June is Men's Health Awareness Month!

It comes just in time for the launch of Men's Health Acupuncture! A focused practice on my specialization in treating all the health concerns men face.

Joining me is Denise Zamaripa, a friend and colleague who's also been specializing in men's health too!

Please check out what we're all about on our website! menshealthacupuncture.com

Today let's first, talk about the purpose of Men's Health Month. It is to raise awareness about the preventable health problems men and boys face, to encourage early detection and treatment of disease, and to educate everyone about the options in treatment out there for various health concerns men and boys may have.

Men's health is no longer a national concern but a global one, gaining attention in the furthest reaches of this planet! We consider this a great shift as too many men, too often ignore their health! There's a number of reasons for this from embarrassment to a lack of understanding what health issues guys do face to denial of a problem. But guys are starting to take action to become healthy and we want to facilitate that journey!

Now, let's look at some of the biggest health concerns men face:

• Heart/Cardiovascular
• Lung/Respiratory
• Diabetes
• Erectile Dysfunction
• Prostate Issues - Cancer/BPH
• Liver Disease
• Excess Alcohol Consumption
• AIDS/HIV
• Depression/Suicide
• Unintentional Accidents

Unfortunately guys, the rate that men are passing away due to the above issues is much higher than it is for women. You can search online yourselves and see the staggering numbers men are suffering these conditions and issues. You must also know that for the most part, the above among other health problems, ARE PREVENTABLE!

You may not want to hear it but changing to and maintaining a healthy lifestyle including clean eating, exercise and stress management are all proven to lower your risk and in many cases, prevent the above issues. Now, we realize that such things as ED is not a "disease" or that unintentional accidents are just that, accidents but that doesn't mean you can't take steps to prevent or minimize your risks of falling victim to them! Also, none of us can avoid aging but we can do things daily that encourage healthy aging. 

We also can't do it all on our own! That's ok! You can ask for help guys! The assistance of acupuncturists, massage therapist, personal trainers, therapists, etc. can be paramount to improving your health! We are valuable professionals who have the expertise to help get and keep you healthy and enjoy yourself along the way! As Denise and I (Lisa) are acupuncturists and Master's of Oriental medicine, we use these modalities, as well as others, to facilitate wellness and manage disease, aiming to cure and prevent illness.

Stay tuned to our men's health blog at: menshealthacupuncture.com/blog/ or sign-up for our newsletter to learn more about health concerns guys face and other health related issues! You will also find most of the same information here!

We also love to hear back from the community! Email us at : menshealthacupuncture@gmail.com or leave questions and comments! Or go right ahead and contact us to make an appointment! We have 3 offices around the Austin area, North, Southeast and Oak Hill!

Don't forget! Sharing what you learn could help someone find the healing they need or it could even save someone's life! This goes for you too ladies! Help the men in your lives you care deeply for!

Food for thought:

The 50 Best Foods to Eat for Your Sexual Health!
1. Spinach
2. Coffee
3. Bananas
4. Tomatoes
5. Watermelon
6. Ginger
7. Pomegranate
8. Green Tea
9. Dark Chocolate
10. Hot Sauce
11. Oats
12. Pine Nuts
13. Cherries
14. Wine
15. Catuaba
16. Salmon
17. Brazil Nuts
18. Potatoes
19. Maca
20. Carrots
21. Serrano Chiles
22. Pumpkin Seeds
23. .Chicken Breast
24. Celery
25. Liver
26. Eggs
27. Honey
28. Shiitake Mushrooms
29. .Grass-Fed Beef
30. Muira Puama
31. White Fish
32. Clams
33. Turkey Breast
34. Herring
35. Blue Mussels
36. Walnuts
37. Oysters
38. Fortified Cereals
39. Damiana Leaf
40. Greek Yogurt
41. Goji Berries
42. Yohimbe Bark Extract
43. Peanuts
44. Teff
45. Garlic
46. Broccoli
47. Peanut Butter
48. Avocados
49. Strawberries
50. Chili Peppers

Now, remember guys, there is such a thing as "too much of a good thing"! Everything in moderation is key! Too much of any of the above can cause problems too! Plus, diet and allergy restrictions always apply!

