Poison Ivy Comes a Creepin’

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6a00e55255b462883401901bd2ba68970b-200wi“Leaves of three, let them be.” If you find yourself out walking as the weather gets warmer, be sure to step out of the way of any plants with clumps of three leaves. Poison ivy can have many different appearances.

The best way to tell if it’s poison ivy is the number of leaves, the reddish color at the point the three stems meet, and the shape of the edge of the leaves. If you are working in the garden or on the lawn pulling up “runners” before the leaves are fully formed, be
sure to wear extra thick gloves, and know the plants in your yard. Some of these runners may be poison ivy, and you may find out the hard way 2 days later.

Remember that the active ingredient, the urishiol, can last on shoes, clothing, garden tools and gloves almost indefinitely (some poison ivy oil has even been found in Egyptian tombs!) Some of the “spreading” of poison ivy is actually caused by contacting smaller amounts of poison ivy from garden items, pets, and furniture, once your sensitivity has been elevated by a big skin reaction to poison ivy.

So always wash off anything coming in contact with poison ivy immediately with detergent and hot water. Holistic
dermatology advocates many treatments for skin disorders, including the best one:  prevention.

To your health,

Dr. Dattner

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine
New York

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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to
treat or diagnose an illness; please see your physician for care.

Miracle Success-Story in Natural Acne Skincare: Heal Your Skin, Heal Your Life

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6a00e55255b4628834019103d2111f970c-320wiWant to get rid of acne naturally?

I see acne and other skin disease as a symptom of underlying problems that need to be shifted. This is radically different than how the majority of my colleagues, the medical literature, and the media see acne, so let me illustrate this with a recent experience a patient had being treated with this perspective.

Erin had acne in her late teens, treated with antibiotics and BCP’s, and again recently with stresses including the death of a close friend and the purchasing a new house with her husband. She recalled periodic abdominal pains plagued her since college, and she had bad cramping and pain with her cycle since September.

I focused first on treating her digestive system, which was disturbed by her previous acne treatment in college. She also mentioned that she was a serious runner who trained for Iron Man competitions, so I mentioned that the digestive enzymes I was about to give her might help her performance.

She followed the diet and supplement regimen carefully and came back with a a definite improvement in her acne, decrease in abdominal bloating, and dramatic reduction in the pain that used to cause her to spend three days with a heating pad on her belly during her menses.

What was most remarkable to me was that she experienced an improvement in her running times during the month of diet changes and supplements. She had been training since December 1st this year, and seemed to be doing much better in this past month. Admittedly, she was training harder, but that did not seem to be enough reason alone to account for her running times per mile on a 12 mile run to decrease from 9 minutes and 30-35 seconds (last year and initially) to 8 minutes and 20 seconds per mile recently! 

Fixing her underlying digestive and hormonal issues not only improved her acne, and abdominal symptoms, but also enabled her to perform to her full capacity.

If you are experiencing any of these issues, and wonder if this kind of treatment might help you, please contact me here.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD
Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine

New York

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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care. – See more at: http://blog.holisticdermatology.com/#sthash.t5joqS3D.dpuf

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The Simplicity of Holistic Medicine

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6a00e55255b462883401910308457c970c-200wiMy integrative medicine philosophy is formed on the basis that simple, gentle, and natural solutions be implemented first. Simple solutions are almost always less costly, less time-intensive, and less toxic.

I use good common sense coupled with decades of holistic dermatology experience to evaluate what the situation calls for. With the might of the most powerful modern medicine at our fingertips, we may still choose to approach a skin disease with a cup of tea, if that’s what makes the most sense.

In an urgent situation, after proper evaluation, I might prescribe a full course of steroids if that makes the most sense. I find it absurd, for example, that patients with simple colds are routinely given antibiotics, when there’s no scientific basis for the prescription. It’s as absurd as unleashing an attack dog on a rubber chicken.

How might you apply this philosophy of common sense to your own life?

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD

Holistic Dermatology
New York, New York

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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to diagnose, or treat illness; please see your physician for care.

Want to Get Rid of Acne Naturally? This acne treatment could do it…

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6a00e55255b4628834019103082fd7970c-200wiThe oil in the body is not so different from the oil in a car. Feed the car the wrong kind of oil, and the engine pings, sputters, and stalls. Feed the body the wrong kind of oil, and the mind finds it difficult to focus, the skin becomes oily and breaks out in acne, the hair becomes flaky with dandruff. This natural acne treatment is as simple as you can get.

But which oil is best? The kind that is fluid at room temperature and is rich in Omega 3’s and 6’s.

