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The Primetime Emmy Awards take place in mid-September as the fall television season is getting going. Ever wonder where the name Emmy comes from?  It’s from “image orthicon tube,” used in the early cameras, shortened to Immy, then Emmy, since the statuette is female. And now you know!  Here are some Emmy questions for you—

1)  What comedy program holds the record with most wins for ANY television show, with 72?  It makes sense, thanks to its longevity. In fact, it also holds the record for most overall Emmy nominations, with an incredible 270!

2)  Who set the record for hosting the Emmys the most, with four?  He was also well known as an Oscar host. By the way, Ellen DeGeneres has hosted three times. 

3)  In the 1990s this sitcom won an incredible five times as Outstanding Comedy Series.  Not only that, but it was nominated for over 100 Emmys during its run. Name this NBC show.

4)  Who was the first woman to both win a Primetime Emmy Award AND be inducted into the Television Hall of Fame? The first part was in the 1950s and the latter in 1984.

5)  The 93-year-old actress, Cloris Leachman, has had an incredible career, winning eight Primetime Emmys for her work from 1973 to 2006. The 1973 win, for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” is too easy to ask. But can you name her 2006 comedy show for which she won?  She played Grandma Ida and was nominated six times for the role!     

6)  Only one man has ever gone exactly 5-for-5 in Emmy wins. He won for his supporting role in a famous sitcom from 1961 to 1967. As an FYI, he entertained troops while he was in the service during WW II, working as a ventriloquist.

It’s football season. Do you know how I know? My grandson wore his freshman football jersey to school today. It was his very first high school pep rally. I was told by a junior girl that the grade levels are all “color-coded” for the pep rally. Not by skin color or hair color or even eye color, the freshmen were all supposed to wear gray, a different color for each grade level. But not my grandson, he got to wear his red and black football jersey. 

I have to admit to not knowing virtually anything about football.  Most of the people who sit around me at the field or on the couch know a lot. That is the exact reason I’ve never asked for an ongoing tutorial. I just do not want to impede their enjoyment of the game. It seems as if whether its recreation league, high school, college, or Pro, a football lover is a football lover. 

The Blind Side was released ten years ago but I honestly believe it is one of the best football movies ever made. Maybe that’s because it’s about a whole lot more than football. It’s only icing on the cake based on a true story.

Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) is a Southern Belle and former college cheerleader socialite, married to well-known college basketball star, Sean Tuohy (Tim McGraw).  That was quite a long sentence and I still didn’t get in the 85 fast-food chains they own and more importantly, that they both graduated from Ole Miss, University of Mississippi. In the South, where football is a religion, that is the only place to play. 

Michael Oher is an underprivileged kid that for the most part hasn’t had a life worth remembering.  He’s been shuffled through the system and ends up attending a Christian School in Memphis. He doesn’t “live” anywhere and carries what little belongings he has around in a plastic shopping bag—the small kind with no handles.  After a school event one evening, he catches the attention of Leigh Ann. It’s cold outside and he has no jacket. She chases him down and falls in love with this gentle giant of a child that people call “Big Mike,” that is when they bother to call him at all. Leigh Ann, Sean, and their two children are very white, by the way. Michael isn’t.

This is the true story of a child with nothing, literally being absorbed into the very fabric of a wealthy, loving family that see him as their own. I can’t even begin to explain, so I am just going to say: Watch it!  Oh yes, Michael played football for Ole Miss and was later drafted by the Baltimore Ravens. 

The Blind Side won an Oscar for Best Picture, and Sandra Bullock won an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actress. That, along with the $300+ million box office gross and you understand that I’m not the only one who loved this movie.  It’s got heart, it’s got love, and it’s got pure human goodness. And, of course, it’s got football. Once again, I love your comments a

Maintaining Financial Clarity One Holiday at a Time

Retailers are at it again! The kids have barely had the opportunity to unpack and use all of their cool new school supplies, and the aisles of retailers are being transformed into candy shops, haunted houses, harvest décor, and believe it or not, snowmen and Santa figurines. This transformation started to happen before schools were even back in session!