To check out the details of why these foods are good for you, visit: http://www.eatthis.com/best-foods-for-your-penis

Side note to the ladies!These foods are good for your sexual and hormone health too!

Finally, continue to follow Men's Health Acupuncture at: http://menshealthacupuncture.com/blog/ to learn in detail why these foods are great choices, get exercise advice, find out in-depth information on health concerns men and boys face, read posted articles and more!

Or subscribe to the Men's Health Acupuncture Newsletter! Go to: http://menshealthacupuncture.com and wait for the pop-up to sign-up! Please, always share the knowledge!

Contact us directly too! Our email address is: menshealthacupuncture@gmail.com

Could This Be You?

Are you or is anyone you know experiencing any of these following symptoms or conditions:

Confusion, dementia, falls, psychosis, insomnia, joint deterioration, heart attack, stroke, colitis, indigestion, headaches, uncontrolled bleeding, dizziness, fainting, vertigo, cardiac arrhythmias, heart failure, muscle weakness, sarcopenia, skin conditions, breathing difficulties, kidney failure, wheezing, coughing, chronic pain, vision problems or even sudden death?

What's scary about these symptoms is that your prescription drugs could be causing these problems! These conditions are ALL possible side-effects of commonly prescribed drugs. You may even have these drugs in your medicine cabinet right now!

What infuriates me about these side-effects that aren't just side-effects but actual conditions, is in the Western world of medicine they'll be treated with other drugs that have more side-effects multiplying your problems 10 fold!! Literally, 10 fold. All too often prescribing drugs drugs & more drugs is Western medicines only available treatment. l see a problem with this!! Do you?

What's the solution? Get off your offending drugs. Slow, careful, observant withdrawal under the care of your physicians is a safe & effective way to start stepping to the most healthy, drug free you!! Drugs & surgery should always be last resort treatments. They do have their place in healthcare. Just know that most prescription drugs to do not work for most people most of the time. There are many studies to support this.

It is possible to take care of your health naturally & safely which means feeling your best. Maybe better than you've ever thought you could feel!! Seek out different solutions. Obviously, we promote acupuncture here as it's a safe & effective way to treat so many various conditions. Diet, exercise, meditation, massage, etc. are all other safe & effective ways to tackle most any healthcare concern!! Keep yourself & your practitioners informed & you will feel the best you ever could have imagined!!

Treating ED.

Today I'm educating you all on a very sensitive subject; Erectile Dysfunction. 

First, what everyone needs to realize is that this is an extremely common issue! In general, around as many as 52% of men will suffer ED. 40% of that will be men in their 40's and up and 70% of men in their 80's and up. Don't fall into those age ranges? Well, ED can be due to much more than just age!

Before I get into the causes, let me familiarize you all with how erections happen. It's actually a very intricate process, a lot of things occur chemically with in the brain in body. It's not as simple as one might think!

An erection starts in your head, meaning, your brain! Something that you saw, felt, smelled, heard, or thought will activated your central nervous system causing your nerves to send chemical messages to the blood vessels in your penis. The arteries in the penis relax and open up allowing more blood to flow in; at the same time, the veins clamp down holding the blood in. Once blood is in the penis, the pressure between the vessels and musculature create the hardening and engorgement. When the blood flow stops and the veins open, your penis becomes flaccid again. This happens after orgasm or if the chemical signals from the brain stop. 

Here's a glance at why the above may not happen: 

• Heart Disease

• Athrosclerosis (clogged arteries)

• High Cholesterol

• High Blood Pressure (hypertension)

• Diabetes

• Obesity

• Parkinson's Disease

• Multiple Sclerosis

• Peyronie's Disease (development of scar tissue inside the penis, this IS something I do treat as well)

• Medications

• Tobacco Use

• Alcohol Use

• Sleep Disorders

• Treatments for prostate cancer or an enlarged prostate (another common issue I treat often)

• Surgery or Injury that affecting pelvic area, genitals or spinal cord

• Depression

• Stress

• Other Mental Health Issues

• Anger

• Anxiety

• Low Self Image

• Low Libido

• Your Overall Health

If you have ED, what do you do about it? Everything you'll read on the internet, commercials you see on T.V. will tell you go to your doctor or take this drug and your doctor, all their going to do, is to prescribe you that drug!

