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  • How to Make Money As a Reflexologist

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    Being a reflexologist is one of the top five career choices in the field of holistic health. The trend shows that more and more people are turning toward holistic practices to enhance traditional medical therapies. Being a reflexologist also allows the practitioner to create a flexible schedule in many circumstances.

    If you have thought about a career in reflexology, it is time to start getting more information. The first thing you should do is contact the local reflexology association in your area. One such website is for the American Reflexology Certification Board. Although, certification is not required in the United States, for professional reasons, you should be certified if it is available.

    At the website, you will want to find answers to several things. You can look for schools certified to teach reflexology, licensing and certification requirements, and any other information you think would be helpful to you.

    Going to school to become a reflexologist is a requirement in most places, even if you don’t need to be licensed or certified after graduating. Classes range in duration from six months to one year or more. The class usually is at least 100 hours in classroom time and at least 300 hours practical time. Depending on your location, requirements may vary.

    You should look for a reflexologist program that focuses on more than the feet and hands. Look for a school that discusses health, nutrition, biology, chemistry, physiology, anatomy, ethics and professionalism. Finding a school that also explains the business side of being a reflexologist is a plus.

    You may want to consider a school that also offers a massage therapist program. Even if you don’t do it now, becoming a massage therapist can add to your income potential and increase your marketability. You may decide to wait to take these classes later, since they are more intense and licensing is a requirement in many areas.

    As a reflexologist, you will be working with a client’s feet and hands for 45 minutes to one hour in a normal session. You should be able to talk with the client before, during and after the session. It is your job as a reflexologist to calm and relax the client while being a good listener.

    Once you are in the final stages of the reflexologist program, you should start working on marketing your services. From your practical experience, you may have a small client base, but you need a large client base that will continue to grow. You should decide if you want to go to your clients or have them come to you. If they come to you, consider renting space or partnering with a chiropractor, doctor’s office, podiatrist, or holistic health center.

    You may also want to check local gyms and spas as well. They may allow you to offer your reflexologist services through the business or they may hire you full time. It is just a matter of going to these different places and selling yourself and your services.

    If you decide to go to your clients, you will want to partner with doctors, holistic practitioners, chiropractors, and gyms. They may refer clients to you to enhance the therapies their patients are currently receiving.

    Once you know how you are going to work, you need to decide on the cost of your reflexology services. Some places will dictate the fees you can charge, and others will not. You will need to contact local reflexologists, and ask them about the services they offer and fees associated with the services. This information will give you a basis to work from when developing your own pricing system.

    You should check reflexologist web sites routinely and subscribe to industry magazines. This will keep you up on new trends, tips, and techniques in reflexology. You may also look at continuing education class at your local community college.

    Since you may with working with clients in a medical setting, the client may think you are a medical doctor. If this should happened, just gently remind the patient that you are not a doctor, but a trained, certified (when applicable), professional reflexologist.

    The only other real problem you could face would be if you feel the client is unclean or the client’s feet and/or hands have sores, fungus or other diseases. Never feel that you have to accept everyone who contacts you as a client. You need to protect the clients you already have, and that may mean refusing service to others. Let them know they have a problem and should seek medical attention. Tell them to return to you when the problem has been corrected and then you will take them as a client.

    If you are still interested in becoming a reflexologist, contact the local reflexology association, get more information, and get started.

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    Source by Randy Wilson

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  • Finding Emotional Intelligence in Negative Emotions – Positive Purpose in Sadness Anger and Fear

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    Emotional Intelligence is severely undervalued. When you feel stuck, frustrated, stressed, upset, or overwhelmed, skillful emotional awareness is the key to moving forward. Underneath your upset is a specific emotion that can guide you. The key, then, is to understand the messages in your feelings and become skillful in using their energy appropriately.

    Even so-called “negative emotions,” such as sadness, anger, and fear, convey important information and energy to carry out specific actions that can help you and others. Emotions arise with a purpose and when this purpose is fulfilled the feeling subsides. Unfortunately, as a society, we have not learned to understand and sufficiently value emotional energy and information, so we tend to deal with these feelings crudely.

    For example, with an emotion like anger, you might express it explosively or shove it under the surface, because you do not want to act angrily. Either you express your feelings reactively or cease feeling altogether.

    Emotional Intelligence expert, Karla McLaren, describes a healthy third alternative. She says you can facilitate the healthy flow of emotions by consciously “channeling” the information and energy that emotions provide. In other words, emotions contain meaningful messages along with energy to do something related to those messages. This is true for so-called “negative” emotions as well as “positive” ones.

    For example, McLaren suggests that:

    • ANGER arises when you, or someone or something you love, is threatened and you need to take protective action or set a firm boundary.

    • SADNESS arises when you need to let go of what no longer serves you or what is past, so you can move forward.

    • FEAR arises to prompt you to take preventative action.

    • JOY prompts you toward expansive, expressive, creative action.

    • COMPASSION prompts you to care for others.

