Vital Signs (Aired 01-30-2025) Mastering Money and Mindset: Aligning Wealth with Well-Being

[00:00:00] Speaker A: SA. [00:00:30] Speaker B: Welcome to Vital Signs where we focus on all things health, peak human performance and your greatest asset, of course, health is wealth. I'm Jen Goday, your host and you are in for a treat today because we are going to open today on money mindset, financial health and wellbeing. And how can we align our vision and purpose with our financial goals. And we're going to bring into later today all things brain health, brain regeneration, and how can you be a peak human performing when it comes to that side of things? I'm here now with our first guest today, JP Newman of Thrive fp. Welcome to the show. [00:01:08] Speaker A: Thank you so much, Jen. [00:01:09] Speaker B: Okay, so we talk a lot about health here being a holistic thing. And part of health, it's your physical, your spiritual, your mental, your social, emotional health and of course your financial health, which, let's face it, for most people, that piece of it is the biggest stressor. Yes. So many people are living paycheck to paycheck, especially in the last couple of years with inflation. And it just sort of seems that we're focused on money and it's getting more expensive to live, but we don't know what to do about it. Talk to me a little bit about how much money mindset and the stories we tell ourselves about money play into this kind of not able to climb out of that paycheck to paycheck scenario. And how can we shift that thinking? [00:01:49] Speaker A: Definitely. So, you know, I think a lot, first of all, there's a whole money game and it's financial literacy. And a lot of us, they don't teach us in school. How do you learn what the game even is or how to play the rules of the game. And if you don't play the rules, you're ultimately losing. You just by default are losing, which is why you're like, you know, you're living paycheck to paycheck, you're not sleeping well at night, you're having the stresses that you're having. So number one, you have to realize that there is a gap game actually to money, which takes rules. But before there's a game, most of us have a money story. And the money story that we got probably came when you were a young kid and it probably came from your parents. And whether you know it or not, you are likely living your money, your day to day by these stories. For instance, money doesn't grow on trees. Money is the root of all evil. You know, money can't buy you love. We go on and on and on. And these parents and Our people at school, they drill these values. And for a lot of people, whether it's through religion or through your friends, there's a real negative connotation to money. But here's the truth about money. It's neither negative or positive. It's actually positive if used right. But let's just say it's neutral and it's a currency, which is why they call money currency. And if you almost think of money as an energy thing, just like your health is, how do you know when you're healthy you have lots of energy? How do you know when you feel financially safe or wealthy, you have lots of currency, and that's why they call it currency. So then the answer is, can you actually start to identify what are those money stories that maybe are holding me back? I think for a lot of people, it's like, just put money under my mattress and one day it'll all work out. I don't need to know what I'm spending. I'll just try to save more whenever I can and hopefully it'll all work out. But they really don't have any command how much they're spending, earning, or any real plan. And when you don't have a plan, you tend to be confused or just unclear. And when you're unclear, you tend to live in a lot of fear and scarcity because you really don't know how you're going to make it from year to year. And that's really a hard thing to do. So what I really encourage people to do is come up with a basic, like, how much do you spend? Just know it's really simple actually. Go to your credit cards. Most people charge everything or ultimately pay by their credit cards or their checking account. Figure out your what do you spend with your credit card statements and your checking account, which is paying for all these things. Usually it's one or two places you'll find it. And you probably have pay stubs. You probably have your income tax statements or your CPA, your accountant, or you did on TurboTax and figure out what you're spending and just know the difference. Can you save five or $10,000 a year? Are you spending more than you're making? Like, let's just get real from the beginning and see where we're at now. And that's actually a lot of empowerment because I noticed that a lot of people that I've counseled through the years, they have no idea, they just know it's not enough. And it puts you in immediate fight or flight, which takes your Cortisol, which takes all that stuff in your body. And once you're in that kind of fight or flight, it's really hard to not only feel safe but to feel good. And so I think that's like step one. [00:04:45] Speaker B: Absolutely. And I love that you said get in touch with your money story because I mean a classic one that I hear and I work with business owners a lot and I was in healthcare for many, many years and a lot of the stress came from I'm gonna be a bad person if I am no longer living paycheck to paycheck or somehow money is going to change who I am as a human being. And it looks like I am missing promotions because I'm self sabotaging myself. And so that impacts our ability to gain more in our paycheck and our ability to enhance our corporate quality life. And I'll be frank, I had, I had that blessed are the poor mentality. I went to Catholic school from Pre K through 12 and you're a bad person if you're wealthy. And so it really was something I had to work through. So for the people at home that have these stories and they're not even wanting to look at their budget