May 2007 MCS America News: Healing Modalities: Massage

Massage involves the application of pressure and motion through touch to the soft tissues of the body, including lymphatic to achieve a beneficial response. While many enjoy massage as a simple means of relaxation, it is also touted to increase lymphatic drainage and increase blood flow, bringing oxygen and nutrients into the tissues. Massage has also been shown to improve autistic behavior, relieve anxiety and depression, increase healing after surgery, improve growth in premature infants, increase attention and focus, reduce muscle tension, and reduce blood pressure.

A study entitled Perceived Treatment Efficacy for Conventional and Alternative Therapies Reported by Persons with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, in which Gibson et al (2003) found that fifty-nine percent of subjects felt that massage helped with the symptoms of multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS). This is reasonable considering that massage increases nutrients and oxygen in the tissues which would likely reduce fatigue and brain fog. Additional blood flow helps to cleanse the body and possibly relieve some of the body burden of toxins carried.

Since endorphins (natural pain killers) are released during massage, it is also a useful therapy for pain reduction and may be useful for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue. The combination of relaxation, endorphins, nutrients and oxygenation is likely to produce a positive effect in most subjects.

Massage is popular, not for these effects, but for the sheer pleasure of touch being used to reduce tension and relax muscles. However, as we discovered, massage is not only pampering and rejuvenating, but also highly therapeutic!

See you on the massage table!

Reference:

Gibson, PR, Elms, NM, & Ruding, LA (2003). Perceived Treatment Efficacy for Conventional and Alternative Therapies Reported by Persons with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities. Environmental Health Perspectives. 111(12):1498-1504.

Copyrighted © 2007 MCS America

Healing Modalities for Multiple Chemical Sensitivity: Did You Say Exercise?

Yup, I said exercise! Before we go any further, don't begin an exercise program without checking with your doctor first! Let's play it safe. Exercise is not for everyone. Certainly, if you have chronic fatigue or certain other health conditions, it should be taken slowly and may even be contraindicated. That's for you and your doctor to decide. So please check with a doctor first.

Now, once you've been given the go ahead, you'll probably be wondering why exercise is showing up in a healing modalities column. No, exercise will not cure MCS. But it will improve your ability to RUN FAST in the face of an exposure without losing your breath and forcefully shove smelly people out of the way. Seriously, like any healing modality, there are true benefits of exercise including increased strength, improved circulation, improved stamina, cardiovascular health, flexibility, pain reduction, and even relaxation. All of these lead to better overall health and it can't hurt to be healthier in the face of MCS and the damage many toxicants can and do cause.

For me, exercise is a form of meditation that far surpasses any other form of meditation or relaxation. Nothing relieves pain more than a hard core workout. Call it a "runners high" if you like, but when one exercises there is a true change in the body as endorphins are released. Endorphins are the bodies endogenous, natural pain killers. My muscles melt like butter after a workout. I feel relaxed and good.

So what kind of workout is best? Now seriously, that is like asking what food is the best food on earth. Answers will vary greatly. You may already know what form of exercise you enjoy and suits you best. If not, I suggest trying out a few different types of exercise on differing days.

Allow yourself time to recuperate in between, take it slow in the beginning, and see what you enjoy. Some ideas are aerobics, yoga, running, biking, weight training, and Pilates. The main thing is to find something you enjoy. If you enjoy it, you will stick with it. Actually, you might become addicted to it!

Personally, I'm a weight lifting addict. It keeps the body in shape, is easy to do, and can be done daily if body parts are rotated. I prefer a real gym, though with MCS for many of us that is not possible. Some concerns at the gym include cleaners left out for members to mop up sweat with, fragrances on other members, and air filtration. I find if the gym has a good air filtration system or is open air I am able to move about to avoid too many things that bother me. A gym with several smaller rooms, rather than one big room, works well too because changing rooms when someone enters with fragrance is not a big deal.

A home gym is easy to set up for a couple of hundred dollars. A simple adjustable bench, an EZ curl bar, a set of adjustable dumbbells, a few extra weights for the EZ curl bar and dumbbells, and a couple of heavy duty exercise bands is about all you need to get started. If you wanted to spend $600 you could add a squat rack and bicycle, as well as go for a bench that has a straight bar, leg curl/extension attachment, and rack for the bar for bench pressing.