    So, every emotion has a MESSAGE and ENERGY to carry out a specific type of action. Tuning into your emotions helps you to receive these messages and take these actions.

    Let’s explore the first three of these emotions in more depth. Sadness, anger, and fear are often misunderstood and handled poorly. We tend to repress them, stay stuck in them, or express them unskillfully, with negative consequences.

    So, as you work with these emotions, it’s important to do so Mindfully. Approach them as a curious observer with an attitude of paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, without judgment. Know that emotions are simply information about yourself, others, and events, along with energy to do something about this information. They do not define who you are and they will pass as you gather their information and take appropriate action.

    (Note: If you feel overwhelmed or paralyzed by feelings to the point where you are unable to consciously process them yourself, seek the assistance of a counseling professional who is trained to work with intense emotions.)

    The Positive Purpose of Sadness

    The purpose of sadness is to enable you to let go of what is no longer working or what is past and finished. Sadness is a watery downward-flowing energy that enables you to release what no longer serves you, so you can return to fluidity and flexibility in your life.

    By allowing appropriate sadness to flow through you, you’ll make space for new energy and new possibilities. If you do not consciously acknowledge sadness or don’t know how to flow with it, you’ll bury it inside, where it will perpetually cycle, or you’ll get lost in the feeling and be overwhelmed.

    Here’s a practice adapted from Karla McLaren’s book, “The Language of Emotions,” that can help you consciously process feelings of sadness.

    1. When you feel sadness flood into you, take some quiet, private time to center into the feeling. Tune into the sensation of sadness, locate where it resides in your body, and approach it with curiosity to learn what it has to tell you.

    2. Take a deep in-breath as if you are filling your whole body with your breath. As you exhale, make a sighing sound, and feel the energy of your sadness flowing like water down through your body, through your legs and feet, and down into the ground.

    3. Stay centered in your inner space and ask your sadness the question: “What needs to be released or let go right now?” Don’t rush to fill in an answer. Instead, keep the question open. Listen and feel inside.

    Repeat your sighing breath down through your body as many times as you feel the need and keep your question open for your deeper knowing to respond. You may find you know right away what you need to release or you may find it becomes clear later. Either way, tuning into sadness (or any emotion) mindfully initiates a process of discovery and integration that will help you move forward.

    The Positive Purpose of Anger

    Anger arises to create and preserve personal boundaries and safeguard personal space. You feel angry when a personal boundary or the boundary of someone or something you care for is disrupted or violated. When you are able to identify the source of the perceived threat and use the energy available in anger to strengthen your personal space and take appropriate action, anger will recede. It will have accomplished its purpose.

    Here’s a practice adapted from McLaren to gather the information and use the energy in your anger:

    1. When you feel anger rising, focus inside your body and become more in-touch with the felt sensation. Approach the feeling with curiosity to learn more about it.

    2. Take a deep in-breath. As you exhale, imagine and feel as if the energy in your anger travels outward into a sphere about an arms-width around you, your personal boundary, strengthening it with a brilliant color. Do this until you feel a shift in your energy, so you are witnessing, feeling, and working with the energy in your anger without being consumed by it.

    3. Ask your anger this question: “What needs to be protected or restored?”

    4. Then ask, “What action will restore healthy boundaries and protect what is important?”

    These questions help you identify what feels threatened, so you can take appropriate action. Try this when anger arises and see how it works for you.

    The Positive Purpose of Fear

    We’ve been told “Fear is what holds us back” and “The only thing to fear is fear itself.” If we can just overcome our fears, we’ll be able to live full-out and realize our hopes and dreams. But, what if this perennial wisdom regarding fear is missing something? What if fear in its essential form is one of our wise guides?

    Emotions have three primary forms: unconscious reactive expression, a repressed cycling state, and a healthy free-flowing state. It may be that we are only familiar with the first two forms of fear: a reactive expression that makes us cower and a repressed state which creates constant low-level anxiety.

    Fear in its healthy free-flowing form is something altogether different. What if fear can signal intuitive awareness of something that needs attention? What if it can alert you to important action?

    This form of fear is a sixth sense that reaches out through your personal space to pick up signals about what is happening inside you, with others, and in your environment. Fear can alert you to what is happening in your own body. It can alert you to the actions and intentions of the people around you and to conditions in the environment. When you learn to discern this information, it can help you can choose wise actions.

    To learn to use fear as a wise guide, try this simple practice:

    1. When you feel fear arising, take a quiet, private moment to center into the feeling. Tune into the sensation of fear, locate where it resides in your body, and approach it with curiosity to learn what it has to tell you.

    2. Take a deep in-breath as if you are filling your whole body with your breath. As you exhale, imagine and feel that your breath fills the sphere of your personal space about an arm’s width around your entire body. Sense into your personal space and into the wider space around you and search for subtle signals. For example, you might be drawn to an area inside your body or to look at something or someone in your environment. You might feel the urge to move toward or away from something.

    3. Stay centered in your personal space and ask your fear the question: “What action needs to be taken right now?” Don’t rush to fill in an answer. Instead, keep the question open. Listen and feel inside. See what presents itself. You may have an inspiration to take a specific action.

