Medical Practice
Our medical practice is run by [Dr. Greg Blaney].
Focus of Medical Practice
• Acute and Chronic Pain, including muscle skeletal, arthritic and neuropathic, and fibromyalgia
• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Autoimmune Disease
• Preventative Care and Wellness Medicine
Conditions that have been shown to respond well to Dr. Blaney’s work include:
• acute and chronic back pain
• disc protrusion
• arthritis, bursitis, tendonitis
• headaches – tension, migraine
• prenatal and postnatal muscle skeletal complications for both child and mother
• post concussion syndrome
• facial pain, TMJ dysfunction
• whiplash and other motor vehicle accident injuries
• fibromyalgia
Dr. Blaney is de-enrolled from MSP
Dr. Blaney is a fully licensed medical practitioner registered in good standing with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia. He has also been registered in Newfoundland, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Massachusetts.
Dr. Blaney has voluntarily de-enrolled from MSP, (the provincial medical insurance program), in order that he may by-pass the limitations imposed by MSP policies. This is to provide in-depth care for his patients and insure confidentially. Services by Dr. Blaney are not reimbursed by MSP, nor are laboratory fees from private labs such as Lifelab or BC Biomed. Dr. Blaney prescribes medications in all of Canada and Washington State.
Fees:
In Office Appointments:
First Consultation $350 for 1 hour
Follow up appointments and for acute injuries:
$175.00 per 1/2 hour
Therapies Provided:
• [Antimicrobial Therapies (The Infection Connection)]
• [The Stillpoint Center Protocol] (Dr. Blaney’s modification of the Marshall Protocol)
• [Osteopathic Manual Therapy]
• [Myofascial Trigger Point Injection Therapy]
• [Neural Therapy]
• [Homeopathic Treatments]
• [Craniosacral Therapy]
• [Acupuncture]
• [Homotoxicology]
Antimicrobial Therapies (The Infection Connection)
Hidden infection is now known to be the underlying cause of many chronic ailments. This infection produces excess inflammation and toxicity.
The symptoms of this infection resemble:
• chronic fatigue
• fibromyalgia
• environmental hypersensitivity-allergy syndrome
As this infection develops, profound neurological problems can arise, resulting in:
• poor memory
• poor decision making
• anxiety
• depression
• sleep disturbance
• tremor
• numbness
• tingling and weakness
Diseases believed to be manifestations of this condition include:
• rheumatoid arthritis
• multiple sclerosis
• heart arrhythmia
• restless leg syndrome
• psoriasis
• sarcoidosis
• autism
• trigeminal neuritis
• interstital cystitis
• irritable bowel syndrome
• LouGehrig’s disease
• tourette’s syndrome
The Medical Information
Some bacteria are capable of changing their structure. They can change from typical forms described in medical texts, such as rods (bacilli), spheres (cocci) or spirals (spirocytes), to atypical forms such as ‘L’ forms (cell wall deficient), and cysts. The bacteria that are capable of this pleomorphism include those found in ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes (responsible for Lyme and other associated tick borne diseases), and those that cause pneumonia, sinusitis, cystitis, and sexually transmitted diseases.
At the intracellular level, these bacteria grow very slowly and their toxic effects often progress gradually over many months and/or even years. If this condition persists, it can affect the muscle-skeletal system, the thyroid, and other hormone related glands, the skin, brain, heart, and the immune system.
Diagnosis
Because the bacteria evade the immune system, routine blood tests are commonly negative, therefore, diagnosis stems primarily from clinical history and findings. However, blood tests for inflammatory markers (including Vitamin D metabolites), can help indicate the condition.
In chronic persistent infections, the active form of Vitamin D, (which is not a vitamin, but a hormone), is often elevated. This is now thought to be due to a blockage of the receptor for Vitamin D, and appears to be caused by the bacteria itself as a way to avoid the body’s immune system. Note: Bacteria associated with tick bites should be screened, even though the tests normally done by the CDC can be insensitive. (More sensitive tests are available through specialized labs in the USA).
