We’re now offering an Aesthetics & Wellness Center
Our practice style synthesizes past and present wellness, disease management, lifestyle, nutrition, family history and behavioral health to help us create the best assessment and treatment plan for our patients. We also now offer three Holistic Healing alternatives: Somatic Experiencing, Energy Work and CranialSacral Therapy.
In addition to being a family practice, we have expanded our services in two directions.
We have welcomed two life-coach-style practitioners into our medical home, Jennifer Dorfield and Denna Shelton. We have also expanded to coordinate care with other local healing resources.
Mountain Medical Arts now offers a multitude of cutting-edge aesthetic treatments using Cynosure® laser equipment, including Icon® and TempSure™. Patients can reduce signs of aging, decrease cellulite, and even enjoy laser hair treatments. The team at Mountain Medical Arts also offers a comprehensive array of dermatology services, including skin exams, lesion removal, and biopsies.We offer a variety of compounded hormones or facial creams to help augment our treatments through www.ashevillerx.com and www.womensinternational.com (We frequently use other compounding pharmacies depending where our patients live, with the goal of supporting their own local community businesses.)
Mountain Medical Arts welcomes new patients. Appointments are available by calling the practice at 828-263-6562.
Healthy Aging
Your health needs change as you age, and working with a compassionate team of medical professionals who consider your overall wellness can help you maintain your health through the years. At Mountain Medical Arts, PLLC in Burnsville, North Carolina, the team of medical experts offers healthy aging services designed to meet your individual needs. Call Mountain Medical Arts or schedule an appointment online today to get customized advice on healthy aging.
Healthy aging starts at any age. It encompasses developing healthy habits, including diet, exercise, and sun protection, to maintain your overall health. At Mountain Medical Arts, the team provides customized health care and wellness plans to help you reduce your risk of diseases and chronic health issues such as high blood pressure (hypertension), diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, and skin cancer.
Ultimately, taking care of your physical, emotional, and spiritual health improves your overall well-being. Your doctor provides advice to improve your diet and physical activity. They monitor your medications and recommend alternative therapies to reduce your reliance on medication.
What are common health concerns for older people?
Some of the most common illnesses that affect people as they age include:
- Arthritis
- Obesity
- Heart disease
- Cancer
- Respiratory diseases
- Dementia
- Diabetes
- Osteoporosis
- Falls
- Substance abuse
- Depression
While many of these conditions have a strong hereditary factor, you can adopt healthy habits to reduce your risk of developing health issues as you age.
How can I protect my health as I get older?
Taking care of your body is critical to protecting your health at every age. This includes eating a balanced and nutritious diet that has plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains, and lean proteins. You should also aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate activity every day or a total of 150 minutes each week.
Your doctor at Mountain Medical Arts can help you create a healthy meal plan that includes delicious foods you enjoy. They can also suggest supplements, including antioxidants, that ensure you provide your body with the nutrients it needs for optimal functionality.
You should also take care of your skin. Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed type of cancer in the United States, but with healthy habits, you can reduce your risk of developing abnormal skin growths. At Mountain Medical Arts, the team of medical providers offers full skin examinations and education on skin care and the importance of sunscreen.
In addition to protecting your body, it’s important to attend your annual physicals and wellness checks, even if you feel healthy. Taking time to check in on your health with your trusted health care provider and having routine health screenings ensures that you’re as healthy as you feel. If your screenings reveal a health problem, then you can start treatment and make adjustments to restore your wellness, even before you begin to experience symptoms.
If you want customized healthy aging services in a welcoming and supportive environment, call Mountain Medical Arts or schedule a consultation online today.
Hospice And Palliative Care
While many people associate palliative care and hospice with cancer, anyone with a serious illness can benefit from palliative care and use hospice services for end-of-life care. At Mountain Medical Arts, PLLC in Burnsville, North Carolina, the doctors are board-certified in palliative and hospice care and deliver services in your home, nursing home, or hospital to keep you comfortable and provide dignity and grace at a difficult time. Call Mountain Medical Arts or schedule an appointment online today to learn more.
What is palliative and hospice care?
Palliative and hospice care are approaches to providing patient-focused care when you have a serious or terminal illness. While both are designed to provide comfort, relief from symptoms, and dignity, palliative care is for anyone with a serious illness, while hospice care is designated for people who have six months or less to live if their illness is allowed to continue on its natural course.
Palliative care is often combined with medical treatments to heal your disease. Many medical procedures are designed to heal your body but don’t provide much relief or comfort for patients. Chemotherapy, for example, is an effective tool to fight many types of cancer, but doesn’t make you feel better.
What is included in palliative and hospice care?
Palliative care includes medical treatments and therapies designed to help you feel better while you’re dealing with a severe illness or disease. This could consist of medicine, nutritional advice, physical therapy, and integrative therapies. Palliative care is separate from medical treatments for your illness, but can you can combine palliative care with traditional medicine.
Hospice care includes a variety of services to help you stay comfortable during the end of your life. Some of the services you may receive in hospice care include:
• Medication for pain control and symptom relief
• Medical equipment and supplies
• Physical or occupational therapy
• Dietary counseling
• Spiritual and grief counseling
• Short-term inpatient or respite care
• Other services to ensure your comfort as determined by your hospice team
The primary difference between palliative care and hospice care is that when you have hospice care, you stop other treatments designed to fight your disease or prolong your life.
How do I plan for end-of-life care?
While no one ever wants to talk about serious illness and death, it’s important to talk about your wishes and concerns with your family and physician before you have a medical crisis.
