Ritual Baths & Sea Salts
January 2, 2009 by dr. lam · Leave a Comment
The Roman Baths in Bath, England
As many of you know, I am a big proponent of taking a little time for yourself to decompress and to heal. As a spa owner, I frequent my own spa to attain much needed escape from my daily routine. One thing that I do for myself at home is take a bath with hydrotherapy jets at least once a week if not more frequently. I have some sea salts that I bought but ideally I try to sneak into my spa and mix Epsom salts with Dead Sea salts along with various other Chinese herbs to help my skin, muscles, and nervous system.
For time immemorial, hot baths and springs have served as a vehicle for healing and renewal. I remember fondly the time that I spent in the natural onsen (Japanese hot springs) outside of Tokyo. German studies have shown that high magnesium content found in the Dead Sea can help enhance one’s skin barrier and also reduce skin inflammation. Other studies have shown improvement in psoriasis as well as helping deepen one’s sleep. Minerals are absorbed during bathing that can lead to increased blood circulation to aid in minimizing different types of arthritic conditions. Skin aging can be improved with some studies showing a 40% reduction in wrinking. Certain acne conditions can be ameliorated as well. Bromides and magnesium can serve to control allergies and detoxify and cleanse the skin. Epsom salts, which have been widely studied, have been shown to heal a damaged muscular and nervous system. I always try to mix some Epsom salts in with my Dead Sea salts after a hard day or after a massage session. Bath salts can also minimize the pruning effect otherwise typically observed following prolonged water immersion because it maintains a better osmotic pressure gradient across the skin. Phosphates can help to soften calloused skin and to aid in exfoliation. These salts can also act to enhance the effect of soaps to clean one’s skin.
All in all, even if these touted benefits do not hold 100% true, the ritualistic bath can serve as a much needed time to heal one’s mind and soul as well as one’s body. I use it as a time not to think of anything or at times to enter a quiet time of deep reflection. I truly enjoy my bath time even without the rubber duckie.
Happy New Year!
January 1, 2009 by dr. lam · 2 Comments
Time truly flies. I literally cannot believe that 2008 has drawn to a close and the new year is already upon us. I think today should be a time of both reflection of the past year and what we have in store for us in the coming year.
Although 2008 has been a rocky year in the world, I am grateful that LFP has been relatively shielded from the effects so far of the economic downturn. Instead of dwelling on the negatives, I would like to focus on some of the positive milestones of this past year. First, I finished writing my 5th book in 5 years, Aging Face: The New Paradigm, which I am very proud of. This should be my last venture into the world of hard-core academic publishing besides ongoing book chapters and scientific papers. In a way what I foresee for myself is to transition from an ensconced academia into the mainstream (more about that in a moment). I am also proud that a year ago I took 4 months out of my life and studied hard to sit and pass the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery and am now a diplomate with only 120 others in the world. This past year I had the good fortune of completely filling my building but then losing ground with the closure of the lap-band center and vein center upstairs. Nevertheless, my spa opened and is growing by leaps and bounds and the anti-aging center and rolfing center are going like gangbusters. Although in 2007 LFP had 1 or 2 slow months, this is the first year that we had complete uniformity with no slow months and bookings several months out in advance. I am very proud of the accomplishments of my staff and my building.
My next year will carry more responsibility in many ways. First, I will be carrying the title of moderator for my Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO) forum, which will demand much time from me. Second, I shall be turning up the heat as Editor-in-Chief of the academy’s Face Book that will be published as a major consumer’s guide to facial plastic surgery (don’t worry, we copyrighted Facebook before facebook.com did). My plan over the next two years will involve becoming much more of a mainstream presence on television, public speaking, etc. I am very much interested in getting my vision out to every household to the best of my ability. I look forward to a fun, exciting and growing 2009, and I hope you continue your journey with me.
Thanking My Team
December 24, 2008 by dr. lam · Leave a Comment
For those of you who keep up with my blogs, you will remember that 2 weeks ago I did a series of blogs on Malcolm Gladwell’s phenomenal new book, Outliers, in which he talks about how successful individuals come from a product of their environment. With that spirit, I would like to thank each and every one of my staff members who have made LFP a true success with doubling percentage growths every year.
Constanze- Thank you for helming my ship and getting rave reviews from patients about your wonderful stewardship of my practice. Your organizational skills, phone skills, and educated knowledge of LFP make you an indispensable part to what LFP is all about. Your honesty and integrity define my opinion of you. Your work ethic is unmatched. You don’t leave until the job is done and done right. You are truly a rare and precious gem. Thank you for all that you do.
