February 6, 2020. Thank you to Mary Donofrio and the L.A. Team Doterra for inviting me to your monthly meeting/women’s wellness talk at Haute Infrared Studio in Monrovia, CA. Below are some of the things we talked about.
What is thermography
Thermal imaging uses a very special infrared medically designed and manufactured camera to capture the heat patterns coming off of your body. It is completely safe with no radiation and no compression.
Thermal imaging looks at skin temperature and what your own physiology or function reveals.
Thermography is best used as a health screening. Like a GPS to keep you on track. The same way you might track your blood sugar and modify your diet instead of waiting to become an insulin dependent diabetic. That is prevention not just detection.
What thermography is not:
It is not a mammogram without radiation. Mammograms, ultrasounds, MRI’s, CT scans and even breast palpation are looking at anatomy or structure.
That’s the nuts and bolts of you body. We are looking at your physiology is what’s happening within that structure, more on a cellular level.
We offer full body, half body, region of interest and breast scans, which is our focus here today.
How can we use breast thermal imaging to monitor our breast health and what proactive steps can we take?
Breast thermography looks at your thermal fingerprint or individual pattern over time. We are looking for stability. If there is a change in that pattern, it’s a signal to look further, and you can make a course correction. This is how we monitor your health.
I never recommend women to depend on just one test. Thermography as a proactive breast health screening and look at physiology.
A complementary anatomical test is also recommended. You should make that choice with your trusted healthcare practitioner.
Every lump needs to be checked anatomically at least once so we know exactly what it is, even if there is no current activity seen thermographically. Be your own advocate and trust your intuition.
Now, let’s talk about some strategies for breast health.
I don’t have much time so I’m going to be general and keep it simple.
Because this is your Doterra group, Mary is going to talk about high quality essential oils and women’s health.
Some other easy fixes:
Ditch plastic. Bad for the planet and bad for you. Plastics have hormone disrupting chemicals. We already live in an estrogen dominant world, which is playing havoc on our bodies and especially harmful to young women. Carry your own water in glass or food grade stainless steel containers. Use a high-quality water purifier that removes chemicals from your water including fluoride.
My two recommendations for the countertop are Aquatru (electric RO) or The Berkey gravity unit.
Speaking of fluoride, use fluoride free dental products. Flouride is in the halogen element group and competes with iodine on the cell receptors. Iodine is essential especially the thyroid and reproductive organs.
Eat organic and eat local if possible. We live in California; you can easily shop at the Farmers Market. It matters. Pesticide free food that you wash well. Stay away from processed foods, factory farmed meat and dairy and farmed seafood.
Sulforaphanes, compounds found in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower are great for moving estrogens out of the body. Include these light steamed foods in your diet.
Use healthy cookware, like glass and stainless steel. Take the extra minute to heat up your food conventionally and not in your microwave.
Use simple nontoxic skin care products. No parabens, no phthalates, no words you can’t pronounce. Check your products on EWG.org website. The less ingredients the better. Also stay away from palmitates in cosmetics because it is not environmentally sustainable to use palm oil, unless you know for a fact that is sustainably farmed.
Commercial deodorants and antiperspirants stink. They suppress your natural detoxification and put chemicals into your breast tissue and the rest of your body. Aluminum in antiperspirants is not necessary for one biological function.
The infrared sauna is an excellent way to sweat out the damage done and keep your lymphatic system functioning. Rebounding and exercise. Dry brushing is also a free and easy daily routine that promotes lymphatic health.
Household products – clean it up. No chemicals in our home or in your washing machine. No dryer sheets – they are carcinogenic. No plug ins. Diffusing essential oils does a better job and has good side effects as well. You can make your own cleaning products with your essential oils, vinegar and baking soda.
Let Mother Nature heal you. Go outside. Get your Vitamin D.
Sit on the ground barefoot. Let the sun shine on you and through your eyes. Watch the sunrise and sunset.
Sleep. No one wins the prize for denying yourself sleep. Sleep in the dark so you can produce Melatonin, a powerful antioxidant. This is a breast health absolute.
NO WIFI in your bedroom. No cell or cordless phones while you sleep. NO fitbits or iwatches. I wouldn’t wear wifi on my body, but if you must, never when you are sleeping.
No digital clocks next to your bed and if there is a night light, it must be red.
Do breast self exam. Be familiar with your own body and again follow your intuition if you think there is a problem. Check out “My breast friend” for a training device to help you learn how to do a self breast exam.
Prevention not just detection is the way to go.
We can take control of our own health. Use medicine as needed but remember that your health is your true wealth and you are responsible for taking care of your precious self.