Now sure, those drugs will give you a hard-on but they will not fix the actual problem. Their a band-aid. Right now, the latest, "greatest" drug is medication you inject. Yes! You have to stab a needle into your own penis to get an erection! I've seen how this works and it has been reported back to me both, that it does and does not hurt. It doesn't always give you an erection either, just as the pills don't always! So I ask, is it worth putting a drug with nasty side-effects in your body or stab your delicate penis with a needle when there's natural, safe solutions?

Now, I do not insert needles into the penis when doing acupuncture for any disorder! Needles are placed strategically throughout the head, torso, arms and legs based on your personal diagnoses. Treatments are crafted to you and your condition and not based on anyone else. There are commonly used points for ED but acupuncture is not a "one pill fixes all" ED type of treatment. That's part of why acupuncture works! We can always include herbs or supplements that are also natural and safe ways to get your body responding the way it should!

Ladies! Yeah, you girls! This does affect us too! Your partner's performance in the bedroom can definitely be a difficult subject to bring up. What I want you to know because I hear this often, is that his lack of response sexually, it truly isn't because of you! There is something going on with your man medically. Don't get down on yourself as that can potentially make the entire situation worse for both parties. Get him the correct help instead!

Erectile Dysfunction, or any other of the health concerns guys face, are absolutely nothing to be ashamed of! They do deserve attention! Don't just sit on it! You and your man can stand tall!

Make that call today! lisa@whole-healthacupuncture.com

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Men's health is my specialization and very important to me! Please share what you have learned today with the men and women in your lives! There will be future newsletters detailing more health concerns facing men to come. Stay tuned!

The Importance of Testimonials

I'd like to inform everyone today, of the importance of testimonials to a business. 
 

• What is a testimonial? 

They are written or recorded statements that support a business or a person's credibility and level of expertise. They help strengthen reputation by expressing the trust that other people have in a individual and their business offerings.
 

• Why are testimonials so important?

The success of businesses, large or small, depend heavily on word of mouth! Testimonials are formal forms of support for a business or individual. They are extremely powerful when it comes to strengthening a brand or credibility! They are a wonderfully useful tool to attract a deeper interest from prospective patients and current patients. Testimonials will ultimately make an individual and their business much more successful. This a is proven fact!
 

• How do you go about writing a good one?

The best testimonials are short and concise yet specific. People want to read a brief yet detailed paragraph. They want to see more specifics than just "she made me feel so much better!". They want to know what the problem was and how it is better. "I came in to Dr. Lisa for low back pain that left me stiff all day and up at night in pain. In just a few treatments, my stiffness and pain went away and I'm sleeping peacefully at night!" People want to read testimonials such as this as well all crave more information to make a smarter decision. There are numerous templates and suggestions online to help you write a good one. 
 

• Why am I sharing this with everyone?

To ask those of you who have not yet provided me a testimonial, to please take a few moments of your time to write one! You can email it to me directly: lisa@whole-healthacupuncture.com Or, with social media these days, it's even easier! You can leave a review/testimonials for me on google, yelp, facebook or whatever other forums you use. Find the links (the logos) to my active sites in the footer of this email!

FYI, if you want to send me a testimonial but are not comfortable attaching your name to it, not to worry! I generally use a first name and last initial below the testimonial but I'd be happy to just use only initials! You privacy is my priority!

Read some of the testimonials I currently have on my site to get your
motivation and creativity to write one flowing! Just click the word "testimonials" in the upper right hand corner!

It would mean very much to me if you could take the time to do this! And just think, your testimonial may lead someone in need of care to my door! Good Karma points there!

I'm extremely passionate about the care I give! I want to spread my ability to heal to as many people as I can! I DO need all my patients, current, past and future, to help me make that happen! For those of you that already have written one for me, thank you again! It is very appreciated!

The future of the health of us all, is in all of our hands! Let's reach that out to as many people as we can!