    It can take time to learn to discern guiding signals. As best as you can, be patient. The simple action of tuning into emotional signals is a cultivated skill. You’ll grow your ability to sense inner guidance from fear and all your emotions through mindful practice over time.

    You’ll also learn to discern the quality of signals that represent accurate present guidance from false interpretations based on painful past experiences. There’s a different felt quality to accurate versus false guidance. False guidance may feel alarming, stressful, or rushed. It is fixated on what happened in the past or overly-anxious about the future. Accurate emotional guidance has a matter-of-fact, present, forward-moving quality, that feels like perfect timing.

    So, in summary, as emotions come up, instead of being wary of them, what if you welcome them, become curious, and ask:

    • What is the sensation of this emotion in my body?

    • Exactly what emotion is this?

    • What is the message in this feeling?

    • What is it asking me to do?

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    Source by Kevin Schoeninger

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  • Life Lessons Learnt Post Drug Detox

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    Drug addiction is a chronic illness that brings misery not only to the life of the individual addicted, but also to his or her loved ones. In recent years, drug addiction has become a matter of serious concern for the United States as a large number of young adults in the country are getting addicted to prescriptions drugs and illegal substances at an alarming rate.

    The “drug culture” rampant in the American society takes a heavy toll on the people’s personal as well as professional lives. Sometimes, the influence of the drug can be so strong that it may lead to several other serious issues, such as increased risk for physical and mental ailments, suicidal thoughts, and even death.

    However, drug addiction is a preventable and curable disease that can be treated with medications and counseling. Medical detoxification is the first step toward quitting the vice of addiction and leading a productive life. Though the detox process is essentially aimed at removing toxins from the body after a long-term drug use, it teaches some incredible life lessons along the way.

    Listed below are some of the lessons that people learn during drug detox in a rehabilitation program, which can be carried out for many years to come:

    1. Addiction does not discriminate

    Drug addiction can affect anybody regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, race, or even socio-economic class. Often starting as an experiment, people gradually cross the illusive line of addiction, from where there is no turning back. However, the good news is that an effective detox program can help such people get rid of the devastating habit.

    2. Increasing awareness about addiction is important

    Being aware about the ways in which a particular drug can affect an individual and knowing about the legal repercussions of its addiction can motivate a person and his or her loved ones to stay away from the drug. Also, being aware of the right detox program is important to ensure a speedy recovery for a person who is already in the clutches of destructive drug use.

    3. Addiction leaves one lonely

    Drug addiction is a chronic illness that makes an individual live in solitude. Those fighting substance abuse disconnect themselves from the external world and stay aloof from friends, relatives and other loved ones. Undergoing a detox program teaches a person to make friends, lead a social life and engage in healthy habits.

    4. Self-care is essential

    Taking care of own body and mind is important to keep oneself fit and healthy. This is also required to ensure that a vulnerable individual does not get trapped into drug addiction, and continues to lead an addiction-free life post detox.

    5. Running away from stress does not prevent drug addiction

    For many individuals, addiction generally develops when they feel low, sad or depressed. However, in a detox program, a person comes face-to-face with such negative emotions and makes efforts to develop “emotional sobriety” first, in order to lead a drug-free life.

    Leading a drug-free life is possible

    Abusing any form of drugs, including prescription drugs, is illegal and can deteriorate the life of any individual. A comprehensive detoxification is a must in every drug rehabilitation program as it prepares the patient for further treatment procedure. The complexity of detoxification depends on the nature and length of the abuse.

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    Source by Barbara Odozi

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  • Physical Therapy and Sports Medicine – Know the Differences

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    It isn’t unusual to use the terms sports medicine and physical therapy interchangeably. However the two aren’t exactly the same things even though you may find yourself the patient of both fields at the same time.

    While compatible, the difference between the two branches of medical discipline is clear. Both are effective for treating injuries, diseases and disorders of the muscle and skeletal systems of the body and both are useful for the prevention of future injury or disease symptom reoccurence. By taking an individual look at both types of medical assistance, you will soon see the differences between physical therapy and sports medicine.

    Let’s take a look at the field of physical therapy first. Unlike sports medicine, physical therapy as a whole is devoted to correcting any injury, disease, or disorder of the bones and muscles that can be treated with non invasive techniques. The focus is to provide patients with relief from pain, improve their muscle, joint, and bone function, while providing techniques the patient can use on their own for additional healing. The primary tools of a therapist are good diagnosing and evaluating skills, knowledge of the musculoskeletal system, and knowledge of which therapy is effective for each situation.

    One large difference between the two is that physical therapy doesn’t only deal with sports related injuries or problems. Physical therapists can choose to specialize in their careers with emphasis on things like pediatrics, geriatrics, and neurology. Other areas of expertise included in physical therapy are sports, cardiovascular sciences, and occupational therapy.