because money is such, such a negative connotation, what is their first step so they can bridge that gap and get to the point where they can actually take a look at where they're starting. [00:05:45] Speaker A: I would say it'd be a really fun exercise into figuring out what your money story is and if it could be different, what else could it be? And I'd almost say, give yourself a chance to edit and rewrite your money story to something that might be more helpful because like you, Jen, I actually had the same problem when I started making money. I actually went into a panic attack because I thought, what will my friends think about me if I drive up in this car? How are people going to see me? And the real truth was this. I didn't trust myself because I didn't know what it was going to be like to have money. So I didn't trust myself and I thought maybe my marriage would fall apart, that people would use me. I had all these fears from my childhood from these money stories. And it took me a while to realize because I didn't know. I wish I could have had my own advice back then that if I could have trusted myself and followed better money stories, like for instance, what I've learned through the years, Jen, is like, with money, there are so many people that I can help and there's so Many causes that I can like contribute to. I get to vote now in ways I never could vote before. It is so much fun surprising my friends when I know they're in need and just taking care of a problem for them. That really isn't hard for me, but it's hard for them. The amount of gratitude and love and energy that you can create. But I didn't know this until I started reworking my stories. And also just some time of having some abundance and not feeling in scarcity. And it's funny, you know what the Bible says about this, not to get too religious, that the one time you can ask God to prove himself that he exists is when you give. You will get tenfold back and he'll prove it to you again and again and again. I've actually found that through my life. It's amazing to me that this expression give till it hurts. I'm not saying everybody should. You got to give what you can. [00:07:23] Speaker B: Afford to give with give til you hurt, right? [00:07:25] Speaker A: Give till it hurts. But I do find that when you finally like instead of like, most people are not in flow with money, they're not in the currency, they're like, oh God, I gotta pay the rent. And what are you doing? Almost like with your stomach muscles, you're tensing up. And just like your body health, if you're tensing up that energy part of you, guess what you're doing, you're blocking the flow, you're actually blocking the current. And I find that once you get into a plan that makes sense to you, it doesn't have to be a crazy plan. This is your dream, no one else's dream. Whatever that number is, you're not trying to be wealthy for someone else wealth to you might just be spending time with my family, not worrying about my rent. That could be a big, big deal. I've got my basics covered. I get to go out for that fancy meal. I'm a foodie, I'm going to the best restaurant I can find a new restaurant once a month. Whatever it is, it really doesn't matter. But once you find your flow and your mindset, you are a wealthy person. Because wealthy is not defined by a number. It's defined by a mindset. [00:08:28] Speaker B: And it's quite frankly, it's defined by how we feel and can we sleep at night. And you know, the show is about peak human performance and the stress associated with not taking this action is keeping us up at night worrying about am I going to pay the rent, am I going to do these things And I'm going to give you guys what I did. And I'm like, I don't really talk about this very much, but for me, I mean, I was a paycheck to paycheck. I'm eating ramen noodles sometimes to make sure that I can get my kid where she needs to be early on. And I still always paid myself first, no matter how little my pay was that week or how tight that was. In today's world, it would be like, I'm not gonna go to Starbucks, and that's gonna be $7 that I can put away. But I saved the minimum. And y'all, I started with $25 a month. I kid you not. I was in college. [00:09:14] Speaker A: Wow. [00:09:15] Speaker B: And I started with $25 a month, and I was 18 years old, $25 a month. And I just. I put it on autopilot. And so it became my first bill. My first bill, before I paid any other bills, was I'm investing in myself, and I never thought about it again. And then as I got into better places, instead of elevating my lifestyle and buying the car or doing the things, I just put whatever was left over and swept that into that account. And then all of a sudden, I don't have to think about it anymore. It's on the back of my mind. And it was automatically happening. But it took me working through these money stories and being okay with saying, okay, what can I do? Where is my money going? And is it alignment with who I am? And I'm going to tell you, you know, there was not Starbucks back in the day, but I was going. I was big on going to Smoothie King. And it was like back when Smoothie king was like $2.99, guys. Like, I'm old in the very early days, and I had to start making that myself. And the savings that I had added up to that $25. That's where that came from. It came from, I'm not gonna buy the smoothies. I'm gonna make them myself. [00:10:17] Speaker A: Right. [00:10:17] Speaker B: It was a simple shift. [00:10:19] Speaker A: It is. And there's one thing that's important when you save, because a lot of times these financial planners are like, save everything you can until you're 70, but then you kind of go through your life and you kind of missed out. So I say definitely save and have a plan. But also when you do indulge, like, let's say you saved a. You've saved a thousand dollars, and you really, really wanted this really nice shirt you wanted. It's kind of a Splurge. You keep thinking about