Marcy- Miss Flipper, the co-pilot, you are an intelligent and passionate individual whom I hear every patient walking through the door who has spoken with you that you have blessed them in both your delivery and content. I appreciate your Internet and technology savvy and all that you have done for my business on that end. You are a remarkable individual who has made everything that I do easier and more streamlined.
Dianne- Despite some health issues this past year, you have triumphed in both spirit and form and you look like a new person coming back from Italy. That has made me smile inside deeply since you are part of our family. Your stepping in during this critical holiday time has been so appreciated that I cannot speak what I feel in words. Your raw intelligence exceeds mine and your leading my surgical team and surgical center is unparalleled. I don’t think I need to tell you that.
Beth- You are just a radiant jewel that shines like a beacon to my patients. As I say all the time, you singularly get more compliments from my patients than any other staff member. You garner that praise because it is well deserved. Your perioperative work to help my patients during a time that can be scary alleviates them of that fear and gives them a warm family touch that I am confident they would never receive in any surgery center or hospital. You define the patient experience and serve as an exemplar to all around you for your care, compassion, and selflessness.
Emina- You are one of a kind not in the U.S. but in the world. Your knowledge in hair restoration from the front end, back end, surgical side, leadership, staff training, staff inspiration gives you the deserved nickname, Yoda. You are such a precious asset to me that I cannot even begin to thank you enough for how you literally bleed for our patients. We deliver a singular experience and result and I am so appreciative of your vital component to that success.
Darla- You are so very very smart. I appreciate that intelligence and being as a worthy co-pilot during surgery. You lead my MAs very well, and your graft dissection skills are tremendous. I don’t know how to thank you for your stepping up whenever duty calls where you needn’t do that but you do. You just are a tremendous team player and focused on what we give our patients. I can’t simply thank you enough.
Vassilka- I love seeing you every day. Your kind heart and generosity of spirit are unmatched. I know you do so very many things for me that I can’t even begin to thank you for. Your delicate hands during hair restoration, your great number sense and graft calculation, and your impassioned dedication to be always the best even during your pregnancy not only means so much to me but to our deserving patients as well. I have a smile that goes deep to my soul each and every time I see you. You bring a light to my world and to LFP every day you are there. We all missed you so much during your maternity leave. You are simply a beautiful person.
Stephanie- Although you have been with us only for a few months, you have proven your salt in a relatively short time. Your dedication to excellence and your innate intelligence have won me over. I hope that you can envision a long career with us because I am so very deeply proud to have you on my team at LFP. Keep up the tremendous work and continue to dazzle me with your massive brain power! I am also keen on seeing your talented hands at work on some of the things we have you training to do.
Donna- You bring beauty and intelligence to the team. Even though you are only here a day a week, I think my entire team looks forward to your coming. You are truly very very bright and I admire that (I don’t just mean your movie trivia skills). Hopefully, as LFP grows, you can come on board more. I really love seeing your smile and your helping me so effortlessly navigate the preoperative waters in a thoughtful, unrushed, and warm-hearted way.
Linda- You have won my respect. Your leadership skills now going from MA to Spa Director are amazing. You lead by example, passion, and work ethic. You have done so much to take a disparate team and make it follow in sync behind you. I am so appreciative at your creative energy because you never cease to amaze me at all you do. Thank you for becoming my newest and extremely strong leader. I am so very proud of you and when I look at you every time you give me a wonderful sense of almost parental pride that I gave the keys to the right person.
Philip- You are truly a gem to my mom and me. I know that I do not even have to look at the accounts because you are truly one of the most honest individuals that I have met. You are an individual of high moral worth and you are also one that gives everything you got. Thank you so much for making LFP run like clock work. Your presence is always felt and your love for our family is profound as ours is for you.
Richard- Richard, you are so rare a person that I don’t think God ever would make another like you. You give, give, give, give, give, give, give and never take. You give so much that I feel this deep guilt of calling you. The reason that WBW was built so well was because of you but well beyond that the reason that it still runs owes EVERYTHING to you, and I mean everything. You are the great Atlas holding up the world of WBW. If you were not here, there would not be a building. You give my mom and me peace of mind and a warm heart. I simply love you and Catherine like family because you are. Thank you for being such an amazing individual. I don’t want to fill two pages here otherwise my other staff might get a bit jealous in how I feel about you.
Mom (Carol)- Last but not least, thank you for building this building, acquiring this land, and having blind faith in my skills and risking everything we have on my practice and me. Thank you for giving me life, and thank you for being a mom to all my staff who look to you for moral guidance, love, compassion, and leadership. You are such a rare mother that I could not even imagine anyone that would come close to you. Your business acumen, math sense, and salesmanship make WBW and LFP not only successful but fully thriving. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thanks to all my dear patients, clients, and patrons who frequent WBW, and I give back a touch of warmth and good spirit during this wonderful holiday season. All of you brighten my life and inspire me to be a better person and a better surgeon for you! Merry Christmas to all who celebrate Christmas and whatever religious persuasion you follow, I wish you the merriest holidays this season!