Vitamin D related issues
As mentioned, Vitamin D is a hormone, not a vitamin. Typically, it is produced in the skin by the conversion of cholesterol via UV radiation and is found in only a few foods naturally. In excess, it is toxic. Vitamin D receptor blockage blunts the immune response, disrupts calcium absorption, and causes hormonal dysfunction.
Treatment
Therapy is aimed at restoring balance to the body’s functions and alerting the immune system to the presence of the bacteria. At The Stillpoint Center for the Healing Arts, we are having good success in combining low doses of specific antibiotics with an angiotenstion receptor blocker, as well as careful application of homeopathics and in some circumstances, osteopathic treatments. We call this approach to persistent bacterial infection, The Stillpoint Center Protocol.
The Stillpoint Center Protocol
(Dr. Blaney’s modification of the Marshall Protocol)
The Stillpoint Center Protocol provides individualized guidance to insure the careful attention needed in the navigation of recovery from a chronic condition. This protocol is our unique approach to the bacterial infection that is now known to be the underlying cause of many chronic ailments. The protocol is based on the research and therapy originally developed by Dr. Trevor Marshall and recognized as the ‘Marshall Protocol.’ Over the past seven years, the evolution of the Marshall Protocol has been a collaboration between Dr. Blaney and Dr. Marshall, Dr. Blaney being the most experienced in clinical application.
Treatment
Complimentary treatments such as osteopathic manual therapy, nutritional support, counseling, and homeopathic remedies are provided as needed. The process of this healing is intensive and sometimes challenging, and the patient’s participation and understanding of the principles, is vital.
There are 3 pillars of treatment:
1. Reduce inflammation
2. Activate the innate immune system
3. Support the body’s efforts to heal
1. Reduce inflammation
Inflammation inhibits the immune system. It weakens the body’s ability to identify disease-producing agents, called pathogens. Likewise, reducing inflammation, unburdens the organs and tissues and diminishes the associated symptoms.
Olmesartan, sometimes called Olmetec, Benicar, or Votrum, is a type of medication called an angiotensin receptor blocker and, it is medically recognized as a safe way to reduce the abnormal inflammation seen in many chronic illnesses. Technically, it does so, by decreasing what are called the pro-inflammatory cytokines.
2. Activate the innate immune system
A healthy immune system has numerous ways of identifying pathogens. One component of this important function occurs via receptors that are built into the cell’s nuclear membrane. They promote effective immune responses to a variety of pathogens including bacteria, viruses and fungi. Disease creating agents persist by blocking these identifying receptors. Clinical observations as well as computer modeling show that the medication mentioned above, called olmesartan, effectively reduces and eliminates this interference.
With restoration of innate immunity, infected cells are eliminated, and, what makes this such a dynamic process, one that calls for understanding on the part of the patient, is that, when infected cells are eliminated, there is an associated increase in symptoms. This phenom is medically understood as part of the overall healing process and it is temporary. It is called immunopathology or the Herxheimer (Herx) reaction.
The next step in activating the innate immune system, as the patient progresses with the use of olmesartan, is to introduce very low doses of particular antibiotics. These antibiotics effectively weaken the bacteria, and act as signaling agents to elicit immune response. Each antibiotic affects different tissue and different pathogens. This results in complex immune responses creating a wide variety of symptoms. Careful monitoring is mandatory and must be done under the specifically trained guidance of a qualified physician.
Typical Herx symptoms:
• Digestive: increased frequency of heartburn, gas, loose stool, cramps, constipation
• Kidney-Bladder: increased frequency of urination, prostatic inflammation, transient decrease in libido, erectile dysfunction, menstrual irregularity, painful periods
• Fatigue: this is common however, most patients enjoy an improved and deeper sleep
• Skin: itchiness, pimples, rashes, increased intensity of pre-existing skin problems
• Muscle and joint pain, tired muscles
• Air hunger
• Loss of stamina
• Lightheadedness, dizziness
• Palpitations, chest pain: these can be worrisome but are usually benign
• Weight gain, fluid retention
• Brain fog
• Emotional swings, anxiety, excessive worry
3. Support the body’s efforts to heal
• Hydration: Drink plenty of fluids, 2 to 4 liters per day
• Rest: Allow for plenty of time to rest and/or sleep
• Diet: Avoid foods containing Vitamin D; eat a low carbohydrate diet and especially low in sugars and refined carbohydrates; eat adequate protein; eat organic foods as much as possible and as unprocessed as possible; you may increase your salt intake if you are experiencing lightheadedness.
