Top Five Things To Look For When Hiring A Health Practitioner To Overcome Addictions
Smoking, alcohol, and drug addictions are habits that can prevent individuals from enjoying a healthy lifestyle. It also puts a strain on friends and family that try to intervene, so it’s vital to seek a professional that can help support quitting an addiction without having to go cold turkey.
A natural health practitioner that uses laser therapy for smoking cessation, weight loss, and drug/alcohol addictions can help you get your life back on track.
However, hiring the right health practitioner can be an arduous task. With numerous health experts operating in each city, choosing one specializing in addictions can be challenging.
If you’re looking for a health professional to help you kick your addiction or that of a loved one, here’s a list of the top five things to look for in a health practitioner that specializes in laser therapy for addictions.
1. Years of Experience in the Industry
Our founder, Ms. Holly Stambaugh, commenced operations of Alberta Laser Therapy on December 1, 2003. After eighteen years, it is the longest operating laser therapy clinic in the greater Edmonton area.
She has helped thousands of people lose weight and quit smoking, drugs, and alcohol addictions. Ms. Stambaugh continues to hone her skills in laser therapy through continuing education courses and staying apprised of all the latest scientific research on laser therapy, equipment technology, and protocols.
She has studied auriculotherapy, auricular medicine (ear acupuncture), and addictions from the Auriculotherapy Certification Institute and the American College of Addictionology and Compulsive Disorders.
In addition, she is well versed in many different laser therapy protocols for addictions, has used various laser therapy systems in her clinic, and has trained employees and colleagues in the profession of laser therapy.
2. In-depth Knowledge of Laser Therapy Equipment and Protocols
It’s essential that your laser therapist is knowledgeable about the laser therapy equipment they are using and why they are using specific parameters. Including, but not limited to the wavelength (nm), time (seconds), power (mW), and frequency (Hz) to provide the most effective therapeutic dosage (joules/cm2) to successfully treat clients.
If the therapeutic dosage produced is too low or too high, the treatment can be ineffective. For example, the following parameters in laser therapy for treating addictions are typically used: a visible light (red) wavelength between 650 and 680 nm, each point is treated between 30 and 60 seconds (the number of points treated varies between the different protocols), power settings of between 5 mW and 100 mW depending on the laser probe, and frequencies around 20 Hz or in “Continuous” mode.
There are many different protocols available for treating addictions, and one is not necessarily better than another.
Over the years, we’ve seen many different, equally successful protocols. We’ve also used numerous protocols in our clinic and have found all of them equally effective.
The protocols we have seen and used over the years have included most of the same acupuncture points, with a few variations in the points treated or the addition of a few extra acupuncture points.
In addition, each practitioner may have a different application method depending on how they were trained.
Another factor to consider is when a client has a medical condition outside the standard protocol used for most of the population to successfully treat addictions. Do they know how to adjust the protocol to accommodate the particular client’s needs or medical condition?
A common medical problem we frequently encounter that requires additional treatment points are ADHD, ADD, or OCD.
And the reason for this is because ten to twenty percent of the population have a cross-wiring in the corpus callosum (a large bundle of nerve fibers that connect the left and right side of the brain) that causes issues in neural communication between the left and right sides of the brain. This issue needs to be corrected first by stimulating additional acupuncture points before the treatment can be successful.
3. Client Care
A current client has been suffering from numerous medical conditions and surgical complications for many years and has sought treatment from a variety of health practitioners, and we asked him his thoughts on this topic. He said that client care was his number one priority.
And that his health practitioner(s) spent the time needed tending to him without rushing off to treat the next client or trying to treat more than one client at a time. It was very important to him that he got the health practitioner’s complete one-on-one attention for the entire session.
And that he received a timely response to any questions or concerns after the session, which was also important in the level of care he received from his health practitioner.
Therefore, during each session, we allow for extra time to make sure each client’s needs get met, treat only one client at a time and ensure all the client’s questions and concerns get addressed during and after the session.
