Feeling overwhelmed with healthy new years resolution ideas? Are you tired of trying them year after year without success? You’re probably considering the same old resolutions: hitting the gym, eating healthier, and sleeping more. But in 2022, these aren’t your only options. In this blog, we’ll be talking about bio-hacking, a very powerful concept that could help you gain the maximum potential of your health.
You may visit your doctor once or twice a year, maintain a healthy diet and work out 3-4 times a week and sometimes this STILL isn’t enough to feel your best. It might take months or years of a steady routine for your body to produce the results you’re looking for. And let’s face it, in a world where you’re constantly bombarded with ads, you’re probably tired of trying new things to optimize your health that only lead you to waste time and money. This is when the path to a healthier you become tricky, as frustration might set in because you’re “doing all you can.”
Some have opted to follow an intuitive approach when it comes to their healthcare by just “listening to their bodies”. But in reality, sometimes we may fail in interpreting the message our body’s trying to send us due to a lack of knowledge on how our own biology functions. Our systems are too complex. With this and the intention to acquire personal data that helps you understand your body’s needs, comes bio-hacking.
A lifestyle focused on attempting to manipulate your brain and body in order to optimize performance using the latest in health technology. Also known as human enhancement, is do-it-yourself biology aimed at improving performance, health, and wellbeing through strategic interventions. Some do it to address health concerns beyond traditional medicine while others are in it for anti-aging and optimizing their current health state.
Hacking your own biology can entail the use of artificial intelligence or other technologies to track your daily physical and biochemical activities. A good example of a popular data tracker is the Oura ring, which offers 24/7 heart rate monitoring, personalized health insights, sleep analysis, and so much more. After data compilation, for most bio-hackers, efforts evolve into do-it-yourself body modification treatments that often require a financial investment to obtain health benefits in less time.
The bio-hacking community has generated buzz over treatments like CRISPR, a technology that allows people to edit their own genome. Having proved to work on animals, there are now diverse first-world countries like the United States, that are allowing human trials to occur. The benefits of implementing these technologies in the medical field are endless for people with genetic-related conditions.
While the future looks bright for bio-hacking, less invasive and simpler low-tech treatments do exist for optimizing your day-to-day healthcare.
How to start gaining power over your health? The recommendations for beginners is to focus on inexpensive hacks like:
A very powerful technique that has been proven effective by some research studies. Some people have had success using the meditation device MUSE to measure performance and improvement over time.
A very popular technique with many benefits for the body. Make sure to schedule an appointment with our Concierge Nutritionist, Leyda Figueroa to see if this is a right fit for you and your lifestyle. Best part? You have access to unlimited appointments with her through telemedicine.
Also very popular, however, we recommend scheduling a visit with our sports medicine physician, Miguel Agrait MD to discuss this exercise technique in depth.
Other treatments available at Pravan Clinic that aren’t necessary do-it-yourself but have had success as biohacking techniques include but are not limited to:
Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is a highly concentrated collection of plasma obtained from a patient’s own blood. How is the plasma collected? A sample of blood is taken from the patient, it’s centrifuged to separate a concentrated collection of platelets, proteins, and enzymes that are key in the body’s own regenerative process. This distilled collection can then be injected into an injured area in order to accelerate healing. Given its effectiveness in the world of professional sports, PRP therapy has been proven to work for other types of patients with certain injuries. If you think this is something that could help reduce pain caused by a musculoskeletal injury, Dr. Agrait, our sports medicine doctor is certified to provide you with this treatment.
Neurofeedback is a non-invasive approach used to normalize brain wave patterns in order to function more efficiently, improve our emotional state and increase cognitive performance. Thanks to the neuroplasticity of our brain, improvements can be seen regardless of age. Neurofeedback helps teach you the connection between your emotions and your body. When your brain is functioning better and is more aware and connected to your emotions, you can live a calmer, more productive, and happier life. Our doctors Carmen and Fabiola Santos have been offering Neurofeedback to our members for over 3 years with significant success.
Treats muscles like arms, legs, core, and your gluteal area with RF (radiofrequency) and HIFEM+ (High Intensity Focused Electro-Magnetic Technology) energy. This technology eliminates fat cells through RF, while HIFEM+ contracts the muscle fibers in the area at intensities that are not achievable during voluntary workouts. All in 30-minute sessions and also available at Pravan Clinic.
This high-tech machine uses HIFEM+ energy (the same technology used in EM Sculpt NEO) to stimulate pelvic floor muscles to treat conditions like urine incontinence. It can also help improve sexual performance, all in a non-invasive manner without recovery times.
The pelvic floor muscle group is critical for many functions in men and women however is not easy to exercise it with your regular exercise routine. You’ll experience intense but painless contractions of the pelvic muscles and a tingling sensation by sitting in the EM Sella chair. Sessions are just 20 minutes long and you need a minimum of 6 sessions for best results.
This treatment will be available at Pravan Clinic starting in February 2022.
The pelvic floor muscle group is critical for many functions in men and women however is not easy to exercise it with your regular exercise routine. You’ll experience intense but painless contractions of the pelvic muscles and a tingling sensation by sitting in the EM Sella chair. Sessions are just 20 minutes long and you need a minimum of 6 sessions for best results.
At Pravan Clinic we understand that your time is limited and you want to achieve your maximum health potential levering the power of 21st century technology, that is why we adding more innovative biohacking therapies as they become available and supported with good research. Make sure to check our website or if you're a member, reach out to us via Spruce to see if our in-house PRP treatment, Sports Medicine evaluation, Neurofeedback, EM Sculpt Neo, or EMSella services are the perfect fit for your health optimization plan.
Resources:
Samuel, Sigal. “How biohackers are trying to upgrade their brains, their bodies- and human nature.” Vox Media, November 15, 2019, https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/6/25/18682583/biohacking-transhumanism-human-augmentation-genetic-engineering-crispr.
Yetisen, Ali K. “Biohacking.” Trends in Biotechnology, Cell Press, August 2018, https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/biohacking.pdf.