Embracing the Orient
October 8, 2008 by dr. lam · Leave a Comment
Reflexology Foot Chart
As a western trained physician who is very methodical in his scientific thinking, I have always been skeptical of “Oriental medicine”. Now that I have opened a spa that focuses on marrying the best from the East and the West, I have gradually loosened my narrow grip on my perceived reality. I have tried in the past to view my wellness concept to be broader than what we know in the West. However, naturopathic doctors and holistic doctors shun coming anywhere near an Occidental physician and vice versa. Fortunately, I was able to find the best of both worlds by having western-trained M.D.s who embrace naturopathic components in my anti-aging and vitality center.
As part of my weekly spa ritual, I really have been exploring the best of what the East has to offer. The thing that I really love now is reflexology. The idea of reflexology for the uninitiate is using pressure points on the foot to relieve bodily ailments that corresponds to nerves that are across the foot. Whenever I get a certain area touched that hurts on my foot, I start to realize how accurate the correlation is to the body part that aches for me. If anything, I get a great foot massage in the process! Even when I was in a hurry at the airport, I got a reflexology treatment over my standard shoulder and hand massage (which is part of reflexology too since the hands and ears can represent part of the body as well.)
I think it could be dangerous to substitute reflexology for treating serious medical conditions but I think it is a great stress reliever and I do believe that it is helping me balance out parts of my body that are not in alignment. I also tried a Shirodhara treatment which is part of Ayurvedic therapy in my spa, which involves dripping oil in different patterns across your forehead to open your “third eye”. Although I don’t know if the touted medicinal values can be of certain benefit to you, I do enjoy the treatment as a relaxing part of a spa experience. Okay, so I don’t believe everything just yet.
THE NEW SPA AT WILLOW BEND SITE IS FINALLY UP!
August 18, 2008 by dr. lam · Leave a Comment
I would first and foremost like to thank my talented sister, Vina, who really did an outstanding job at designing the site. When I took a stab at designing it, it looked so awful I made myself sick. Everyone says not to hire your relative to design a website. However, that is probably because your relative is second-rate (sorry). My sister is amazing. Her design sense and artistry are truly the very best and matches the demands I put on a first-quality job. I would also like to thank Mike who is my webmaster. Everything I asked of him he completes not within weeks or days but within hours. He is truly an amazing asset. Mike is probably waking up this Monday to about 5 of my emails already. Sorry Mike.
Okay, here is the link to the spawb.com site. I am so very proud of the Spa at Willow Bend for numerous reasons. First, it is simply a gorgeous spa. I put over a million dollars into making this 5,000 square foot spa look absolutely the best. In my opinion it beats the Ritz and Four Seasons and that is only because of Roger Leighton who did a magnificent job of making the interior look like a world-class facility. His partner Shirley Flabbiano did a great job in making sure everything was spot on too. Richard Crawford (see last week’s blog) built everything out and really did not scream at me when I had the entire interior restarted from scratch one week before opening. Yes, I am crazy. But I guess you knew that. Gary Williams has an incredible sense of interior space flow and was the architect on the project. It doesn’t hurt that he built the entire building too. I am waiting for him to win the Pritzker Prize.
Besides the interior design, the team at the Spa is imbued with the same culture that I have established in my space, which is excellent customer service at every level. Beyond that, let’s get to the core of what the spa offers, the best services you will find in Dallas, Plano, and beyond. (Obviously, I have no bias). They offer foot detox, massage, reflexology, facials, oxygen therapies, manicures, pedicures, citrus spray tanning, waxing, laser hair removal, cellulite treatments with Accent XL, chinese medicine and wellness therapies, body wraps, hydroinfusion, Sudatonic body slimming, Shirodhara Ayurvedic treatments…That’s just off the top of my head. I can’t recall if I missed something but I probably did. Just check out the site. Also, we have a relaxation room with homemade tea and infused water, and a full locker room with robes, slippers, sauna, showers, etc. Btw, I still have to add the virtual tours and video tours. I need to finish my book in two weeks first so that video project is put a bit back on my priority list for now.
One thing that I have been trying to do is to experience a spa service myself at least once if not twice a week. I am so very busy that I find that the spa services no matter how small allow me to escape the world for a while and get into good rhythm with myself. I truly believe that spa services go way beyond self-pampering but allow oneself to revitalize, which is an essential component to the overall wellness strategy. I believe that the spa is a core feature of the wellness program offered at my Willow Bend Wellness Center.