Alternative Approaches to Health and Wellness

Yes Sparrow, please put your posts back on.
I like to read all kinds of views on a matter so I can investigate it myself. There are times I have been told to do something that would be good for me, then someone else says not too, and if it wasn't for new opinions or ideas then I would not have known there may be more I need to research.
We are all different and respond differently to things, what may work for one may not for someone else. And we may not be aware of a possible danger of something or unpleasant side effect with something we are doing or taking or using until someone brings up what they have experienced or learned.


Since we are on the topic of teeth and gums...here's an example. I have been to the dentist a few times over the years for irritated and easily bleeding gums, and some areas very sensitive and painful. No gum disease, a little gum errosion (got a problem with scrubbing too hard), but no real anwers as to why they are so sensitive. So for years I used the toothpaste for sensitive teeth. Not much help at all.

So I started reading ingredients on the toothpaste tubes, and I found that nearly all the toothpastes out there have glycerin. I had discovered years ago that glycerin in lotions and soaps easily burns the skin on my face. Hmmm...could this glycerin be hurting my gums? With an exhaustive search, I found some toothpaste that has no glycerin. For the last 2 years or so with glycerin-free toothpaste, no more extra-sensitivity or gum irritation.

I hear people say, "but glycerin is natural, shouldn't be a problem", and many recommend it because it is natural, but how many others are having the same trouble as me and the remedy is so easy, and they will never know unless they discover it on their own or hear it from someone else, maybe me?

So we do need differing viewpoints and ideas and experiences.

 

Can you give us the name of the glycerine-free brand?

I had a similar experience with Toms of Maine's homeopathic formula (husband bought it by accident) as soon as I stopped--my swollen gums went away.

But, there might be an interesting connection between tooth and gum health here...I'd like to explore this further...

 

Thank you to everyone that has posted on this thread. I learn so much from you!
Yes, I would agree that mouth health relates to Meniere's. When I had my teeth whitened 10 years ago, by visiting the dentist weekly and using a peroxide-based mixture in trays, I had the worse mm attacks ever. And now that I think about it, my gums and the roof of my mouth have been sensitive with this new flare-up. ???

 

Thank all of you for responding to my deleting my posts (((higs))) I am new here and am just coming up to speed on our posting etiquette and didn't want to throw off this thread. Since those of you who responded to this has had a positive outcome I will repost what I was thinking.

The connection between sinus health and oral health I believe is that the eustachian tube is connected to the upper throat and what affects our sinus health and oral health may have a direct correlation to what affects our inner ears due to the eustachian tube. I know I have mentioned this before, but my allergist/immunologist doctor believes that the unhealthy bacteria from the gut is passed up thru the esophagus and up into our sinus cavities and along the way is the eustachian tube. I developed an interest in oral health years ago via my cat. My vet educated me how bacteria from the mouth is showing direct correlation to heart diseases, so I make sure my cats have their dentals once a year. And this got me to thinking about MM and the route of bacteria and could this be one of the connections in our bodies............

I gave reference to several periodicals that have helped me over the past 7 years. One is Nutrition Action Health Letter. It is printed by The Center for Science in the Public Interest, founded in 1971 and advocates honest food labeling and advertising, safer and more nutritious foods. Nutrition Action Letter accepts no advertising. The second one is Alternative Medicine Magazine. I just started getting this. It takes 2 months after you subscribe to get your first magazine. In this magazine it has interesting articles on Drumming and how this rhythm helps with stress, SAD treatments, full spectrum metabolic food that affects us on the cellular, immune and digestive areas. Goat milk was discussed in how it is closer in molecular structure to that of human milk making it readily digestible and absorbable, for those of us who can't drink milk. There is also a probiotic blend using goat milk too. There was a warning about women taking black cohosh to control hot flashes and it's impact on liver damage.

The November issue of Nutrition Action Health Letter has a sizeable article on Vitamin D and one of the paragraphs is for gum health - Burd, this article would be of interest to you and your gum health you mentioned here. It also talked about muscle health and balance issues in relation to synthesis of this vitamin. I think the balance issues are muscle related, but not sure. It talks about the kidneys and vitamin D and I am connecting the dot here to the thread on the connection between the fluid of the inner ear and the kidneys. The other connections with Vitamin D that it discusses is the affect on Osteoarthritis, Type 1 diabetes, MS, RA. The rest of the newsletter was devoted to Mangosteen, Noni, Pomegranate and they discuss why drink this and the evidence and research and findings.

