An article from the Complimentary Medical Association

Buteyko is a series of breathing techniques that claims to help treat asthma and other conditions.

This document provides general information of what to expect when you visit a therapist, and a general theory behind how their discipline works. It must be noted, however, that every therapist works in an individual way, and may subscribe to slightly different theories on how their discipline works. It is always advised that you ask to see relevant qualifications and discuss the treatment offered to you by the practitioner if you are in any doubt whatsoever.

Buteyko works according to the principal that certain conditions are caused, or at the very least, aggravated by over-breathing. By this, practitioners mean breathing heavily and rapidly through the mouth when there is no need to do so. Over-breathing is like overeating – it is not good for us.

A set of exercises are taught to the patient which can be done anywhere, anytime of day. Incorrect breathing, it is claimed, is harmful to the body because it depletes the bloodstream of carbon dioxide, thus causing blood-vessel spasms and oxygen starvation. It is thought that when this happens, the body reacts in a number of ways and thus asthma attacks, headaches, rapid heart beat and a number of other medical conditions are experienced.

There are many reports claiming that asthma suffers, once they have mastered the Buteyko method, have been able to stop using their bronchodilators.

Breathing through the nose is always preferable to breathing through the mouth as the nostril hairs filter the air, and warm it before it enters the lungs. It also limits the amount of air entering the lungs.

Main uses Asthma and other medical conditions including heart disease, panic attacks, high blood pressure, panic disorders and arthritis,

The Australian Natural Therapists Association Limited (ANTA) is the largest national democratic association of ‘recognised professional’ traditional medicine and natural therapy [Complementary Medicine] practitioners who work in the areas of health care and preventative medicine.

Myotherapy is a method for relieving pain based on the application of pressure at trigger points throughout the body. Trigger points are defined as hypersensitive places in the muscles that cause pain in response to undue stress. They may be triggered by occupational or other injuries as well as by disease, physical stress, and emotional stress. Trigger points rarely occur in the same place where the pain is felt. Myotherapy is founded on the notion that relief of tension in the muscle followed by revitalisation of the relieved muscle through stretching, promotes healing and reduces the disposition of the muscle and the nerve to cause further pain.

It can help people suffering from many types of head, back, and neck pain. It also relieves the discomfort of carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, and arthritis. Patients suffering from multiple sclerosis experience reductions in swelling.

Athletes may experience enhanced performance.

By applying pressure at strategic nerve locations called trigger points, muscle spasms go away. Pain can disappear and relax the muscles associated with the specific discomfort. The therapist first locates and diffuses the trigger points of pain through applying pressure. A series of exercises to progressively stretch the muscles that have been relaxed by the pressure therapy.

The Australian Natural Therapists Association Limited (ANTA) is the largest national democratic association of ‘recognised professional’ traditional medicine and natural therapy [Complementary Medicine] practitioners who work in the areas of health care and preventative medicine.

What is Naturopathy?

Naturopathy is a holistic approach to wellness based on the principle that the body has the inherent ability to heal itself. Using the healing power of nature and gentle therapeutic techniques, the body, mind and emotions are supported during the healing process.

Naturopathic principles are based on treating each person as an individual and treating the whole person, not just the affected area.

Naturopathy encompasses a variety of treatment methods including:

• Herbal Medicine to help prevent and treat various illnesses
• Dietary and Nutritional advice for restoration of balance, detoxification and prevention of disease
• Lifestyle advice to promote well-being and to reduce stress
• Hydrotherapy using the healing power of water to stimulate the immune system and the body’s natural defenses
• Flower essences to enhance the emotional aspect of healing
• The use of compresses and packs to stimulate organ function and to reduce pain
• Soft tissue manipulation to rebalance the body’s systems, to reduce pain and to enable detoxification
• Homoeopathy

Naturopathy can alleviate a wide range of conditions and is suitable for all ages.  Some of the more common conditions treated include fatigue, stress related ailments, digestive problems, PMT and general aches and pains.  However, you do not need to be unwell to benefit from naturopathy.

