Dr. Curtis McElroy

Category: Internal Medicine

  • 10 Best Foods To Eat For Optimal Energy

    Top 10 Energy Boosting Foods You Can Eat

    The top complaint of those attempting to balance work and personal life in this fast-paced, stressful world in which we live is not having enough energy to do it all.

    Energy doesn’t come in the form of a magic pill that you can take and immediately escape your feeling of fatigue.

    The main way you can get that energy and maintain it is by eating the right foods several times per day.

    The following are the top 10 healthy foods that can help boost your energy:

    1. Bananas – Adding more fruits to your diet can provide lasting benefits. One of the most important fruits you can add to boost energy are bananas – a powerhouse of potassium and electrolytes that help stimulate the nerves and muscles.

    2. Almonds – These little nuts are chock full of monounsaturated fats that can help your mental clarity and provide Omega-3 oils, essential to combat fatigue and low energy levels.

    3. Oats – Eating oatmeal for breakfast can set you up to have energy throughout the day. Oats provide B vitamins that can turn carbohydrates into energy and give you the fiber you need for nutritional value and a healthy colon.

    4. Lentils (Beans) – A source of fiber, beans also provide B-vitamins, calcium, carbohydrates and protein and can help lower your blood pressure and cholesterol.

    5. Chocolate – This incredible source of quick energy has been used for eons to provide antioxidants (dark chocolate) and improve red blood cells. It increases your energy level with the compounds known as tyramind and phenlethylamine. Eat dark chocolate in moderation.

    6. Whole Grains – Whole grain products contain complex carbohydrates, which can increase your energy levels. If you combine the whole grain food (such as bread) with a high-protein food such as peanut butter, you will sustain the energy boost for a longer period of time.

    7. Fruit Juice – Just make sure the juice is 100% pure. Otherwise, you’ll get sugars and other elements that you don’t need and can bring you down from the temporary high you get from the sugar.

    8. Coffee or Tea – If you drink coffee or tea without the sugar and cream, you’ll get the perk you need to stay awake and keep on going. Just don’t drink too much.

    9. Water – Without the benefit of water you won’t be able to absorb the nutrients you do receive from healthy foods. Lack of water intake could cause fatigue because of dehydration.

    10. Salmon – This type of fish can decrease your risk of heart disease by providing you with the Omega 3 acids that you need to be alert and maintain a constant energy level.

    Rather than eating three large meals a day, eating energy-rich foods several times a day lets you pace your energy boosts to accomplish everything you need to do and still get a good nights rest. This strategy can also help in reducing stress and boost your metabolism which will promote weight loss.

  • What To Expect During Your First Visit To An Osteopathic Physician

    What To Expect During Your First Visit To An Osteopathic Physician

    Considering care under the recommendation of an osteopathic physician has become more and more popular as people are beginning to understand the intricate connection between prevention and control of diseases.

    Doctors who practice osteopathy are often more interested in the prevention of disease and work to control or heal the body by giving an individual all of the support they need in order for the body to help heal itself.

    Doctors of osteopathy are fully trained as medical doctors and can prescribe medication, do surgery and order tests. However, their focus is more holistic than is the more traditional Western medicine doctors.

    When entering the office for the first time you should expect to give some of the same details that you would to a traditional medicine physician such as your name, address, height/weight, occupation, date of birth, children/pregnancies, medications or supplements, any painkillers or anti-inflammatories and any past histories of surgeries.

    During this first visit the doctor will also take a considerable amount of time taking a detailed medical history that will include information about your lifestyle and your diet as well as past injuries, illnesses and your birth history.

    Following your medical history the doctor of osteopathy will also do a full physical examination and ask you to perform a series of movements to test the mobility of your body.

    You may have come in with complaints of pain in one area might find after a thorough physical examination that this pain is a result of “referred” pain.

    In other words the origination of the pain occurs in one area of the body but the individual feels the pain in another area.  This might be likened to an individual having a heart attack where the heart muscle is dying but the individual feels pain down their left arm or in their abdomen.

    The doctor of osteopathy will also perform a variety of passive movements to your joints to arrive at a diagnosis and recommended treatment plan.

    The physician will often explain in detail what has gone wrong and show you models, pictures and diagrams in order to aid in your understanding of your body.

