NEOGRAFT HAIR TRANSPLANT
Like its namesake Broadway musical, hair is one of those things people tend to appreciate more the less they see of it. And when your shower drain looks as though the Humane Society should put it up for adoption, it might be time to consider your options. Luckily, there’s a new grafting technique in Southwest Florida that has hair-raising success rates. NeoGraft offers the promise of a beautiful head of hair without pain of surgery, scarring or sutures. Best of all, there is only a two-day recovery period. And even if you can’t spare any follicles off your noggin, you can use body hair, says Dr. Andrew Turk of the Naples Cosmetic Surgery Center. The automated procedure can take between 2,500 and 3,000 grafts under local anesthesia, suck them out via a tiny vacuum and then place them wherever you need more hair. naples-csc.com
APP-SOLUTE MEDITATION: Because right now you’d rather be looking at puffy white clouds and hearing the chirping of birds with a pan flute in the distance, we think you should check out the meditation app Calm. It helps guide you through various meditations, even if you’ve never tried it before. calm.com
AN APP GUIDE FOR VITAMIN D
Did you know you can get vitamin D from the sun only once the sun has risen to a point at least 35 degrees above the horizon? It’s true. That’s when UVB rays used to generate it are able to enter the atmosphere. Which means you can get vitamin D only in the middle of the day, even in Southwest Florida. (Damaging UVA rays are floating around from sunup to sunrise.) And, it turns out, your ability to produce vitamin D varies by everything from age and weight to skin pigmentation. So to help you get the most vitamin D without overexposure, an app was created. Dminder calculates everything you need to know to keep you from burning, while helping you maximize vitamin D generation, which science believes reduces cancer risks and leads to better immune function, blood sugar control and cardiovascular health. dminder.ontometrics.com
HELP FOR SPINE AND JOINT PAIN
Got a spine or joint injury that just won’t heal? Perhaps you have cartilage damage, or a meniscus or labral tear. Southwest Florida’s first clinic committed specifically to prolotherapy opens this month in Fort Myers. Drs. Ross Hauser and Timothy L. Speciale just opened a Southwest Florida location of Hauser’s Chicago-based Caring Medical. But just what is prolotherapy? “It’s an injection therapy that stimulates the body to repair painful areas,” says Hauser, who’s written numerous books on the subject. “Specifically, you’re injecting substances that trigger or stimulate the normal healing inflammatory cascade.” The process uses various injectants such as stem cells, blood platelets or dextrose. Hauser says the new tissue grows back stronger and thicker, without the need for surgery. caringmedical.com
PELVIC EXERCISES FOR MEN
If you’ve ever spent time wondering if a man’s pelvic floor is similar to that of a woman’s, wonder no more—the answer is yes. And because that’s the case, a paper in the July issue of Urology suggests men start the time-honored tradition of Kegel exercises. The author of the paper, Dr. Andrew L. Siegel, has even co-founded a company marketing a new pelvic-floor exercise system for men that includes an instructional DVD and a device that includes light weights and a silicone band that, shall we say, is rather personal in nature. (You know, just in case you want to add a little resistance training to the workout.) Like all muscles, it weakens with age, which can lead to incontinence or even sexual dysfunction. So, men, now is a good time to contract and release. privategym.com
THE BRAIN IS BUILT FOR ART: A new meta-analysis from the University of Toronto found that viewing paintings engages a number of different regions of the brain, suggesting that art appreciation is a natural biological process. Time to head to the art gallery!
