Susan's Page

I have an exciting announcement and important news! Beginning on Monday, October 5, 2009, I am joining my practice with Dr. Janice Piro at Piro Clinic of Natural Medicine.

Janice and I are good friends and have been each others' personal doctors since the 1980s. She and I attended classes together for 3 years in North Carolina as we both became certified Chiropractic Internists. Some of you already know Dr. Piro as she treated you during my leave of absence. We considered working together in the past, and this move supports the goals and intentions of both of our practices.

Starting on Monday, Oct 5th, I will see patients at :

Piro Clinic of Natural Medicine
971-B Virginia Avenue
Clearwater, FL 33758-8026

The office is conveniently located in Palm Harbor, next to the Post Office on Alt. 19, a few blocks north of Tampa Road (SR 584) (see map). If you travel from Tampa or St. Petersburg, expect equal or shorter travel time compared to my Clearwater location.

Starting on Monday, my new office phone number will be (727) 789-4020. Calls to my old phone number will be automatically forwarded to Piro Clinic starting on Monday, Oct. 5th.

My appointment schedule will be:
Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings

Piro Clinic office hours are:
Monday, Wednesday and Friday - 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Tuesday and Thursday - 1:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Dr. Piro and I are excited to work together and look forward to providing our more than 50 years of combined expertise for your benefit. Meanwhile if you have any questions or concerns, please call me.

See you soon!

Susan

Posted by Dr. Susan Player at 04:33 AM | Permalink

I had a rude reminder this past week that all the people on planet Earth don?��t yet know to AVOID using aluminum cookware. Here is a heads-up, as you perhaps have Thanksgiving dinner planned at a restaurant or a relative?��s or friend?��s home. Even many people who don?��t usually use aluminum cookware sometimes compromise with turkey roasting pans or purchased pies.

Taking some extra vitamin C can help to counteract the incoming aluminum to minimize its detrimental effects on your body.

Core Level C-TR or Pedia C (for kids) from Nutri-West are both excellent supplemental sources of vitamin C. They are available at our office if you don?��t already have them. The dosage would vary depending on how much aluminum intake occurs. Usually 1 ?�� 3 near the time of the meal is good, although you may need to up to 6 or so if all or most of the foods are prepared in aluminum cookware.

~Susan

Posted by Dr. Susan Player at 04:18 PM | Permalink

I had an eye-opening experience when I did my recent grocery shopping. I compared prices on a small sample of organic foods between a big grocer and our local independent health food store. Except for the yogurt, all the other items were less expensive at the health food store, sometimes by a large amount. A three pound bag of organic Gala apples was $2 cheaper at the health food store! I truly was shocked. Having a ?�?reputation?�? for being more expensive isn?��t always based on fact.

Do your own comparison shopping and let me know what you find out.

Also be sure to have the list of high-pesticide foods handy when you are shopping so you spend your ?�?organic pennies?�? wisely. The list may be found at:

http://www.drplayer.com/blog/2006/03/when_you_cant_buy_all_organic_1.html

~Susan

Posted by Dr. Susan Player at 02:38 PM | Permalink

I love to people watch--at the mall, at airports, all over. I have noticed that a lot of people stand or walk with their feet turning outward, instead of straight ahead. Although different imbalances can contribute to this, a common one is large intestine dysfunction. The reason is that the large intestine is related to a hip muscle whose job is to inwardly rotate the leg. If the large intestine isn?��t working well, that muscle can be weak and overpowered by the outward rotating muscles, hence the outward foot positions.

This is another clue that you can use to determine if there is an imbalance in the body before it turns into a bigger problem.

Other indicators of possible large intestine dysfunction are dark circles under the eyes, less than three bowel movements per day, and soreness if you squeeze the web muscle between the thumb and index finger. If you have these conditions, let me know at your next appointment so we can get your body working better.

~Susan

Posted by Dr. Susan Player at 04:51 PM | Permalink

I don?��t know about you, but I get fed up with all the drug ads that are in most magazines. At one point I had been receiving free copies of Reader?��s Digest at the office. After I tore out the drug ad pages, about half the magazine was missing!