    When you are looking at the differences between these two healing arts you certainly can’t overlook sports medicine. The type of medical discipline is solely used for sports related injuries and disorders. While sports physical therapy techniques are commonly used in addition to sports medicine, sports medicine may involve surgeries, procedures, and medications not used in physical therapy. Sports medicine practitioners also can have specialty fields as well. Orthopedics and skeletal emphasis are common. Advanced study of how long term sporting activities and treating sports related injuries are always a part of this particular discipline.

    Understanding the difference between physical therapy and sports medicine may be key to determining how to best treat your physical problem. While they can and are commonly used together, each one has its own distinct benefit. Your medical care team can further help distinguish the two and point you in the right direction in terms of your health care needs. The important thing is take care of any injury, sports related or not, to ensure your body’s function in the years to come.

    The difference between these two medical approaches is obvious. Although the two are often used together, each one has its own purpose and uses. Your doctor can give you advice on which specialist is right for your needs.

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    Source by John Groth

    Views: 0

  • Schizophrenia and Psychosis Cure

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    Only a philosopher could discover that the human being is completely absurd since this fact means that humanity is totally crazy. A psychiatrist could not come to that conclusion without being considered crazy.

    Only a poet could listen to the inner voice of the unconscious wisdom, recognize her ignorance and feel how horrible it is to live in a place where everyone is crazy.

    The cure of schizophrenia and psychosis is the total and absolute respect to the moral principles of goodness. A schizophrenic is someone who is completely dominated by the wild side of his or her conscience.

    In case the patient is a murderer, one must learn how to forgive oneself, which is usually impossible to achieve since no one can forgive one’s own faults when they have caused despair and misery.

    Schizophrenia is a very serious mental and psychic disease that cannot be cured because the wild side has completely dominated the human conscience. There is no human personality in the psychic sphere. This is why schizophrenics cannot recuperate their human conscience once they lose it.

    However, they can learn the meaning of their actions and can regain their humanity if they are willing to endure suffering. Suffering is medicine when it gives the patient the necessary conditions that help one become sensitive.

    In case schizophrenic patients are victims of other people’s cruelty, they must learn how to forgive their enemies, which is impossible because their enemies hurt them too much.

    Schizophrenia is the result of human craziness, the massive craziness that governs our world, a world where terror, violence, immorality, hypocrisy, poverty and indifference coexist. This is the insane world of the crazy human being!

    Psychosis is also the result of the same global insanity…

    In fact, schizophrenic and psychotic patients are the biggest victims of violence and indifference.

    However, they can regain their mental, psychological and emotional health through dream interpretation, even though the process is very difficult and time-consuming. Everything is difficult when we have to deal with diseases as terrible as schizophrenia and psychosis.

    Time and many efforts are required, but the patients can be cured!

    This is a miracle!

    We can cure these horrible diseases and save the people who are affected by them today, but we must surely focus on craziness prevention from now on!

    We must put an end to all the horrors of our lives, so that schizophrenia and psychosis ceases to exist in our population.

    Massive psychotherapy is indispensable for humanity if we wish to save the human race and our own planet, since we have almost destroyed all the natural sources, and created an imbalance in the nature of Earth.

    Unconditional and unrestricted peace, truth, wisdom, patience, piety and goodness are the cures for schizophrenia and psychosis.

    Only when we become organized and everyone will be sensitive instead of being indifferent to the horrors they “don’t have the power to eliminate,” will humanity be characterized by psychological, mental and emotional health.

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    Source by Christina Sponias

    Views: 0

  • Addiction Doctors – Can an Addiction Doctor Help You?

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    Suboxone doctors are something that are in big demand, right now. Unfortunately, more and more people find themselves on the losing end of an opiate addiction with each and every day that passes. In the past, there were other treatment methods that were used to treat addiction to opiates, whether your drug of choice was heroin, hydrocodone, oxycodone, or one of the other many pain prescriptions that are often abused.

    Some of the other courses of treatment include In patient rehabilitation centers and methadone treatment. Because of the restrictions that come with those forms of treatment suboxone doctors have become a more popular choice with each new person that tells of their experience with the suboxone doctor that they were able to find.

    Rehabilitation Centers in many cases require that you actually “check in”. when you do so, you are for the most part separated from the outside world, your family, job, and anything else that you hold close to you in the real world. The goal of most rehabs is to make you comfortable and to provide you with counseling in an attempt to get you through the opiate withdrawals. The biggest problem that most people find with this is the fact that opiate withdrawals are extremely unpleasant, and the absence of any sort of medication to curb the most undesirable symptoms of withdrawal make the process more than difficult. On top of that, it’s said that opiate withdrawal can, and usually does at least psychologically last for 45 – 60 days. So, even if the rehabilitation facility is able to keep them clean for a week or so, as soon as they hit the street, in most cases the urge to get high will have them running back to their opiate of choice again.