As if shopping for back to school supplies, clothes and getting into a new routine is not stressful enough for families, retailers want to inject a little bit of FOMO (fear of missing out) and get you spending on items that are 60 to 100 days away. Stores ranging from Safeway to Costco have been haunting and daunting consumers with bags of candy, costumes, and festive fall décor.

Just reading this article might start putting your brain into a frantic frenzy and give you a bit of retailer FOMO! But, stay calm and read on. There is still plenty of time, and definitely enough inventory, to fill your decorative dishes with candy corn, purchase your child’s favorite superhero costume, stage your front porch for a fall photo shoot, and deck your halls with holiday décor. The following tips will help you plan, organize and budget your way through the holidays without getting your tinsel in a tangle.  

FOCUS ON ONE HOLIDAY AT A TIME

The first and one of the most important steps is to focus on one holiday at a time. Look at the calendar for the next few months and make a list of each holiday that you and your family celebrate. Once you have the list, take inventory and purge before you splurge.

TAKE INVENTORY

Next, take inventory of items that you already have and make a detailed list of what you need. Before you purchase one new item for your home or child, take the time to pull out all decorations, refresh your memory on what you have, and decide if you really need new décor. It is so easy to forget what is stashed away in a closet. Think about how many times you open a box of holiday loot and have forgotten what you had tucked away. Usually, when a holiday is over you are so busy packing up and restocking for the next, that the inventory becomes one big blur. Taking inventory avoids spending money on items that you already have or don’t need. If you find that items need to be replaced or updated, take the time to purge before you splurge. 

SET A BUDGET AND MAKE A LIST

For each holiday, set a budget and make a list of items (or people) that you need to shop for. For Halloween, a list might include candy, parties, costumes, and décor. Set a budget with the total that you can afford to spend and then break it down by each item.     

If you are over budget, revisit the list, revise/remove as needed, and get creative. If you have children, take the time to communicate the maximum amount each can spend on a costume. Or, get creative and have a contest on who in the family can make the most creative costume on a budget. Getting creative can add up to substantial savings.

For Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa use the same format. Set the maximum amount you want to spend and then break it down by category and individual.

Regardless of your income, taking the time to take inventory, creating a written plan, setting a budget, and sticking with it will eliminate holiday debt drama, allow you to plan with ease, and most of all enjoy every moment of the busiest quarter of the year!

Looking for more savvy spending tips, visit my blog at jodeebrydges.com.

Jodee Brydges is a Loan Officer at RPM Mortgage and the award-winning author of “Digging Out: A Practical Guide to Getting Out of Debt and Paving a Path to a Secure Financial Future,” published by ALIVE Book Publishing. It is available on Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com..

Part Five of the six-step process

This month’s Investor’s Edge column continues my 6-part series on the financial planning process.  Someone recently asked me if this series was in any particular order.  The answer is “no.” All six steps are equally critical to the success of the process and are not addressed in any order. However, we might all agree that this step is most effective the sooner we begin. It is never too soon to begin your retirement planning. The basic question one must answer is: How much money will you have to have when you want to retire that will allow you to afford what you will need and want during retirement, and that you will not outlive? 

Retirement is like a long vacation in Las Vegas. The goal is to enjoy it the fullest, but not so fully that you run out of money. – Jonathan Clements

Jonathon Clements is a longtime Wall Street Journal personal-finance columnist.  His quote on retirement is a good and important one.  He is saying, essentially, “Do not run out of money while retired.”  After nearly 35 years of asking people soon to retire, or newly retired, what their biggest concern is, the most frequent response has been, “Outliving my money.”  What’s interesting about that is they had money and had spent a reasonable amount of time on retirement planning. That is less and less the case today.  Recent findings in the 2019 Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute are shocking. A sizable percentage of workers say they have no or very little money in savings and investments. The RCS survey showed 40% of worker’s total value of their household’s savings and investments, excluding the value of their primary home and any pension plans, is less than $25,000. This includes 19% who say they have less than $1,000 in savings.  Approximately one in ten report having $25,000–$49,999 and another 9% say they have between $50,000–$99,999.  About two in ten report having $100,000–$249,999, and lastly, 23% said they have saved $250,000 or more. 