Naturopathic treatments boost the body’s natural healing potential, restoring harmony and preventing disease.

What is the history of naturopathy?

The modern form of naturopathy can be traced to 18th- and 19th-century natural healing systems. Such systems include hydrotherapy (water therapy), which was popular in Germany and nature cure, developed in Austria, and based on the use of food, air, light, water, and herbs to treat illness.

Benjamin Lust, a German immigrant, first introduced naturopathy to the United States in 1902 when he founded the American School of Naturopathy. The school emphasised the use of natural cures, proper bowel habits, and good hygiene as the essential tools for health. This was the first time that dietary principles, like increasing fiber intake and minimizing saturated fats, became popular.

In the mid-1920s to 1940, while allopathic medical training and pharmaceuticals and medical technologies gained notoriety, the use of naturopathic medicine declined. It was not until the 1960s that naturopathic-style holistic medicine regained popularity. Today, naturopaths are licensed primary care providers in many states offering information and advice on a variety of alternative and complementary therapies, including homeopathy, vitamin and mineral supplements, Traditional Chinese Medicine, relaxation techniques, and herbal remedies.

The Australian Natural Therapists Association Limited (ANTA) is the largest national democratic association of ‘recognised professional’ traditional medicine and natural therapy [Complementary Medicine] practitioners who work in the areas of health care and preventative medicine.

The word massage is most likely to have emerged from the Greek word ‘Massein’, meaning ‘to knead’ or the Arabic word ‘mas’h’ meaning ‘to press softly’. Massage is the oldest form of physical medicine known to man and can be traced back to the early Chinese medical manuscripts around 400BC. Massage was advocated by Hippocrates who was born in the fifth century and was known as ‘the father of medicine’. It was widely used and written of in Roman times with history recording how Julius Ceaesar received massage to relieve neuralgia!

Very little was recorded about massage in Europe between the Roman times and the early Middle Ages, but by the sixteenth century medicine slowly started to re-learn what had been lost. Between 1776 and 1839, a Swedish professor, Peter Ling, created a scientific system of therapeutic massage known as Swedish massage and established a teaching institute in Stockholm.

Today, massage therapy is one of the fastest growing forces in the field of health care.

How does it work?

Massage is simply the manipulation of the soft tissues of the body – the muscles, tendons and ligaments. A massage therapist’s hands are his most important tool through which he not only treats the patient but also detects physical and emotional problems. The massage therapist palpates the patient’s body to determine the condition of the tissues and the likely source of any pain, and thus the correct form of remedial treatment.

Massage works through the various body systems in one of two ways, a mechanical action and a reflex action. A mechanical action is created by moving the muscles and soft tissues of the body using pressure and stretching movement, thereby cleansing them of acids and deposits. This mechanical action breaks up fibrous tissue and loosens stiff joints.

A reflex is created when treatment of one part of the body affects another part of the body, much like pressing a light switch on a wall to turn on a light in the centre of the room. Just like this electric connection, so too are different parts of the body connected to each other not just by flesh and bone but by nerve pathways, or flows of energy known as ‘meridians’. So, by using reflex action, some therapists will treat a patient’s stomach complaint by massaging the arms, and will alleviate pain in the legs by massaging the lower back.

Sports Massage is the Management, manipulation and rehabilitation of soft tissues of the body including muscles, ligaments and tendons.

The techniques used by sports massage practitioners have been developed to ensure effective and efficient results are gained from each massage given. The reported benefits of Sports Massage include:

• Improve circulation & lymphatic flow
• Assist in the removal of metabolic waste
• Sedate or stimulate nerve endings
• Increase or decrease muscle tone
• Increase or decrease muscle length
• Remodel scar tissue when required
• Assist in mental preparation for sporting participation

To benefit from a sports massage you do not need to be a sports performer. There are many practitioners that work with a great range of clients. The benefits above can also help relieve many day to day problems that everyone experiences. By ensuring you use an SMA accredited practitioner, you ensure that you will be receiving an individually tailored, high quality massage. Depending on the type and timing of activity these benefits can be achieved for anyone.