    A regimented methadone treatment has often proven effective, and in many cases has pulled people from the clutches of addiction. However, there is a very serious downside. Methadone in itself is a very addictive substance, and in many cases, the people using it to rid themselves of their opiate addiction find themselves as addicted to the methadone as they were their drug of choice. At the end of the day, they still end up having to take a substance day after day to be able to get through their lives. Basically, they are trading one drug for another, and if they should happen to stop taking the methadone abruptly, they will find themselves right back in withdrawal. Doesn’t sound quite right, does it?

    On the other hand, suboxone doctors are able to offer a solution to your addiction problem that is not only highly regarded as the most effective opiate addiction tool ever known, but it is temporary. Suboxone works by attaching itself to the same receptors that your opiate of choice used to, so your brain in essence still believes that you are “getting high”. In reality, you are stone cold sober. Typically suboxone doctors will put you on a short term program that is what I like to call, front heavy. What I mean is, in the beginning you will take a large dose of the medicine, and after a couple weeks, you start to ween off. By the time 45 days comes, your opiate withdrawal is over, and best of all, you no longer have the urge to abuse whatever your drug of choice is or was.

    The biggest problem with suboxone doctors though, is finding them. In order to have the ability to prescribe the drug, doctors have to go through a special training and education program. Plus, since the treatment itself is still relatively new, it hasn’t caught on yet the way something like methadone has.

    If you are starting to realize that you have a problem, and you’re ready to do something about it, I highly recommend searching out a suboxone doctor near you. If there isn’t one relatively close to you, look in the next city, county, or state. Finding one might be the only way you get clean, and it very well could save your life.

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    Source by Jeffery Mellenthal

    Views: 0

  • Nurture, Cherish & Heal – Living Well With HIV

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    Where there is life, it needs to be celebrated. Where there is hope, it needs to be nurtured. Where there is consciousness, it needs to be enjoyed.

    This becomes more important when someone is dealing with a life threatening disease like AIDS.

    Reiki does not claim to cure HIV. But it can go a long way in making the life of a person infected with AIDS, far better. From dealing with the trauma of the disease to helping minimise the side effects of medication, Reiki offers the infected person hope and strength – mental, spiritual and physical.

    Reiki works in partnership with conventional medical treatments, enhancing their efficacy and increasing their usefulness.

    How can Reiki help?

    Pain Management: Reiki can go a long way in helping with the physical symptoms of AIDS. Thousands of patients from around the world have benefitted from the healing touch of Reiki.

    Boosting the immune system: Reiki can complement the effect of various medications in helping to strengthen the immune system.

    Reduces Side Effects: Some of the drugs used in the palliative care of HIV patients can have quite a lot of side effects. Reiki can help in managing and reducing these effects.

    Counters Neuropathy: Approximately one third of people infected with HIV suffer from Neuropathy of one form or the other. Clinical studies have shown that Reiki can reduce the spasms caused by pain and help relax the muscles.

    Helps cope with the life changes: Often a person infected with HIV has to face not just the trauma of having a life threatening disease but also social stigma and ostracism. Reiki provides the ‘victim’ spiritual strength and wisdom to help cope with these life changes. It also facilitates better sleep, cures depression effectively and helps the person get a positive outlook in life.

    From self-healing to self-reliance: Reiki can be administered by a trained practitioner or the infected person himself. When the patient takes the Reiki training and heals himself, he feels more in control.

    So what is Reiki?

    Reiki is a laying-on-hands healing technique thousands of years old. It was rediscovered by Dr. Mikao Usui, a Japanese Buddhist, in the late 19th century.

    Reiki is the God-consciousness called Rei that guides the life force called Ki in the practice we call Reiki.

    Reiki is the non-physical energy that animates all living things.

    As long as something is alive it has a life force circulating through it and surrounding it.

    When it dies the life force departs. If your life force is low, or if there is a restriction in its flow, you will be more vulnerable to illness. When it is high and flowing freely, you are less likely to get ill.

    Life force plays an important role in everything we do. It animates the body and is also the primary energy of our emotions, thoughts and spiritual life. Reiki makes this life force available to us in abundance.

    Nurture your spirit, and heal your body with Reiki.

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    Source by Urvashi Puri

    Views: 0

  • Department Administrator Interference in the Doctor-Patient Relationship

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    I contacted a resident doctor in Internal Medicine at a teaching hospital and asked if he would be interested in becoming my primary care physician (PCP). My note briefly described my background in health outcomes research and two of my prescription drugs. He wrote back that he would be honored to be my PCP, and came across as professional, humble, and sincere. A new doctor-patient relationship was formed, and I contacted my existing doctor’s office to arrange for my medical records to be transferred, which immediately informed that office that I must be dissatisfied and going to a new doctor. I also shared with the resident doctor confidential information from my medical records and a copy of one of my professional presentations at a health care conference.

    A department administrator then contacted me to say the resident doctors are not available every day of the week for clinic and are not even here when they do their ICU rotation. Also, the Internal Medicine department protocol would not allow the resident doctor to write me a drug prescription for off label use. Finally, she was concerned that in the past I have ordered and correctly interpreted my own blood tests. The administrator’s attitude reflects one of the chief complaints Americans have with the health care system: the system is coming at them and requiring them to get health services in some predefined structure to which the facility is accustomed but which eliminate any potential for individualized treatment according to individual patients’ needs.

