All Is Well: Heal Your Body With Medicine, Affirmations, and Intuition (23 page)

are constantly getting in arguments, you are at an increased risk

for thyroid problems.

Other studies have tied a subdued personality and an inabil-

ity to speak up for yourself to thyroid disease. Specifically, people

who have had a history of past trauma and often struggle with

power dynamics in their later relationships tend to have problems

with the thyroid. The experiences of their past conditioned them

to be submissive, overly compliant, and unable to assert them-

selves. They don’t “have a say” in their own lives and lack a drive

for independence and self-sufficiency.8

Moving on to the throat, we again see correlation between

communication and health. Feeling a lump in your throat when

you don’t know what to say is caused by a contraction in the neck

muscles. In extreme states, anxiety and fear are shunted to the

strap muscles in the neck that clamp down your throat, giving

you a sensation of a lump. This occurs more frequently in people

who tend toward being introverted, anxious, or likely to repress

communication.9

The health of your mouth and jaw also relates to having a

healthy ability to communicate and stand up for your needs. It has

been shown that this ability—and finding ways to handle life’s

stressors—may actually lower a person’s risk of periodontal dis-

ease. People with gum disease have disrupted cortisol and beta

endorphin levels, the biochemical “fingerprint” of stress, in their

bodies.10

So work to communicate better—both talking and listening—

and you will have better health in the fifth emotional center.

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Mouth Issues

People who are prone to health problems in the area of the

mouth—such as cavities, bleeding gums, or related problems

such as jaw pain or temporal mandibular joint (TMJ) disorder—

have trouble with many facets of communication. These folks

experience problems because they don’t talk about and resolve

their emotional disappointments. In places where they feel com-

fortable, they will talk, but they won’t discuss what’s bothering

them in their intimate relationships. Such self-revealing conversa-

tions would embarrass them or hurt their pride. If they’re in a situ-

ation that’s uncomfortable or doesn’t inspire a sense of passion,

they can become aloof and quiet and would often rather seclude

themselves. The problems of the mouth are all associated with not

being able to effectively communicate your personal needs and

disappointments.

If you suffer from problems related to the mouth and jaw, it’s

important to see a medical or dental professional but you must

also attend to the thought processes and behaviors that have led

to these issues. You must listen to the intuitive messages your body

is sending or your underlying illness will come back.

Health of the mouth is related to communication, taking in

new ideas, and nourishment. But communication can be blocked

if you are angry. And because you are less likely to be open to

others’ point of view or able to make decisions if you are angry or

resentful, you may develop troubles with your teeth. Reverse this

indecisiveness and create strong, healthy teeth by using the affir-

mation “I make my decisions based on principles of truth, and I

rest securely knowing that only right action is taking place in my

life.” Jaw problems or a locked jaw, TMJ, are about the desire for

control or refusal to express feelings. For the anger, resentment,

and pain underlying jaw problems and TMJ, the healing affirma-

tion would be “I am willing to change the patterns in me that

created this condition. I love and approve of myself. I am safe.”

People with tooth decay tend to give up easily and should try the

affirmation “I fill my decisions with love and compassion. My new

decisions support me and strengthen me. I have new ideas and

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put them into action. I am safe in my new decisions.” People who

must have root canal work because of tooth disease or decay feel

their deep-rooted beliefs are being destroyed. They can’t bite into

anything anymore. Life feels untrustworthy. Their new thought

pattern should be “I create firm foundations for myself and for my

life. I choose my beliefs to support me joyously. I trust myself. All

is well.”

Once you have your physical body and emotional mind on

the road to health, incorporate behavioral changes into your life

going forward. It’s important that you learn to speak about issues

that are near and dear to your heart. Don’t simply push those dis-

cussions to the side.

This is another instance in which it would be good to work

with a counselor or another emotional midwife to create a safe

space in which to express your emotions. While this will feel awk-

ward at first, it’s good to ease yourself into a healthy communica-

tion style.

It’s also helpful for people to get a better handle on just how

to identify their emotions. Search out literature—in print or on-

line—that can help open your eyes to the minutiae of emotional

language. Knowing precisely what these feeling terms mean can

help you feel more comfortable talking about them.

Finally, it is important that you resist the urge to shut yourself

off from the world. Make it a goal to create some real connections

with other people—connections that allow you to express all as-

pects of yourself. If you learn to balance your communication

skills in relationships, you will create a healthier mouth and jaw.

From the Clinic Files: Mouth Problems Case Study

By the time Sierra came to see us, she was 61 years old and in

a lot of pain, with a bag of ice pressed to her cheek. Apparently

some concerned friends had insisted she see a dentist when she

showed up at church with a swollen jaw. Sierra admitted she had

been ignoring some pain for a “few” months. The dentist diag-

nosed osteomyelitis, an infection of the bone caused by severe

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dental neglect—eight of her teeth had cavities and four others

were infected.

