Tag Archive for "holistic dermatology"

Saving Money and Saving your Skin in Winter

Posted on October 30, 2013 at 12:47 pm.

In my holistic dermatology practice, I often help patients whose skin suffers in winter. It is possible to both help your skin and save money doing it. I emphasize this because it requires doing something very simple and at the same time very challenging: changing your habits.

Even more, it requires changing the beliefs behind those habits, so I will try to give some additional information beyond what was in my last blog, to help you make these changes.

If you have ever done dishes or wet work, with your hands in and out of water repeatedly for a while, you know how your skin becomes dry and chapped. This is because you are washing away the oils and the salts which hold water in our skin. In the winter when the air is dry (low humidity), bathing washes out the oils from the skin. The belief that we need a shower, especially a long, hot one, to be clean, to wake up, or to feel alive in the morning, needs a second look if your skin becomes dry and scaly in winter. A washcloth under the arm and in the folds does a very nice job between showers, and does not dry out parts of your skin which do not need washing.

The result is that you:

save hot water,
save on lotion
save oils in your skin,
save money on heat,
save fresh water,
safe electricity

Once you have the routine down, you will save time as well.Of course there will be times and situations where you need a shower or bath. Bathing less often, faster, and soaping less areas which do not need heavy cleansing, will keep the moisture in your skin and save you money as well. I repeat the essence of my last message because I have found,
in my 30 yeasr of practice, that people often have to hear it more than once in order to reduce their bathing. Did you?

To your health,

-Dr. Alan M. Dattner
Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine

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.

Got Varicose Veins? This herb could help.

Posted on October 30, 2013 at 10:00 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

Pressure from standing upright creates pressure in the legs and leads to enlarged leg veins. This pressure makes the valves in the veins ineffective, in effect turning the little systems of blood veins in the body into one long vein. This pushes fluid out into the
tissues, causing swelling of the legs and varicose veins.

Reversing gravity by elevating the legs is a great natural treatment. Another natural treatment is the use of horse chestnut extract, which contains multiple bioflavinoids including a flavinoid called escin. Horse chestnut products are standardized based on escin concentration, as this is considered to be the active ingredient. It has multiple beneficial effects. The other bioflavinoids present in the extract work synergistically with the escin.

As a bioflavinoid, ascin strengthens the capillaries and blood vessels. It prevents leakage of material through the capillary walls by supporting the layer of cells that form the inner lining of the blood vessels. That reduces the amount of leg swelling from leakage of fluid. It also has constrictive effects on the vessels.

Elevation of legs and horse chestnut use are just a few of the ways to support leg varicosities. Since there are other steps to take, possibilities of slowing the process if action is take early, and dangerous consequences if clots form in
these vessels, it is important to get evaluated by your physician when leg vein problems begin.

To your health,

-Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine

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.

What Food You Might Eat to Prevent Alzheimer’s?

Posted on October 21, 2013 at 9:00 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

Well, not exactly curry…

Some of the best features of natural, unprocessed remedies made from plants is that they are often less toxic and less expensive than pharmaceuticals. However, as an integrative physician and holistic dermatologist, I believe in using the medicine that is best for each individual patient at each individual time.

Some of the best medicines that exist and are being developed are naturally occurring remedies which are strengthened through pharmaceutical concentration. For example, a friend of mine developed a highly concentrated form of blue-green algae in the form of a pill which may be beneficial for fighting virile strains of the flu.

An exciting development from researchers at New Delhi Jamia Hamdard University in India: they have successfully used cucurmin–extracted from turmeric and turned into nano form–to control and cure cirrhosis of liver in animal model experiment. The experiment has been shown to reverse severe damage to the liver. Human trials are starting and researchers hope for major breakthroughs.

The university studies and develops traditional methods of treatment and medicines, “We have all come across references to turmeric’s healing powers in history and mythology. So, we decided to check its efficacy. It was found that when used in large doses, turmeric wasn’t particularly useful. But broken into nano particles, it worked wonders. It even reversed cirrhosis which is incurable,” said S. Ahmad, vice-chancellor of Jamia Hamdard.

Curcumin extract is an antioxidant that helps revive dying cells. As a repairing agent, it can regenerate cells that have begun to break. The experiments on animals have proved that it has no toxic effect. “The trouble with traditional medicines is that not enough studies have been done to prove their efficacy. Neither do we know how their utility could be enhanced. We are trying to fill in the blanks. In this case, the result has been fascinating and we are confident that the human trials will be successful as well,” added Ahmad.

I am excited that this and other experiments like it could pave the way for treating diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s!

To your health,

Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD

Holistic Dermatology
New York, New York

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.

Safe Cleansers, for the Earth and for your Body

Posted on September 9, 2013 at 9:00 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

I encourage everyone to use a holistic approach to their dermatology conditions.
Reducing your exposure to toxic chemicals is a great way to do that. It can be a challenge at first, but your health is well worth the effort.

Here are some simple cleansing substitutes you can make yourself. They’ll help you avoid bleach, ammonia, alcohol, dyes, fragrances, and detergents, and save money. Be sure to try cleansers on a small, hidden spot of what you are cleaning to make sure it does not cause fading or discoloration of the fabric before more widespread use.

