the first patient works in a beauty salon as a nail technician. She had recently started getting red swollen rashes on her face. In addition she had numbness and tingling sensations in her hands. She also felt tired in the mornings and on days off but managed to rally on workdays, having good energy throughout the day when needed. In addition to being around hair chemicals, laquers and nail polish thinners daily, she was in the process of renovating her kitchen, stripping and sanding her cupboards herself. She was taking no medications or supplements at the time.
I tested her for environmental sensitivities and she was sensitive to solvents, turpentine, mold, dust, and spices. Certainly these could cause an allergic skin reaction and a buildup of toxins could explain the neuropathy (numbness and tingling) in her hands. The numbness could also have been a sign of carpal tunnel syndrome (which is usually caused by lack of B vitamins) or a pinched nerve in the neck.
I did an NAET allergy treatment for solvents, put her on a supplement that aids the detoxification of solvents from the body, a high dose B complex, and gave her a homeopathic remedy that matched the stinging, hot, red rashes. I instructed her to come in for more allergy elimination treatments and a follow up. I didn't hear from her for six months.
She came in yesterday saying that the reason she hadn't been back was that her symptoms were resolved! The homeopathic had worked immediately for the rash so she had come in to the office to purchase more of it. Her numbness and tingling were gone and when I mentioned the fatigue, she didn't even remember that it had been a complaint in the first place. The reason she came back was she had a similar rash on her neck that had been on her face before. I reminded her of the allergies we had not treated and we embarked on finishing the treatment plan.
Patient number two had originally come in for neck pain that was chronic for years. She needed chiropractic adjustments monthly and massages weekly in order to keep the pain and tension down to a manageable level. She was tired of maintaining this regimen and asked what I could do for longer term results or at least give her some advice on what she could do at home. She had already done NAET allergy treatments in the past for hayfever and felt that her allergies were well under control. She has a lot of work stress with long hours and knows that some of her neck tension comes from this but some from an unknown chronic problem.
Although she didn't want to explore allergies, some symptoms prompted me to think of metals. We tested her and she was sensitive to metals. She was wearing a lot of metal jewelry--several earrings, a necklace, bracelets and a metal watch. She also had a few amalgam fillings in her mouth which we discussed. Her symptoms matched a certain homeopathic remedy often given for neck tension and pain. We did an NAET treatment for metals and I gave her a dose of the homeopathic pellets. I instructed her to refrain from wearing metal jewelry for the time being and to do more metal treatments at home. I didn't hear from her for a month.
She called today to order more of the homeopathic. It had worked incredibly overnight. She had awaken the day after our visit without any neck pain or tension at all. She used a second dose of the homeopathic I gave her a week or so later and felt that it really released the tension and pain immediately. She was pleased that homeopathic medicine is so inexpensive and without side effects and can be taken at home as often as needed. She had been really afraid that going to a naturopathic doctor would mean embarking on a really expensive and lengthy treatment plan.
I had to update this blogpost a few hours later to include another great patient result today. The third patient is an 11 year old girl diagnosed with autoimmune iritis and idiopathic juvenile arthritis. She also had headaches daily. She had been put on a strong dosage of steroids, methotrexate, and an experimental medicine. It took a year to find this drug cocktail to make the iritis calm down. Every time they tried to cut back on the steroids, her iritis came back. Mom really wanted her to come off of the steroids since it was causing weight gain, stretch marks, and fatigue.
On the first visit, we found allergies to gluten, casein, DNA, pollen, and flowers. The gluten was most likely to be causing the headaches and autoimmune condition. I put her on a gluten free dairy free diet. I suggested tapering off the steroids after being on the diet for 2 weeks. They came back after three weeks to get an NAET allergy treatment for casein so she could add dairy back into her diet.
At the return visit at 4 weeks, the girl had no headaches and no iritis even though they had completely discontinued steroids. Their M.D. insisted she stay on the experimental drug since she was in a study which paid for the drug, and he decreased the methotrexate by 20%. We talked about tapering off methotrexate and started NAET treatments for DNA.
Now ideally, for all of these patients the first visits would be the start of a health journey in which we address various symptoms, health concerns, and lifestyle factors as quickly as possible and end up with a much healthier patient in the end. Many times when the initial complaints the patient came in for are remedied, as in the patients above, they don't come back for a long time. It's important to remember all of your health concerns and stick with a doctor, being sure to come in for follow ups so they know how you're doing and can prevent as well as treat other illnesses that arise. Even so, the above cases are very encouraging that naturopathic medical care really works, sometimes even with the very first treatment plan.
If you're still not sure if naturopathic medicine is right for you, come in for a free 15 minute consult where you can ask more questions about the services offered, whether your insurance covers our visits, and more. 360-573-2273. Go to www.drsherylwagner.com for more information.
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