it like it's just something that's really important to you. I just use a shirt shirt as an example. Buy it. Don't go crazy. Don't spend all thousand. But you need to know, you need to have victories, small victories along the way. And you need to feel the emotion of what wealth feels like. Wealth feels like when you're no longer blocked. It's like, ooh, I can afford that. It wasn't scary. Like, I saved up for that shirt. Isn't the material phenomenal? Like, I can feel the quality of that shirt. I wanted it for so long. And every time you wear that shirt, give yourself a mental high five. Like, I can afford this. Because the more you tell your brain in a responsible way within a plan that you are a wealthy person and you can afford certain things that you love, you're actually taking that exact opposite message of like, don't spend, be careful, don't spend. And you're starting to actually relax and you're starting building the muscle of manifesting. And what happens is you start with $25 and then you'll start to save a little more and play with it a little more. And you're going to realize that you're going to find your flow. And that flow, you'll know it in your body when you found it, because it's a feeling. And the feeling is joy, ease, and you're not in fear about your things. Really, freedom from the money is when you no longer are worrying about your day to day. That's actually a huge, huge victory just to start with. [00:11:57] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:11:57] Speaker A: I know that's hard for a lot of people. I understand that's a really hard thing to do. But I think between the savings, the mindset of feeling wealthy and giving yourself some victories and a plan is a really great place to start. [00:12:08] Speaker B: So you guys heard it here. You've already started. We have started strong today. You are going to look at what you're spending, have an understanding. You're going to know what your money story is, explore that, and if you don't like it, change it. We get to change it and reinforce it by putting a plan in place that's going to help you get to where you want to be, no matter how small you start. It's all great, but we have to start somewhere. So we're going to start there. And we do have to take a brief break, but we'll be back with JP after these messages. [00:12:54] Speaker C: Foreign. [00:13:06] Speaker B: Welcome back to Vital Signs. I am here with JP Newman and We are talking about all things health and especially financial health and well being. Before the break, we talked about rewriting our stories about money and how to de stress about our financial situation and to really take control over where we are now and create that life that we want by taking that first action step. And now I want to really dive in a little bit deeper into integrating health with wealth, aligning vision and purpose with our financial goals and our life flow. And this concept of four dimensional wealth that you are really well versed in. [00:13:43] Speaker A: Yeah, well, thank you. You know, you think about it, a lot of people, they get financial advice from Instagram or their financial planner and it's a very one dimensional way to look at money. Save every, just save until you die, do all these different things, but it really doesn't take into account that's all the how, that's how to do things, but none of it's the why, why are you doing things? What is the purpose of this money doing for you? So four dimensional wealth is a framework getting out of the one dimension of just money into the four dimensions of your purpose, your relationships, your time, wealth, how you spending your time and your health. And it's wrapping it all together so that you ultimately realize that your money is actually the foundation. It's like your roots that supports these other things. They're not separate from each other, they're actually together. And when your money is in order with a plan, no matter if it was big or small, when your money is in order and you're out of fear and all the things we talked about, you've got your money story fixed and you're in flow at whatever level you have. It doesn't have to be millions of dollars, but when you're finally in flow and you realize that it's the foundation, it changes your mindset. Because now you know this money is gratitude. It's gratitude because it's supporting your tree of all these other segments of your life that are really the core of your life. Your family, your community, your relationships, your health. And it's not just like, it's just such a different way to look at it. And most financial advice, they're screaming at you, telling you one thing that I don't believe is true in creating what I would call a wealthy person who understands what money is and what money isn't. [00:15:23] Speaker B: You know, I love that you sort of clarified that. And I kind of want to go a little bit into this conversation because a lot of times we have that traditional model where we are told, just save Just accumulate, accumulate. But let's be real, folks. We can't take it with us. Like, I'm just going to be frank. We can't take it with us. And if all we've done is saved and accumulated and never shared with other people, never utilized that in a way that fulfills us as human beings, then we're kind of missing the point because it's simply the method that demonstrates the exchange of our energy. So I want to dive into the how do we shift from that mindset? Because I also get this question a lot, and that's. I've got this. I've set this up, and now I'm looking to retire, but I'm so scared to withdraw from that which I have built. So how does that reverse happen? We talked about easing the flow so that we can start the flow and generate. Now let's go to the other side of the life cycle where, hey, I've worked. I've actually got a little bit of nest egg. It's time for me to retire, or I'm forced to retire and I have to start withdrawing. How do I overcome