“Retirement is wonderful if you have two essentials—much to live on and much to live for,”is one of my favorite quotes on retirement.  Retiring should be a wonderful, easy, and relaxing time of your life. I teach people how to retire securely. Whether you’re far from it, or long retired, I can help you invest for retirement. I have many useful tools to help. My RACE program is a proprietary planning tool I devised to help both future retirees and those already in their retirement years. Blackhawk Wealth Advisors provides a Retirement Analysis & Cash-flow Evaluation service to help you determine when you can retire, how much you can spend during your retirement, and how long your retirement savings are expected to last. This helps determine the amount of money you need to plan to save and invest in order to retire comfortably. In my career counseling people wanting to retire soon, I have often determined the best advice is to keep working. 

Retirement planning, with all its inherent considerations, all unique to every individual, is virtually impossible to capture in this limited space. Age, life expectancy, health conditions, marital status, employment circumstances, risk tolerance, family matters, tax consequence, and many more important variables need to be addressed. There are, though, three key elements of retirement planning we should all be aware of: time, taxes and spending.

Timing your retirement can be critical to your long-term financial life—especially when it comes to taking withdrawals from your retirement account. The month and year you choose to start taking income can make a huge difference.  People who retired in 2007 or 2008 are all too aware how a bad investment market combined with portfolio withdrawals can diminish the sustainability of those withdrawals by several years. In cases of bear markets, those able to delay retirement and continue working, receiving earned income rather than living on retirement savings, are in much better shape to avoid running out of money during their lifetimes.

Know your tax bracket. Staying in a low tax bracket can help retirees minimize the tax they pay on their retirement savings. When your income reaches specified thresholds, you pay gradually higher amounts of tax on the additional income. Be aware of the tax rate schedules, tax tables and cost-of-living adjustments for certain tax items for the tax year of your retirement and the year after. If you have taxable investment accounts, or ROTH IRA’s, blending withdrawals from these other accounts with retirement accounts will usually lower your income tax liability.

Know what you spend. Many people believe their expenses will go down in retirement, but the reality depends on the type of lifestyle you want to have. Do you plan to travel?  Start a new hobby? Help out your children and grandchildren? These all cost money, and usually more than you expect. And don’t forget about healthcare costs. It’s important to understand what Medicare and supplemental health policies will provide and what you’ll be paying out of pocket. Once you have a firm grasp on your expenses, you can strategically plan your withdrawals from taxable accounts.

Take control of your financial future with a sound retirement plan. Don’t expect Social Security to provide for your retirement life needs. Social Security is rarely enough to cover more than the most basic living needs. And with the average monthly Social Security benefit coming in around $1,250 and growing slowly, this fact isn’t going to change anytime soon. 

I hope you enjoyed part 5 of my 6-part series on the financial planning process. Look for the last part, Estate Planning, in the October issue of ALIVE Magazine’s Investor’s Edge column.

The essence of the Hippocratic Oath is this statement, and yet the oath is regularly violated due to incompetence and greed.  This violation occurs throughout the medical and the pharmaceutical industries much more than you realize. In this article I will limit “doing harm” to my field, which is Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction, a.k.a. TMD. 

One of the greatest shortcomings of medicine and dentistry is labeling symptoms, establishing treatment protocol, and prescribing drugs and procedures, without addressing the many possible attributing factors. This basically leaves the patient out of the picture.

An example could be what is referred to as a trigger point pain. For example, a “tooth ache” really has nothing to do with the tooth but is instead initiated by a muscle spasm transferred to the tooth by a nerve. In my practice I have witnessed patients that have had multiple root canal treatments, followed, when the problem remained, by extraction.  In one lecture that I attended by a dental college professor with multiple degrees, all of the patient’s teeth were lost this way and the doctor concluded that the treatment should have been pain relief with drugs instead. I use no drugs in my practice. When the pain is gone, it is because I discovered what caused the pain and treated the cause with only positive side effects and far less financial pain.

Another patient of mine expressed to her dentist that after a prolonged dental procedure, her teeth were not contacting on the left side and she had pain and difficulty chewing food. His solution was muscle relaxants followed by three different appointments of equilibrating the teeth. Her bite was still off, and now her teeth had been permanently altered. 

