The Nugget Newspaper's Focus on Health 2023 // 2023-01-25

FOCUS on Health

Implants

Sisters Dental

Sisters Dental brings a variety of quality dental services to Sisters, so we don’t have to drive to Bend and Redmond. They’ve been providing orthodontic services on a regular basis at the Sisters Dental office, a service that has been welcomed by the community.

Now they’re adding implants to the range of services provided at Sisters Dental.

Implants are designed to provide a foundation for replacement teeth that look, feel, and function like natural teeth.

“It can really have a profound difference on patients who are missing a tooth, or multiple teeth — or even those who have dentures,” says Dr. Trevor Frideres.

While confidence and sense of self can be restored and enhanced with implants, there are significant benefits to function. A person who has lost teeth regains the ability to eat virtually anything and can smile with confidence, knowing that teeth appear natural and that facial contours will be preserved.

Implants are superior to a bridge — and now they are accessible right here in Sisters, at Sisters Dental.

Roam Natural Skin Care

Roam Natural Skin Care is now providing sustainable recycling for beauty-careproduct packaging. Drop off small-use plastic packaging at the receptacle at the Roam studio on Main Avenue. Such items include pump mechanisms and droppers from bottles — items that are not recyclable in conventional bins.

Roam Natural Skin Care Proprietor Sarah Woods notes that this project is perfectly aligned with her company’s mission and values. Roam emphasizes the use of thoughtfully curated natural products, and proper handling of the packaging for such products is a natural followthrough on concern for our environment and our individual well-being.

Woods, a licensed esthetician with nearly two decades in the spa industry, believes that clean and green beauty is the future — providing healthful, plantbased treatments that produce better, more healthful results for everyone.

Natural textures and natural aromas leave the skin feeling nourished and revitalized longer than their synthetic counterparts — and by recycling the packaging such products come in, we can nourish and revitalize the environment as well.

Audrey Holocher Hypnotherapy

The times we live in have put many of us under an unusual amount of stress. So many problems distill down to stress — and hypnotherapy is a drug-free, healthy approach to reducing and managing that pernicious element in our lives.

“Once you reduce stress, there’s so much healing that can happen,” says Holocher. While we can’t eliminate stress, we can manage it, and that’s the purpose and function of Audrey Holocher Hypnotherapy’s recorded sessions.

“You learn to control your own mind,” Holocher says.

Often, we don’t even recognize our own level of stress. Hypnotherapy exercises teach what stress vs. relaxation feels like, to create active relaxation. Improved relaxation can help us boost our immunity, increase blood flow, improve sleep and digestion — and thus aid our health.

What Audrey Holocher Hypnotherapy offers has many beneficial effects, but it is not a substitute for medical treatment or psychotherapy. As an adjunct to other treatment, or as a means of reducing stress, hypnotherapy can enhance quality of life.

Dr. Trevor Frideres

Trevor Frideres, D M D Kellie Kawasaki, D

Ain’t no cure for theblueswintertime

By T. Lee Brown | Columnist

It’s that time of year again — when the caroling, Christmas trees, and hot cocoa give way to seemingly endless days of cold, slush, and ice. Sometimes those low gray skies get to a person. For a case of the midwinter blues, consider changing up a few things in your everyday routines and environment. It may not be a cure, but it might perk you up enough to make a difference.

Get Outside

Connecting with nature, even for a few minutes while bundled up against the snow, can be beneficial. Pay attention to the birds, squirrels, and deer. Notice the wind, light, and sounds of a forest or meadow. Nature helps people reconnect to the larger world and focus on something besides their own swirling emotions and thoughts.

Track Your Triggers

What makes you feel bad? What results in a poor night’s sleep? Write down what you’re doing and how you’re feeling. Tracking your days can help pinpoint problems. Doomscrolling social media, watching TV news, drinking alcohol, visiting a certain friend or relative, watching movies with violent themes—these are common culprits. You may decide to reduce or eliminate a trigger for a couple months.

Set Aside the Screen

Suicide, anxiety, and depression are on the rise, particularly among youth. Research suggests that screen time, video gaming, social media, and phone bingeing are partly to blame. Look in The Nugget in February for specific techniques to help with digital device overload.

Lighten Up

In winter, the sun is out fewer hours per day, and its rays arrive to us at a different angle, affecting our moods and circadian rhythms. Walking on bright winter mornings can help. So can spending time in front of windows that face early sunlight.

A full-spectrum light therapy lamp or light box may be useful: sit in front of it three times a day for 20 minutes.

Get a Move On

Even a little exercise can help balance hormone levels and release natural mood-boosters into your system. Try a brisk 20-minute walk or dancing to your favorite music. If moving gently for one song is all you can do at the moment, then do that. For those who can manage more exercise, longer walks and serious workouts may show rapid results.