    Apparently the administrator did not spend enough “careful consideration” to get her facts straight. I do not need to see my PCP daily or even monthly. My track record shows I saw my existing doctor once in a calendar year, and the prior doctor before him I saw once in a 15-month period. So the administrator based her decision on her own ignorance of the facts.

    She also misstated facts concerning off-label prescriptions for drugs by resident doctors. One of the drugs we are talking about is Clomiphene. Both a resident doctor and an attending faculty physician at the teaching hospital advised me that they would be willing to write me (off-label) prescriptions for this drug, and the attending physician did indeed phone in a prescription for one of the drugs at my request. Similarly, the Dept. of Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB-GYN) advised me that their doctors, both resident and attending, have prescribed Clomiphene to patients. Therefore, residents in Family Medicine and OB-GYN (both primary care departments) can write prescriptions for Clomiphene, but “protocol” prevents residents in Internal Medicine (also primary care) from writing off-label prescriptions. What kind of a cockamamie rule is that? What, the residents in Internal Medicine are too dumb or too naive to understand off-label benefits of medicines?

    Finally, I had planned for my resident PCP to order and interpret blood tests each time I visited him. The administrator could have learned that fact if she had bothered to call or write me before jumping to conclusions and interfering in my doctor-patient relationship. I strongly reject the Director’s paternalistic view of medicine in which she feels she has to protect resident doctors from patients who order or interpret their own blood tests. These resident doctors are young professionals who have completed their medical degrees; they don’t need paternalistic oversight from a department administrator telling them who they can and cannot invite to be patients.

    Apparently, an overwhelming number of patients who visit this teaching hospital’s doctors want to be told what to do and how to feel. I am the exact opposite; I take personal responsibility for and manage my own health, which is strongly advocated under health care reform. Having a more equal, collaborative relationship with my PCP works for me, and that seems to be the true reason for the administrator’s interference. Studies show that medical malpractice rates drop with a non-paternalistic model of health care services. That fact of reducing litigation risks is pushing more health care systems across the country to migrate to a non-paternalistic model.

    LEGAL ANALYSIS

    I. Formation of Doctor-Patient Relationship

    The first question to address is whether, based on this fact pattern, a doctor-patient relationship was formed. When I gave the Internal Medicine resident doctor confidential information on two off-label drugs that I take, that act would be analogous to a prospective client approaching a lawyer with facts about his case to see if the lawyer will assist him. Contacting a lawyer this way does not create an attorney-client relationship. However, the lawyer is under an ethical duty to protect the confidentiality of the information shared by the prospective client. Similarly, the resident doctor was under an ethical duty to keep the information I shared with him confidential.

    When a lawyer responds to a prospective client, “I agree to take your case,” or “I will be your lawyer,” or words to that effect, then an attorney-client relationship is created, and the protection afforded to the client’s information rises to the level of constitutionally protected attorney-client privilege. In this case, when the resident doctor responded that he would be honored to be my PCP, we have offer and acceptance forming a contract. The offer-acceptance could be construed as my offering to be his patient, which he accepted, or his offer to be my PCP, which I accepted.

    But offer and acceptance are only two of the three required elements to form a contract. The third essential element is exchange of consideration, expressed in Latin as the quid pro quo. In this case, there were several separate exchanges of consideration that complete the formation of a contract and thereby render it enforceable in a court of law. Consideration is defined as some act or some transfer of an item from one party to the other, for which the receiving party had no legal right to otherwise obtain that consideration. There is no requirement that the consideration have intrisinc value. For example, the transfer of a scrap piece of paper can constitute valid consideration that renders a contract binding and enforceable.

    The initial disclosure of confidential information from my health history amounts to sufficient consideration. Second, the fact that both I and the doctor each began pursuing scheduling an appointment for me to see him is also consideration: neither of us had a prior legal right entitling us to that action by the other person. Third, when we continued to correspond after offer and acceptance, with additional information being shared back and forth, further consideration was exchanged. My sending the resident doctor a copy of one of my professional presentations was a fourth example of consideration. Finally, my request that my medical records be transferred to the resident doctor’s clinic constituted an obvious legal detriment based on reliance rendering the contract enforceable.

    If a lawsuit were filed for enforcement of this contract, I am confident that the plaintiff would overcome any attempt to dismiss the lawsuit by the teaching hospital’s attorneys based on the absence of a contract. Defendant might attempt to argue that no contract could be formed, because the resident doctor is not licensed. According to the website http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/resident+physician, a “resident physician is a graduate and licensed physician receiving training in a specialty, usually in a hospital.” The resident’s licensing status would not prevent the formation of an enforceable contract, as we have in this fact pattern, for treatment in the supervised residents’ clinic.