• Sunlight: Though variable, most patients will benefit from reducing their exposure to sun and bright light, especially early on in the process.
• Exercise: this varies with each individual
• Pain management: via experienced advice and appropriate remedies such as homeopathics
• Osteopathy: regular osteopathic treatments scheduled throughout this healing process can be highly beneficial especially if there is a significant element of muscle or joint pain. Osteopathy balances the over all system and supports healing, facilitates detoxification, reduces unnecessary biomechanical stress, and stimulates the immune system.
Osteopathic Manual Therapy
Osteopathy is a system of diagnosis and therapy based on the interrelationship of anatomy and physiology. It is applied to the treatment of disease, as well as the prevention of disease, and is based on the fact that the body functions as one harmonious system, not as a collection of separate parts.
The body is capable of making its own remedies against disease given that it has normal movement, favorable environment, and adequate nutrition. The premise of this understanding is applied to the treatment and healing of the entire person, rather than responding only to their symptoms in a crisis-oriented, one-spot approach.
History
The Founder of Osteopathy: Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917)
A relatively unknown medical maverick of his time, Dr. Still was disheartened by orthodox practices and particularly shocked at the mutilating surgeries he witnessed as a volunteer army surgeon, but it was the loss of three of his own children in the 1864 meningitis epidemic that moved him to “fully realize the inefficacy of drugs… (and the) gross ignorance on the part of the medical profession.”
Steeled with determination the following ten years of his life were spent delving into medical books and fervently studying the human anatomy. He wanted to understand and enhance nature’s diverse capacities, and prove that the body was capable of its own curative powers. Dr. Still developed the ability to change physiology with the use of his own hands, and as his skills evolved and his reputation grew, train routes were redirected and boarding houses built to accommodate the numbers of people traveling to the remote area of Kirksville, Missouri in search of his treatments. His “magic” manual manipulation produced the most renowned results and Dr. Still came to regard himself as a mechanic of the living body. With his discoveries a new medical science was born.
Dr. Still’s work produced three basic principles:
• The body is capable of making its own remedies
• Health depends on the body’s structural integrity
• A malfunctioning physical structure causes disease
references:
http://www.osteodoc.com/ATStill.htm
http://www.atsu.edu/museum/ats/index.htm
Myofascial Trigger Point Injection Therapy
Myofascial injection therapy is a form of acupuncture, and a compliment to the osteopathic manual therapy.
‘Myo’ means muscle, and ‘fascia’ is the thin layer of connective tissue that supports muscles and organs. Myofascial pain is a disorder in which pockets of muscle and connective tissue are in continual spasm. The therapist is trained to inject a small drop of anesthetic into these “trigger points” to help break the cycle of spasm. Trigger points can cause local, as well as referred pain, chronically tight muscles, and weakness. Besides pain, they adversely affect joint mobility and thus perpetuate structural blocks. Injecting short acting local anesthetics such as 1% Lidocaine or Procaine into trigger points, scars, and acupuncture points, helps restore the autonomic nervous system.
What Can Be Expected With Treatment
With needling, one can expect some discomfort from the needle penetration and a transient sharp pain when injecting scars or acupuncture areas. With trigger point injection, one will feel a twitch response as the trigger point is needled, along with either a brief pain referral, a body jerk, or a deep ache. The injected areas will often feel achy and tight afterwards. This is relieved with moist heat, gentle stretching, and rest. On occasion, there can be bruising.
Homeopathic remedies are sometimes used in conjunction with injection therapy. They support the detoxification process and aid in recovery by supporting organ function, activating the immune system, improving the utilization of nutrients by the body, and providing symptom relief without suppression.