    The philosophy of a doctor of osteopathy is that the individual patient must be fully on board with the information and diagnosis in order to comply more completely with a treatment recommendation.  Only through education and time will individuals come to understand the reasoning behind the diagnosis.

    If the doctor of osteopathy is concerned with the presence of a more serious underlying condition you may be referred to a more appropriate specialist for treatment.

    During your consultation with the physician you will be given advice and help you find ways to self manage the injury.  Since prevention is the key to further injury the doctor may also give you an idea of potentially aggravating factors in your everyday life as well as advise on posture, ergonomics, diet and exercise.

    If you and your doctor of osteopathy choose to use manipulative techniques to help decrease your pain and discomfort you may find that several days after the visits, you have a different type of pain or soreness.  This soreness is related to the motion of the muscles having moved back into correct alignment.

    You should discuss this potential with your doctor of osteopathy prior to leaving the office so that you are not surprised in the next couple of days.

    What you might expect in your first visit with an osteopath is really not too much different than what you would expect with a doctor of medicine who spends time and energy educating his patients about the causative action of disease and how to prevent it further in the future.

     

  • What Are Osteopathic Treatments

    What Are Osteopathic Treatments

    Osteopathic treatments are performed after your osteopathic physician evaluates the result of evaluations and recommendations of a doctor osteopathy.

    This medical profession works from their knowledge of the normal anatomy of a human and compares that to the abnormal body.

    Each visit consists of a medical history, physical and structural examination, osteopathic diagnosis and osteopathic treatment.

    Prior to recommending treatments the physician will take a though history that will often include birth, injuries that affect the joints in either large singular impact or multiple smaller more chronic injury, inflammatory disease processes, surgeries, dental procedures and overall stress levels.

    Once this history is completed they will also do a structural examination that may be performed in a sitting position, lying down or standing.  The physician will be looking for bony asymmetry, tissue abnormality and fluid congestion.  Through touch the doctor will be evaluating the quality of motion, balance and organization of the muscle mass.

    Treatments made by a doctor of osteopathy are manipulations that are attempts to improve the range of motion of joints and to balance tissue and muscle mechanics to relieve pain and improve health.

    There are a number of different types of manipulations that a Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) can use.

    Manipulations will include those that include cranial-sacral motion, counter strain, muscle energy, myofascial release, lymphatic pump, soft tissue techniques, a thrust technique, and visceral techniques.

    Most of these manipulations are done while an individual is sitting or lying down on a table.

    The doctor will gently apply a precise amount of manual pressure (pressure with their hands) in a specific direction.  The pressure is either directly over the affected areas or at some distance away.  This manual pressure is used to relax the tissue or to engage them at their functional limits.

    Doctors of Osteopathy will engage the tissues at their limits to relieve joint restriction or misalignment that is responsible for many back aches, muscle strains and spasticity.  This motion is also used to restore muscle and tissue balance and promote the movement of bodily fluids.  Many times these fluids are either in the lymphatic tissue which is responsible for draining specific areas of the body of toxins or fluids that accumulate around a muscle or joint that has been injured.

    Doctors of Osteopathy are also known for their treatment that impact structural and tissue abnormalities around the vertebrae, muscles, myofascial structures and joints.  These treatments are the ones that are commonly thought of when a person has their back cracked or manipulated.

    These terms are a misnomer since treatment is generally very gentle and it is only the rare person who experiences discomfort during a treatment procedure.  Tissues are supported and usually very little force is required.   However, each patient will experience something unique.  Some feel only a gentle touch while others experience the change in their body immediately.

    Each Osteopathic physician will apply osteopathic principles in treatment and while styles may differ from physician to physician the ultimate goal and modalities are the same.  It is the duty of the DO to listen, support and learn from the patient’s body so that an optimal state of health can be achieved.

    Results of osteopathic treatments can depend upon several factors.

    The most significant factor is the previous state of health of the individual as well as the severity and duration of the current problem.  It should be understood that treatments from a Doctor of Osteopathy aren’t a cure-all but rather a potential solution to some of their problems that have been imprinted individually by the traumas of their lives.

Copyright @ 2017 DrCurtisMcElroy