Treatment Modalities Used at Evansville Integrative Medicine, LLC

Acupuncture involves using very fine needles to stimulate specific points on the body, each of which has its own effects on the body's energy balance. Most people find acupuncture treatments profoundly relaxing once they experience a treatment or two. The needles used are solid, finer than a human hair, sterile, single use, and disposable. Acupuncture can be done with children and adults, though different techniques are used.

Allopathic Medicine is the practice of traditional western medicine. It involves the use of powerful medications, surgeries and other interventions to affect a change in the patients' health.

Botanical Therapy involves the use of plants and plant parts for their medicinal or therapeutic properties. Herbs are a subset of botanical medicines. Scientists use several approaches to evaluate health benefits and safety risks. Because botanical dietary products are not standardized in the US, they are used with great caution. Only botanicals that have reasonable safety profiles and reasonably good evidence for their effectiveness are recommended.

Emotional Freedom Techique (EFT) is based on the theory that negative emotions are caused by disturbances in the body's energy system and that tapping on acupuncture points while focusing on a specific traumatic memory balances the system, thereby neutralizing the negative emotion. There are five studies which appear to show positive outcomes from use of the techniques, but another study has suggested that it is indistinguishable from the placebo effect. It is currently being tested in a number of VA Centers to treat returning GIs suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Evidence-Based Medicine Evidence-based medicine is the conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best scientific evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients. The practice of evidence-based medicine means integrating an individual physician's clinical expertise with the best available evidence from systematic, critically-reviewed, clinical research. Good doctors use both and neither alone is good enough. Without clinical expertise, evidence rules by tyranny, for even excellent research may be inapplicable or inappropriate to the individual patient. Without research, practice standards become outdated, to the detriment of patients.

Healing Touch is a relaxing, nurturing energy therapy.  Gentle touch assists in balancing your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being.  Healing Touch works with your energy field to support your natural ability to heal.  It is safe for all ages and works in harmony with standard medical care. 

Heartmath For centuries, the heart has been considered the source of emotion, courage and wisdom. At the Institute of HeartMath (IHM) Research Center, we are exploring the physiological mechanisms by which the heart communicates with the brain, thereby influencing information processing, perceptions, emotions and health. We are asking questions such as: Why do people experience the feeling or sensation of love and other positive emotional states in the area of the heart and what are the physiological ramifications of these emotions? How do stress and different emotional states affect the autonomic nervous system, the hormonal and immune systems, the heart and brain? Over the years we have experimented with different psychological and physiological measures, but it was consistently heart rate variability, or heart rhythms, that stood out as the most dynamic and reflective of inner emotional states and stress. It became clear that negative emotions lead to increased disorder in the heart’s rhythms and in the autonomic nervous system, thereby adversely affecting the rest of the body. In contrast, positive emotions create increased harmony and coherence in heart rhythms and improve balance in the nervous system. The health implications are easy to understand: Disharmony in the nervous system leads to inefficiency and increased stress on the heart and other organs while harmonious rhythms are more efficient and less stressful to the body’s systems.

More intriguing are the dramatic positive changes that occur when techniques are applied that increase coherence in rhythmic patterns of heart rate variability. These include shifts in perception and the ability to reduce stress and deal more effectively with difficult situations. We observed that the heart was acting as though it had a mind of its own and was profoundly influencing the way we perceive and respond to the world. In essence, it appeared that the heart was affecting intelligence and awareness.

Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine, first expounded by German physician Samuel Hahnemann in 1796, that treats patients with heavily diluted preparations which are thought to cause effects similar to the symptoms presented. Homeopathic remedies are prepared by serial dilution with shaking by forceful striking ("succussing") after each dilution under the assumption that this increases the effect of the treatment; this process is referred to as "potentization". Dilution often continues until none of the original substance remains. [1]

Apart from the symptoms of the disease, homeopaths use aspects of the patient's physical and psychological state in recommending remedies. Homeopathic remedies are generally considered safe and generally contain few or no pharmacologically active ingredients.

Qi Gong (pronounced chee-gong) is a broad branch of Chinese medicine that uses specific movements and breathing techniques to change the energy in the body and to calm the mind. Thousands of variations on Qi Gong exist. Qi Gong is non-invasive.

Nutritional Therapy involves evaluation of the individual's diet and medical conditions and making recommendations about adding or eliminating foods or dietary supplements, particularly vitamins, minerals and trace elements, to the diet.

Reiki is a Japanese energy therapy that was introduced to the west in the early 1900s. The technique involves channeling of a healing life force known as Universal or Respectful Qi. The method involves light touch or holding the hands near the recipient while the Qi is transmitted or channeled. The technique differs from massage in that no tissue manipulation is used and the patient traditionally remains clothed. Reiki is best understood as a technique for inducing profound relaxation and mediation.