Traditional Medicines help a great deal to get yourself treated from many complications that cannot be treated with any other kinds of medications. Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine proves highly effective in treating Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. In this post, we can read more about this complication, its causes, symptoms and how Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine can help to treat it efficiently!!

What is Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?

• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, shortly called as CTS is a condition caused by increased pressure on the median nerve of the wrist.
• There is a space in the wrist which is called the carpal tunnel
• The median nerve and nine tendons pass from the forearm into the hand in this space
• Carpal tunnel syndrome occurs when pressure builds up from inflammation in this tunnel and puts stress on the nerve

Causes of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

• Generally the cause is unknown
• Pressure on the nerve is the main reason for developing this condition. This can happen in several ways; maybe the reason is swelling of the lining of the flexor tendons (Tenosynovitis); joint dislocations, fractures, and arthritis can narrow down the tunnel
• Keeping the wrist bent for long periods of time.
• Thyroid conditions, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Diabetes etc also can be related with developing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Signs & Symptoms of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Symptoms include

• Numbness (lack of feeling) in the thumb, index, middle, and ring fingers.
• Tingling (Itchy or scratchy)
• Pain in the arm, hand, and fingers
• The symptoms predominantly are felt during the nights
• You would sometimes notice a weaker grip, tendency to drop things
• Occasional clumsiness
• When the condition becomes severe, sensation may be permanently lost and the muscles at the base of the thumb slowly shrink. This condition is called as Thenar Atrophy.

Read this article written by Tim H. Tanaka to know more about CTS!!

Treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

There are few methods in which you can self treat this condition to reduce the intensity of the symptoms and the pain. Changing the patterns of using the hands, or keeping the wrist splinted in a straight position might help in reducing pressure on the nerve. Wearing wrist splints at night may relieve the symptoms and pain that interfere or disturb with sleep.

But still if you could not control the pain it causes, then you must definitely consult a doctor and get it treated. Traditional treating methods such as Acupuncture and Chinese Medicines prove highly effective in treating CTS. Sustain Health is one of the finest Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine clinic located in South Melbourne, Australia. This kind of treatment is extremely effective and has no side effects.

Contact Us immediately for further queries!

We are recently coming across the term “autoimmune disease” quite often! Rheumatoid Arthritis is similar to that of Myasthenia gravis (which is an autoimmune neuromuscular disorder). We spoke about it last week. Likewise, Rheumatoid Arthritis is a condition which causes chronic inflammation of the joints. In this post, let us see about the condition, Rheumatoid Arthritis, its causes, symptoms and methods of treating it using traditional Acupuncture and Chinese Medicines!!

What is Rheumatoid Arthritis?

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that causes persistent swelling (inflammation) of the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis can also cause inflammation of the tissue nearby or surrounding the joints, and also in other organs of the body.

Know what is autoimmune disease?

• Autoimmune diseases are those that occur when one’s own tissues by mistake attacks its own immune system.
• The immune system of our body is an intricate and delicate organization of cells and antibodies designed to find and destroy the infections that attack the body!
• People with autoimmune diseases have antibodies in their blood that target their own body tissues
• This leads to swelling (inflammation)
• Since RA affects multiple organs of the body, it is referred to as a Systemic Illness

Rheumatoid Arthritis is considered as a chronic illness because it can last for years! Patients with RA sometimes never experience any symptoms due to this condition! However, Rheumatoid Arthritis is characteristically an illness that grows worse over a period of time and thus has the potential to cause joint destruction and total functional disability of the bod

Occurrence of RA

• Rheumatoid Arthritis is three times more common in women than in men.
• Rheumatoid Arthritis begins at any age
• Children affected by RA are said to have Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis
• But predominantly starts after 40 years of age and before 60 years.

Causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis

• The cause of Rheumatoid Arthritis is unknown
• Infectious agents such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi have been suspected but none has been proven as the actual cause
• Tendency to develop Rheumatoid Arthritis could be hereditary (genetically inherited)
• Environmental factors also play some role in causing Rheumatoid Arthritis. For instance; scientists have found that smoking tobacco increases the threat of developing Rheumatoid Arthritis

Symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis

The symptoms of Rheumatoid Arthritis and its severity depend on the measure of tissue inflammation. When the tissues are highly inflamed, the disease is active. On the other hand, when the swelling in the tissues subside; the condition becomes inactive.