    In court, we would pose a series of questions: 1) Is the resident a graduate of a medical school? Yes! 2) Was our conversation focused on health care treatment? Yes! 3) Does the resident see other patients (whether supervised or unsupervised) in the resident clinic? Yes! 4) Are the resident’s services billed to the U.S. government and to private insurers as the services of a doctor (not a student or a doctor’s aide)? Yes! 5) Did we both use the term PCP in describing our relationship? Yes. 6) Did the resident undertake to assist me in obtaining a medical appointment to see him? Yes! With these answers, any court of law is going to recognize if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it is a duck. Therefore, the defendant’s argument on licensing will be viewed as a red herring and will fail. In a similar vein, courts have noted “it is axiomatic that a doctor-patient relationship may arise from, briefly exist, and be limited by the unique circumstances presented in a transfer situation.” Sterling v. Johns Hopkins Hosp., 145 Md. App. 161 (Md. Ct. Spec. App. 2002). It does not matter how long the doctor has been seeing patients or how brief the contact with any given patient, a doctor-patient relationship can be formed.

    Selection of a PCP and other medical decisions are “core” private decisions. A fundamental tenet of privacy jurisprudence, as it has been applied to other types of personal matters, is that the individual most directly concerned is entitled to make and implement the protected decision autonomously and free from paternalistic government intrusion. See, e.g., Zablocki v. Redhail, 434 U.S. 374, 54 L. Ed. 2d 618, 98 S. Ct. 673 (1978) (decision to marry); Moore v. East Cleveland, 431 U.S. 494, 52 L. Ed. 2d 531, 97 S. Ct. 1932 (1977) (decision to live with extended family members); Griswold v. Connecticut, 381 U.S. 479, 14 L. Ed. 2d 510, 85 S. Ct. 1678 (1965)(reproductive choice). I would argue that the constitutional right to privacy also protects autonomy in selecting a PCP among a wide choice of available doctors, selecting which medications I want prescribed, and choosing what lab tests I want to order myself to monitor my health.

    In 2005, the Supreme Court of Arkansas provided the best statement in American jurisprudence on the elevated status of the doctor-patient relationship. The court noted the relationship of doctor-patient is unique. “The loss of this relationship, even temporarily, causes irreparable damage to the doctor and the patient. There is no adequate remedy at law because the loss is a loss of a one-time opportunity.” Baptist Health v. Murphy, 362 Ark. 506 (Ark. 2005)

    The court noted that the hospital had violated the Arkansas Department of Health rules and regulations for hospitals by failing to enforce policies that protected the doctor’s selection of patients and the patient’s choice of a physician. “We interpret this to mean that an otherwise qualified doctor must be granted access to his patient for the purpose of treating his patient, if that is what both the doctor and the patient want. Or, stated another way, a hospital cannot deny the services of a physician of the patient’s choice if the patient is already being seen by physicians at the hospital. Baptist Health v. Murphy, 362 Ark. 510-511 (Ark. 2005)

    Based on reading Baptist Health, I will now forward a copy of this article to the state Department of Health to determine whether the teaching hospital violated any of my state’s regulations requiring Tennessee-licensed medical centers to have policies or bylaws that respect the patient’s right to select his own physician. If so, then the teaching hospital is violating those regulations.

    II. Tennessee’s Tortious Interference Statute

    Tenn. Code Ann. § 47-50-109 is captioned, “Procurement of breach of contracts unlawful – Damages.” The administrator tortiously interfered in my doctor-patient relationship and prevented the resident doctor from performing his services under our contract. She therefore procured a breach of that contract. The administrator will argue that she was merely performing her duties, but that is no excuse for interfering in an existing doctor-patient relationship.

    Although Tennessee jurisprudence does not have a case on point, courts across the country have taken a dim view and expressed disapproval of employer interference in the doctor-patient relationship. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court stated, “The ethical objection has been that intervention by employer… makes a tripartite matter of the doctor-patient relation. Since the contract doctor owes his employment and looks for his pay to the employer… rather than to the patient, he serves two masters with conflicting interests.” United States v. Oregon State Medical Soc., 343 U.S. 326, 329 (U.S. 1952).

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    Source by Michael Guth

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  • Treating Facial Tics and Tourette’s Syndrome With Alternative Medicine

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    Tics may be due to nutritional deficiencies, genetic conditions, Tourette syndrome, immune system malfunction, allergies, or stress. Stress and anxiety can increase the frequency of facial tics. Emotional trauma can cause tics which can disappear when the emotional disorder is treated. Tics due to emotional trauma or stress can improve or disappear with hypnotherapy, Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), energetic therapy, Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) yoga, Tai Chi, music therapy, homeopathy, Interactive Metronome, cognitive behavioral therapy, HEMI Sync, acupuncture, massage, and scalp acupuncture. Secondary mood disorders can worsen the severity of tics.

    Treating and healing facial tics or Tourette’s syndrome with ordinary amino acids is the basis for Orthomolecular Medicine. Large doses of naturally found proteins called amino acids can repair the imbalance in the brain and repair its malfunction. These amino acids are affordable and are used in therapeutic doses much larger than those levels normally found in food. The concept of orthomolecular medicine is based upon the use of very large doses of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, or botanical extracts for the cellular repair and enhancement of normal brain activities and motor activities.