Sierra told us that she was one of those rare people who had

had a truly wonderful childhood and life. Her parents, sister, and

brothers were all loving and supportive, as were her husband and

children. Her life was everything she could ask for—until her

husband died. Her children and grandchildren had all moved

away and were so busy that they rarely called or wrote. Sierra

didn’t want to “be a burden,” so she didn’t visit them much be-

cause “they have their own lives now.” For the first time in her

life, she felt lost and alone. She immersed herself in church ac-

tivities, which helped for a while. But she felt more comfortable

sitting at home by herself.

The hint in Sierra’s case was that her children never called or

wrote. Without her husband or children, she had a communica-

tion stalemate in her life. Uncomfortable with her new widowed

status, she didn’t know how to integrate herself into the life of her

children’s families. And she didn’t know how to fit into a life with-

out her husband. Now that no one was making the first move,

Sierra felt slighted and unwanted. She felt her dignity, pride, and

self-respect would be injured if she made the first move, called her

children, and asked them if she could visit. So dignity, pride, grief,

and a heavy dose of resentment, grumpiness, and disappointment

coalesced into infection in her mouth.

To create health for Sierra—and help remove the mystique

behind her dental problems—we started by helping her under-

stand what a healthy mouth looks like. We have 32 teeth, with 70

percent of each tooth being bone. The dentin core of the tooth,

which has nerve sensation, is coated by enamel, the hardest mate-

rial of the body. The dentin core blends into a tooth root that then

juts into the bone of the jaw. The root area is where nerves and

blood vessels connect the tooth to the body.

The rest of the mouth involves gums (gingiva), a tongue, and

salivary glands. Bacteria always line the gums, but our body’s im-

mune system keeps them from overgrowing and creating inflam-

mation called gingivitis.

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Gingivitis was the first problem we decided to address for Si-

erra. Her severe dental neglect had made the bacteria grow out of

control, producing plaque, an acid that erodes the tooth enamel

and causes the gums to get inflamed and recede. This exposed

her teeth roots and her jaw to even more bacteria. It was this

bacterial buildup that led to her pain, tooth decay, abscess, and

osteomyelitis.

In addition to neglect, we had Sierra review other habits that

increased her risk of dental problems. She told us that she snacked

throughout the day and endlessly sipped a number of sugary

beverages. She also had GERD and had gone through a period of

bulimia in her 20s, which brought her teeth into contact with

stomach acid when she would binge and purge.

Based on this, we gave Sierra her marching orders. First, she

set up an appointment with a reputable dentist whom she trusted

to come up with a long-range plan to repair her mouth, jaw, and

teeth. One major decision she faced was whether to get dental im-

plants or have her teeth pulled and get dentures.

Sierra preferred the idea of dental implants, so she began to

work with an alternative dentist to build up the immune system

in her mouth so she would be better able to support the implants.

The dental nutritional plan started with coenzyme Q10, lavender

oil, calendula, Oregon grape, and a pharmaceutical-grade antioxi-

dant. She also received an Echinacea cream to rub on her gums to

improve the inflammation, soothe the soreness, and reduce bacte-

ria numbers. Because her dental problems also led to bad breath,

Sierra added parsley to her meals as a natural breath freshener and

started using a homemade antiseptic mouthwash that was made

by steeping 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary, 1 teaspoon of dried

mint, and 1 teaspoon of fennel seed in 2½ cups of boiled water

for 15 to 20 minutes and then straining it to remove the herbs

and spices.

We also asked Sierra to get a bone density test. Bone loss

causes the jaw to lose teeth and ultimately the remaining teeth be-

come loose and more exposed to bacteria. From the test we found

out that Sierra actually had osteoporosis, which she noted would

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explain her two-inch height decrease and the loss of a molar within

the previous five years.

To help strengthen her bones—thus beefing up her jaw-

bone—Sierra went to an acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist who

worked with her internal medicine physician to put together a

bone-health plan. They put her on a combination of supplements

including calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, DHA, and a good-

quality multivitamin.

Sierra had never made the connection between her buli-

mia and GERD and her tooth decay, but she did know that her

snacking was part of the problem. Though she did try to snack

healthfully—she carried organic raisins and dried fruit in her

purse—this didn’t help her tooth health. Any snack, if you have

it often enough, can be bad for your teeth. In addition to snack-

ing, she also had an addiction to Tic Tacs and other breath mints,

which she used to mask her bad breath.

Sierra worked with an integrative nutritionist who helped her

create a plan to deal with her emotional and physical eating issues.

Instead of snacking constantly throughout the day, the nutrition-

ist told her to make a conscious effort to eat every three hours

and to rinse her mouth with water after eating. With a cognitive

behavioral therapist, she learned how to identify her resentment

about how her life had changed since her husband died. After

working with her therapist, she got past her feelings that her pride

would be hurt if she made the first move in the relationship with

her family. Sierra reached out to her children and grandchildren,

visiting them and inviting them back to their family home to stay

with her. She also began to open up to socializing with old friends

and even set up coffee dates and other outings with new people.

And finally, she worked to change the underlying thoughts

that were likely contributing to her mouth and dental problems.

Sierra used the affirmations for jaw problems (I am willing to

change the patterns in me that created this condition. I love and