Functional Medicine

Functional medicine plays a vital role in how ACN Wellness Centers treats patients. Functional medicine relies on an interdisciplinary approach toward patient treatment. The team at ACN combines traditional medicine with a holistic approach that looks at how the mind and body work together when it comes to the healing process.

As conventional medicine has evolved, there has been too much emphasis on addressing disease with non-natural prescription medications. There has not been enough emphasis on using more natural means such as nutraceuticals, defined as foods containing health giving additives and having medicinal benefit. After laboratory analysis of nutrient imbalances and deficiencies, a customized nutraceutical regimen will be recommended for each patient.

By taking a functional medicine approach to treating patients, the team at ACN can help patients address many health conditions including:

Oxidative stress-an imbalance between the production of free radicals and the ability of the body to counteract or detoxify their harmful effects through neutralization by antioxidants

Glycation-a process where sugar and protein bond together, involved in aging

Silent inflammation-usually painless and only detected by specific blood testing, this is the underlying cause for chronic disease

DNA damage-alteration of the chemical structure of DNA, caused by exposure to toxins

Neurohormonal decline-a huge drop in the hormones released by neuroendocrine cells

Immune dysfunction-the immune system is not functioning at optimal levels

Methylation-a permanent DNA alteration by the addition of certain chemical groups, changing gene expression.

Using a functional medicine approach to treating patients, ACN can help patients address many illnesses including:

Heart disease

Diabetes

High cholesterol

High blood pressure

Autoimmune disorders

Vitamin and mineral deficiencies

To learn how functional medicine at ACN Wellness can help achieve the healthy life you deserve, please contact us to arrange an initial consultation today.

ACN Massage

 What is a massage? Massage involves working and acting on the body with pressure – structured, unstructured, stationary, or moving – tension, motion, or vibration, done manually or with mechanical aids. Massage can be applied with the hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearm, feet, or a massage device. Massage can promote relaxation and well-being, and can relieve pain from injury or chronic disease, lessen anxiety and eliminate depression. It can also be used to treat neck and back pain, headaches and migraines, carpal tunnel, numbness and tingling, fibromyalgia, and a host of other maladies.

The word massage is believed to come from the root word “massa” (found in the French, Arabic, Latin and Greek languages) meaning "friction or kneading, to touch, feel or handle". Archaeological evidence of massage has been found in many ancient civilizations including China, India, Japan, Korea, Egypt, Rome, Greece, and Mesopotamia. There are many different types of massage: Acupressure, Shiatsu, Balinese, Cranial-sacral, Lymphatic drainage, Reflexology, Stone massage, Tuina, etc and many different methods of practicing these types of massage.

Tuina is a form of Chinese manipulative therapy practiced by ACNWellness massage therapists and often used in conjunction with acupuncture, moxibustion (a dried root used to warm the body), fire cupping (a local suction is created on the skin using heat and a small cup), Chinese herbalism, t'ai chi (an internal Chinese martial art practiced for both its defense training and its health benefits), and qigong (a practice of aligning body, breath, and mind for health, meditation, and martial arts training).  Tuina is a hands-on body treatment that uses Chinese taoist and martial arts principles in an effort to bring the eight principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) into balance. The practitioner may brush, knead, roll/press, and rub the areas between each of the joints, known as the eight gates, to attempt to open the body's defensive chi and get the energy moving in the meridians and the muscles. Techniques may be gentle or quite firm. The name comes from two of the actions: tui means "to push" and na means "to lift and squeeze." Other strokes include shaking and tapotement (to tap with the fingers in a thrumming motion). The practitioner can then use range of motion, traction, with the stimulation of acupressure points. These techniques are used to aid in the treatment of both acute and chronic musculoskeletal conditions, as well as many non-musculoskeletal conditions.

In professional settings, massage involves the client being treated while lying on a massage table, sitting in a massage chair, or lying on a mat on the floor. The massage subject may be fully or partially clothed or unclothed. Sessions may last 30 minutes up to 90 minutes and are performed by a Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT). Be sure that your LMT is licensed and insured, that the facility providing the massages is also licensed by the state (we are), the massages are overseen by a physician, you are comfortable with the therapist you are working with, and your LMT is current in continuing education (CE) credits.

Custom Orthotics

Orthotics, which comes from the Greek word orthos, meaning "to straighten" or "align", is a specialty within the medical field concerned with the design, manufacture and application of orthoses. An orthosis is a device used outside of the body to make minor changes to the structure and function of the muscular and skeletal system. An orthosis may be used to:

*Control, guide, limit and/or immobilize an extremity, joint or body segment for a particular reason

*To restrict movement in a given direction

*To assist movement generally

*To reduce weight bearing forces for a particular purpose

*To aid rehabilitation from fractures after the removal of a cast

*To otherwise correct the shape and/or function of the body, to provide easier movement capability or reduce pain

Orthotics combines knowledge of anatomy and physiology, pathophysiology, biomechanics and engineering. Patients benefiting from an orthosis may have a condition such as spina bifida or cerebral palsy, or have experienced a spinal cord injury or stroke. Equally, orthoses are sometimes used preventatively or to optimize performance in sports.

