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Ten Things You May Not Know About Lymph

1/25/2016

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1) The composition of lymph fluid is similar to that of blood plasma, except with white blood cells instead of red. 
2) It is an open system and it has no pump (like the heart in the circulatory system). Lymph has to be manually facilitated in order to move, through contract of muscle tissues during physical exercise or through specific manual therapy techniques.
3) When the swelling around an injury goes down, that is your lymphatic system at work.
4) Lymph is created when interstitial fluid is taken in by lymphatic capillaries.
5) Women have an estimated 20-30% larger lymphatic structure than men.
6) Lymph generally does not flow backwards. However, if the pressure within the capillary walls is elevated, the flow of lymph fluid can become stagnant enough to allow back flow and cause edema.
7) The lymph system is like an automatic flushing toilet, preventing waste from building up in your body.
8) Tonsils are a cluster of lymphatic cells.
9) Morning mucus can be a sign of clogged lymph ducts.
10) The two main lymph outlets are in your mid-back, and improper flow/drainage can cause discomfort to these areas. 

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In Memory of Naemi Huhta

1/15/2016

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Our dear mother and long-time Naturale Alternatives employee, Naemi Huhta, passed away on December 31st, 2015. Thank you for all of the thoughts, prayers and memorials in her honor. May God repay you for your love and kindness. 

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Behind the Scenes: Electro-Body Therapy!

1/14/2016

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Janelle is working the extensors in the forearm -- tension in these muscles can be linked to symptoms like numbness and tingling in the fingers.

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Here she is working the posterior deltoid muscle of the shoulder. Tension in the shoulders can spread to other areas, contributing to headaches as well as neck and upper back pain.

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Wound Healing: The Effects of pH and Microcurrent

1/11/2016

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Chronic wounds are a puzzle for some providers as there are several factors that help define best parameters for healing, and many of the factors are difficult to measure with tangible results.

However much research has shown that the tissues in chronic wounds tend to be alkaline, that is to have a higher pH (7.15-8.9); this factor is then linked to decreased healing potential because an alkaline environment has more resistance to the electrical changes needing to happen within the damaged tissues in order for them to heal.​

Wound Healing

You might be interested to know that the four phases of wound healing are:
  • Hemostasis: clotting of blood
  • Inflammation: antibody response that naturally debrides damaged tissue
  • Proliferation: rapid multiplication of parts, such as blood vessels and skin cells
  • Remodeling: collagen and proteins organize the scar tissue for wound closure
These phases normally progress in an overlapping, quick and orderly process. In a chronic wound, these phases do not overlap or complete in the normal rapid succession for healing. The most common reasons for impaired wound healing are infection (acclerated presence of microbes) and ischemia (lack of oxygen to the tissues), but what does your body need in order to avoid infection and ischemia?

pH: Potential Hydrogen

Potential Hydrogen is the concentration of hydrogen ions in a given aqueous solution, and an appropriate level of hydrogen ions critically influences all body functions. 
  • pH influences all of your body's biochemical reactions by controlling both the rate of enzyme activity and the level of electrical resistance.
  • Even a small change in pH, bringing it closer to neutral, allows better oxygen delivery to damaged and surrounding tissues. Oxygen is essential to phases two and three of healing, specifically counteracting bacteria and growing new tissue cells.
  • To illustrate the delicate balance between the two major risks for impaired wound healing, pH that is too high does not allow enough oxygen flow for the wound to heal, but a pH that is too low can also allow other types of bacteria to grow, increasing chance of infection. 
  • pH varies throughout the body --arterial and venous pH is different, skin and deep tissue pH is different, and restoring the body's natural electrical balance is the only way to balance pH as needed in all areas. 
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In addition to the effects on protease activity and oxygen release, other effects of lowering the pH to a more acidic environment are to reduce the toxicity of bacterial end products such as ammonia, enhancing the destruction of abnormal collagen in the ulcer bed, promotion of angiogenesis, increased macrophage and fibroblast activity and control of enzyme activity.

What factors into healing?

Factors which negatively influence healing are: 
  • Vitamin C deficiency
  • Presence of necrotic (dead) tissue increases the metabolic load on the wound, limiting oxygen delivery
  • Nutritional deficiency
  • Infection -- as bacterial contamination rises, pH continues to decrease. 
  • Radiation and/or drugs which disrupt cell division
  • Smoking increases incidence of infection and decreases availability of oxygen
  • Disease processes, like diabetes

Benefits of Microcurrent

Microcurrent can benefit your plan of care for wound healing in these ways:
  • Facilitate proper oxygenation of tissues
  • Stimulate protease activity to speed the breakdown of proteins
  • Hyperstimulate release of metabolic waste material to aid wound healing
  • Reestablish your body's electrical balance at a cellular level (i.e. lowering electrical resistance = lowering pH)

Summary

Wound healing is most compromised by infection and ischemia, and pH directly affects both of them. To support your body's ability to maintain proper pH, try microcurrent therapy to stimulate oxygenation and to balance your cellular electrical communication.

Read More:
What Is pH?
National Institutes of Health
Wounds Research
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
​Medscape
​Body's pH Regulation
ph_and_wound_healing.pdf
File Size: 360 kb
File Type: pdf
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We Always Say, "Drink a Lot of Water": But Why?

1/8/2016

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"The Elixir of Life"


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Proper hydration is essential for all of the body's functions. There are several theories on how to determine the appropriate amount needed on a daily basis, and yet there is also general consensus that few people drink enough water to meet the body's requirements.

Massage alone mobilizes muscle and connective tissue, releasing fluids and sending them to the kidneys. If there are points of injury and/or constriction (knots) that inhibit circulation of fluids, body work can facilitate the release of that metabolic waste as well. At Naturale Alternatives, Electro-Body Therapy combines body work with microcurrent; the additional stimulation of microcurrent will aid in moving a lot more nitrogenous metabolic waste out of the muscles and tissues than body work alone.

Drinking water assists the kidneys in processing out this waste instead of allowing it to pile up in other areas of the body. If you feel flu-like or get a headache after treatment, you can be sure that drinking extra water will help. A long, hot soak in the tub will also aid in the process of releasing toxins or waste material. 
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  • Home
  • Therapy Services
    • Electro-Body Therapy
    • Meet Our Staff
    • Client Feedback
  • Locations & Info
    • Menahga
    • Dayton
    • Long Prairie/Sauk Centre/Alexandria
    • Fargo-Moorhead
  • Order VoxxLife