There is a publication company whose magazines have NO drug ads at all and only a few ads in total. The company is called Reiman Publications (www.reimanpub.com). They have about ten different magazines including Country, Reminisce, Birds and Blooms, and Backyard Living. Their magazines have beautiful color photos and interesting and uplifting articles. My current favorite is Country which I have available at my office.

If you want something that points out the better parts of life and the beauty around us they are a great option. With Christmas coming up, they make great gifts for relatives as well.

~Susan

Posted by Dr. Susan Player at 05:52 PM | Permalink

If you find that you are having stress reactions to the changes in the economy, I want to remind you that it is really important to keep doing the things that are successful in keeping yourself healthy. This isn?��t the time to stop taking the supplements that have tested as beneficial for you. In fact, you may benefit from adding or increasing two nutrients in particular.

Core Level Magnesium helps the nervous system and muscles to relax. Core Level Thiamine is a B vitamin that is especially depleted during stressful times. Together, they can decrease or eliminate feeling on edge, not sleeping well, and being quick to anger.

When you are calm, sleeping well, and higher toned you are able to come up with creative solutions to problems.

Be sure to keep yourself well!
~Susan

Posted by Dr. Susan Player at 05:47 PM | Permalink

A study published in the June 2007 issue of the scientific journal Chest shows that the risk of asthma is one and a half times greater in babies who received more than four courses of antibiotics before age 1. Researchers reviewed healthcare and prescription databases in Manitoba, Canada of over 13 thousand children. The results showed that children who had been given antibiotics in the first year of life were more likely to develop asthma by age seven. Children in this group who were given four courses of antibiotics were most at risk.

Many conditions that children are given antibiotics for, such as ear and throat infections, can be easily addressed with natural remedies. Let?��s help their future health and keep antibiotic use ONLY for those rare instances were they are truly needed.

~Susan

Posted by Dr. Susan Player at 05:46 PM | Permalink

One of my very good friends is a big tea drinker. I am always amazed by how quickly her water heats up. She is barely gone from the table, and ?�?poof?�? she is back again with her hot tea. She uses an electric tea pot (AKA electric tea kettle) to heat up her water. There are many styles available online, priced from about $20-50. I would recommend getting a stainless steel one.

For my die-hards who refuse to get rid of their microwave ovens in order to heat up their tea or coffee quickly, this may be the item needed to get you onto a totally microwave-free life! The quickly boiled water can also make noodle cooking much faster.
~Susan

Posted by Dr. Susan Player at 05:03 PM | Permalink

In the last two weeks I have had three instances of out-of-town patients being told by their medical doctors that their blood tests were normal. When we got the copies of the actual blood test results, they all had values that were elevated beyond the clinical normal range. It reminded me again that it is VITAL to get copies of all tests that you have done, either in a doctor?��s office or hospital.

In all of these patients?�� situations, having the correct information makes a difference regarding how we will manage some immediate symptoms, as well as making the needed changes to avoid having potentially serious health problems in the future.

If you ever need help getting your test results, let me know. We have a form that you can fill out that is effective.

~Susan

Posted by Dr. Susan Player at 06:16 PM | Permalink

Some of my patients have noticed that I recently switched to Mountain Valley spring water at my office. This brand of water is delivered in glass bottles which is what I have always recommended as best.

In the last few months there has been research released regarding the #7 recycled bottles (the large 5 gallon plastic bottles are made from this). A chemical in that type of plastic called bisphenol-A (BPA) has been possibly linked to some health problems.

I am still researching this, but in the meantime decided to make the switch at the office. The downsides are that this water is more than double in cost and the bottles are HEAVY. At home, I am still using the spring water in the #7 bottles. Sometime soon I will do a full article on my findings in the NewsPlayer newsletter.

~Susan

Posted by Dr. Susan Player at 06:13 PM | Permalink