When people think of going on a doctor’s visit, the first thing that comes to mind is sitting in a waiting room and leaving the office with a prescription for pills they know nothing about. Ashley Hoyt, owner of the Clinic of Alternative Medicine and Day Spa on Duck Avenue, has a different approach for treating patients. “At the clinic we treat more than just pain. We provide vitamin and homeopathic injections, massage therapy, reflexology, skin care and facial rejuvenation. We address your health and enhance your beauty,” said the doctor of acupuncture medicine.
Hoyt frequently works with several colleagues in the community to provide integrative wellness seminars, health fairs and community wellness days for local organizations — most recently, at the 21st Century Oncology Center. “We use a noninvasive approach using techniques that have been used for thousands of years,” said Hoyt. “We also accept most insurance to further accommodate our patients’ healing experience.”
A new and, Hoyt says, effective treatment at the clinic is vitamin injection for weight loss. Clinic offers a natural approach to health Patients are treated with a holistic approach “B-12 and MIC are injected into specific acupuncture points to target your health goals. I can help you to increase your metabolism and energy, decrease your cravings and appetite, while maintaining muscle mass and even reduce your stress,” Hoyt said.
Clinic Receptionist Lillian Mendez receives vitamin injections regularly and loves the benefits. “I get so much energy and I rarely get sick because it keeps my immune system healthy,” she said. The clinic’s practitioners inject the vitamin and homeopathic formulas into specific acupuncture points depending on what the patient needs. Once these formulas enter the system it works to burn calories, increase energy, boost the immune system and even decrease pain. Hoyt said that because the formula bypasses the digestive system, the body can absorb it more effectively. “I find it amazing that moments after I inject a vitamin, some patients can get a faint taste or smell of the formula,” Hoyt said. “It works that fast!”
A retired Monroe County teacher in the waiting room recently lost 15 pounds and she attributes it to the injections. She also gets massages regularly for her chronic back-pain. “For a long time I thought I had kidney problems and the only treatment that actually worked was massage and acupuncture at the Clinic for Alternative Medicine,” said Myra Allen.
Food counseling is also offered at the clinic and it is customized to what a person needs for their fitness goals. “I don’t say here is a menu and these are the only foods you can eat,” said Hoyt. “I look at where a person is at and find a realistic way to make their choices better. I had a patient who wanted to lose 15 pounds but did not want to give up her cheese and wine at 5 p.m. She agreed to two small changes and lost 20 pounds, exceeding her goal.” Dr. Hoyt has many tools in her medicine bag.
The use of auricular (ear) acupuncture is commonly used for many addictive type behaviors— smoking, over-eating, carb addiction, alcohol and more. A small ear tack can be placed in certain points in the ear to decrease cravings, appetite and increase a sense of calm. The tacks can stay in the ear for several days to give support in between acupuncture treatments.
Hoyt said when this technique was introduced many years ago to a rehabilitation program for heroine addiction it tripled the success rate. “It was a myth that if a pirate pierced their ear, they would get better vision,” said Hoyt. “But if you look at the auricular acupuncture chart you can see that the traditional place to get your ear pierced is also the point that treats the eye. They probably picked up this piece of information on their voyages abroad.”
The Clinic of Alternative Medicine is accepting new patients and accepts most insurance. To schedule an appointment and start living a healthier life call 305-296-5358.
Kindly reproduced with permission from Alex Press – See Page 14 • Upper Keys Weekly • Aug. 29, 2014