4. Success Rate
Success rates often vary between clinics. Check to see what time frame and parameters are used to calculate success rates. At Alberta Laser Therapy, the success rate of 73% is calculated over ninety days, which includes the initial treatment and a follow-up.
In contrast, many laser therapy clinics calculate their success rates at thirty days, and the number of treatments included varies and affects the success rate. If you see competitor laser therapy clinics stating much higher rates, ask about the time frame they use to calculate the success rate and the number of treatments included.
Another factor to consider is that nicotine is usually completely gone from the body within three to seven days, depending on the amount and frequency of nicotine ingested. And continine (the chemical formed after nicotine enters the body) can be detected in the urine up to thirty days after discontinuing nicotine products. After thirty days, it’s a conscious choice to start using nicotine products again as physically, all nicotine and continine that cause physical cravings are completely gone from the body.
As mentioned above, when looking at the success rate, consider how many treatments are included with the initial smoking cessation treatment package.
When we started eighteen years ago, we initially offered three treatments in the smoking cessation package (the initial treatment and two follow-ups within ninety days). However, clients would often slip up purposely as a third follow-up was available. So over the years, we stopped offering a third follow-up and recommended that clients come in for the second treatment only when they needed it. We often found that when the client was doing well and didn’t need the second treatment, they would come in for it, and the follow-up counteracted the effects and success of the treatment.
Typically, when a client comes back for the second treatment, it is usually within three to four weeks after the initial treatment when changes occur in the client’s body chemistry, and the last traces of nicotine/continine are leaving.
Finally, when clients came back for the follow-up, they typically didn’t have physical cravings when they slipped up, but consciously decided to smoke again due to stress, drinking alcohol, or for no real reason at all.
In these situations, we offer our continued support to them through recommendations on how to handle the triggers and daily stresses of life and additional follow-up treatments at a nominal cost, so that they can get back on track and continue to live a smoke free life.
5. Cost
Over the years, we have seen competitors’ initial smoking cessation packages include one follow-up, two follow-ups, or unlimited follow-ups within a specific period of time. With the cost ranging between $250 and $500.
Our initial smoking cessation package includes the initial treatment and a follow-up within ninety days for $400.
When looking at the cost, don’t look at the price alone. You also need to consider the practitioner’s experience, their knowledge of laser therapy equipment and protocols, and their client care practices.
If you have difficulties justifying the cost, think about how much you smoke every day. On average, our clients smoke about a half to one pack daily, and at approximately $20 per pack, that’s a cost of up to $600 a month.
Even if you quit smoking for a month, you have invested a month of your life in healthier living being smoke-free at the cost of paying for a month’s worth of cigarettes.
Years ago, we came across an article in the Health & Wellness section of the Edmonton Journal. The article was about how much money people spent on health and wellness for themselves every month. The example used was about people spending $400+ a month on payments, insurance, gas, and maintenance for their vehicles without thinking twice about it, but then barely spent a fraction of the amount on their health and wellness every month. Material items are dispensable, but not our bodies. How much do you invest a month on health and wellness for yourself, not including the cost of groceries?
If you want to quit smoking and are considering laser therapy but need financial assistance, we are more than happy to work with you to set up a payment plan that fits your budget.
So reach out to Alberta Laser Therapy today.
We offer professional laser therapy for smoking cessation, weight loss, and drug and alcohol addictions in Edmonton, Alberta. We also provide herbal and nutritional consultations to clients.
We serve clients across the greater Edmonton area and surrounding communities of Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Sherwood Park and St. Albert.
We also cover Morinville, Westlock, Slave Lake, Athabasca, Redwater, Lac la Biche, Fort McMurray, Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan, St. Paul, Vegreville, Bonnyville, Cold Lake, Lloydminster. Edson, Hinton, Jasper, Whitecourt, Peace River, High Level, and Grande Prairie
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