If you are a sports performer, of any level, a sports specific massage can be beneficial at various stages of participation. For example:

• The conditioning / training phase
• Pre competition
• Inter competition
• Post competition
• Post travel
• Injury prevention
• Injury recovery

Regardless of your experiences in sport or exercise whether you exercise socially or compete to an international level – sports massage may have something to offer you.

Members of the Sports Massage Association will be able to identify anyone for whom sports massage would be ill-advised or detrimental to their short or long-term, well being. They will assess each individual and provide the appropriate massage techniques, and advise on alternative action if required.

Times have changed, health spa vacations are for both men and women and some places also cater for children. They are no longer for the elite, health spas are now every affordable. With the growing demand, more people are taking this kind of vacation and there are more places to choose from than ever before. A growing number of health spas also offer treatments beyond the normal relaxation or de-stress in one place. The Haven is offering much more in the way of health programs aimed at helping people overcome and/or manage many chronic diseases.

So why would you consider coming to our health spa in Panama

1)      It is time to do something different for your next vacation – think outside the box go somewhere different.

2)      This might be our first opportunity, now the kids are older to have a vacation without them.  Do something totally for yourselves.

3)      Is your lifestyle in a rut? This is your opportunity to learn how to change some aspects.

4)      If you are stressed this type of vacation will suit you and help you truly unwind

5)      Learn how to exercise

6)      If you have a health problem, are in constant pain, our experienced health practitioners will be able to advise and treat you.

International team from Britain and Australia.

A body scrub is essentially an exfoliant, its purpose is to remove the dull dead layer of the skin. Scrubs help to increase the circulation and leave the newer layer of skin hydrated, smooth, soft and glowing. You do have to be careful if you have sensitive skin and certainly this not for you if you have red skin from sunbathing or any eczema or rashes.

A body scrub is a good treatment to have if you are about to have false tan applied. We do not recommend them and do not offer a tanning service at our health spa.

Our body scrub contains sea salt, natural glycerine (excellent for hydrating the skin and leaving feeling it very smooth) plus essential oils of lavender or lemongrass.

Body scrubs are simply to do at home in the shower.

Although aromatherapy seems to be a recent addition to modern alternative medicine, the practice of using essential oils (the oils extracted from certain plants) to enhance health and beauty dates back nearly to the beginning of civilization. In Chinese medicine, dating back thousands of years it was common place to use aromatherapy (by burning incense) to enhance the balance between the physical and the metal. The ancient Egyptians used essential oils like cedar-wood, clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, and myrrh in embalming and Cleopatra used essential oils in her beauty regimes. Hippocrates, known as the father of medicine also used them to balance the mind, body and soul.

How does aromatherapy works? It works in four main ways.

Via the olfactory – our sense of smell affecting the part of the brain that helps regulate all the hormonal systems in the body.

Via touch – we all know that touch is therapeutic .

Via breathing – inhaling aroma therapy

Through the skin – essential oils absorb though the skin and into the blood stream in about 20 minutes.

For an aromatherapy massage, essential oils are mixed in a carrier oil, in our health spa we have chosen rice bran oi for a number of reasons. Rice bran oil 100% pure is a nourishing, powerful skin protector, rich in gamma-oryzanol that replenishes the skin.  Full of antioxidants and phyto-terols, helps reduce inflammation, soothes discomfort, wonderful for itchy prone skin. Has long been used in Japan to protect and moisturize. Rice Bran oil is one of the richer carrier oils, mildly anti-bacterial, it feels soft and velvety. So you get the benefit of the essential and the carries oil.   The reason essentiasl oils are diluted into a carrier oil, is because essentials oils are highly concentrated pure plant compounds. It is important to buy good quality pure essentials oils.