If you want to keep it simple, the neighbor hood track is a good place to do some walking and running. Many calisthenics can be done in the living room. The sofa makes a perfect ledge to do crunches too! With the benefits of exercise being so great, it's worth a try to see if it improves health and function. Oh, I must go now. It's gym time!

Copyrighted © 2007 Lourdes Salvador

Healing Modalities: Oil Pulling

The latest craze in healing modalities has turned to what is known as oil pulling. Perhaps you've heard about it already. Oil pulling was developed by Dr. Karach and presented in a paper claiming oil pulling will cure "head-aches, bronchitis, tooth pain, thrombosis, eczema, ulcers and diseases of stomach, intestines, heart, blood, kidney, liver, lungs and women's diseases. It heals diseases of nerves, paralysis, and encephalitis. It prevents the growth of malignant tumors, cuts and heals them. Chronic sleeplessness is cured" (Oil Pulling: A Wonderful Therapy, 2005-2006).

Despite this astonishing, hard to believe list of conditions that oil pulling is purported to cure, it does not appear to be a get rich quick scheme for a natural practitioner or manufacturer. Quite to the contrary the only thing one needs to carry out oil pulling is oil. One might wonder just where this oil must be purchased and think it must be a special oil however it is easy to find on the shelf of most grocery stores. All that is required is a bottle of cold-pressed sesame or sunflower oil.

The procedure involves taking a tablespoon of oil and swishing it around in the mouth, sucking and chomping on it to create a thin foam for about ten to fifteen minutes each morning. Then the mouth is rinsed several times with water. The procedure can be done more than once a day though it is recommended on an empty stomach.

Skeptics may still be looking for a catch though there does not appear to be one at close examination. It certainly could not hurt to swish oil in the mouth and is worthy of a trial run.

It is recommended to keep the chin tilted back to reach the rear molars, use only sesame and sunflower oils for favorable results, and wait at least 4 hours after meals and one hour after drinking before oil pulling (Folk remedies and holistic cures: Oil pulling, 2006 ). A worsening of symptoms is an excellent indication that the disease/ailment is being cured and one should not stop oil pulling if symptoms are aggravated or side effects occur as this is a sign your body is healing (Folk remedies and holistic cures: Oil pulling, 2006 ).

After oil pulling it is recommended to clean the sink properly using some antibacterial soap because the spittle contains harmful bacteria and toxic bodily waste (Oil Pulling Therapy, 2006). It is said that if one were to see one drop of this liquid magnified 600 times under a microscope, one would see microbes in their first stage of development (Oil Pulling Therapy, 2006).

One of the first signs oil pulling is working is the tightening of loose teeth, the whitening of teeth, and a reduction in gum bleeding (Oil Pulling Therapy, 2006). Other conditions may resolve after several weeks or months. During the oil-pulling/swishing process one's metabolism is intensified, leading to improved health (Oil Pulling Therapy, 2006).

Dr. Karach believes that through oil pulling it is possible to "heal individual cells, cell conglomerates such as lymph nodes and more complex tissues such as internal organs simultaneously" and increase the human lifespan to 150 years (Oil Pulling Therapy, 2006). While that sounds a bit fantastical for modern day life, Karach claims that beneficial micro flora throughout the body are provided with a healthy continuum through oil pulling. At the very least no harm can be done by swishing a food as long as it is not swallowed with the harmful bacteria. Worth a try? Sure sounds like it! See you in the oil aisle at the grocery store!

References:

Folk remedies and holistic cures: Oil pulling, (2006 ). Earth Clinic. Retrieved December 26, 2006, Web site: http://www.oilpulling.com/

Oil pulling: A wonderful therapy(2005-2006 ). Retrieved December 26, 2006, Web site:
http://www.oilpulling.com/

Oil Pulling Therapy, (December 21, 2006). Retrieved December 26, 2006, from Life Technology News Web site:
http://www.lifetechnology.org/blog/2006/12/oil-pulling-therapy.html