    Lithium mineral salt may help this patient if there is Tourette’s syndrome, but it would not help for most other types of facial tics. Botanicals that may treat tics and reduce tics and spasms include kava, skullcap, valerian, St John’s Wort, peppermint, black cohosh, dragon bone, prunella, rose hips, Go Teng, Tian Men Dong, Bai Shao, Yin Chen Hao. Orthomolecular medicine uses includes magnesium, zinc, calcium, B Vitamins, and chromium along with the botanicals to support recovery.

    Orthomolecular medicine uses large therapeutic doses of carnitine, tryptophan, taurine, GABA, and 5-HTP. Theanine, GABA, and 5-HTP can work well for tics caused by stress. These amino acids must be used long- term for Tourette’s syndrome and you may want to consider IV therapy in the worst cases for at least nine months.

    This patient may have severe allergies and benefit from the elimination of genetically modified foods. The diet should be altered to exclude unsaturated fats, caffeine, nicotine, artificial sweeteners, food additives, food dyes, alcohol, and high fat meats. Try to eat free range chicken, organic meat, organic or locally produced eggs, and limit red meat to twice per week. You should always eat breakfast relatively high in protein. This may include whey protein, almond milk, or soy protein. Walnuts, yogurt, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and pecans are great snack foods ideas. Remember that corn is frequently a genetically modified food. Popcorn can be a good snack food if you are certain that it is not genetically modified. Organic or locally grown vegetables and fruits are the best health options. Avoid foods that are often contaminated with pesticides or heavy metals. Plant fruit trees in your yard for more fresh fruit.

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    Source by R Stone

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  • Exposed – How to Cure Hemorrhoids Naturally

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    Hemorrhoids are a misery both men and women must fact from time to time. No one enjoys having this problem, and curing hemorrhoids can be a very difficult thing. It is a common ailment, one experienced by half the people who have turned fifty. Still, it isn’t easy to find a simple remedy or to forget how much better life seemed before it happened.

    One common cure for hemorrhoids is aloe vera. People who apply to this inflamed area swear by it. This is a natural remedy anyone can use with little difficulty. Pain may disappear in a matter of days. Users suggest you apply it twice a day. Be sure to cleanse your hands before and after you apply it.

    Another natural cure is apple cider vinegar. Simply lay on an application and itching will vanish in no time at all. Bleeding will also slow down, too. Some people prefer to drink the vinegar. They claim this will cure the bleeding and protruding hemorrhoids. You may have to drink the apple cider vinegar three times each day. Some people apply the apple cider vinegar to cotton balls, then apply these to their hemorrhoids. There are a few people who complain it burns at first, but this problem disappears after awhile.

    Another cure is witch hazel wipes. A lot of people apply them after each bowel movement. In addition, there are people who will tell you vitamin B6 is a great aid. They take doses of 200 milligrams. Others take rutin or bioflavonoids.

    One more secret is avocado seed. You simply pour the avocado seed into filtered water. Strain this and add some honey. Drink it throughout the day. Soon your hemorrhoids will disappear.

    The old fashioned way of treating hemorrhoids includes sitting in a warm bath for about ten minutes each day. Fill your tub with hot water and add lavender or juniper. The entire body will get relaxed and painful symptoms will be relieved. Or you can try ice packs to alleviate the swelling. Others suggest you apply petroleum jelly and cortisone creams. Also, it’s suggested you should wear cotton underwear and loose clothing. Finally, you can clean the anus after your bowel movements with a moist towelette or a moistened pad. Don’t forget about acetaminophen and aspirin.

    Eat fiber. Fiber helps to get the bowels to move. You should try to eat 25 to 30 grams of fiber each day. Some sources of fiber are breakfast cereals that have 10 grams of fiber per serving. Also, you want to eat fresh fruit, beans, prunes, and vegetables. Asparagus, cabbage, carrots, corn, and broccoli make excellent choices. You can’t forget to drink a lot of water to make this fiber work well. Eating fiber won’t make a change for two or three days.

    Some people recommend kegel exercises for relief. All you have to do is try to stop your flow when you urinate. You squeeze your tummy muscles and make your pelvic muscles do all the work. You may also have to squeeze your leg muscles as well. The kegel exercises will help get your hemorrhoids to move inside.

    All of this takes a lot of patience. You can probably find the best method for you if you are willing to give things a try. Be patient. It isn’t easy. But who knows how soon you’ll feel relief and be on the road to freedom? Then your life will be back to normal and you’ll be happier than you’ve been in a long time.

    If you’re looking for a fast and effective way to cure hemorrhoids naturally, you might want to check out H Miracle. H Miracle is a natural hemorrhoid cure that has been used successfully by thousands of ex hemorrhoid sufferers worldwide. It is 100% natural and provides fast pain relief in addition to permanent healing of the problem. To find out more information about H Miracle and other hemorrhoid cures, use the links listed below.

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    Source by Emma V Lee

    Views: 1