Neural Therapy
Neural Therapy is designed to re-establish the normal function of the nervous system. Dilute injections of anesthetics are used, most often just under the surface of the skin. Injection sites include the surface area of the effected organs and muscles, scar tissue (because it interferes with the body’s electrical system), and cranial sutures (the joints in the skull).
Homeopathic Treatments
Homeopathy is a very sophisticated method of stimulating the body’s own energies to cure illness. The principles of this science are based on the fact that healing only occurs in accordance with the laws of nature. Founded by Samuel Hahnemann in the early eighteen hundreds, homeopathy is derived from the Greek word “omeos” meaning similar and “pathos” which means suffering. The translation: “To treat with something that produces an effect similar to the suffering.”
History
The story goes that a number of physicians experimented extensively upon themselves by ingesting drugs and keeping detailed records of the symptoms each produced. They then correlated this information with a list of accidental poisonings documented by different doctors in different countries, through centuries of medical history. Amazingly enough, the identical symptomatologies of many illnesses were revealed.
Medicines were then tried on patients who manifest similar symptoms, and a historical discovery was made: substances that evoke symptoms in a healthy person, cure those same symptoms in a sick person… even to the point of remedying so-called “incurable” diseases.
Hahnemann has been compared alongside such giants of discovery as Einstein, Newton, and Hypocrites.
Craniosacral Therapy
There are twenty-nine bones in the adult skull, all hinged by joints called cranial sutures. Because the cranial mechanism influences the entire body, treatment can be indicated in many disorders. Ailments of the eyes, ears, nose and throat, birth injuries, mental derangements, and respiratory problems are some examples.
The cranial sacral therapist uses hands-on techniques to balance the functional relationship between the movement of the skull and the tail bone. This is a very complex and delicate therapy, and one that is greatly hindered if the patient is already struggling with pre-existing jaw problems. It is also of utmost importance to understand that the treatment of the cranial mechanisms, without attention payed to the rest of the muscle skeletal system, can lead to grievous imbalances as the body tries to adapt to a one-focus approach.
History
In 1899, William Garner Sutherland, a student at the American School of Osteopathy, became fascinated by the anatomy of the human skull. Of particular interest to him were the side ‘plates’ called the sphenoid and the temporal bones. “Like a blinding flash of light came the thought,” he said, “(They are) bevelled like the gills of a fish and indicating articular mobility for a respiratory mechanism.” Simply put, the skull’s structure appeared as if it were designed to move.
Unable to get this image from his mind Sutherland set out to prove it wrong by performing experiments on his own skull with ingeniously inventive mechanical devices. Until this time it had been standard belief that the sacroiliac joint (tailbone), and the cranium (skull), were fused and solid. This conclusion however, was based on studies of the cadaver rather than a living subject. Sutherland not only found he could distort his cranial mechanism but he could likewise, correct it. He went on to determine the different effects of varying cranial strain patterns and the resulting theories were used to diagnose and successfully treat his patients.
Acupuncture
In ancient China it was discovered that stimulation of particular areas of the body had a beneficial effect on many ailments. It was possible not only to alleviate pain, but also to influence the function of internal organs. The acupuncturist is trained to locate and pierce specific points along energetic pathways that flow through the body. These pathways are called meridians. The needles used are about as big in circumference as a human hair and, if practised accurately, the procedure does not elicit pain.
Acupuncture is a very complicated healing art. The market is presently inundated with persons who are practising, and with minimal training, (sometimes as little as a weekend course). We recommend that you thoroughly investigate the background and education of any acupuncturist you are considering.
Homotoxicology
Homotoxicology combines modern conventional medicine, or allopathic medicine, with a holistic approach. It was developed in Germany in the early 1960’s. The goal is to detoxify and stimulate the body’s capacity to heal itself, the philosophy being that each human being has an innate self-healing mechanism that can prevent and treat illness. Patients are evaluated for presenting medical symptoms, diagnoses, history, lifestyle factors, and other issues related to body, mind, and spirit, and after a comprehensive analysis, remedies are used to treat acute symptoms, build internal strength, and cleanse any underlying toxicity.