healing ways
Oratrue
truly natural – truly you Every year more than 3 billion toothbrushes are discarded and most of them end up in our oceans. To make matters worse it takes several hundred years for those plastic toothbrushes to decompose and when they do our oceans and food supply are adversely affected. Bamboo is renewable resource that is biodegradable unlike plastic ones. What is so special about the Oratrue bamboo toothbrush? It is inspired by Dr. James Ligon, DDS, a Humble, TX dentist with BPAfree bristles which are optimally contoured for maximum contact with tooth surfaces unlike the flat head toothbrushes. Plus, the handle is designed to feel natural in your hand…..it almost feels like and extension of your body. Dr. Ligon has also developed an Oil Pulling product based on ancient Ayurvedic practices to give you fresher breath, whiter, smoother teeth and healthier gums by rebalancing the oral microbiome. If you are interested in whiter teeth but other tooth whitening products have made your teeth sensitive, he as developed a tooth whitener that addresses this very problem. The Oratrue products are available at Herbal Connection in Conroe and Sunshine’s Health Food Store in Houston, or they may be purchased through the Oratrue website. Visit the website today for a healthier mouth, brighter smile and cleaner environment. Orature: truly natural – truly you 2115 FM 1960 East, Suite #9 Humble, TX 77338 832-633-1328 oratrue.com See ad on page 29
HEALING JOINTS FROM WITHIN The Promise of Regenerative Medicine by Marlaina Donato
Someday, medical science will allow us
to infuse damaged or aging organs with new cells, or to manufacture made-to-order organs on a 3-D printer. These emerging techniques to revitalize worn-out body parts are on the drawing board in the field of regenerative medicine. However, for the injured college athlete or the grandmother with compromised joint function, healing and pain relief can already be found in the form of prolotherapy and other non-invasive approaches that stimulate the body to heal itself. Injection therapies using dextrose or the patient’s own platelets or stem cells are being used to naturally stimulate the body to produce collagen and rejuvenated tissue, offering hope to those with soft tissue injuries, osteoarthritis, degenerative disc disease and even pain syndromes like fibromyalgia. A recent review in the British Medical Bulletin of 10 high-quality studies of
dextrose prolotherapy in adults with mild to moderate osteoarthritis of the knee showed patients experienced significantly less pain and improved range of motion in both the short term and long term without adverse effects. Eighty-two percent of patients were satisfied with the treatment.
Controlled Inflammation
A type of regenerative medicine innovated by osteopathic physician Earl Gedney in the 1930s, prolotherapy induces low-grade, temporary inflammation with the intention of triggering connective tissue cells called fibroblasts in and around the injection site. “If you cut your arm or twist your ankle, various immune cells rush to the area to begin the repair process. This is a very basic comparison of what prolotherapy does with injections directed to specific anatomical points,” says Ross A. Hauser, M.D., found-
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