Oils to avoid (because they clog the pores, the enzymes [the body’s biochemical machinery] and other moving parts):

  • Trans-saturated fats
  • hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated oils
  • lard
  • margarine
  • too much butter
  • oils that have been cooked or heated to  very high temperatures (fried foods)

Oils to enjoy (fresh, organic, cold-pressed oil is best):

  • olive oil (best for all around and light cooking)
  • flaxseed oil (not good for cooking)
  • fish oil (as a food supplement)
  • evening primrose oil (as a food supplement)
  • anti-oxidants such as vitamin E, are taken to protect “unsaturated” oils like those listed above.
  • oils rich in saturated fats, like coconut oil, may be best for cooking, however high temperature cooking is always risky. Heat causes chemical changes in the oils which may be harmful, and promote aging.

If you are avoiding dairy, there are natural vegetable oil products available that offer a good alternative to butter.  As always, taking the holistic dermatology approach means enjoying fresh, natural foods that nourish the mind, body, and spirit.

To your health,

Dr. Dattner

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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to diagnose, or treat illness; please see your physician for care.

Want Beautiful Skin? Look inside…

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6a00e55255b462883401901b96b474970b-320wiFrequently, people come to me wanting to know how to make their skin beautiful. What I tell them is that the skin is a direct reflection of what is occurring, both inside you and in the world around you.  Among other functions, the skin is an organ of excretion, which takes over when your other organs of excretion are overwhelmed.

Your skin reflects when you are “toxic,” excreting what the rest of the body cannot.  What I want you to really get from this book is that the best way to maintain a healthy, youthful exterior is to care for the whole person.  This is what I help people learn to do as a holistic dermatologist.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner
Holistic Dermatology
New York, New York

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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.

Skin: the Boundary Between Self and Other

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6a00e55255b462883401901b97fbda970b-200wiOne’s skin is the key junction and boundary between self and not self. This includes the metaphorical as well as the physical. Exploring our collective metaphors about skin can
help us understand unconscious ways we think about and treat our skin.

We say that people who have become immune to rejection are “thick-skinned.” When we want to remind ourselves about the importance of a good personality, we say beauty is
only “skin-deep.” When a person causes us to feel annoyance or affection, we say “they’ve gotten under my skin.”

When someone grows beyond old limitations, they are like a snake shedding its old
skin. The skin is in a constant process of renewing itself. Wherever we go, we literally leave part of ourself as the surface skin cells die.

As a cultural boundary, the color of one’s skin has enabled slavery, racism, and discrimination. For thousands of years, people have tattooed and pierced the skin to send cultural, political, emotional, and spiritual messages to the world, or to mark important touchstones or events in life.

The nine pounds of skin and nerves on the body’s surface occupy a significant space in the brain where we feel pleasure, pain, pressure, itching, and other subtle sensations that make up the landscape of our perception of being
touched.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner
Holistic Dermatology
New York, New York

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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.

A Protective Affirmation to Combat Cell Phone Radiation

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6a00e55255b4628834017d432106df970c-200wiAt a recent conference I attended, I heard about a slew of potential harmful effects of electromagnetic radiation in our environment and the dangers of cell phones held to close to the head or used too often. I realized that I must find a way to protect my health in face of unwillingness to give up my cell phone and all of these electronic exposures.

So I created a simple healing affirmation, to keep me healthy. I offer it to you as a healing mantra, or prayer, to protect yourself, as you begin to explore other steps to reduce your exposure to unseen wavelengths.

 “May all of the energies that course through my body be transmuted to empower my health at every level.” 

Feel free to share this as a quote form me.

Small EMF protectors are also available to put on your phone or body and may help reduce the effects of the electromagnetic fields to which you are exposed.

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner
Holistic Dermatology
New York, New York

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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.

Why Are We Deriding Vitamins?

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6a00e55255b4628834017d4320fef7970c-200wiRecent front page articles have appeared in the popular press, loaded with quotes from authorities, downgrading the importance of using multivitamins and other supplements for children, and people in general. One, “The ABC’s of Missing Vitamins,” on vitamins for children, was the lead article on the front page of the Personal Journal section of the May 4, 2010 Wall Street Journal.

I agree with the statements in the article that vitamins are no substitute for a healthy diet, and that healthy foods have a spectrum of nutrients that may be missed in isolated supplements.

Unfortunately, however, the authors and authorities seem to have either forgotten or do not know that our food has changed over the last several decades, and no longer contains the same nutrients it had before. For example the article stated the need for supplementing with Omega-3 fish oils has “often been overhyped”. By importing foods from warm weather climate, and hydrogenating oils, we have systematically reduced the amount of omega -3 fatty acids in our diet and in our bodies.

Cold water fish used to contain omega-3 oils because they ate the omega-3 rich krill found in cold ocean waters. By feeding farmed fish grain instead, we have reduced the levels of these anti-inflammatory essential fatty acids in what used to be the best sources of this vital nutrient.

As a result, measurements of the ratios of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids in people today have dropped dramatically. Could it be that parents feeding their children fish oil are more up on the practical science involved than the author of these articles?

To your health,


Dr. Alan M. Dattner
Holistic Dermatology
New York, New York

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As always, the content of this blog is for information and education purposes only, and should not be used to prevent, diagnose or treat illness; please see your physician for care.