Help Others

It can be hard when one feels awful to imagine that one might brighten up someone else’s day. But if you can round up the energy and confidence to try, you may discover that the positive results bounce right back. Volunteer, help a friend, or go to an online support group and post positive things that help other folks feel listened to and understood.

Slow the Sweets

Coming out of holiday season, you might be accustomed to “white carbs” (pasta, bread, cookies), booze, and tasty treats. Unfortunately, these can cause cravings, blood sugar spikes, and mood crashes.

Every nutritionist, doctor, and food writer has their own opinion about what to eat instead. Some believe in actively pursuing “good fats” such as avocado, olive oil, and coconut. Some focus on

How does a ponderosa pine tree’s bark smell in winter? Which birds are twittering around Whychus Creek? Exploring nature with our senses helps alleviate the blues.

whole grains and legumes. Generally, more veggies is a good start.

These steps can help many people. However, if you or a loved one experiences deep depression, a mood disorder, mental illness, or problems with addiction (including legal and medical substances such as alcohol, cannabis, and oxycontin), seek help from qualified professionals. Helpful phone numbers are listed below.

Also note that someone experiencing clinical depression or bipolar depression may literally be unable to take a step that seems like it should be easy. Even if they are functional enough to drag themselves out of bed, going for a run might feel to them like trying to climb Mt. Everest. This does not mean that are lazy or stubborn. It’s simply another insidious, painful symptom of depression.

Similarly, they may have trouble staying away from the things that make them feel worse, whether that’s street drugs or watching their favorite loud, angry news program. Expecting them to take on all their habits at once may lead to more misery and self-blame, so go slowly and recruit additional help as needed.

Reading your local newspaper is not a substitute for actionable medical advice from healthcare professionals. If you’re experiencing a medical emergency, pick up that phone and dial 911. If you’re having a mental health crisis, such as suicidal thoughts, you can call Deschutes County Behavioral Health directly at 541-322-7500 and press number 9.

PHOTO BY T.L. BROWN

The Seed to Table (S2T) produce share pickup day is one of Audrey Tehan’s favorite times on the farm. Founder and executive director, she’s looking forward to the 2023 growing season and the first day S2T produce is packed and ready to head home to local families.

Produce shares for the 2023 season may be ordered now at: www.seedtotableoregon.org/ why-choose-a-produce-share

The health benefits of eating local produce are well established. Nutrient content and antioxidants in produce decline the longer it is stored. By buying local, you are getting fresh produce that is at its best both in taste and in nutrient value.

Sign-ups for the S2T produce share program opened this week. Tehan started S2T, now in its 10th year, with the intention to grow food organically and make it accessible for families in Sisters Country. She also saw the farm as a means to teach farm-based lessons, so students understood where their food came from, how to grow it, and how to prepare it in delicious ways. Tehan’s efforts have grown both

and depth, just like the little farm her family has owned for decades in Sisters.

The S2T produce share program reflects Tehan’s original mission to ensure access to fresh veggies for people across all budgets. S2T uses a sliding-scale option that allows members to pay what works for them, as well as a donation option for those wanting to lend a hand to a neighbor in need. Members can pay with SNAP/EBT; those who do pay half price. SNAP users are eligible for Double Up Food Bucks, which cover the other half of the cost.

At the end of the 2022 season, participants gave feedback on some of their favorite parts of the produce share program and suggestions on changes for 2023. Comments described how families benefited from the program, like cooking seasonally and experimenting with new foods. Participants also gave examples of the benefits, like the quality of the veggies, and how it encouraged their kids to eat more veggies.

One person said, “It isn’t just about the vegetables, it’s also about community connections. I have never felt like I was eating healthier or was more connected to the people growing my food.”

Tehan and S2T Educator Hannah Joseph explained the reason for the survey. “We asked for feedback to improve and tailor the produce share program after the first year. With that input in mind, we’re making improvements that can

decrease barriers to receiving fresh produce. We added an additional four weeks for everybody and expanded the sliding scale with payment options as low as 65 percent of market value. There’s also a produce share at 150 percent of market value to facilitate the pay-it-forward share,” said Tehan. “Our team is excited about this year’s expansion with new varieties of vegetables as well as the extended time food will be available. Both were put into effect because of feedback received from participants,” said Tehan.

Seed to Table’s produce share is based on a model called Community Supported Agriculture or CSA. This concept was created in the 1960s by Booker T. Whatley, a Black horticulturist, agricultural professor, and advocate for farming practices that help sustain and rebuild the land. With an S2T produce share, individuals or families pay in advance or monthly for a season of fresh, local vegetables. Each week the bounty of fresh veggies is laid out market-style at the S2T farmstand. Produce share members browse and choose what they want to take home. A small produce share receives six to eight items and a large share receives nine to 11 items each, week.