Like herbs there are hundreds of essentials oils with varying healing properties and like herbs there come very well known and popular essentials we have all heard of like lavender known for relaxing, or tea tree with its reputation for helping all sorts of conditions, eucalyptus for the respiratory system, or lemon for cleansing.

There are contra-indications – if you are pregnant or take certain medication or if you are a child or suffer epilepsy or high blood pressure. You do not need to worry we get you to fill out a questionnaire before treatment.

There are signs that your body might be run down and possibly suffer from an overload with more than it can handle. Luckily are bodies tell us we just need to take note –

Fatigue

Over weight

Frequent headaches

Digestive problems

Frequent infections – like colds or flu

Allergies – sinuses, asthma, hay-fever, rhinitis, rashes and so much more

For some people the answer is to take pharmaceutical medication which will further burden the body with chemicals and certainly isn’t the long term answer.

People are beginning to turn to day spas for regular appointments to longer stays at health spas and clinics. Many people are now realizing an ounce of prevention in detox treatments and programs is doing them a world of good and that they feel so much better for it.

Treatments with us can include body wraps (with detoxing aromatherapy essential oils, infrared saunas (for a more efficient detox), therapeutic massage (aromatherapy or lymphatic massage), various types of exercise, professional nutritional advice (from a naturopath and nutritional therapist). We also offer acupuncture to help the organs of elimination function better. We also have relaxation areas and important part of the detox process.

Then you need to consider – what happens after you visit to the health spa you need to continue to do your bit. It is important to consume fresh fruits and vegetables as we all know and you probably wonder why I keep mentioning it. Well two reasons – my experience and all the statics and research point to the fact most people are not eating anything like the “5 a day” which is in fact the bare minimum daily requirement. This is not for optimum health which would be 6 to 12 portions a day. Impossible, people often tell me – I eat between 9 to 15 every day.  When they describe a portion is it quite same – a portion is the size of a medium apple. If you managed 7 portions of fruit and vegetables a day, every day you would be doing yourself a big favour.

Other things that help the body on a daily basis

Soaking in a bathtub – with Epsom salts are very useful in drawing toxins from the body

Detox teas

Dietary supplements

Dry skin brushing to stimulate the lymph system

Hot and cold showers – first hot (about 3 minutes) and then cold (about 30 seconds) and repeat if you can?

When you should not go for a detox – maybe just some treatments at a health spa – pregnant women, nursing mothers, young children, and the very elderly. As for other conditions – at the health spa there will be health practitioners that can advice on the best course of action for your particular symptons.

Acupuncture is an ancient technique that has been around for thousands of years however it is still not certain exactly how it works. One thing the experts do agree on though is that it does work. It has been proven time and time again through scientific studies all over the globe in getting very real results from helping asthma to arthritis pain to migraine headaches to frozen shoulders.

These days we have two very different theories as to how acupuncture works:

If you look at traditional Chinese philosophy you see that the belief system stems around yin and yang. These are two opposing forces contained in everything in the universe including your body. If these forces are in balance you are healthy. The yin and yang are kept in balance by chi, energy which circulates throughout the body through channels known as meridians. Along these meridians are points called acu-points that an acupuncturist will place hair like needles to stimulate a response from the body which promotes the body’s natural healing abilities and improves its function. When the chi is not flowing freely and becomes stuck or blocked, similar to damming a stream of water obstructing its flow, it can lead to illness and pain. By inserting the needles the flow can become restored which enables the body to be healed. There are about 2000 acu-points in the body.

The western medical viewpoint on acupuncture believes that there may be a correlation between the needles being inserted which in turn stimulates the central nervous system releasing neurotransmitters and hormones which can relieve pain, increase your immune system and regulate bodily organ functions.

When looking for an acupuncturist you can seek out a doctor who has trained in acupuncture or a licensed acupuncturist. The major differences between the two are that a doctor will generally have had 200 or so hours of training where as a trained acupuncturist will have had around 3000 hours of training. For instance, in my course we spent the first full year studying theory and it wasn’t until the second year until we were allowed to insert needles.