Oral health ~ I discard my toothbrush once a month and use one of the spin brushes several times a week. I also, and here is where Pardonme and I disagree is I make a peroxide and baking soda paste and use that to brush my teeth and my tongue. My mouth feels much cleaner than using the typical toothpastes. I do all things in moderation and switch around my toothpaste alot too. I also keep my toothbrush out of the bathroom, in fact I brush my teeth in the kitchen, LOL. I had read that bacteria becomes airborn after flushing the toilet and can land on your toothbrush. I keep my toothbrushes upright in a clean glass container inside a kitchen cabinet. Then there is the dental floss, unwaxed per my dentists recommendation. As I age, my salava slows down in my mouth so I am especially sure at the end of the day to floss my teeth to prevent bacteria from building up from trapped food along the gum line.

Sinus health ~ I irrigate my sinuses once a day and have done so the last 7 years. I use a mechanical device that pulsates water gently thru the nasal cavity and down the throat. The gentle pulsating motion removes puss and bacteria from deep within the nasal cavity and moves it out of the sinus area. It also promotes the cilia (the hairs that move puss out of the sinus cavity) to move. One draw back is that the water that went into my sinus cavity is moved out (via the cilia action) several hours later and can be rather embarssing, LOL. I started this when facing more sinus surgery, already had one done and not going there again. When pus and bacteria hang around outside the sinus cavity and drip down it passes by the eusthasian tube, again here is a connection to MM. During cold and flu season I irrigate my sinuses twice a day. I notice when my asthma flares up my nasal passages are stuffy and simply irrigating them, it calms down the asthma action. Also, when I feel stuffy, tinnuitis increases and same does the onset of fullness in my MM ear and I notice my balance goes out of whack.

I also use an isotonic moisturizer in the water along with distilled water, it helps to moisturize my nasal passages and in the winter months ahead and everything becoming very dry this helps alot.

Any little thing we can do to make our healing journey more endurable reduces our stress load and helps with managing more MM attacks.

Thank you for letting me share my point of view

Sparrow

 

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Sparrow -

Throwing out the toothbrush or spin cleaning is so important! I do this too, have for years. Everyone who is sick and "just can't seem to get better" i tell them to throw away the toothbrush or boil it until you get better then replace it. Keep a stack at all times, extras! Common sense since bacteria thrives on warm wet places.

Great post by the way, glad you reposted. I use the Flonase daily. I can't do the nose rinses, they threw me into vertigo long time ago and i haven't touched one since. I have to try this sage tea Pardonme is talking about, is it herbal, caffeine free?

 

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It's made in India, and it's called Vicco, pure herbal ayurvedic toothpaste. I get it at Market of Choice but they also have their own website at viccolabs.com. It doesn't taste like most minty toothpastes. It took a bit of getting use to but what I like is that when I'm done my mouth tastes naturally clean without added flavors.

I use peroxide for my mouth. I mix about one part of peroxide to 2 parts "Listerine" mouthwash and rinse after brushing at the end of the day. I got this idea from buying Listerine's whitening mouthwash, in a white bottle, considerably more expensive. Since I buy store brand equivalents of the Listerine, I found out that it was peroxide in the Listerine whitening stuff that was the difference, so I mix my own, alot cheaper.
I remember when getting a wisdom tooth extracted years ago that I was to gargle with peroxide to kill germs while that sore healed. I didn't do extensive searches about peroxide and dental care, but it all pointed to being safe for me so thats what I'm doing for myself.
I keep my toothbrush stored every day in a cup of rubbing alcohol. No one ever told me to do this, but I figured since alcohol kills germs it would be a good idea, and then of course I rinse it well before using it.


About the sage, would that be just regular sage used for recipes?

 

Wow...I'm really happy that this discussion continued...there are some changes going to be made in my household!

Also, about the increased phlegm...the Traditional Chinese Medicine has some things to say specifically about this and it's relationship to dizziness and vertigo (sorry, I'll have to put it on my list of things to look up to reference to you...)--there are chinese remedies that you can buy to relieve it--but my favourite is the most simple--just eat lots of fresh ginger.

I usually get it and put it in smoothies that I make in the blender along with juice and frozen fresh fruit.

That reminds me...I ran out a while back and forgot to replace it!


Tamara

 

First I'd like to say that Doctors "practice" medicine. Yes they go to school and all but they are still practicing on every patient. Now I love my Internist Doc - he's great but even he will agree with me. American Docs can be threatened by "alternative or holistic" medicine and I can't understand that view. They should be open to possibilities.