Sign-ups are open through S2T’s website: www.seedtotableoregon.org/why-choose-a-produce-share. For more information contact Audrey Tehan at audrey@seedtotablesisters.org.

Seed to Table is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit; EIN: 82-37956180.

“The produce share pickups are a bustling hub of activity where participants and farming staff share recipes and what we’re all learning together about how to cook farm-fresh food in exciting new ways,” said Tehan.

PHOTOS PROVIDED

FOCUS on Health

Age SistersFriendlyCountry

Access to care is critical to good health outcomes. With many specialty medical services a half hour’s drive away in Bend or Redmond, lack of transportation can be a serious barrier to good health care.

STARS, a program of Age Friendly Sisters Country, provides that transportation, with volunteer drivers and dispatchers arranging to get people to their medical appointments. And volunteers are needed for both positions. STARS is making volunteering more achievable by issuing drivers a mileage reimbursement, which is currently paid at 50 cents per mile.

“We have drivers who are on a fixed income who want to help,” noted Rennie Morrell, who coordinates the program.

It’s a flexible volunteering opportunity — you can do as much as you want to or are able to do. And the dispatching role is as valuable as the driving role.

Age Friendly Sisters Country is partnering with St. Charles hospital, Volunteers in Medicine, and Mosaic Medical, and they are reaching out to the local Latino community to make sure their services are available to everyone. Learn more at https://starsride.org/volunteer/drive-for-us.

Back In Action Fitness Equipment

To get and stay in shape, Back In Action Fitness Equipment can provide you with anything you may want or need. From a foam roller to a treadmill; from dumbbells to a rowing machine.

Whether you’re setting up a small gym at home or have a commercial facility, you can get your equipment delivered and set up with Back In Action Fitness Equipment’s full delivery and installation.

Since 2008, Back In Action Fitness Equipment Sales & Service has been supplying equipment for home users and commercial facilities alike. Owner Kevin Roll says that the most popular pieces of equipment are treadmills, with bikes and ellipticals coming in second, followed by free weights and functional items.

Quality cardio equipment has become increasingly affordable — and it is adapting to the needs of the population. Recumbent elliptical machines are popular among an aging population.

Staying fit is more important now than ever, and Back In Action Fitness Equipment Sales & Service makes it easy to get what you need to make it happen.

Green PhysicalRidgeTherapy

There’s nothing more disconcerting than being hit with vertigo, dizziness, and/or imbalance. These symptoms can come on when something isn’t working well in our vestibular system (part of the inner ear that tells you where you are in space and which direction you are moving), vision, and/or the receptors in our spine and legs, or how they’re working together. Getting an accurate diagnosis can be tough and leave a person feeling anxious or depressed.

Annie McDonnell of Green Ridge Physical Therapy has a real passion for helping people in these straits — which is likely to affect one in three of us, with incidences more frequent with age. She uses infrared video goggles to assist in making an accurate diagnosis and to guide effective treatment.

Treating vestibular disorders is a specialty field that requires a lot of training — which McDonnell has (Emory). A physical therapist since 2006, she is well versed in a variety of techniques and appreciates a holistic approach in getting people back to being as safe, confident, and independent as possible.

You can’t ‘fix’ struggle

By Audry Van Houweling, PMHNP | Columnist

Fresh off the tracks of academia in my early 20s, my early motivations seeking a career in mental health were fueled by a rookie desire to bring concrete solutions to those facing struggle. An even deeper desire was to better understand and maybe fix the struggle witnessed in my own family. I immersed myself in best practices, learned the pharmaceutical-based algorithms, and gathered the tools. I wanted to feel equipped, prepared — ready to have answers.

A bit more seasoned after nearly 15 years in the field of human emotion, and having encountered an early run-in with burnout, I have come to understand that I will not always have an answer, that concrete solutions can be far more elusive, to listen more and to talk less, and to appreciate beauty alongside struggle.

Sometimes the best solution is to kick away my preconceived pedestal, set aside expectations, and simply be with, acknowledge, and provide space for suffering. The time pressures, outcomebased reimbursement, and our stubborn quick-fix mentality in mainstream medicine can sometimes interfere, but when our practice revolves around the vastness of human emotion, we better learn to get cozy with discomfort, mystery, and uncertainty. From the humility of not knowing we are forced to simply be with and accept what is.

We honor a person’s dignity by allowing space for their discomfort. Our sense of predictability

and control can feel threatened when encountering difficult emotions that don’t come with a roadmap. We may have an intention to help, but in our quest to “fix” another’s emotional struggle, we can rush an important emotional experience. We may also tend to limit or suppress our own emotional spectrum. Sometimes people need to metaphorically cocoon before transformation takes place.

