Ask Dr. Shiroko

The Secret to True Love

2012-02-15T20:57:00.000-08:00

The Secret to True Love

Last year on Valentines Day, I went out with three girlfriends to dressed to the nines. We were headed to a Professional Singles Society event. Within three feet of walking into the Flamingo Resort in Santa Rosa, we saw that there were only seven older women and no men. We left the premise our hopes for a new romance dashed.

There we were- four attractive single women sitting at a Taqueria in Petaluma on Valentines Day, trying to connect but with no one to connect to. This year, if you found yourself single and alone on Valentines Day, don't consider it a failure in your love life, direct the love toward yourself. Be assured that you are not just okay - you are sexy and amazing. Make it your mission to really be with yourself and have fun!

Most of us don't want to be alone. In fact, many of us suffer a lot just to not be alone. We focus so much of our thoughts and time on our desire to be loved and to love. However, the relationship that we all so often overlook is the one we have with ourselves. So, let's start there.

What does it take to be okay with yourself? Every person has their issues, their point of pain and insecurities. Here are my suggestions for making 2012 the hottest year yet.

Start by doing things for yourself that you like. Ask yourself, what do I love doing that I am not doing now? Don't let not being in relationship keep you from doing things in your life. I always like going to coffee shops by myself, bringing my laptop, and working beside a nicely brewed cup of coffee. And don't limit yourself- why not take the dream vacation you've always wanted. Or go on a date with yourself somewhere exciting. Another favor of mine is to spend a Friday night alone at home, it can be very relaxing and healing.

When you are exploring these new possibilities for happiness in your life, also take the time to really be within yourself. Learn who you are and what you like. Find the strength to start healing and freeing those parts of yourself that are stuck and in pain. Discover the secret to true love by starting to become your own best friend.

A spiritual master once said, that if people spent just five percent of the energy they spend on relationships seeking god, they would achieve true happiness. This 2012, focus your love on yourself. It may be hard to do at first. The emptiness inside feels so huge. But keep trying, and slowly watch your heart expand and grow.

More about Hormones

2009-06-09T17:35:00.000-07:00

Symptoms of low hormone levels are vast. There are over 20 hormones produced by the adrenal glands alone. People often know about the symptoms of menopause, hot flashes, dry skin, bad sleep, palpitations, anxiety, vaginal dryness, hair loss, low sex drive and many others. But some symptoms are not so well known. Quite often, people will experience muscle aches and pains. Besides menopause, many conditions have something to do with hormone imbalances. Weight issues, chronic fatigue, sleep disorders, even Alzheimers can respond to bio-identical hormone therapy.

(more)

Emotional Healing

2009-06-04T13:42:00.000-07:00

Today I've been thinking about the concept of thinking about something versus feeling it. My experience on spiritual path has been that we can think of things or conceptualize them, but we don't really get anywhere with them unless we feel them. Life provides us with opportunities to feel things every day. What we do with those experiences determines our ability to heal from them.
By reading about things, and studying them, we learn how they work mentally. That's a valuable thing to do, it gets us ready when an experience comes along. When you have an emotional experience, you may not remember that you read something about how to move past old traumas. It takes practice and awareness to become calm enough in the middle of an emotional storm to stop and find the healing.

Lets say that you married a man who's just like your dad. When you were a child, you felt unsupported in certain ways by your dad. Then you married your dad and found him to be just as unsupportive. You get angry and think it has something to do with your husband. Perhaps he didn't pay the bills on time this month. The anger is really about what happened to you as a child. The healing comes when you can see that and be able to move to a place of forgiveness with your husband.

(more)

20/30/50 Healing Path

2009-06-01T07:58:00.001-07:00

Whenever a person has a physical problem, you can break it down into the various components to think about treatment. 20% of any problem can be treated with physical modalities, such as seeing a doctor, having acupuncture, or chiropractic, or taking a medication. 30% of that problem or condition can be dealt with using lifestyle modifications, things like exercise, foods you eat, and supplements you take. A full 50% of the problem resides in the emotional/spiritual aspects. Dealing with the emotional/spiritual self can help you bring about healing in many parts of your life, but that might be difficult. We have a hard time seeing our selves from that perspective. Quite often our views about things get skewed in relation to looking at other people and what they are doing. By allowing that 50% of all conditions have this component, you can actually move to the 20% and deal with it there. (more)

More about Hormones

2009-05-22T13:45:00.000-07:00

Many conditions can be improved by treatment with bio-identical hormones. The obvious things have to do with female problems such as menopause, and PMS. Other conditions include, chronic pain, fatigue, sleep disorders. Even diabetes, Alzheimers, and hypertension can be improved by understanding your hormone levels.
Ideally you would start by getting tests to measure your hormone levels. This can be done either using blood tests, saliva tests, or urine. Many doctors say that testing hormone levels doesn't tell you anything but I've found that it does. Its a matter of understanding the tests that we are using and being able to extrapolate from having seen many people.
Once you have some lab levels, many supplements can be used to help balance hormones. It doesn't just have to be bio-identical hormones. Depending on your symptoms and what is out of balance, I will prescribe supplements or hormones to help you feel better.

