Helix Clinic blog

Once in a while, we see patients who are going through IVF and are having difficulty with their fertility clinics or consultants. They may feel that their consultant doesn’t sufficiently answer all their questions and concerns, or sometimes they find their consultant to be quite cold and aloof. Since they are paying a lot of money for the treatment, this can lead to bad feeling.

If the cycle is unsuccessful it is not surprising that patients can feel unconfident about starting a new cycle with the same clinic or consultant. Often the main issue stopping someone change clinics is a financial one, and the clinic that they might like to go to seems above budget.

In our experience, when this situation arises patients often like to talk about it with us, and our advice stems from thinking about the whole IVF treatment in holistic terms. An IVF cycle is a very stressful process, partly because everything seems to move so slowly. Frustrations or worries can easily build up, which in turn puts the physical body under more stress. Lack of confidence in a clinic or consultant is an unnecessary extra source of stress that could negatively affect the outcome of the cycle.

Our advice would be to find a consultant and clinic that make you feel as confident as you can that they are doing a good job. It may cost more money, but the peace of mind you will gain is far more important in the long run. Based on our experience watching many women go through IVF, we are convinced that if a patient can find a clinic that they feel happy with, the chances of a successful cycle improve.

Tags: infertility, IVF

We have seen lots of patients recently with lingering colds. The typical pattern is a couple of days feeling rough, followed by a partial recovery but with lingering symptoms such as a stuffy nose/sinuses or persistent cough. Before immediately going for the non-prescription drugs, it’s worth remembering a few good natural remedies that work just as well, and often much better.

For stuffy sinuses, an aromatic facial steam bath can work wonders. Fill up a bowl with boiling water, add a good few drops of Olbas oil, and breathe in the steam while covering your head with a towel.

For a persistent cough, try getting hold of a throat  spray containing collidal silver. It is anti-bacterial and anti-viral and can help to take the edge off inflamed tonsils. Grape seed extract and garlic also have very powerful anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties.

If you are feeling brave, try this recipe for a honey, lemon and ginger drink with a difference. Use 2 slices of lemon, a spoonful of good honey (Manuka honey has the best natural healing properties), 1-2 inches of ginger root finely chopped, and 2-3 cloves of garlic finely chopped.  Put the ingredients in a big mug, add boiling water, stir well and leave to brew for a good few minutes. In between taking sips of the drink, use a spoon to remove and then eat the ginger and garlic at the bottom of the mug. It’s an intense experience but often just one of these drinks is enough to blast out the remains of that annoying persistent cold.

For those not quite so brave, why not make an aromatic Thai curry, using Thai basil, garlic, coconut milk and lots of chilli. It will help, and is much more pleasant than popping a bunch of pills…

Tags: colds, colloidal silver, garlic, ginger, grape seed extract, honey, Olbas oil

Food allergy and intolerance week is between the 19th and 23rd January this year. We’d like to help raise awareness during this week by pointing out a couple of good resources for allergy sufferers or people with food intolerances.

Allergy UK is the UK’s leading medical charity for people with allergies, food intolerances and chemical sensitivity. On their site you’ll find plenty of information, as you might expect, as well as a few good ways to help support their work.

We particularly liked Allergy Chums, to help a child with allergies.  Character stickers, clothing, ‘write on’ wristbands, and lunch box decals help to protect your child while they are out & about, featuring characters like Nutley the Nut free Squirrel,  Cedric the Dairy free Cow and Multiple Allergy Monkey. 10% of any orders made will be given to the Allergy UK Blossom Campaign, a children’s campaign to help provide support to children with allergies and their parents.

And if you are feeling like brightening up the winter grey, why not buy some flowers, where 15% of your purchase will go towards the charity Allergy UK!

Tags: allergies, food intolerances

This Saturday the 17th January, if you go to Core, at 1 South Wharf Rd, 12 West End Quay, W2 1JB there is a Chinese wellbeing event that is due to start at 5pm. Time Out reports this as a wellbeing and networking event combined with a Chinese New Year celebration (this year will be Year of the Ox), and it will feature healthy food tasting sessions and guest speaker Ching-He Huang from the BBC TV programme ‘Chinese Food Made Easy’.

It is a shame that so much Chinese food in London is covered with unhealthy sauces loaded with MSG. Ching-He Huang’s website recipes don’t contain any artificial ingredients and look delicious!

Tags: Chinese cooking, London, weekend event

One of the best ways to get the most out of your acupuncture treatment is to allow your mind to switch off while you are on the couch so that your body can start to heal itself unhampered by the thinking mind.

A time-honoured method for this is to give your mind something to focus on to stop you thinking random thoughts, and if you focus on your breathing you will naturally start to shift out of the mind and into the body.

Physiologically, it is impossible to be in a state of stress when you are breathing deeply. So by allowing your breathing to become a little bit slower and a little bit deeper, you will start to change your body’s state to one of relaxation and calm. As you breathe deep down into the belly and stay focused on your breath,  gradually you will slip into a state somewhere between waking and sleep where your body can truly relax.

We always recommend that in between treatments, you should try to find 5 minutes each day to do some deep breathing like this. Regularity is more important that quantity - 5 minutes daily is preferable to 60 minutes once a week. Also, the more that you practice deep breathing, the easier it is to get to a relaxed state the next time you try. So the next time you come in for treatment you will be able to go even deeper into relaxation.

Why not give it a try? It’s an amazingly simple yet powerful technique to promote calm and relaxation in your life.

Tags: breathing