Sometimes we offer unsolicited advice. This can imply that our process of “coping” is somehow superior. For those intimately familiar with the caregiver role, we can even judge our own worth on the emotional outcome of another person. This can create unhealthy resentment and codependency. Repeated attempts to “fix” others can also be a convenient distraction from tending to our own needs and hardships.

Sometimes we can find ourselves hijacking another person’s emotional experience by too rapidly shifting the focus to a hardship we faced, perhaps trying to communicate a shared sense of understanding — and yet, this can also feel dismissive.

Sometimes when we have significant discomfort with emotional vulnerability, we can diminish and shame another’s emotions. We might tell them to “move on,” “get over it,” “suck it up.” This erodes emotional trust and reinforces emotional suppression.

It’s important to remember that powerlessness

and helplessness are not synonymous. We may be powerless to change the outcome of another’s struggle, but we can be intentional in our ability to stay present, open, and available. That is not helpless.

Whenever we respond to another, it allows us to look in the mirror at our own biases and insecurities. If we feel discomfort in witnessing the struggle of another, it may be a rich opportunity to embrace self-reflection rather than resort to judgment.

So what can we do?...

• Validate another person’s pain. “This must be so hard for you.”

• Provide physical presence. Hold a hand, offer a hug; sit quietly by.

• Ask questions. “How are you feeling today?” Stay curious about their emotional experience without placing judgment.

• Create space for pain. “It’s OK to cry.” “I am happy to just sit with you.” “I am happy to listen to anything you want to share.”

• Offer specific support. Offer to bring a meal, tidy up the house, go grocery shopping, watch the children.

• Practice boundaries and self-compassion with our time and energy.

• Explore our own discomfort with emotional vulnerability.

She Soars Psychiatry

Mental health and well-being have become more of a challenge to more people over the past few very stressful and challenging years.

Audry Van Howeling of She Soars Psychiatry has seen the need grow in her practice in Sisters. She recognizes that mainstream psychiatry may treat symptoms but seldom identifies the source or roots of a mental health condition.

While she acknowledges that medication may help in some circumstances, Audry is committed to a broader, functional approach to treatment.

She Soars Psychiatry was born out of the belief that mental health diagnoses are not always permanent conditions, and that non-invasive methods such as nutrition, fitness, supplementation, spirituality, social connections, and stress management may have as much — or more — impact than pharmaceuticals.

She Soars Psychiatry is also located across the mountains in Silverton. Alongside holistic mental health services, Audry frequently collaborates with certified nutrition therapist Megan Basl, who specializes in gut health, meal planning, and functional nutrition. Audry provides in-person and telemedicine services statewide.

Classic Yoga from India

Sweat PNW

Sweat PNW is a private gym that welcomes people of all ages, genders, and fitness levels looking to create the best version of themselves through strength and conditioning.

Small group fitness classes focus on strength, cardiovascular fitness, and proper movement patterns with an emphasis on proper breath work. The environment is always encouraging.

Sweat PNW trains people to move from their core muscles so that they can enhance stability and activity without injury. Sweat PNW focuses on mobility, recovery, and stretching, with proactive training to prevent stiffness, soreness, and injuries. The program incorporates sauna, Pilates, and fascial stretch therapy.

Coach Ashlee Francis delivers a daily workout for any individual to excel in, regardless of their experience or ability. The classes are always challenging, but always exceptionally rewarding.

Francis is currently launching a six-week clinic — one session per week — focused on mobility, running, stretching-for-performance, ski fitness, and pickleball fitness. The clinic starts with the basics and builds from that foundation, so she recommends attending the whole series.

Therapeutic Associates

Therapeutic Associates has been helping people in Sisters recover from injury and surgery and get back to their active lifestyle for almost 30 years.

In a unique partnership with Sisters Athletic Club (SAC), Therapeutic Associates offers a “step-down” program that eases patients from physical therapy into active, assisted recovery with trainers at SAC. Access to the SAC pool means they can offer aquatic therapy — an outstanding, effective, and low-impact way to recover and build resilience against injury.

Matt Kirchoff, clinic director and physical therapist (PT), emphasizes the need for early intervention to prevent a nagging injury or impingement from becoming a major problem: “The quicker we can see people after an injury, the quicker we can address it.”

Therapeutic Associates is excited to announce the addition of PT Cameron Allen to their staff. Cameron will begin seeing patients at the Sisters clinic in January. And with PT Taylor O’Dell at the clinic five days a week, Therapeutic Associates can usually get people in for an appointment within 48 hours, making it quicker and easier than ever to get on top of an injury so you can get back in the game.