When the disease becomes inactive, the symptoms disappear and come again once it becomes active! The return of disease activity and its corresponding symptoms is called a flare.

During Flare, the symptoms can include

• Fatigue
• Loss of energy
• Lack of appetite
• Low-grade fever
• Muscle and joint aches
• Stiffness
• Joints often become red, swollen, painful, and tender
• Joint deformity, destruction, and loss of function
• It can cause hoarseness of the voice; due to inflation of the joint that tightens our vocal cords to change our voice.
• Sjogren’s syndrome; inflammation of eyes and mouth joints
• Pleuritis is the inflammation of the lung lining. It causes chest pain with difficulty to breathe
• Pericarditis is the inflammation of the tissues surrounding the heart. It can cause chest pain and other heart related conditions
• RA can cause Anemia, (reduce the number of Red Blood Cells (RBC) in the blood
• RA causes Felty’s Syndrome (reduced number of white blood cells, causing infections)
• Vasculitis is a rare symptom of RA

Now that you know the seriousness of developing RA in you, always be cautious that if you undergo any of the above symptoms, immediately consult a doctor. Traditional methods of treating diseases are becoming famous these days. This is because they are natural, side-effective free and effective! Sustain health can help you treat your RA condition efficiently! At Sustain Health they use traditional Acupuncture and Chinese Medicines to help you lessen the risk factor and treat them. Visit our office directly; we are located in South Melbourne or Contact Us for any queries regarding appointments!

Myasthenia gravis is a neuromuscular disorder. In simple terms, it means it is the disorder of the muscles and the nerves that control them… Traditional Acupuncture and Chinese Medicines help great deal to control and treat this condition. This post will give you an account on what this condition is all about, its risk, causes, symptoms and how Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine can help to make things better…

What is Myasthenia gravis?

Myasthenia gravis is basically a continual autoimmune neuromuscular disease that involves problems related to muscles of your body and the nerves related to them. This condition takes the name, “Myasthenia gravis”, which is Latin and Greek in origin, that actually means “grave muscle weakness.” For almost 90% of individuals suffering with Myasthenia gravis, life expectancy is not lessened by it. Thus it can be treated efficiently!

The most common trait of Myasthenia gravis is muscle weakness that gives terrible pain. There are a few muscles that very often get affected by this condition such as the muscles that control eye and eyelid movement, facial expression, chewing, talking, swallowing, breathing and neck and limb movements. In short, Myasthenia gravis causes weakness for the skeletal muscles.

Reasons WHY people develop Myasthenia gravis

• The origin of Myasthenia gravis is not clearly known.
• But in some cases, Myasthenia gravis is said to be related with tumors of the thymus, which is an organ in the immune system of your body.
• People who have developed Myasthenia gravis in them have higher risk of developing other autoimmune disorders, like Thyrotoxicosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus etc…
• Myasthenia gravis could affect people at any age. But predominantly it occurs more common in young women and older men

Read this article written by Subhuti Dharmananda to know more about Myasthenia gravis and other autoimmune diseases…

Myasthenia gravis and its Symptoms

Myasthenia gravis worsens the condition of the muscles. Weakness in affected muscles would probably cause;

• Difficulty in Breathing; due to weakening of chest wall muscles
• Difficulty to chew and swallow
• Difficulty in climbing stairs, lifting objects
• Difficulty in talking
• Sagging head position
• Facial paralysis
• Fatigue
• Hoarseness or changing voice
• Weakness of the eye muscles causes  Double vision and drooping of eyelids

Lifestyle adjustments habitually facilitate you to continue many of your daily activities. Taking different kinds of medication would make your conditions worse. Thus it is always advisable for you to stick to one particular kind of treatment and preferably traditional methods such as Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine because they are effective and has no side effects! Do you wonder where to get it done? There is no need for a second thought when you have Sustain Health doing it all for you! Visit is directly, we are located in Melbourne, Australia.