Bio Identical Hormones

2009-05-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of controversy about bio-identical hormones and what it means to take them.
Today I will just provide you with a brief definition of what they are. Your body is always making hormones in the various glands such as the thyroid, adrenals, and ovaries or testes. The adrenal glands alone make over 20 different hormones.
In certain situations when your body isn't making enough hormones its a good idea to replace them. Most commonly, we think of menopause as one of those times, but there are other medical conditions that will do better with hormone replacement as well.
Bio Identical hormones are hormones made in a lab with an identical chemical structure to the ones in your body. For example, estradiol is a bio-identical hormone, but Premarin is not. Premarin is natural in that is comes from horse urine, but isn't biologically the same as your own natural estrogen.
The idea is that when you use bio-identical hormones, your system doesn't have to work hard to use them, and is less likely to have a negative reaction.
On my next post, I'll give you more details about how and why to use them.

Swine flu

2009-04-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

Swine Flu

The Swine flu may or may not turn out to be a huge pandemic as we have been warned about so many times. Panic is almost never a way to generate a positive response in the public.
Even Swine Flu becomes an epidemic, the best way to protect yourself is to have a healthy immune system and take good care of your body. Eating well, taking your vitamins, and washing your hands often are simple logical ways of taking care of yourself. Rather than buying Tamiflu, I would recommend everyone invest in Host Defense, or some other medicinal mushrooms to protect their immune systems. Medicinal mushrooms are amazingly effective at keeping you from getting sick.

(more)

Allergies

2009-04-13T16:07:00.000-07:00

How do you survive Allergies without drugs?

You can have a series of treatments or take herbs to calm the allergies before a season begins, if you haven't done that already, and now you're sneezing like crazy, you can take supplements to calm the allergies until you've had a chance to work on your immune system.

A series of treatments and herbs may take more than one season to get the body into balance so it will not react to pollens and other things.

Using acupuncture and Chinese herbs several months before allergy season arrives can prevent symptoms. Even if allergies have already begun, treatment can help reduce symptoms.

Western herbs, homeopathy and some basic nutritional supplements alleviate symptoms of allergies. Stinging nettle has an amazing impact on allergy symptoms and as a bonus relieves joint pains caused by arthritis. Butterbur in the form of a product called “Petadolex” can help prevent migraines in addition to providing allergy relief. Bee pollen from local bees, if taken by the teaspoonful once a day before the season starts, immunizes the body against the pollens.

Various antioxidants such as quercetin, N. Acetyl Cysteine, vitamin C, and rutin stabilize the immune cells involved in the allergic response. Available in health food stores, they prevent symptoms and over time strengthen the immune system to reduce reaction. Bromelain – an enzyme taken on an empty stomach – penetrates inflamed areas to reduce reactions.

(more)

Resources

2009-04-13T15:43:00.000-07:00

The Web That Has No Weaver, Ted Kaptchuk
The Natural Guide to Weight Loss that Lasts, Nan Lu
Awareness, Anthony De Mello

Service Offerings

2009-04-13T15:41:00.000-07:00

Acupuncture
Chinese and Western medicine
neurotransmitter support
Bio-Identical hormones
Cranio-sacral work

Contact Dr. Shiroko

2009-04-13T15:39:00.000-07:00

Heart to Heart Medical Center
3471 Regional Parkway, Santa Rosa, CA 95403

also an office in Novato, CA call for address
707 524-9640
707 477-8077
drshiro@liles.net
www.hthmc.com

About Dr. Shiroko

2009-04-13T15:33:00.000-07:00

Shiroko Sokitch graduated from University of Washington School of Medicine in 1984 and the Northwest Institute of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in Seattle, WA in 1990. She did two years of a general surgery residency at Swedish Hospital in Seattle before deciding that the surgeon�s way of life was not for her. While attending acupuncture school and starting her alternative medical career, she practiced as an emergency medical physician for ten years. Since 1993, she has owned and operated Heart to Heart to Heart Medical Center, a complementary medical center in Santa Rosa, CA with her business partner Jason Liles. Since January of 2000, she has also written an alternative medical advice column in the Healdsburg, Windsor, and Sebastopol newspapers.

Shiroko Sokitch, MD, is an unusual physician in that she is able to provide a comprehensive blend of treatments including Chinese and western medicine. Since opening Heart to Heart Medical Center in Santa Rosa 14 years ago, she has become an expert at using many modalities to bring the body to balance and wholeness.

In her office, she specializes in listening closely so that she understands your health concerns and is able to guide you to finding the best treatments. In addition to acupuncture, she works with craniosacral therapy, herbs, nutritional supplements, specific diagnostic tests, exercise and diet to help you find the best balance for your body. Her extensive understanding of the spiritual/emotional connection to your physical problems will help you to heal at a greater depth with more lasting results.

There is no one size fits all medicine here. Each person is an individual with unique responses to treatment and each needs a personalized approach. With Shiroko�s 100 Percent Healing approach, you will learn about each element of your healing path.

If you have questions about any health concerns, Shiroko will spend time with you to help you understand it and find your way to wholeness.

An initial visit is 1 and a half hours long and includes a thorough evaluation of your health from the Chinese and western philosophies. She will provide you with a plan for addressing each issue and give you instructions for helping yourself with diet and exercise, herbs and supplements as well as ideas for treatments. If acupuncture is suggested, her techniques are painless and relaxing. Further testing might be recommended to understand hormone levels, digestive function or neurotransmitter levels among other possibilities. Once you have decided to work with Shiroko, she is your partner in healing. You can access her via email, or her cell phone to get answers to your questions.