Teeth should not be equilibrated, moved orthodontically, or have root canals (unless there is an obvious need on the x-ray) until the TMD is reduced or resolved. If the TMJ discs have been displaced due to having the mouth open for a long dental procedure under anesthesia for example, adjusting the teeth will not fix the problem. Once the discs are functioning properly again and the patient is asymptomatic, if the teeth still need equilibration or movement, that is the time to do so.

One of the factors preventing doctors from being holistic is that it requires much more understanding of the many fields of the human physiology and requires more time to find the cause. Not finding the cause can result in expensive and unnecessary dental procedures. Unfortunately, some dentists proceed with full mouth reconstruction at a tremendous cost to the patient, assuming that their occlusion was the whole cause of their TMD. If this were the case, everyone with a malocclusion would have TMD.  

If you have dental discomfort, before you agree to any treatment, be sure that a proper diagnosis of the cause has been made and that that dentist is qualified to correct it, or that the practitioner knows someone who can.  In my experience the finest dentists will not touch a problem that they know someone else could handle more effectively.

At AODTC we specialize in treating sleep apnea and treating TMD, including the symptoms of craniofacial pain, toothaches, headaches/migraines, jaw popping, jaw locking, jaw pain, ear congestion, and more. We don’t perform any additional dental procedures to correct the bite, so you won’t be presented with additional costly treatment proposals.  For more information please visit aodtc.com or call 925-837-8048.

If you are suffering from neck pain from a pinched nerve or herniated disc, you know how debilitating it is and how the pain slowly leaks the vitality from your life. At Align Healing Center we specialize in treating pain naturally.  It is our mission to help relieve pain without the use of drugs, invasive procedures and without inducing more pain!  If you or someone you care about suffer from pinched nerves or disc-related pain, it is worthwhile to explore the natural therapies that are available today.

What is cervical disc herniation?

The bones (vertebrae) that form the spine in your back are cushioned by round, flat discs. When these discs are healthy, they act as shock absorbers for the spine and keep the spine flexible. If they become damaged, they may bulge abnormally or break open (rupture), in what is called a herniated or slipped disc. Herniated discs can occur in any part of the spine, but they are most common in the neck (cervical) and lower back (lumbar) spine.

A herniated disc usually is caused by wear and tear of the disc. As we age, our discs lose some of the fluid that helps them maintain flexibility. A herniated disc also may result from injuries to the spine, which may cause tiny tears or cracks in the outer layer of the disc. The jellylike material (nucleus) inside the disc may be forced out through the tears or cracks in the capsule, which causes the disc to bulge, break open (rupture), or break into fragments.

What are the symptoms of a herniated disc in the neck?

Herniated discs in the neck (cervical spine) can cause pain, numbness, or weakness in the neck, shoulders, chest, arms, and hands. In some cases, a very large herniated disc in the neck may cause weakness or unusual tingling affecting other parts of the body, including the legs.

Arm pain from a cervical herniated disc is one of the more common cervical spine conditions. Arm pain from a cervical herniated disc results because the herniated disc material “pinches” or presses on a nerve in the neck, causing pain to radiate along the nerve pathway down the arm. Along with the arm pain, numbness and tingling can be present down the arm and into the fingertips. Muscle weakness may also be present due to a cervical herniated disc.

How can I heal my pain without drugs or surgery?

1. Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression Therapy

Non-surgical spinal decompression is a state of the art treatment that has been helping thousands of patients with chronic neck or low back pain, sciatica, and herniated, bulging, or degenerated discs. This is an entirely different treatment from traditional chiropractic adjustments. Many of the patients who are candidates for this procedure have already tried chiropractic, physical therapy, injections, and/or were told they would need surgery.

This breakthrough treatment works by gently separating the vertebra which decompresses the disc, thus causing the bulging material to be drawn back into the disc. Non-surgical spinal decompression is very effective, has a high success rate, and can be utilized for both cervical and lumbar disc injuries.

2. Class IV Laser Therapy

Laser treatments at Align Healing Center are done with the K-laser Cube Class IV Laser.  Class IV Laser therapy gets to the root of the injury and treats it at the cellular level, providing energy to the cells so they can heal. This laser does not cut or burn but is gently absorbed by the tissue.  During each painless treatment, laser energy increases circulation, drawing water, oxygen, and nutrients to the damaged area. This creates an optimal healing environment that reduces inflammation, swelling, muscle spasms, stiffness, and pain. As the injured area returns to normal, function is restored, and pain is relieved.

