your desires, unmet expectations, being left in examination rooms for long periods, and being treated as a low-priority. So today, I want to talk about bad medicine, specifically the doctor-patient relationship, and how you can find good medical care.
Read MoreThe law of the instrument, otherwise known as Maslow’s hammer, whereby he states that I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail. Likewise, if the only tool you have is a scalpel, I also suppose it is tempting to treat everyone as a surgical candidate. A few years ago, I had a procedure recommended to me, and when I asked the doctor to justify why I should receive it, he stated,” anyone in my profession would recommended it.” In other words, “because I said so!” I did my own research and had the procedure.
But recently, A surgeon took one look at my MRI and concluded I needed surgery right away. He never bothered to ask my thoughts on the matter. I am now involved in a process cultivating me for the knife. In the meanwhile, I have been doing my homework. I am not surprised that the procedures they recommend have similar outcomes to non-surgical approaches. This post is designed to teach you how to do your own research, how to receive REAL informed consent (not the rushed one they do a foot from the operating table), and decide for yourself what is best for YOU. I will also talk about spinal health since the recommended surgery involves my cervical spine.
Read MoreI was on a digital detox this week and therefore did not look at any research or explore new topics in health. I was incidentally celebrating my sixtieth birthday at the same time. During the week, I saw some old college friends, one of whom I had not seen since 1985. I was feeling a bit nostalgic, so I went on social media after my detox was over to look at pictures from the past. I found this one of me in a striped shirt from 1985 that my dad took by our pool. My wife always tells me that she thinks I look just as good as the younger me, so I got the crazy idea to try and strike the same pose and see how I really stack up to a younger man. We had a good laugh trying. She claims to like the silver fox with the fancy watch better! Unfortunately, many of the years in between the photos were spent with avoidable health problems. This post will cover what happened and how I was able to get healthy and strong again.
Read MoreMy son and I went to a sold-out comedy show at a large venue for the first time in over a year and a half. It was amazing to finally spend a normal night enjoying ourselves. The next day I felt unusually good. I thought the laughter may have had something to do with it. Research into laughter is quite common, so I thought I would share some info with you, like why we do it, and why it is good for us.
Read MoreAs many of you know, I started the carnivore diet on January 1, 2020, hoping to give it one year. The year sped by without me experiencing any significant issues being a carnivore. I cured two chronic orthopedic problems (thumb and elbow) and improved my body composition, sleep, mood, and more. I achieved near-perfect health and wellness. I decided to start adding plant-based items, including some alcohol back into my diet and see how I fared. My goal was to add variety to my diet, not to improve my health, as it was about as good as it gets. It went poorly. This post will cover what I learned about adding things back into my diet.
Read MoreIron is most often associated with anemia when it is low, but it is one of the most critical elements necessary for all life on the plane. Fully one-third of the world's population suffers from iron deficiency. The rate jumps to 2/3 in developing areas. Iron overload (too much iron in the body), which is also called hemochromatosis, is also quite common and is associated with a long list of pathologies and diseases, including early death. The problem with detecting undesirable iron levels lies in the fact that most doctors don't order the correct tests. The tests that they do order have lab value ranges that allow problematic levels to go undetected. The post will address the correct tests your doctor should order to correctly identify problems with your iron levels.
Read MoreMore commonly known as canker sores, recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) can be quite a nuisance. Because the sores are associated with systemic inflammation, I believe that they can be preventable, and I have seen this first-hand in patients. Today I want to cover three important ways you can help prevent them. I also want to tell you about a surprising at-home treatment that has proven to be more effective than prescriotion medication.
Read MoreI am a proponent of using botanicals to help treat numerous conditions. Allicin from garlic and sulforaphane from cruciferous are two great examples of botanicals that are effective in treating a variety of illnesses. Many websites cite them as home cures for dental abscesses. I did a quick search on the web and found 27 home cures for dental infections. I searched PubMed for studies supporting claims that any of the 27 could cure dental infections. The research, sadly, did not support these claims. Today I am going to give a short primer on the three types of dental infections to explain why I was not surprised by the fact that, in most instances, they will have little to no effect.
Read MoreI started eating the carnivore diet on January first of this year. So far the results have been very positive. I have decided to do periodic updates as the improvements become permanent. I have great news about my chronic medial epicondylitis…
Read MoreSugarless gum chewing is touted as being supported by four out of five dentists. Sadly, there are many risks to habitual gum chewing that most people are unaware of. Today I will talk about the range of problems gum chewing can lead to. Some of them can be quite severe.
Read MoreThree unusual problems I commonly see together are a scalloped tongue, A white line on the inner cheek and ear pain. Today I will address how they may be related to one larger problem.
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