that fear? [00:16:28] Speaker A: It's really simple, because I've dealt with this question hundreds of hundreds of times from my clients. And the simple thing is, have a plan. I know it sounds really simple, but what people don't realize is they've probably done better than they think. I found time and time again, people are like, I don't think I've got enough money to retire. And I'm like, well, how do you know? How much is it gonna cost? What is your plan? How much is it gonna cost to live the life that you want to live? Like, what's paid for, what's not? I can tell you about 80% of the time, people do have enough money. They just haven't gotten their things in order. So I would say really, not only know what your burn rate is today, but if you're going to retire, look at your investments and have a reinvestment rate, how much you're earning off of your. Your investments and your income. And that gives you a pretty good idea of a dollar amount. And then also, you got to look at your other things. For instance, have you paid down your house? Do you have some equity in your house or in your car? Do you hold stocks? Like, look at your whole picture, and you may find, for instance, like, let's say you have $100,000 worth of investments, you know, or 100,000, a lot of money coming in. I just find there's more money for instance, on this $100,000 example, which I know is a lot of money for a lot of people. Well, that kind of tells you what you can afford to spend for a lot of people. I find that, like 60 or $70,000 a year coming in, and then they still have their house, and they've got, like, $500,000 of equity on their house. So it's okay. It's like, if you think about it, you've got 30 years. You've got, like, enough money here to pay the majority of your life. And if you ever get in trouble, you've got your house, your equity you can take out slowly. And if you actually put a plan together, you may find that you're in better shape than you think. Not knowing is what causes the sleepless nights. [00:18:04] Speaker B: It really does. And it's so funny to me because a lot of times I see it in exit. When you've built a company, you've got the cash flow, and then you have this big exit, and it's a windfall. A lot of times when you exit a business like that is the biggest check you will ever receive in your entire life. The largest sum of money for most people. And they freak out and they're like, well, what do I do now? I'm no longer generating that money. And so it really is. It's the other side of that same spectrum that we start out with when we've got nothing. Like, it's kind of like we have to retell our story and redefine what that is. [00:18:37] Speaker A: It's funny you say that, because I think the psychology of that is no matter where you're at in life, when you have those big exits or these lottery winners who can't hold onto their money, because I think naturally you think about human beings. We always want to be growing and expanding because what's the opposite of growth and expansion? [00:18:52] Speaker B: Death. [00:18:53] Speaker A: Death. So financially, think of it the same way. If you don't have a plan and you just think that your things are your money sinking, and you don't have an investment plan that creates a certain amount of cash flow for you, and you know you can rely on reliable cash flow through time, you're kind of telling your body you're dying. You're actually creating. You're creating the same fear inside, which is why cash flow and an investment plan that builds your cash flow over time is such a crucial part to your. To your plan. And I'd ultimately say it's actually winning. It's not a number. It's actually Knowing that you have enough cash flow to support your life with the other assets that you have is how you win the game. [00:19:31] Speaker B: You know, I love that. And you talk a lot about winning along the way. [00:19:35] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:19:35] Speaker B: You talk about what. What are those winning things along the way? And you and I, we talked in the break a little bit about the purpose and knowing what, like, why we draw brass and having that along the way, along your journey. Can you kind of put that into perspective for everybody watching? Like, how do we figure out what that is? Because a lot of people don't even know the why that makes you cry that you speak about. [00:19:58] Speaker A: Yeah. You know, I think it took me about 10 or 15 years of kind of figuring it out. And I think for a lot of people, you're just pushing and pushing forward. And it actually took me, quite frankly, a little bit of a breakdown to get to my why. Because I realized once I started making money, I thought I'd be happy, and I wasn't. [00:20:14] Speaker B: Oh, that's. That happens a lot. [00:20:15] Speaker A: I had a lot of anxiety, and it really got me looking deeper and deeper. What is it that I care about? And it was, for me, it was being a good father, it was being a great husband, it was treating my employees well. I was having a business with purpose. So I was in a. I do commercial real estate, which isn't necessarily by default, a purpose driven business. So I literally had to figure. I said, how can I be creative and take what I'm doing, which is just making a living, and how do I bring creativity and infuse something that's meaningful to me? And the answer took some time, but the answer was, besides just taking care of my investors and serving them, how am I serving the residents in my community? Am I being accretive to them? Am I helping them or my extracting from them just to help my investors? A lot of people, they're so worried about their investors or they're so worried about taking care of their boss or whatever it is, that maybe you're not looking at the whole picture. So for me, my beginning of my purpose was realizing I wanted to have respect. And it ultimately became love for the communities that I'm involved in, whether it's for my