Call Us immediately or Contact Us for further clarifications…

Acupuncture and Chinese Medicines help great deal to control Gout! The medical term used to describe high amount of uric acid (gout) is Hyperuricemia! These uric acid stones are extremely dangerous and needs to be kept under control. This post will help you to understand the difficulties you would face if you have high Uric acid in your body. It will also give you an idea about the symptoms and the way Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine will help you overcome Gout!

What is Hyperuricemia?

Hyperuricemia is nothing but presence of surplus uric acid in the blood. The overflowing Uric acid passes through the liver, and enters your blood. Most of the uric acid is excreted from your body in your urine, or it passes through your intestines to normalize the acid levels.

The normal Uric acid levels are;

• 2.4 to 6.0 mg/dL for women
• 3.4 to 7.0 mg/dL for men

Understand what purines are!!

Purines are compounds that contain nitrogen. They areeither formed inside the cells of your body, or gets into your body from outside when you eat food containing purine. This nitrogen containing compound breaks down into uric acid. When these compounds increase,it gets accumulated in your tissues, and form crystals. This causes high uric acid levels in the blood.
Uric acid formation will lead to problems like kidney stones and gout (gathering of uric acid crystals in the joints).

Causes of Hyperuricemia!

There are a lot of factors that are related to the development of Hyperuricemia and gout. Predominantly;

• Heredity reasons play an important role in determining a person’s risk in developing Hyperuricemia.
• Age and Gender factor is another major issue; it is said that it occurs more common in men than in women!
• Consumption of alcohol
• Obesity
• Intake of food that’s rich in purines causes gout for some people..
• Diseases in the kidney
• Certain medications can cause increased levels of uric acid in the body
• Problems related to Endocrine glands and metabolic conditions can raise the uric acid levels of the body

Reasons that cause gout attack

• Medicines that affect kidney function
• Cyclosporine is given to organ transplant recipients that raises uric acid levels
• Aspirin given in low dosage can raise uric acid levels in the blood
• Obesity
• Hypertension
• Hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol)
• Diabetes
• Consumption of alcohol
• Injuries at your joints
• Fad diets, fasting, and dehydration
• Body temperature; because gout attacks people more in cold regions

Some symptoms of Hyperuricemia

• Predominantly, you may not have any symptoms! This is something that you need to consider. But there are few symptoms that help you find that you are under risk!
• You may get fever, fatigue if you have certain kind of cancer, and thus your uric acid levels will go high
• An inflammation of a joint which is called as ‘gout’ occurs if the high amount of uric acid crystals gets deposited in your joints.
• You may have problems related to your kidney
• Problems while urination

Call your doctor when you undergo any of these;

• Joint pain
• Breathing difficulty
• Chest pain
• If you could feel your heart beat getting faster
• If blood does not clot even after several minutes of bleeding
• Skin allergies

Now, certainly you must know what can be done to keep your uric acid levels under control. It can be achieved through taking care of the kind of food you consume. Reduce the intake of food that are rich in nitrogen content and consume more of food that has low purine levels!

Here is an article that helps you to ease your pain when you have gout!

A BIG NO to these!

• All organ meat and meat extracts
• Yeasts, and yeast extracts (alcoholic beverages)
• Asparagus, spinach, beans, peas, lentils
• Oatmeal, cauliflower and mushrooms

Foods that have low purine levels;

• Milk and milk products
• Eggs
• Cereal based edibles such as breads, pasta, flour etc
• Lettuce, tomatoes, green vegetables
• Fruit juice and carbonated drinks
• Drink atleast 2 to 3 liters of water everyday
• Follow medications strictly as directed
• Try avoiding caffeine and alcohol; they increase uric acid levels

To prevent future attacks, maintain a proper diet and keep pace with defined lifestyle changes, along with urate-lowering medicines! This can be extremely helpful.

Sustain Health is an excellent solution for you to get treated for your problems related to gout! They use traditional Acupuncture and Chinese medicines that help you control your uric acid levels. Its effective and has no side-effects!

Contact Us immediately or visit us directly, we are located in Melbourne.

