Recover Faster with HBOT

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has many beneficial uses due to oxygen’s uses in cells for energy and repair. HBOT is being used by many professional athletes to help them get back into action much quicker. Recently Aaron Rodgers, quarterback for the NY Jets, suffered an achilles tendon rupture. He reportedly used HBOT as part of his rehabilitation plan. Other NFL quarterbacks, for example, Kirk Cousins is also known to use HBOT for recovery and recuperation after games. HBOT is great for any injuries but is often used for more severe injuries induced trauma or surgery...

Lyme Myth: Everyone with Lyme or a Tickborne Illness Needs to Avoid all Gluten and Dairy

Truth/Fact: Gluten sensitivities are extremely common, in part due to the pesticides used on conventionally grown wheat (called glyphosate or Roundup). This is also found on GMO crops such as corn and soy and can irritate the gut lining, weakening our immune system and having other impacts on our overall wellness. While many common food sensitivity tests are ineffective, an elimination diet along with a GI Map stool test can offer answers as to how your body responds to wheat. 

Updates from the LymeBytes Conference

The Stram Center team recently had the opportunity to attend the Lyme Bytes Symposium in Mystic, CT to enhance our knowledge and network with other professionals. We found several presentations to be helpful, especially one on mold and mycotoxins, another on PANS and PANDAS addressing psychiatric symptoms in pediatric patients, and more. We built on our understanding of the impact that infections have on hormonal balance and what tools to use to facilitate healing those imbalances. We learned more about how each sex hormone and stress hormone plays a role in treating chronic illness including how lower testosterone can increase risk for infection due to impairing the body’s immune response....

Updates from the 2023 ILADS conference

The 2023 conference for the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, ILADS, was held in Boston in September. I had the honor of attending 3 days of lectures all focused on the problems associated with diagnosis and treatment of patients with tick borne illness, long COVID and associated conditions such as PANS and PANDAS. The conference covered a wide array of topics from the foundations of antibiotic and herbal antimicrobial therapies, to the use of machine learning (AI) to help develop new testing for lyme.  One of the most exciting lectures of the conference was a research update on a new antibiotic called....

How do we Approach Weight Loss?

For many individuals, feeling the best is feeling comfortable in their own skin. Most adults struggle with obesity and being overweight and for many this is one of the biggest barriers to feeling well. Our approach to weight loss at the Stram Center is one that goes against the diet industry. 

Lyme Disease: Treatment is a Multidisciplinary Approach

As we head into Lyme Awareness month, let us highlight the multi-modal approach that it takes to treat the complex condition that is Lyme disease. Treatment for Lyme disease is not a “one size fits all” approach and looks different for every single patient. Several factors, including but not limited to, duration of illness, parts of the body involved, co-infections present, and underlying health status, play a significant role in clinical decision making to decide what treatment(s) are appropriate for any specific patient. Lyme disease can infect any tissue in the body, and therefore has the ability to affect several body systems at once. This often leads to a multitude of symptoms across body systems that seem to be unrelated, but are in fact, all connected. Since this can look different for every patient, having a practitioner in Integrative Medicine to take the time to listen to you and put all of the pieces together is essential to achieve proper evaluation and treatment. 

What’s New at the Stram Center | IV Suite & Nurse Updates!

It has been a busy and exciting time in the IV suite as we roll out so many new therapies and offerings this springtime! And as we jump into the spring season, so do the ticks. Beginning May 1, we will be offering spring specials on a variety of Wellness IV and IM injections. 

Plus, stay tuned for specials on NAD+ infusions and our forthcoming Stram Weight Management Program. This is an opportunity for those looking to manage their weight and hit goals in a medically supervised setting. Combining nutritional support and health coaching to help you “feel your best,"  this program is not only for those looking to lose weight, but also for those looking to make gains in the gym, increase stamina & endurance, and to “optimize” their fitness goals! P.S. Ask about our Optimum Fitness Kit.

Look at us grow! Speaking of growth, we are so busy that we are looking to add to our dynamic nursing team! So if you know of a special RN that might be a great fit…………..send a resume to nursetara@stramcenter.com !

Finally, these dynamic nurses are organizing the 1^st Annual Stram Fam Walk/Run/Hike to benefit our patients struggling with Lyme disease. All money raised will be placed in a treatment fund for those in financial need.

What’s New at The Stram Center | Women’s Health!

Part of feeling your best is not only healing and treating illness, it is feeling good about yourself. As part of our Women’s Wellness, we are now offering Sclerotherapy at the Stram Center.  Do you struggle with spider veins on your legs that you feel are unsightly or bothersome?

We are now certified to perform sclerotherapy as an adjunct therapy in making patients feel their best. Spider veins, also known as telangiectasias, are tiny thin veins that are close to the surface of our skin and can be in different shapes including spider like, branch like, or lines.  Though these veins come off of our larger veins, they are not essential to our venous system.  Spider veins are most common in women over men and can start at a young age, but become more visible after age 40.  Development of these veins can depend on genetics, hormones, weight, or professions that require long periods of sitting or standing.

To treat these veins, we do a simple procedure to inject these tiny veins with a sclerosing agent called polidocanol.  In most cases after treatment the veins are much clearer and often no longer visible. 

How to get started, schedule a consult with Dr. Heather Haslun DNP, FNP-C.

Another way to help you truly feel your best. 

Lyme Disease and Mental health

For those who are not diagnosed and treated in the early phases of Lyme disease, symptoms can progress to affect almost every part of the body. Some people present with chronic pain, some with autoimmune diseases, and some with predominantly neurological symptoms. Neurological Lyme often includes sudden changes in mood which can impact a person’s day to day life functions. 

Herbal Support For Lyme Disease

Lyme disease a bacterial infection caused by Borrelia Burgdorgeri and in late stages, it can be difficult to treat. There is evidence that the Borrelia bacteria persists in tissues and can shift its form or shape in unfavorable host conditions, including a round body or cyst shap¹.Different types of antibiotics and herbs have been studied to find the most effective agent that can kill or eradicate all forms of the bacteria. In subculture studies, single antibiotic agents are often found to be ineffective at eradicating all forms of the bacteria, therefore, multiple agents may be used in order to increase effectiveness of therapy.