business, which is apartments, and making sure we're taking really good care of those people. But now it's gone all over the place. It's in the charity that I do, it's in my local communities in Austin. It's in my friendships. I hold gatherings. In fact, after I leave you today, I'm hosting about 22 people for dinner tonight. And that's all part of my mission of communities. And where that comes from for me is ultimately, I love people. And the way I like to express love is introducing great people to great people and watching those relationships take off. [00:21:49] Speaker B: Because, let's be frank, like, relationship capital is a key part of being human. We are social creatures, folks. We are not meant or designed to operate in isolation, in a vacuum. And so I really love that you've integrated health. Like, health is kind of a foundational thing. And your financial goals with why, what am I doing and how can I meet my goals while also serving what I'm put here on earth to do? [00:22:16] Speaker A: And one more piece of that is when you do that and you actually recognize why you're here and what you're doing, it brings you so much joy. And it does. Exactly. Then everything starts to flow. Like, I know this dinner tonight is not just a dinner. It's part of my intention and it's going to cost me a certain amount of money to host these people for dinner. But it's all in alignment. I've got my budget lined up. I know I can afford it. It hits every. It hits community, it hits relationships, it hits my purpose. And I know for all that, guess what that does, it makes me sleep better at night, which creates better health, ultimately, because you're connected. It's all firing. [00:22:49] Speaker B: And you know, that connection is that connection. That relationship piece is so incredibly important as well. Like, you had a plan. I just. I'm going to wrap this up in a bow. You had a plan. You created something that you feel good about and you're creating value for your residents and your communities. You're creating community both for them, your own community. You're developing that relationship capital which spills over into everything we do. You can sleep at night, which brings you better health. And it just comes full circle. And you work now with others sharing this message. So how can people reach out to you? I know you've got a podcast, I know you've got some educational things coming out to help people who maybe are stuck in that day to day, and a paycheck to paycheck to climb out of that and to actually live their life of abundance. [00:23:30] Speaker A: Sure. I think the greatest thing is to start with my podcast, which is investing on purpose. And it's on all the major Apple, I'm on YouTube, I'm on Spotify. Find me at Investing on purpose. And I think it's a great place to start. And then from there there's actually more information. There's a landing page. What you're going to find out is there's actually seven steps to creating this wealth. We went through two of them today, which was knowing how much you spend and writing a vision of what you want. But there's actually another five steps and if you go forward on my podcast and through my material, you'll find the seven steps. I think it's a great place to start. [00:24:00] Speaker B: Fantastic. I love what you're doing in the world. I love how you bring this out. And folks, if you learn nothing else from jp, it's to rewrite your money story. Both he and I had a money story that was very limiting in belief and I wouldn't be here today able to share this with you if I hadn't rewritten my money story and neither would he. So take his advice. Check out his podcast. We do have another guest coming after the break and we're going to dive deep and dirty into all things brain regeneration and brain health. How can we become peak human performing individuals in that realm? We'll be right back after these messages. Welcome back to Vital Signs. If you're just tuning in, you're going to want to go to NowMedia TV TV, click on shows, go to Vital Signs and catch the first half of today's show because it was epic. Remember, this show is for educational purposes only. It is not medical advice. Always seek the advice of your healthcare practitioners prior to changing your routines. And we're gonna shift gears now and talk about our veins, the health of our veins and the latest in medical treatments for anything that might be going awry. We are joining Dr. Andrew Doe, founder of Elate Health Board, certified interventional radiologist. Welcome back to the show, Doctor. Doctor. [00:25:46] Speaker C: Thank you. Thanks for having me. [00:25:48] Speaker B: So let's just dive in. What do we need to know about the health of our veins? Why is it such a critical aspect of our overall health and well being? [00:25:59] Speaker C: So the biggest thing that people don't realize, about 40% of people in the world will have some element of vein disease. And anything that can decrease your ability to walk and maintain an active lifestyle is something that you really want to pay attention to and get fixed if you have it. [00:26:25] Speaker B: Thanks for that. And so when we're thinking about this, what are some of the common signs and symptoms that something's not going well for us? Are there early warning signs that people can watch for? And if we see something, when is the right time to seek medical attention? [00:26:44] Speaker C: So most people are confused thinking, if I see a Spider vein, something like that, it must be cosmetic. However, if you find yourself getting home at the end of the day and saying, oh, I can't wait to put my feet up, that's usually a sign that there's some venous disease. And you know, your legs feeling tired or achy, crazy cramps at night is another good indicator. All those things can indicate there's some element of venous disease. [00:27:11] Speaker B: So let me just reiterate because it's really important. If I'm feeling like my legs are fatigued or