Having high amount of cholesterol in blood is a matter of extreme importance that can risk your life to great extend! You become prone to various chronic diseases that can lead to even loss of life. Balanced levels of sugar, pressure and cholesterol in blood must be always maintained to live a healthy life. This post will give you a brief about cholesterol, how it gets accumulated in our body and how it could be kept under control by using traditional Acupuncture and Chinese Medicines!

What is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a waxy, thick material that is found in almost all the cells of the body.  Cholesterol is an indispensable kind of fat that is present in the blood. All cells in the body need cholesterol for carrying out various activities including the production of hormones! Our human body generally has some amount of cholesterol it needs to perform its functions. However, eating surplus amount of fatty food will lead to the formation of excess amount of cholesterol in the blood.

Blood and fat are like to contradictory functions! They don’t mix with each other and therefore the blood carries the cholesterol in tiny packages called lipoproteins. These small packages are made of lipids (fat) and proteins. Two kinds of lipoproteins help blood to carry cholesterol throughout your body. It is significant to have healthy levels of both of them!

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol is also called bad cholesterol.

Low Density Lipoprotein cholesterol helps in building up of cholesterol in arteries. The higher the LDL levels in your blood, the greater would be the chance you have of getting heart disease.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is also called good cholesterol.

High Density Lipoprotein carries cholesterol from all parts of your body to your liver. The liver removes the cholesterol from your body. The higher your HDL cholesterol levels, the lower would be your chance of getting heart disease.

Cholesterol is carried by the blood through particles which are called as lipoproteins. These lipoproteins are classified based on their size.

• Extremely large particles are called Very Low Density Lipoproteins (VLDL)
• Intermediary sized particles are called Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) They cause heart disease
• The least or smallest particles are called High Density Lipoproteins (HDL) They actually protect you against heart disease.

What about triglycerides?

Triglycerides are stored energy sources. Most of the triglycerides are found in the VLDL particles. High blood triglyceride is a high risk factor as it may cause heart diseases and sometimes inflate your pancreas!

To avoid getting into such complications, reduce your intake of animal or hard vegetable fats, maintain nominal weight and try to reduce the consumption of alcohol.

Recommended levels!

• Low Density Lipoprotein: 70-130 mg/dL
• High Density Lipoprotein: more than 40-60 mg/dL
• Total cholesterol: less than 200 mg/dL
• Triglycerides: 10-150 mg/dL

High cholesterol is a problem!

A high level of cholesterol in the blood is a huge risk factor because it is the main reason for developing heart diseases like heart attacks and angina. Other risk factors that cause heart diseases include smoking, high blood pressure and obesity. Also, heavy intake of saturated fat in the diet and genetic factors affect the levels of cholesterol in blood.

Possible Complications

Probable complications of high cholesterol include:

• Coronary artery diseases
• Stroke
• Heart attack
• Atherosclerosis
• Loss of life
• High triglycerides causes Pancreatitis

Are your cholesterol levels high???

The most effective way to bring down your cholesterol levels is to reduce the consumption of animal fat in your diet. Abnormal cholesterol and triglyceride levels may be caused by various factors such as;

• Overweight or obesity
• Extensive usage of alcohol
• Lack of exercise and proper healthy lifestyle
• Smoking
• Usage of medicines such as birth control pills, antidepressants etc.
• Some diseases like diabetes, hypothyroidism, polycystic ovary syndrome etc.
• High intake of saturated fats and trans fatty acids

Get it treated?? Do it yourself!

Treatment for keeping your cholesterol levels under control predominantly depends on your age, health history, and genetic factors. But by following few habits and changing your lifestyle a little can help you keep your cholesterol levels under control!

Here is an article written by Marsha Hallet on how your eating habits can change your lifestyle in maintaining your health!

• Eat healthy diet & exercise regularly
• Avoid food with saturated fat and trans-fatty acids
• Periodic health check-ups and fat screenings
• Quit smoking
• Keep your body weight under control.

You can help doing all these when you are either not having high levels of cholesterol in you or you are just at the verge of getting into complications which can be controlled through strict lifestyle changes! But what if you are unable to control your cholesterol levels?? What if you are already suffering from this problem, unable to maintain normal levels of fat? Do not panic! Sustain Health is always ready to lend you a helping hand. They treat any complications through traditional Acupuncture and Chinese Medicines that are eco friendly, have no side-effects and is cent percent effective!