Laundry Detergent: If you use liquid detergent, add half a cup of baking soda at the beginning of the wash. If you use powdered detergent, add half a cup of baking soda during the rinse cycle. You can then reduce your detergent by about half. Try different amounts to see what works best for you.

Fabric Softener: Put two cups of white vinegar in your rinse cycle. Note that vinegar can cause colors to fade a little.

Window Cleaner: Mix three tablespoons of vinegar and one quart of club soda in a spray bottle. Add a squeeze of lemon or lime to air freshener, laundry detergent, and kitchen and tile cleaner for a blast of freshness.

Tub & Tile Cleanser: Mix 1 2/3 cups baking soda, a half cup high-quality liquid soap, a half cup water, and 2 tablespoons vinegar (if you add the vinegar too early it will react with the baking soda.)

Carpet Cleaner: To absorb big spills, spread cornmeal over the spill. Wait about 15 minutes, then vacuum it up. For stains, a quarter cup biodegradable liquid soap with a third of a cup of water into a blender to make a foam. Put the foam on the stain and rub. After rinsing, splash vinegar to finish.

Air Freshener: You can absorb odors in the fridge and in your home by putting cups of vinegar or baking soda around the house (on high surfaces to keep out of the reach of kids.)

Drain Clearing: Pour half a cup of baking soda down the sink, add a cup of vinegar. Cover the drain, and then rinse the drain with boiling water and salt. Repeat if it doesn’t work immediately.

There are also a lot of non-toxic household cleaners which are healthier for both your skin and the “skin of the earth” than the traditional cleansers on the market. Be sure to read the label to avoid being a victim of “greenwashing” (when a product’s label is designed to look environmentally friendly, but the ingredients are the same old toxic mess.) And as always, keep all cleaning products away from pets and children.

To your health,

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

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.

Does the sun cause skin damage and skin cancer?

Posted on August 7, 2013 at 9:17 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

PREVENTION

I’ve discussed measures for preventing sun damage and skin cancer previously in my blog. As I’ve said, as a holistic dermatologist, I believe prevention really is the best medicine.

So now let’s discuss exactly what happens when sun hits the skin. Packets of light energy known as “photons” hit chemical structures in your cells and activate them so that they transform chemically, often causing them to combine with chemicals next to them.
This includes causing chemical changes in the cells’ DNA, which can eventually change cells into to skin cancer.

SUNSCREEN

When you apply a sunscreen, the energy from the sun is absorbed by that sunscreen chemical, changed, and then released as a hopefully less harmful energy. Sometimes it comes out as a different wavelength of light.
If the effects of that energy can be safely spread around and absorbed by the skin chemicals, there is little harm done.

LINES OF DEFENSE

Now think of it like a football game. The football represents the packet of light energy from the sun. When the team hikes the ball, the opposing team attacks, the front line acts as a barrier, and the football is passed back and forth by the team in the rear to keep it from being attacked.

The more the team behind the line passes it back and forth, the less likely a player with it will be attacked. We have a number of antioxidants in our skin both naturally present and from our diets and what we apply. If they are sufficient, balanced, and work well together like good linebackers, none of the team members will be attacked.

ANTIOXIDENTS

Antioxidants will help protect us to a degree, and work together with other forms of protection including sunscreens. One such external anti-oxidant is resveratrol, made from grape seeds and other plants. It can be ingested or applied to the skin or both, and there is evidence that it reduces sunburn cells and other measurements of sun damage in both mice and men.

There is even a patent for the use of resveratrol as a sun protectant, although one could argue that such use is apparent rather than unapparent, as required for being patentable in the first place.

Other anti-oxidants include vitamin C, Lipoic acid, glutathione, other biovflavinoids, carotinoids, and selenium. It is worthwhile to include these in your diet.

To your health,

-Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD

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.

Acne Attack: Best Natural Acne Treatments

Posted on August 5, 2013 at 10:41 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

Having an acne outbreak? Bacne bugging you? As a holistic dermatologist, I always
advocate for the simplest, natural solutions to a skin problem.
While acne can have many causes, which should be addressed systematically, here is a great natural solution for relief of pimple pain, redness, and soreness:

Put some hot water in a bowl
Add enough salt so the water is about as salty as tears
Soak the pimple with a clean washcloth for about five minutes, refreshing the cloth with water every so often
Repeat two to three times per day

The hot water draws the acne to the surface, opens the pores, dries the skin out, and keeps the pimple free of possible infection. Remember not to prod or poke the pimple, as this can aggravate is and introduce germs. Also, make it a habit to take note of anything different you did preceding your outbreak; did you
alter your diet? the kind of soap you use? etc. As always, the natural approach is to examine the root cause of a disorder that arises.

To your health,

Dr. Dattner

Holistic Dermatology
New York

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.

What is “Holistic Dermatology” or “Integrative Dermatology”?

Posted on July 29, 2013 at 9:28 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

What is Holistic Dermatology or Integrative Dermatology?

I have been incorporating principles of holistic practices into Dermatology for the past three decades.

INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE FOR THE SKIN

A variety of names have been given to this approach, including functional medicine, because it addresses the function of the underlying organs involved; complementary medicine, because it often includes methods which add to or compliment conventional medical techniques; alternative medicine, because it’s an alternative to some of the currently employed conventional techniques, and finally, integrative medicine, because when done well, it integrates the best aspects of conventional medicine with techniques which lie outside of those routinely practiced by MD physicians.

I have also called it Nutritional Dermatology, because much of my work involves dietary elimination, additions, and nutritional supplements. However it is called, I blend conventional and alternative techniques, I address other systems, besides the skin, and I evaluate the whole person.

BOARD-CERTIFIED DERMATOLOGY

As a board-certified dermatologist, I begin by seeking and making a conventional dermatologic and medical diagnosis. I then go on to find out, for the individual involved, what exactly was specific to their situation that caused them to develop the illness.

Most important in this quest is a carefully recalled story history from the patient about the events that preceded the onset of the illness. Knowing how hard this is to do on the spot, I recommend that anyone seeking good holistic care with me, or anyone else, should sit down with a calendar and try to identify when their problem began and what infections, exposures, stresses, new medications, vaccinations, or other foreign materials entering the body could have preceded the event in a matter of days, weeks, or months before the onset.

To your health,

-Dr. Alan M. Dattner, MD

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine
New York

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.

My Top 5 Tips for Great Digestion

Posted on July 18, 2013 at 9:00 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

Parents frequently tell their children, “Chew your food! You don’t have teeth in your stomach!” In fact, we have lots of enzymes in the body that break food down like very tiny teeth. But enzymes can’t break down big particles of food.

One of the main underlying diseases in my holistic dermatology practice is allergy. Food allergy, in particular, is aggravated and sometimes caused by improper digestion. To keep digestion at its best, follow these top five tips that will help your complexion as well as your digestion:

When you eat, you are literally re-creating your body with each bite you consume, incorporating new molecules into your being. Eat your meals sitting at a dining table (not while reading, watching TV, or driving) Chew your food completely, enjoying each bite with each of your senses.
Boost your digestion by taking “bitters” before you eat, ginger tea, or enzymes after you eat.

Avoid liquids one half hour before and one hour after meals, sipping water sparingly if you’re thirsty. This is because liquids kill the “fire of digestion” in the stomach, diluting enzymes that break food into usable components.

Your mood matters almost as much as your food. Find a way to eat in a peaceful mood, avoiding eating when angry, sad, or fearful.
After a brief rest, take a walk after your meal. This helps the body keep the metabolism up.

To your health,

-Dr. Dattner

Holistic Dermatology
New York

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.

What’s Your Skin Have to Do with The Earth’s Surface?

Posted on July 15, 2013 at 10:00 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

We have an opportunity, to champion the health of the skin of the planet on which we live. The health of that layer affects all life on Earth, and subsequently the health of humans.

Many parallels can be drawn between the health of our environmental “skin” and the skin of the individual. By drawing on these parallels, we can make it easier to have a clear overview of environmental issues that affect the health of the human body and the skin in particular.

For example, we can look at how a “chemical burn” to the Ozone layer of the earth results in more danger of a sunburn to various layers of the skin. Exploring the causes of the “chemical burn” and the different ways to prevent it, educating ourselves and the public, and engaging everyone in finding a win-win solution to the problem makes this into an exciting game.

The goal is to improve health and well-being by improving conditions in the surface of the earth in which we live.

To our health,

-Dr. Dattner

Holistic Dermatology
New York

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.

Integrative Knowing and Holistic Health

Posted on July 8, 2013 at 9:39 am.

Written by Dr. Alan M Dattner, MD

There is a kind of knowing that comes from immersing yourself in the various kinds of information about a subject. You acquire a sense of what is so, and what will be declared later to be proven and agreed to be so. This knowing is not so much psychic as it is integrative; it involves piecing together a lot of different kinds of information into a pattern that makes sense.

Imagine having a jigsaw puzzle that only has 25% of the puzzle pieces. As you begin to lay the pieces out, a picture starts to appear. At some point, though you don’t have the rest of the pieces, the image will become recognizable with the right pair of eyes.

It is important to state here that the conclusion reached is based on a scattering of bits of data, and cannot be in any way considered a proven conclusion in either legal or scientific terms. It may become that later, when more of the puzzle is laid out, but now it is in the “pre-knowing” stage.

Much of integrative and holistic medicine occupies this area of pre-knowing. I have been either blessed (or cursed) with this kind of pre-knowing for much of my life. I say blessed because it has been very exciting to find my way into areas of science before they become popular or even accepted. Cursed, because I have done studies and tried to get more funding in these areas many years before the ideas became acceptable or before the techniques to do good studies had been developed.

Indeed, I left some areas of interest, such as “psycho-immunology” as much as eight years before they were renamed psycho-neuro-immunology and become acceptable. Fortunately, holistic dermatology is now coming into its own. I hope to continue contributing to this field for the benefit of many.

To your health,

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

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.

Board Certified Dermatologist

Holistic Dermatology & Integrative Medicine