There are even different types of acupuncture treatments, all originating from different parts of the world. The most common being from china but the Japanese have also been treating with acupuncture for centuries and the major difference is that the Japanese use pins that barely pierce the skin. There is acupuncture that is based on five elements theory which treats the imbalances of the body by seeking a balance of the wood, water, fire, earth and metal elements of the body’s energies. There is auricular acupuncture that was first developed in France which treats the whole body by stimulating the acupuncture point’s on the ear only. There are over 200 points in the ear alone! There is also Korean acupuncture which focuses on putting the points in the hands to regulate the body’s organs and musculo-skeletal system. There is even animal acupuncture which the Chinese have been doing on their pets since 136AD. The American Veterinary Medical Association recognizes acupuncture as a legitimate treatment and you can even get pet insurance plans that can cover the costs.

Acupuncture is used to treat a huge range of disease states including:

addictions, asthma, nausea, carpal tunnel syndrome, colds/flu, bowel irregularities, headaches, fibromyalgia, low back and neck pains, menstrual problems, arthritis, sinusitis, urinary problems, stress/anxiety to mention but a few. The world health organization recognizes over 100 disorders that can be treated by acupuncture. If you are unsure as to whether your health problem can be treated by acupuncture it is best to speak to a qualified acupuncturist.

In 2004 a study in the annals of medicine showed that acupuncture significantly reduced pain and improved function on 294 people suffering from chronic osteoarthritis of the knee who could not be helped by medicine. After 8 weeks these people felt far less pain in their knees than before the treatments.

The Mayo clinic found that 50 participants with fibromyalgia had significant reductions in their pain and joint stiffness from acupuncture treatments

A report in a 2005 issue of the Obstetrics and Gynecology found that could relieve overactive bladder problems. Out of a group of 74 women who had acupuncture, 30% had less urgent trips to the bathroom compared to 3% fewer trips with those who were given sham acupuncture.

When you go for treatment with a qualified acupuncturist he/she will likely ask you a number of questions regarding your digestion, your energy levels, your quality of sleep, your diet, whether you prefer a cold or warm environment to name but a few. He will check your pulse to evaluate the state of balance within your body. Pulse diagnosis is an important tool in traditional Chinese medicine and a lot of information can be learned from the pulses alone (a medical doctor trained in a short acupuncture course will not likely have this skill as it takes many years of study to do this) and also your tongue will be checked for the color, shape, color of the coating/lack of coating etc. All of these questions and diagnostic techniques give the therapist an idea of what state of balance or imbalance there is in your body. It’s very much like being a detective and putting all of the clues together to arrive at a diagnosis. Then the practitioner inserts anywhere from 4 to 12 pins on various locations of the body. The pins are made of stainless steel and are used only once. The old methods used re-usable pins which were sterilized but this is very seldom used anymore because of blood contamination and the fact that the needles get blunt after a while so it’s painful. Normally when a person has acupuncture they don’t even feel the pins go in. It is virtually painless. The pins are left for about 20 mins and then taken out.

Acupuncture has survived for more than 5000 years and today is used more widely throughout the world than ever before. It’s more widely recognized by the western medical establishment than ever before. It is used in hospitals throughout the globe and there are hundreds of studies that have shown the effectiveness of acupuncture. It is not necessary to ‘have to believe in it’ for it to work and you may see results immediately after the first treatment depending on the condition. Acupuncture is no longer a question these days if it works as millions of satisfied clients will tell you a resounding YES. However, like any form of treatment it is not the ‘be all and end all’. It will treat certain conditions better than other treatments just like any other form of therapy may be better at treating certain dysfunctions better than others. This is why speaking to an experienced practitioner is an important step to get an informed opinion whether your particular condition can be treated successfully.

We have two acupuncturists here at our health spa in Panama