tired, I just want to prop them up. That is something for us to really take seriously. And so when we see this, how long does this go on for before we want to be seeking medical attention? Because I just think, hey, I was a runner, a soccer player. There's days when you go and you're putting mileage in and you just need to get off your feet and it's only one day because you did a hard workout. Like what is it? Is it a trend? Is it a couple of days? Is a couple of weeks? Like what does that look like? [00:27:45] Speaker C: Yeah. So if it's just after a very heavy activity and it's once in a while, probably no need to be concerned. But if it's something where you know, pretty much every day when you or on the way home, I know myself having vein disease, I'm thinking, boy, I can't wait to get off my feet, get my legs up in the air. If you see that happening, you know, multiple times a week or maybe even every day, that's when you want to really think about, hey, I think I need to get this looked at now. Swelling. If you have any element of swelling without any reason for it, that's another great indicator to come in and see somebody. [00:28:20] Speaker B: Okay, so I'm just going to reiterate these red flags folks. If you're, you're having day after day, you just can't wait to get home and get off your feet. If you're having any kind of swelling, it's time to do something about it. And I'm going to ask something because I know I'm going to get this question. What lifestyle factors could contribute to some of these issues? Is it sitting a long time? Is it standing a long time? Is it walking for too much? Like, are there any lifestyle factors involved in this? [00:28:47] Speaker C: So this is four times more common in women and that's because of pregnancy. Pregnancy really beats these veins up, stretches them out and then causes these little one way valves to be pulled apart. So they're not working properly. Genetics, female pregnancies, those are the big risk factors. Now, as far as something lifestyle wise, obviously weight can play a big factor in this. Sitting and standing doesn't tend to make it come to make it occur, but it tends to bring it out. You tend to notice it more, especially those, you know, people with occupations where they're standing all the time. Hairdressers and nurses and, you know, just people on their feet all the time. [00:29:33] Speaker B: Okay, fantastic. So you said, you told us that women were more at risk for this. Pregnancy is another risk. There are some genetic factors as well. Are there any other people who are really high risk for this? And is there anything that people can do on the, on the wellness side? If they are, let's say I am a female, I just found out I'm pregnant. Is there anything that I can do that can support that venous health along the way? [00:30:00] Speaker C: Yeah. So the biggest thing you can do is compression stockings. And they need to be above the knee, you know, thigh higher, pantyhose. That's the biggest thing you can do to slow the progression. Now if you have a genetic component, the best you can do is slow it. If you don't have that genetic component, then you can probably at least prevent it to some degree just by wearing the compression. But otherwise walking on your hands is about the only other thing you can do. [00:30:29] Speaker B: I don't know anybody who does that. If you find somebody who does that as a, as a solution, you let me know. So folks, what I'm hearing is it's really important that we pay attention to this because when we get into a realm of disease in our veins, it can be something that is actually acute and life threatening. I'm thinking of like deep vein thrombosis. And we may not know, and that can easily cause problems. So talk to us about common things that you see at Alate. What are some of the common diseases that you are treating? What are common things that you're seeing coming in from a symptom standpoint? [00:31:07] Speaker C: So we treat a lot of vein disease, obviously, and in a more general sense, we treat a lot of leg pain. Patients coming in, whether it be trouble, pain while they're walking, which will indicate one process going on, or pain after long walks in the case another. Maybe it'd be joint pain, for which we offer regenerative therapies. Those are the things we tend to see as far as the legs go. We also see a lot of patients for enlarged uterus heavy cycles because of fibroids. And then for males we see a lot of patients for enlarged prostates. We are able to treat all of those things now by manipulating the blood flow and the vascular system. [00:31:52] Speaker B: Wow. So what I'm hearing is our venous system is so incredibly important, folks pay attention because it could actually be something contributing to a lot, a lot of other areas. So talk to me about some of the treatments that you guys are doing now, because it's come a long way. I know once upon a time you have. I remember my grandmother having spider veins and saying, I'm not going through all that pain and all of that hubaloo to fix these little things. And I mean, like, honestly, she had dvts at one point in time. But talk to us about how these procedures have progressed over time and what do we expect as a patient if we're going to go through some of these procedures? [00:32:35] Speaker C: Yes. So it has progressed quite a bit since the years of the vein stripping. And I tell my patients, when we only had vein stripping, the treatment was worse than the disease. So we don't do that anymore. Now we can go in using ultrasound and small little needles and put in a little bit larger catheter and then depending upon which treatment is best for you and at a late health, will tailor it just for you. These catheters will either let out some glue called Venaseal, which will seal the vein shut right there, or the catheter can get warm and the heat causes inflammation and causes that vein to scar down. But essentially what we're trying to do is to shut, shut