There is hope!

We have found that a combination of Class IV laser therapy and spinal decompression offers outstanding results in healing stubborn neck pain due to a pinched nerve, bulging discs, or spinal degeneration.

This unique combination of non-invasive therapy offers a chance for realizing a permanent cure for neck or back pain. This eliminates the long-term care commitment forced upon patients by other symptomatic low-back pain treatments, such as drugs, injections or surgery.  With proper care and rehabilitation of your spine, you can be back to your healthy self quickly!

For more information about Dr. Niele Maimone, DC or to set up a complimentary consult call 925.362.8283 or visit www.alignhealingcenter.com.

A treatment called Micro-Needling with PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma), also sometimes known as “Blood Facial” or “Vampire Facial,” can provide significant positive results with minimal downtime.

Micro-Needling uses precise micro-injections that create channels in the skin to promote the proliferation of skin cell turn over and the absorption of one’s growth factor plasma.

PRP therapy has been used for years in orthopedics and sports medicine to treat muscle and ligament injuries, pain problems, and skin lesions. Dermatologists have developed PRP into an anti-aging treatment that induces collagen production, reduces wrinkles, stretch marks, and acne scars. It also diminishes pore size and improves the overall glow of your skin.

“PRP triggers collagen production,” explains dermatologist, Michael J. Tomcik, MD, “and collagen is the latticework of the skin.” A PRP facial helps tighten, smooth, and improve skin tone.

As we age, less collagen is produced, causing sagging, wrinkles, and soft tissue depressions. PRP is considered safe and natural because it uses one’s cells and growth factors to slow and reverse the aging process, providing a more youthful and radiant appearance. And because it uses one’s own plasma, there are no allergic reactions. Currently, there isn’t another process or product available that stimulates collagen production as well as PRP therapy. 

Sadly, pictures of celebrities with bloody faces are examples of Micro-Needling with PRP gone wrong. Such punctate bleeding is an example of the needles going too fast or too deep—a disastrous result that would be prevented by a dermatologist or other medical professional. In fact, PRP facials are medical procedures (rather than cosmetic procedures), so estheticians and salons are not legally certified to puncture the skin. Micro-needling with PRP should only be done by trained medical personnel.

The Process of PP Therapy

The procedure requires approximately 20cc of your blood be drawn much in the same way blood samples are for routine lab tests. The tubes are spun down twice in a centrifuge to get the pure “liquid gold” of PRP. A trained, registered nurse then skillfully injects the PRP into your skin with the micro-needling technique. This procedure utilizes 12-36 pin-like sterile needles that glide across the skin, naturally stimulating collagen and elastin production.

A topical numbing cream is applied to make the procedure comfortable. Most areas of the body can be treated including the face, neck, décolletage, hands, arms, legs, abdomen, and back. Treating these areas can greatly reduce the signs of aging caused by time and sun damage, giving one a more youthful appearance. Most patients return to normal in one to two days.

The number of treatments needed varies per patient. We recommend two to four treatments administered at four to six-week intervals until the desired result is achieved.

Dr. Tomcik also recommends one or two maintenance treatments per year after the initial series. In the same way that you maintain your home and car, it is even more important to maintain the delicate tissue of your skin. This procedure can also be combined with treatments such as IPL/BBL (Intense Pulse Light/ Broad Band Light) to intensify the results and decrease pigmentation issues.

For facial areas with deeper lines or sun damage, Dr. Tomcik recommends injections of Hyaluronic Acid fillers and neuromuscular relaxers, such as Botox® or Dysport®. The fillers help restore volume that the face loses naturally with age and sun damage. The Botox®/Dysport® also helps reduce dynamic lines that form from muscle overuse, such as “crow’s feet.” Deeper and more dramatic surgical procedures such as CO2 laser resurfacing can also rejuvenate the skin but with much more downtime. Dr. Tomcik recommends a consultation to determine your goals and the modalities that could be combined to treat your concerns

Michael J. Tomcik, MD, is a Board Certified Dermatologist. For more information or to schedule a consultation, call Advanced Laser, at 925-743-1488.