At the Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness, we treat you—body, mind and spirit. Our approach is safe, evidenced-based, and geared toward your unique situation. Our integrative medicine doctors work directly with you and your Stamford Health medical team to deliver you a Planetree approach to care that allows us to blend conventional and complementary medicine. Our goal is to make use of all appropriate therapeutic approaches.
We work with you and your physicians to develop a coordinated, multidisciplinary treatment plan that reflects who you are, how you live, and what your personal goals may be. Some of the conditions our integrative medicine doctors treat include:
We accept most insurance plans, including Medicare. We will bill your carrier directly and will coordinate coverage details as necessary.
Integrative Cardiology
If you have or are at high risk for heart disease, you may already know that getting healthy is your first priority. Dr. Joseph Feuerstein, Director of Integrative Medicine provides a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to preventing heart disease and reducing risk factors for patients with a family history of heart disease or a diagnosis of high cholesterol, diabetes or hypertension.
Our individualized treatment plan begins with an office visit with Dr. Feuerstein, which will include a history and exam. He may also review recent lab tests with the patient and may order new ones to obtain current information. He will then work with the patient on an individual basis to develop a diet and exercise plan that works best for that person.
Once the patient has seen Dr. Feuerstein, he will refer him or her to his colleague Katherine Takayasu, MD, for a stress-management evaluation and plan. Most individuals recognize the link between heart disease and their diet and daily exercise; however, many do not know about the link between stress and heart disease. Our mind-body treatments and programs provide each patient with an individualized plan for recognizing stress and effectively managing and reducing it - ultimately leading to a healthier heart.
Everyone has the power to reduce their risk for heart disease. Our service helps patients to understand their own bodies and we give them tools to make lifestyle changes that can transform their lives.
Women's Integrative Health
Our Women’s Integrative Health Program offersan optimal blend of conventional and complementary medicine tailored to achieve personal needs and goals. We work with you to help define your health and lifestyle objectives and create a strategy to achieve them along with your physician. Your personalized health and lifestyle programs may include:
Gynecologic Services:
- Management of chronic pelvic pain
- Treatment of urinary incontinence and overactive bladder
- Therapy for pelvic support problems
- Treatment of abnormal uterine bleeding
- Non-surgical management of gynecologic conditions
- Minimally invasive gynecologic surgery
- Pelvic reconstructive surgery
Women's Integrative Services:
- Health assessment
- Lifestyle coaching
- Botanical and supplement consultation
Mind-Body Therapies:
- Guided imagery, Peg Huddleston's Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster program
- Hypnosis
- Progressive Muscle Relaxation
- Breathing Techniques
Our hours are weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Integrative Weight Loss
We at the Center understand that obesity is a complex health issue that requires a wide variety of treatment options designed to meet each patient’s weight loss and lifestyle needs. We advocate for preventive health and treating obesity using lifestyle change along with behavioral education, nutrition education, and medications when needed.
Since 2008, Joseph Feuerstein, MD has been providing medical weight-loss treatment in Fairfield County. He has (been able to provide patients with individual, medically managed weight-loss strategies that are evidence based, safe and effective.
Our service is based on a proven weight-loss plan made up of four components:
- Personalized diet
- Referral to a medical fitness program
- Behavioral strategies
- Medical expertise
Integrative Health for Athletes
Our Athletes and Arts Program, led by Marc Brodsky, MD, & Joseph Feuerstein, MD, is a collaboration between Orthopedics, Sports Medicine and Integrative Medicine with the aim to optimize performance in sports and the performing arts. This program is promoted by the American College of Sports Medicine and the Performing Arts Medicine Association to create opportunities for both athletes and performing artists to access and benefit from established health research, training, and education. The Center for Integrative Medicine & Wellness collaborates with the Orthopedics and Sports Medicine specialist at Chelsea Piers in all aspects of the Athletes & Arts program. We treat children and adults and offer performance-based consultation. No referral is necessary and we accept insurance.
You can benefit from:
- Peak performance, including mind-body therapies to enhance performance
- Injury prevention
- Pain Management
- Nutrition Consultation
- Hydration and nutrition counseling
- Vitamins and supplement evaluation
- Mindful-based stress reduction
- Guided imagery
- Breath work
- Hypnotherapy
Mind Body Therapies
Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster™
In this program, you’ll learn mind-body techniques to:
- Reduce anxiety before surgery
- Have less pain after surgery
- Reduce side effects of radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy
Program includes the book Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster and its companion relaxation CD. Insurance accepted. Copays may apply.