off that bad vein and to allow the good veins to take over, which is going to improve your symptoms and improve your blood flow in your legs. [00:33:30] Speaker B: And so that sounds a little bit scary, truthfully to those of us sitting on the couch. You're going to shut down our vein and we're going to wait for the others to take up the slack. Like, what does the downtime look like or what does that process feel like as we go through post treatment? [00:33:48] Speaker C: So it's a very gentle treatment. Patients are up and on their feet immediately after the procedure. There's really no downtime other than the fact that unlike a lot of centers out there, we offer some sedation with your vein treatments. So you'll be very comfortable. Pain will be minimal. And once you finish your procedure, you'll be up and walking and able to move and, you know, do everything you normally do the next day. [00:34:16] Speaker B: Oh, that's fantastic. Because I'm going to be frank, like when I heard, oh, I've got to wait for my others to the other veins to take up. I'm like, okay, well, what does that process look like? I know I'm going to get the question, so I just assume ask it from the bed. So talk to me. Because a lot of times we see the cosmetic things and I'm just going to speak as a woman. We see maybe a varicose vein or a spider vein and we think it's a cosmetic thing as opposed to a medical thing. Talk to us a little bit about the treatments for these and why we need to really pay attention. It's not just the cosmetic situation. [00:34:52] Speaker C: Yes. So if you think of having a tree in the backyard and you don't like the tree, well, you're not going to dislike the tree because it just has one ugly leaf on it. It's going to be because there's something really wrong with it. And these spider veins are usually an indicator of, of something on the surface, but something that's wrong much deeper. So, you know, if you've got a bunch of spider veins or especially if you have a big varicose vein, that's something you want to get looked at. And you want to have at least have an ultrasound to see what's going on with the main vein that all of these ones will connect to. Because we're fortunate enough to have two systems of veins in our legs and our venous disease tends to be in large part confined to that superficial system. So even if you just have a few spider veins, it's still a reason to at least have someone take a look and to make sure there isn't a larger process going on. [00:35:53] Speaker B: And then I'm going to ask you, the flip side of that is. Well, if I have a look and there's nothing serious going on, can we treat them for cosmetic purposes as well? What does that look like? [00:36:07] Speaker C: Yeah. So when we treat the cosmetic side of it, we get a much better result if we know the underlying vein is working properly. And the way we treat the cosmetic end of it is just with some simple injections, you know, we don't use. The patients say, oh, those really hurt. We don't use that substance anymore, especially at a late health. But we inject those veins, a bunch of tiny little bee stings and then, you know, in three days you're wearing compression and then after that you pretty much these will just fade over time. [00:36:42] Speaker B: That's fantastic news. So we just heard great news about treating the cosmetic side of venous disease. We will be right back after these messages. Welcome back to Vital Signs where we're talking with Dr. Do All. All things venous health, from cosmetic to medical issues, with our veins. And we ended before the break talking a little bit about those unsightly spider veins and how easy it is to treat them today, as opposed to maybe 20, 30 years ago. And doctor, do I want to kind of dive into the patient experience? Because I know here are the questions that are going to come. Is this covered by insurance? Is it considered elective? What does that look like? And what can I expect before, during, and after some of these procedures? [00:37:57] Speaker C: Yes, so we treat. At Elate Health, we do treat the cosmetic stuff, but our main focus is on medical vein disease. And at Elate Health, you know, we always work with the insurance. Most insurance is once you have a symptom, that's considered medical vein disease. And once you have medical vein disease, pretty much all insurances will cover that. And at Elate Health, we offer all of the different treatments, whether it be laser or radio frequency or the newest one, which is the Venaseal glue. But we tailor it to your veins. Basically, once we get your initial ultrasound, we'll look at these, we'll see which treatment is the best, and then we'll tailor it for you. Now, what you can expect during the treatment is you'll get some sedation so you're very comfortable, and then you'll leave the office with a tiny little incision, maybe a quarter of an inch of where the catheter went in. And that's it. [00:39:04] Speaker B: Really super simple. It's come a long way. So, you know, it's really important that we. We have a pulse on this. If you're seeing anything, folks at home, if you're seeing spider veins, if you have anything, if you have swelling at the end of the day in your feet and you didn't do anything to warrant it, it's time to get this looked at. Because that's how our blood flows. That's essential for every aspect in our life. And if we have venous insufficiency or challenges in our vascular health, it's going to impact other things and could be. Actually, it can escalate. So it's important to take care of it sooner rather than later. Earlier treatment is always optimal. And so talk to me about the future of vascular health. Are there any exciting developments, research, or things that you're excited about or taking part in? [00:39:50] Speaker C: Well, the biggest thing was the Venaseal glue because it makes the procedure much safer and exposes the patient to a lot less things. Some of the new things that are coming