I opened St. Lawrence Spa in 2015 when I was a massage therapist, and premedical student. I was inspired after volunteering at Children’s Clinic at St. Lawrence in Buffalo and hearing the story of Saint Lawrence. His legendary faith, humor, and principles aligned with my vision of serving the community. The Spa first provided a beautiful space for massage therapists and estheticians to grow their businesses. We gave back to the community through volunteering and fundraisers.
After 2 successful years in business I started medical school at Ross University and am now in my 2nd year my Family Medicine residency at the University at Buffalo.
I believe that education about and prevention of illness is the key to wellness. The more we understand about our bodies, the less fear we will have and the better we can self-advocate in a medical setting when things get serious. My ultimate goal is for patients to feel like going to the doctor is more like going to a health spa: relaxing, and rewarding!
I have some of my favorite supplements and inspiring reading available on this site and I hope to open doors to a medial spa in just under 2 years after I finish training. Though I have learned a lot in my training, before I can serve my community, I need to know what my community needs! Please send in any health question you have. I will try to help you find resources including appropriate medical professionals to address that concern.
-Emilie Tomkinson, MD
Educational articles about the health benefits of massage therapy
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*MASSAGE AND MEDITATION THE TOP TWO ALTERNATIVE HEALTH BOOSTERS
Featured article. Click HERE to read the entire thing on prevention.com Prevention's Integrative Medicine Winner: Massage Benefits: Eases back pain, boosts immunity, cuts stress A pill that eases pain, boosts immunity, and improves mood might take many years and millions of dollars to develop, test, and market. But you don't have to wait in order to get that bevy of benefits, according to new research. Studies done at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and at the Group Health Research Institute in Seattle showed that massage already provides them. After analyzing blood samples taken from subjects pre-and post-massage, Mark H. Rapaport, MD, leader of the Cedars-Sinai study, found that a 45-minute Swedish massage brought on a major spike in lymphocytes, white blood cells that fight bacteria and viruses. It also decreased substances that cause inflammation and trigger allergies and asthma, and it lessened production of a hormone that is associated with stress levels. "Massage helps you stay healthier," says Dr. Rapaport, now chairman of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Emory University School of Medicine. The Seattle study found that massage does a very good job of relieving back pain as well. It compared the benefits of two types of massage with whatever the participants were already doing, including taking medication. At the end of the study, up to 39% of those who got a massage said their back pain was better or gone, compared with just 4% of people who followed their usual care. "For lower-back pain, massage and other treatments such as acupuncture are every bit as effective as--and sometimes more effective than--conventional medical treatments and often have less serious side effects," says senior investigator Daniel C. Cherkin, PhD. ...Halfway across the country, Theresa Hernandez, PhD, associate chair of the department of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado at Boulder, studied 38 people who had suffered a mild to moderate brain injury. Half had a type of acupressure called Jin Shin for 40 minutes twice weekly for 4 weeks; the other half had placebo acupressure. At the end of the study, which was published in a recent issue of the Journal of Neurotrauma, those who received acupressure had better memory and attention and less stress and anxiety. Acupressure appears to produce what Dr. Hernandez calls "stress resilience." That's crucial for these patients because a bout of stress can cause a setback. What's nice about acupressure is that it's so easy to learn that a patient can self-treat or have a family member perform it. What It Means For You: If you suffer from back pain, it's time to start taking massage seriously. Getting a weekly rubdown may not only relieve your discomfort but also keep you healthier overall, because nagging pain can make you depressed and weaken your immune system. Some insurance plans pay for massages for cancer patients or people with musculo-skeletal problems. Dr. Rapaport's findings could pave the way for research that will one day convince insurers to cover routine massages. Both therapies can help ease everything from muscle pain to the side effects of chemo, though you may have to pay out of pocket. If you want to try either, go to an accredited practitioner. For now, schedule a massage as often as your wallet permits. "I get a massage once a week," Dr. Rapaport says. "It has relieved my stress. Also, I have a very bad back, and it has certainly helped that." Prevention's Integrative Medicine Winner: Meditation Benefits: Improves focus, eases pain and stress Some 116 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, and millions more live with the debilitating symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. Traditional treatments bring too few lasting results. But two studies point to a surprising new path to relief: the practice of mindfulness meditation. Mindfulness meditation operates on a simple principle. "You focus on being in the present, not on your worries," says Susan A. Gaylord, PhD, director of the Mindfulness-Based Stress and Pain Management Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who led the IBS study, which was published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology. When the women she studied applied mindfulness meditation to the diet and lifestyle strategies they were already using to control their IBS, the severity of their symptoms was slashed by 26%. In a recent study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, mindfulness meditation had equally dramatic effects on reducing pain. Researchers at Wake Forest School of Medicine found that it cut pain intensity by 40%--in some people, by up to 70%!--compared with about 25% for morphine and other pain relievers. "I was surprised by the dramatic results," says study leader Fadel Zeidan, PhD. What It Means For You: To use mindfulness meditation to get relief from pain, you need to devote just 20 to 30 minutes a day to it, says Dr. Zeidan. To learn the technique, check hospitals or academic medical centers for classes. Featured article. Click HERE to read the entire thing on prevention.com
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