Cancer awareness is very critical these days and knowing how to prevent and early detect cancer is a key to maintaining your well being. Mammograms have been the mainstream for detecting any signs of breast cancer. However, there is an additional option that is “radiation free” that is worth exploring called “Thermography”.  As with all health decisions, please consult your medical doctor or homeopathic doctor for what option is best for you.  Being informed about your health and the various ways to stay healthy will serve you the best in the long run.
 
Thermography is a suggested screening tool for breast health. It can be used as an alternative to, or in addition to, mammography. Thermography is very safe—it’s even safe for pregnant and nursing women! It’s merely an image of the heat of your body. With thermography, there is no radiation exposure. Thermography is not invasive and requires no physical contact with the technician.  You are positioned in front of a Thermal Imaging Camera and digital pictures are taken. The procedure lasts from 5 to 15 minutes. The results are analyzed for heat patterns and available to you within a couple of days. Dr. Christiane  Northrup, author of Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom, is a well-known advocate for thermography as an accurate and reliable method of breast screening.
 
The website http://www.thermologyonline.org/ is a great source of information for understanding how thermography works.  Thermography measures body temperature to detect inflammation and has been shown to pick up abnormalities in the breast many years before a lesion would likely show up in a mammogram. Tumors generally have an increase in blood supply which translates into increased heat in the surrounding tissues. Inflammation is often present in precancerous and cancerous cells and can be detected by the infrared hotspots during thermography. It is especially useful in detection of breast abnormality and may be more effective than mammography in early detection of cancer cells.
 
Some experts believe that thermographs have the ability to detect the chemical and blood vessel changes in pre-cancerous as well as cancerous breast tissue 8 to 10 years before it can be detected by other methods. With thermography as a screening tool, breast cell anomalies can be detected long before mammography can detect cancer, allowing you to implement lifestyle changes that can improve the health of your breasts proactively instead of waiting for a cancer diagnosis later. The chart below shows the growth rate of cancer cells and when anomalies are detected by both thermography and mammography.

Proper hydration is very important, especially after getting a massage. Deep tissue massage in particular releases toxins trapped in the muscular system which eventually will be flushed by the body through the lymphatic system. Proper hydration after massage helps to properly flush the system of these toxins.

Vive! is committed to your health as well as the environment. In the past, Vive! has always provided bottled water to our clients. We have now found a healthier and more ecologically friendly option than bottled water. We have installed a water filtration system which supplies healthier purified water. This will save thousands of water bottles each year as well as eliminate the environmental carbon impact of transporting the water.

Environmentally Friendly Cups

No more environmentally unfriendly bottles. We are now using to-go cups manufactured by ECO Products. The cups, lids and straws are all made of 100% renewable plant based plastics. This material is also ASTM certified to be 100% compostable. We hope you will agree that this is a far better alternative to plastic water bottles. 

We selected an eight stage filtration system from Crystal Quest which removes a wide variety of contaminants and unwanted chemicals from the drinking water. Vive! specifically chose a system that includes a filter for removing fluoride from the water. Fluoridation of the water supply has become a controversial subject. If you wish to read more on the subject, we suggest an article about water quality written by Dr. Mercola.  He is an acknowledged author, researcher and expert in the preventative health field, focusing on Osteopathic Medicine.

We elected not to use a reverse osmosis system since the municipal water system already provides some basic water filtration. Reverse osmosis systems are particularly helpful to those people whose water is supplied by well systems. While these systems are excellent at removing contaminants from the water, they tend to waste a lot of water and also tend to remove many beneficial minerals from the water. Click on READ MORE if you want to learn more about the 8 stage water filtering process supplied by Crystal Quest. 

It seems that with every big snowfall, the news is littered with snow shoveling victims. Heavy snow like the weather event we are having now can be much more dangerous than most people realize. Here are a few tips for staying safe.

• Take your time. Take frequent rest breaks. There is no need to rush.
• When using a shovel, take smaller scoops of snow.
• Lift with your legs, not your back. Lift the shovel with the blade as close to your body as possible.
• Even using a snow blower can be strenuous. Let the machine do as much of the work as possible. Take frequent breaks.
• Don't be too proud to ask for help. Maybe the neighbor kids would appreciate the chance to earn a couple of dollars.
• If you do manage to strain yourself, call for an appointment at Vive! for a massage tune up.

Of course, Massage therapy can help you recover from the muscle aches and muscle strains caused by shoveling.