Call us to make an appointment online or visit us directly, we are located at Melbourne.

Did you ever know that Acupuncture and Chinese medicine can help you keep Diabetes in control? Think before you take a step, it’s worth the thought you give! Prior to we delve into it more, let’s understand the basic of what Diabetes is, its symptoms and how it is caused….

Do you know what Diabetes means??

Diabetes is nothing but turmoil of the metabolism activities that is taking place in our body. The food which we eat is broken down into glucose. Glucose is the simplest form of sugar in the blood. Glucose is the main source of energy for the body.

After digestion, glucose uses blood as the carrier to transport itself to all the cells of the body, which helps the body cells to grow! For glucose to get into cells, insulin must be present. Insulin is a hormone secreted by a large gland found behind our stomach called the pancreas.

Now, when people eat, the pancreas automatically produces the insulin to move glucose from blood into the cells. But for people with diabetes, the pancreas either may produce less or no insulin and in other cases, the cells may not respond suitably to the insulin that is produced. Therefore the glucose in the blood will overflow, and pass out of the body in the form of urine. This makes the body to lose its main source of energy though the blood contains large amount of glucose.

Ideal glucose levels!

Check for your glucose levels to get an understanding of what your sugar levels are…

• Before meals it must be 4 to 7mmol/l
• 90 minutes after a meal, your sugar levels must be less than 10mmol/l
• At bedtime it must be around 8 mmol/l

Types of diabetes

There are many types of Diabetes but all of them are broadly classified under these three categories;

Type 1 diabetes

It is an autoimmune disease; it means that the immunity system of the body turns against a part of the body itself!  The immunity system for diabetic people attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. Thus the pancreas produces no or very little amount of insulin. If a person has type 1 diabetes, then he must take insulin daily to live!

Type 2 diabetes

This is the most common form of diabetes. Around 90 to 95 percent of people with diabetes worldwide have type 2 diabetes. This type of diabetes often affects people with;

• Obesity
• Family history of diabetes
• History of gestational diabetes
• Physical inactivity
• Old age
• Specific ethnicities

Gestational diabetes

Women develop gestational diabetes late in pregnancy. Even though this type of diabetes comes under control after child birth, women who have had gestational diabetes have bright chances of developing type 2 diabetes in the following few years.

Administering High Blood Sugar

Administering diabetes is like a three-way complementary act because you have to watch three things simultaneously!

• What you eat!
• Medicine at right time
• A lot of exercise!!

You need to essentially follow on them to keep your blood levels normal and under control!

Here is an an excellent article written by By Dr. Steve Ponder that talks about the good habits you need to develop in caring for Diabetes!!

Why to control blood sugar levels?

When you don’t take proper care of controlling high sugar levels for years together, then you might fall prey to various diseases affecting your blood vessels. In the long run it may develop into complications such as;

• Retinopathy (eye disease)
• Neuropathy (nerve disease)
• Nephropathy (kidney disease)
• Cardiovascular diseases
• Heart attack
• Hypertension
• Heart failure, Stroke

Keep your sugar levels under control and it considerably helps in reducing the risk of these complications.

Symptoms of High Blood Sugar Levels

There are few signs or symptoms through which high blood sugar levels are found!

• People with high levels of sugar often get the tendency to urinate as the excess glucose overflows and gets out of the body through urination.
• They often get very thirsty and drink a lot of water
• People with diabetes tend to lose weight though their appetite wouldn’t change! This is because the glucose in body gets out in the form of urine due to the lack of insulin secretion and so the hungry cells break down muscles and fat energy stored already in body!
• Due to the non consumption of glucose, people with high sugar complaint will often feel tired
• Blurred vision
• Slow healing of infections like cystitis and wound infections
• Hunger

If you are under going any of the above symptoms, then you must immediately consult a doctor and bring your sugar levels under control! Now this is where Sustain health can help you great deal!! We treat all diseases and complaints using traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture methods that are cent percent harmless and highly effective!

Call us immediately to fix up an appointment online or do visit us directly in our office located at South Melbourne!