Hypnosis - Progressive Relaxation
Hypnotherapy has been studied for a number of conditions, including:
Hypnosis is a state of inner relaxation and concentration based on the appropriate suggestions made by your doctor or nurse practitioner. Overall, we want to help you make positive changes in your lifestyle.
Musician Wellness Program
The Musician Wellness Program provides comprehensive evaluation and treatment for the unique medical conditions that occur as a part of performing-related activities or that may interfere with performance. The program serves student, amateur, and professional instrumentalists and singers as well as dancers and actors to optimize performance and a sense of wellbeing. Assessment includes the performer’s physical and psychological aspects and the physical exam may include evaluation while playing the instrument.
Common Conditions in Musicians (and other Performing Artists and Athletes)
- Musculoskeletal Overuse
- Myofascial Pain
- Nerve entrapment syndromes
- Focal Dystonia
- Osteoarthritis
- Fibromyalgia
- Hearing Loss
- Tinnitis
- Psychiatric/ Stress related conditions
Our Physicians
The musician and physician collaborate in a customized treatment plan and prevention of re-injury. The participating specialists have a special interest and commitment to unique medical needs and expectations of musicians and other performing artists and athletes.
Our Treatment Team
A comprehensive, personalized program may include:
Pain Management
Many people suffer with chronic pain, sometimes related to illness or injury, often due to causes not yet identified. Regardless of the cause, our integrative pain management program provides holistic support, treatment and solutions if you’re experiencing pain.
Pain Conditions We Treat
People with a variety of issues may benefit from the integrative pain management program, including those with chronic pain and diseases such as arthritis, fibromyalgia, cancer and others. Specialized pain management treatments are available for occupational-related pain conditions (such as office workers, athletes and performing artists) as well as other repetitive stress injury. The pain management program also offers palliative treatment and symptom management for end-of-life care.
Integrative Pain Management Services We Offer
No matter your situation, we’re here to help you feel better in every way we can. Your personalized pain-management program may include any or all of the following treatment options:
- Lifestyle counseling to include self-acupressure to treat and prevent symptoms
- Acupuncture
- Non-narcotic medication consultation
- Trigger point injections for myofascial (muscle) pain
Treatment for Fibromyalgia Syndrome
Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS) affects millions of Americans, and 85 to 90 percent of women. Experts are unsure as to what causes women to suffer from this chronic condition that involves pain, stiffness, and tenderness of the muscles, tendons, and joints. If you have any of these symptoms, we recommend you speak with your primary care physician or rheumatologist.
Beyond the pain itself, FMS can have a major impact on a woman’s health in the following ways:
- Reproductive health: Studies have indicated that women with FMS are more likely to have reproductive-health-related diagnoses. It can also have an impact on a woman’s sexuality, particularly her libido.
- Pregnancy: Women with FMS tend to have more severe pregnancy symptoms including greater stiffness, pain and fatigue.
- Premenstrual Syndrome: There is a link between FMS and the severity of a woman’s premenstrual syndrome symptoms. This might mean more severe headaches, insomnia, back pain, abdominal cramping and possibly greater emotional upset.
- Menopause: FMS tends to be diagnosed in women most often between the ages of 40 and 55, and this can coincide with the average onset of menopause. Post-menopausal women can also experience more severe symptoms of depression, anxiety and sleep disorders due to decreased estrogen levels.
Our hours are weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Acupuncture
Our trained physicians here at the Center use acupuncture as a pain-management tool, to treat fibromyalgia, joint pain from diabetes, neck pain, and other conditions you may be experiencing.
What is Acupuncture?
The term “acupuncture” describes a family of procedures involving the stimulation of anatomical points on the body using a variety of techniques. The acupuncture technique that has been most often studied scientifically involves penetrating the skin with thin, solid, metallic needles that are manipulated by the hands or by electrical stimulation. Researchers are looking at potential biomechanisms — that is, how acupuncture might work to relieve pain. There are several theories about these biomechanisms (e.g., acupuncture activates opioid systems in the brain that respond to pain); additional research is still needed to test the theories.*
*Information from the National Institutes of Health – National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
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