into focus here are actually replacing these valves in the vein. So instead of shutting it down, we get new working valves. Not sure how that's going to pan out, if that's really going to, you know, kind of supplant these other treatments. But that's probably the biggest thing that's coming up on the vein side of things. We've always got new toys and great new things for the other side of your circulation. And we're, because I'm an interventional radiologist, we're always using some new technology to basically avoid big open surgeries. [00:40:42] Speaker B: You know, I think that's really important because the bigger the, the more invasive it is, the more risk you have associated it. So I'm going to talk to you a little bit about technology, if you don't mind, because there's a lot of talk about artificial intelligence. Advanced imaging is in the news a lot these days. How are these technological advances shaping the future of vascular treatments or even our how you're utilizing them now to make this more safe, more comfortable for the patients? [00:41:11] Speaker C: Yes. So the improved imaging, the aid in interpreting the imaging, things like that, has really helped us do these procedures. And as the imaging gets better, we can get less and less invasive. We can use smaller and smaller instruments. You know, one of the greatest advances in the 21st century has been these little balloons everybody talks about. Oh, I had to have a. A balloon in my blood vessel to open it up. Well, now we have new ones that have chemotherapy on the balloon. And these have just been a huge game changer for patients, really giving them much longer results, much better results. You know, things like that are happening all the time, and there's always new advances coming out. But all of these advances have just made our ability to do these procedures and to do them in a less invasive fashion for better recovery, faster recovery, and just as good, if not better results for patients. [00:42:17] Speaker B: That's fantastic. So is there anything else that you would like to leave viewers with? Any last little tips or. Hey, think about this. Regarding the importance of vascular health. [00:42:28] Speaker C: Yes. So anything that makes you think twice, even if it's something in the back of your head, just saying, hey, I don't really feel like going for a walk. Well, then that's probably a sign of something more going on. Especially with venous disease, it's very slow to progress, so we just start to avoid activities, and we don't realize why we're avoiding them. So, you know, if you're not as active as you want to be, come and see Us. [00:42:56] Speaker B: Fantastic. And so if people are sitting on the, on the couch thinking, oh my Goodness, that's me, Dr. Do, where can people go to learn more about vascular health and the treatments that you guys are offering at Elate? [00:43:08] Speaker C: So you can always check us [email protected] and you can always give us a call at 713-955-1707. [00:43:18] Speaker B: So we've talked a lot about our venous health. We've talked a lot about when to get off our duff and get some help or look at it. I'm going to ask you to kind of connect the dots now. We, we talked about patient journey, we talked about what's unsightly. But where is the point where we absolutely have to do this? Because early intervention, I'm starting to see some, some decreased activity, if you will. Where is the point where it's like this is non negotiable anymore because some people like to put things off. I'm. Yes, I know you're at home saying don't call me out. I'm feeling a little bit on the spotlight here. But when, when is it like you cannot wait anymore. This has to be checked out. [00:44:07] Speaker C: So that's when you have that reverse tan, which is what I call it, when your feet, maybe your ankles, part of your leg are darker than the rest of your leg. And that indicates that this is venous disease that's progressed to the point where you're going to have a healing issue. And that's really the end stage for this, where little things like mosquito bites become big open sores. So once you get that discolored look through your feet and ankles, you need to do something. [00:44:40] Speaker B: Well, I'm going to suggest that we need to do something sooner than that. But for those of you who are definitely the procrastinators in all things health, if you see that your extremities, your feet are a little bit darker than the rest of your body, definitely reach out to Dr. Do and Dr. Do. Is there anything else that you really wanted to share with regards to vayness health because you've been such a resource for us? [00:45:02] Speaker C: Yes. You know, the most important thing you can do in your life is walk. That's the best thing for your overall health. And if you can't do that, then you need to seek help. [00:45:13] Speaker B: Fantastic. Thank you for that. I really appreciate you. Thank you for bringing your expertise and folks at home, definitely reach out to Dr. Doe. Thank you for joining us today. [00:45:23] Speaker C: Thank you. Have a good day. [00:45:25] Speaker B: Absolutely. And you, yes, you you heard so many things today on our show, but if you didn't take anything else away, take a walk. It is time to get moving. Make sure you take care of your vascular health because once we get to the point of no return, it becomes a lot harder to treat and we have all kinds of other issues. So today is the day to take action. If you heard something from Dr. If you're dealing with spider veins, if you're dealing with varicose veins, if you're having swelling in your legs at the end of the day, today is the day to take action on that. Reach out to your practitioner. And until then, all things do come to an end, including the show. But we will be back same time, same station next week. Have a rest of the enjoy the rest of your day. [00:46:11] Speaker C: This has been a NOW Media Network's feature presentation. All rights reserved.