The feet are the foundation of the spine and the body. This is true whether a person is standing, walking, or running. Thus, balanced foot structure is vital to ankle, knee, hip and spinal health. If the foot structure is misaligned then the rest of the body will be thrown off balance, causing pain and/or problems with general movement.

Orthotics is the common name for shoe inserts that are intended to correct abnormal walking patterns, mostly caused by foot pronation (the inward roll of the foot), or a collapsed medial arch (in laymen's terms: flat feet). It is estimated that over 80% of people have some type of foot pronation. They are either under-pronators (not enough roll), or over-pronators (too much roll). Over time this can cause severe problems such as plantar fasciitis, heel pain, knee meniscal degeneration, hip pain and back pain.

Dr. Le at ACN Wellness can evaluate and make recommendations to help balance your foundation with comfortable, custom-casted orthotics, heel lifts and arch supports manufactured by Foot Levelers. Call for an appointment today!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLv88XNbuwU

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is a therapeutic specialty of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) used to treat illness, prevent disease, and improve well-being. It can also be used to help a patient to stop smoking, lose weight and to alleviate chronic pain, for example with migraines and low back pain. Acupuncture uses sterile, ultra-thin filaments to stimulate precisely defined, specific acupuncture points along the skin of the body involving various methods such as penetration by thin needles or the application of heat, pressure, or laser light. A common treatment plan for a single complaint usually involves six to twelve treatments, planned out over a few months. A typical session entails lying still while approximately five to twenty needles are inserted into various areas of the body. For the majority of cases, the needles will be left in place for ten to twenty minutes.

            

Unlike needles used to give vaccines or other pharmaceutical injections, the ultra-thin filaments used in acupuncture are extremely fine, about twice the width of a single hair. In a typical session, the skin is first sterilized with alcohol and the needles are inserted, frequently with a plastic guide tube. Needles may be manipulated in various ways, including spinning, flicking, or moving up and down relative to the skin. Often, the needles are stimulated by hand in order to cause a dull, localized, aching sensation that is called “de-qi“, as well as "needle grasp," a tugging feeling felt by the acupuncturist and generated by a mechanical interaction between the needle and skin.

Once de-qi is achieved, further techniques might be utilized which aim to "influence" the de-qi; for example, by certain manipulation the de-qi sensation can be conducted from the needling site towards more distant sites of the body.

The skill level of the acupuncturist may influence how painful the needle insertion is, and a sufficiently skilled practitioner may be able to insert the needles without causing any pain. Many of our acupuncture patients are surprised to discover that acupuncture involves little or no pain. Some patients even describe their treatments as relaxing.

            

At ACN Wellness, we offer a full range of health and wellness services in addition to acupuncture services including herbal formula, yoga and QiGong, massage therapy, nutrition guidance and mind-body counseling.

            

Acupuncture can be effective as a primary treatment therapy or as part of an integrated approach. Our clinical practitioners are licensed acupuncturists and have extensive knowledge and training in the use of acupuncture as a primary treatment therapy or as part of a comprehensive integrated treatment plan.

            

Dr. Francisco Fernandez is one of the best doctors who utilizes Diversified Technique, Activator, Acupuncture, and Flexion/Distraction. With these techniques he is able to gently and effectively treat back pain, sciatica, neck pain, shoulder pain, headaches, sports injuries, motor vehicle injuries, and work-related injuries.

            

Call the front office and schedule your appointment and begin your path to healing today!

ACN Nutrition Part 2

With current banking woes and financial instability, Americans need to begin investing in themselves. All the money in the world is useless without one’s health to enjoy it. Sometimes paying out of pocket to get additional preventive health services that are only partially covered by insurance is worth the investment.

"Health is wealth" is a great motto by which to live. Many complementary medical items and services need to be reintroduced into every day life so that you can "live younger". Supplements, vitamins, osteopathic doctors, prolotherapists (people who practice prolotherapy, use an injection technique that stimulates growth of cells and tissue that in turn stabilize and strengthen weakened joints, cartilage, ligaments and tendons), chiropractors, and preventive- aging doctors are often only partially covered by your current insurance. There is no better time to put increased importance on your health through prevention than now. In the larger picture of things, your mind, body, and spirit are the only "sure bet" investment. It’s worth paying out of pocket so that you may optimize your health.

A health care facility should evaluate the toxins in your body so that the doctor can give you advice as to how and what to eliminate from your environment or foods. This personalized medical aspect is an evaluation that is typically underemphasized given our home and workplace exposure to potentially harmful chemicals everyday in our food, air, and water. Your health care facility should know how to use natural tonics, supplements, and foods to purify your body and blood of these harmful toxins. This will help to reduce a dangerous killer called "silent inflammation" as your body wages war at a microscopic cellular level against these agents of disease. These toxins can increase your risk for heart attack, stroke, cancer, and autoimmune diseases (lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease, etc.) as they potentially cause silent inflammation that you do not feel until it is too late. A health care facility should know how some important health markers including blood and urine pH should be tested and evaluated. It is vitally important to choose a preventive-aging physician to recognize how manipulating these basic perimeters subtly through diet and exercise can optimize your mood, energy, and health.