I am trying to regain "myself" and this thread has been very interesting. I think the old thread Tamara had I checked out for a while but...guess I just got a little depressed and stopped reading. (Nothing in the thread, just my state of mind at the time)

I was going to an Energy Healer for a while and he was helping me. I would feel much better after sessions with him. I felt he was giving me my life back. However for financial reasons - I can't go right now. I had also started Massage Therapy (I loved that too) but same reason I had to stop. I think that having to stop the Energy Healing just made me give up. Actually it's the fact that I have no insurance, no income (but Hubbies and that's another story) and have applied for SSI. I guess I feel I'm on "hold".

I no longer drink caffiene, try to stay as lo so as I can and we eat more fresh foods. No food allergies (just seasonal nasal). I have great gums but have always been cavity prone (and my Dad was a Dentist). Change my electric toothbrush every 3 months and in the meantime I put it in the dishwasher (OK I'm weird) at least 2 times a week. I know I do not get as much excercise as I need right now and I'm sure there are many other things I should be doing.

What I want to say is that this thread is an inspiration and even if I can't afford the tx I'd like right now. You have all given me a big boost today and I thank you all. I know I'll get there one of these days.

 

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Hey everyone
I was trying to find out about the nutritional value of collard greens (I eat them all the time and I kept thinking ' these are going to change my life!') So I looked around and found this truly excellent website. if you've already seen it, congrats, but for those of us who are still trying to get the most benefit from our diets, it's pretty awesome. It really goes into detail about certain foods and how and why they work...
http://www.whfoods.com/whoweare.php

WOO HOO
Meghan ;D

 

pardonme,
what type of chiro did you decide to go see?

 

Diane, thanks for the sage info. Sorry your'e feeling "wonkie", i'm sure you've been overdoing things with the move. Lets hope the chiro gets you back on track. Hey, i'm in the middle of making my chicken soup, wish i could send some your way! :-*

Oh, i just LOVE the toothbrush in the dishwasher, that is awesome!!

 

Meghan ~ Thank you for sharing the website about healthy food selections, very informative !!! I have added this site to my favorites . Glad to know that I am eating very densely nutritious foods, except for the donut I had today, couldn't find donuts on the list............... darn !!

Just wanted to add, about putting things thru the dishwasher, I have heard about putting toothbrushes in the dishwasher. I put my kitchen pot scrubbers in there too. Years ago I had a roommate who had MS and she was a germ-oholic. To watch her was amazing. She cleaned her bathroom from top to bottom everyday. She never reused the same bath towel after her showers, she never re-wore the same clothing more than once, she must have had 7 nightgowns, 7 of everything Everything in the bathroom was sealed up in sterile containers. She even had this rinser that she would put her toothbrush in that sterilized it. And I thought I was a germ-oholic, LOL.

Sparrow

 

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Sparrow--I've been microwaving my sponges for a few years now, as it kills the bacteria in it. i try though not to be germ phobic because I believe in building up a tolerance to germs. the other thing is that the chemicals used for cleaning products can be really harsh and abrasive and excessive use of them can cause more damage than good!
just a thought! Glad the food site was a hit!
Meg

 

I guess I grew up in a sterile environment - my Mother was a VERY clean lady. You could run a white gloved hand over any door sill in our house and come bac with a clean white glove! I'm serious! She literally hand washed the dishes (hot hot water) then put them in the dishwasher for sterilization. Maybe that's why I'm (as my friends use to call me) anal. Actually I think it IS why I always got sick as a kid. Like waxwing said you need to build up a tolerance to germs.

Anyway with my Dad a Dentist and Mother a clean freak - I've always put my toothbrush in the dishwasher. I do it with dish brushes too. But I do use my bath towel several times before washing. LOL

Thanks for the encouragement Pardonme! I'll check out the self energy healing. I wanted some Tai Chi books anyway.

 

Sorry that I have not been around to be part of this conversation until now, but because of alternative approaches to health and wellness... I have been out doing things I would not have even dreamed of doing a year ago. And just recently... I've been doing a lot of them... Like setting up and working a craft show for my brother and sister-in-law (with someone with me the whole time just in case) for two whole days and then tearing it all down. Also sewing for a show choir in a crowded hot school cafeteria filled with screaming, energetic teenagers.

I am amused but not surprised how quickly the thread turned philosophical... and how the root of alternative approaches is so deeply rooted in understanding oneself and how we have contributed to our own problems and are responsible for finding our way out.

I am also amused but not surprised by how quickly the conversation moved on to smaller matters instead of listing alternative treatments which may be more what Tamara intended. We all know them and understand them and have done them.

And I am really amused that we are now onto bacteria and using the diswasher as a sterilizer.

What a great group, great thread. The perfect end to a pleasantly busy day.

SpinininOhio

 

SpinninginOhio please get me back on track! What have you been doing that has you out and about now? PLEASE come back and add it to this thread!