One of the greatest toxin reservoirs in the body is the stored residue in your colon. This is the last stop in your digestive system, and the undigested pieces of food and waste sometimes are not eliminated properly. This waste can build up like a clogged pipe in your kitchen sink. The western diet of Americans is filled with foods that slowly clog the pipes of our colons, causing decay, which then leads to silent inflammation. This can impact your overall health and lead to premature disease. Colon cleansing via fasting dates back centuries to our ancestor’s religious and cultural rituals to rid the body of impurities. This has slowly been de-emphasized in our current society, and thus we have lost all the medical benefits associated with this ritual. You should choose a health facility that uses this approach to re-vitalize your colon. Various modified fasts including raw diets and juice-fasts can be individualized so that each person gets a customized way to improve their digestive health.

Call 703-729-5600 to learn how the staff at ACN Wellness can help you integrate a nutrition management program into your overall wellness plan.

ACN Nutrition Part 1

Nutrition plays a vital, but often overlooked, role in promoting overall health. What we put into our bodies determines what we can get out of them for a lifetime. At ACN Wellness, we understand the role of nutrition and are committed to sharing this knowledge with our patients.

Nutrition is about understanding the role of balance in one’s life. Rather than taking extreme approaches to nutrition, we at ACN Wellness emphasize the importance of moderation and education. By showing people what a balanced nutritional approach involves and then comparing it with what they actually eat, we can give people the knowledge they need to eat properly. By maintaining a balance with one’s eating habits, you can enjoy a healthy outlook regarding food without thinking of it in terms of reward and punishment. Taking a more measured approach to nutrition will give you an important tool in staying healthy and happy, not just for the short term, but for a lifetime.

With Americans paying over $20 billion annually on nutritional supplements and vitamins, it is important to choose a physician who has had additional education and training about which nutritional supplements have been proven scientifically to be of benefit versus the ones that Americans are wasting their money on. Medical doctors are so busy in their practices caring for all the needs of their patients, they have little time to keep up with the latest news about all the breakthroughs in nutritional supplements and vitamins. The FDA does not test or guarantee nutritional supplement content and thus, Americans are left to figure that out on their own. All supplements and vitamins are not created equally.

Prevent disease before it happens and rewind your biological clock with proper nutrition, exercise, and bio-identical hormone optimization (the replacement of declining hormones via natural materials). Hormone replacement is not designed to increase lifespan, but is intended to improve health span. It is a therapy known to all medical physicians. However, only a select few have taken additional training to enlighten themselves about hormone optimization to gain preventive-aging benefits. These include improved energy, physical performance, complexion, immune function, sexual vitality, mental sharpness, blood pressure, cholesterol, bone density, body composition, and strength to name a few.

For additional information on nutritional counseling, supplements or hormone optimization, please contact the front desk.

ACNMind

Keeping the mind in shape sometimes proves to be a very difficult task. With work-related stress, relationship struggles, bringing up young children and dealing with every day life issues, it can seem almost impossible. And it can be a vicious cycle. Feeling stressed leads to the release of the hormone cortisol, which in turn causes inflammation in the body and decreased hormonal function, leading to more stress and the release of even more cortisol, and so on and so on, until a serious disease process is set in motion.  Increased levels of cortisol can result in the following:

* Fatigue

* Weight Gain (especially around the abdominal area)

* Impaired Immune Function

* Decreased Mental Ability

* Chronic Pain

* Mood Swings

* Insomnia

* Decreased Libido

* Sugar, Salt and Carbohydrate Cravings

Unresolved, long-term stress, can also lead to more severe problems such as anxiety, depression, drug addiction, some autoimmune disorders, Fibromyalgia, even heart disease, all of which are typically treated with heavy, toxic medications to manage them, which do not address underlying imbalances within the body. That means a sick person may have his/her symptoms under control, but the underlying disease process is still present. He or she is still, in essence, sick. Therefore, it is essential that those feeling moderate to extreme amounts of stress take immediate action to get a handle on stress. 

How can a busy person manage stress? ACN Wellness recommends setting aside a few minutes each day to practice slow, deep breathing, as well as a systematic "decluttering" of a stressed person's schedule. That means cutting out the unnecessaries--commitments that are not high on the priority list---and focusing instead on the things that are of significant value and importance, like spending time with family and/or children, for example.

            

Acupuncture, Chinese massage, meditation and yoga (available at ACN Wellness Center) are excellent ways to relax and decompress. Infrared Sauna Treatments (also offered at ACN Wellness) and Epsom salts baths are great ways to draw the toxins out of the body and allow tired, tense muscles to relax.

            

Stress is, unfortunately, a most common affliction for every human being. What separates the unhealthy people from the healthy people, is how that stress is managed. There are a variety of treatments and programs available at ACN Wellness. Take advantage of one of them today and get back to your healthy, happy self.