The physicians at Mountain Medical Art are board-certified in palliative and hospice care and experienced in providing advance care planning and end-of-life care. They can work with you and your family, providing counseling to help you communicate your needs clearly. Having these hard conversations early can make your end-of-life as comfortable and graceful as possible.
If you have questions about or need palliative or hospice care, call Mountain Medical Arts or schedule a consultation online today.
Wellness
While wellness is a something of a buzzword these days, working to improve your overall physical, mental, and spiritual well-being has long-term health benefits. At Mountain Medical Arts, PLLC in Burnsville, North Carolina, the medical team helps patients of all ages to improve their wellness with personalized attention, medical treatments, and alternative therapies. Call Mountain Medical Arts or schedule a consultation online today to learn more about how you can enhance your health and well-being.
What is wellness?
More than just the absence of disease, wellness encompasses your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. It’s the process of developing and maintaining healthy habits so that you not only survive, but thrive. For example, wearing sunscreen every day and educating yourself about sun damage can help you not only reduce signs of aging like wrinkles and discoloration, but also limit your risk of skin cancer.
While your physical health is a crucial component of your overall wellness, you also need to consider your mental and spiritual health. Relationships, social connections, and mindfulness contribute to these aspects of your wellness.
Why is wellness important?
Actively pursuing wellness provides long-term benefits for your quality of life. For example, nutrition and exercise are critical to your physical and mental health. If you follow a healthy and nutritionally balanced diet and get sufficient exercise, you can maintain a healthy body weight and reduce your risk of several chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure (hypertension) and diabetes. Giving your body the nutrition it needs and getting regular exercise also helps regulate your mood and enhance your mental health.
How can I improve my wellness?
The team at Mountain Medical Arts offer customized wellness plans to help you improve your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. They provide personalized, holistic care that takes your total wellness into account, aiming to help you achieve optimal health outcomes throughout your life. Your provider tailors your wellness plan to meet your needs specifically, but each plan includes improvements to several aspects of your life, such as:
Nutrition
Eating a balanced diet provides your body with the nutrition it needs to function correctly. It also helps you maintain a healthy weight, which reduces your risk of disease.
Physical activity
You should aim for at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day. Your doctor can provide suggestions for safe exercise, especially if you’ve been leading a sedentary lifestyle. For example, if you don’t know where to start, you could take a brisk walk on your lunch break or after dinner.
Sleep
More than 1 in 3 American adults don’t get enough sleep. Everyone has unique needs, but on average you should aim for seven hours of sleep each night. If you’re frequently tired during the day or are moody or irritable, talk to your doctor about how to improve your sleep.
Mental health
Your doctor can also encourage you to get involved with your community and develop your relationships with friends and family, as a strong social support network is essential for mental health. They can also recommend counseling services and other practices to support robust mental and emotional wellness.
Call Mountain Medical Arts or make an appointment online today to learn how to improve your wellness.
Aesthetics
Why is it important to take care of my skin?
Your skin is your body’s largest organ and protects your internal organs from toxins and injuries. Your skin is also one of the first parts of your body to start to show signs of aging. As you get older, your cell production, including the collagen and elastin fibers in your skin, slows down. Additionally, the ultraviolet (UV) rays in sunlight damage your skin, and when combined with slower cell regeneration, your skin begins to wrinkle and sag.
Besides the cosmetic reasons to take care of your skin, you can also reduce your risk of skin cancer with effective skin care and sunscreen use. Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed type of cancer in the United States. Fortunately, you can protect your skin, and when caught early, skin cancer is usually successfully treated.
What aesthetic treatments are available?
Mountain Medical Arts offers a comprehensive range of aesthetic services, designed to help you look your best and protect your skin.
Depending on your needs, you can choose treatments using the Icon or TempSure equipment. Icon uses customizable light energy waves to rejuvenate your skin. It stimulates collagen production and exfoliation, breaks up excess pigmentation in your skin, and can also be calibrated for laser hair removal.
TempSure uses radio-frequency energy to tighten your skin. The energy triggers collagen coagulation and production, which tightens your skin on the inside, reducing the appearance of loose or sagging skin anywhere on your body. Laser treatments can take up to an hour, depending on your specific treatment and the size of the area being treated.
The doctors also offer customized skin examinations to check for abnormal moles and growths, combined with sunscreen education services to help you learn how to protect your skin. By wearing sunscreen every day and avoiding the sun when it’s at its strongest, you can reduce your risk of developing skin cancer and prevent premature signs of aging.
How should I take care of my skin after an aesthetic treatment?
Aesthetic treatments with the Icon or TempSure equipment don’t require any downtime for recovery. The laser energy may make your skin more sensitive to the sun, so it’s more important than ever to wear sunscreen after your treatments. Your doctor may also recommend skin care products or sunscreens to protect your skin.
If you’re ready to enhance your appearance and get advice on how to protect your skin, call Mountain Medical Arts or book an appointment online today.
Nutrition
Nutrition is critical to your health and wellness. The food you eat fuels your body, providing the energy needed for every function from cell repair to running upstairs, but many people rely on unhealthy, processed convenience foods that are devoid of nutritional value. The team of medical experts at Mountain Medical Arts, PLLC in Burnsville, North Carolina, offer customized nutrition advice and guidance to help you give your body the vitamins and nutrients it needs to stay healthy and function. If you want to improve your diet, call Mountain Medical Arts or schedule an appointment online today.
Why is nutrition important?
Nutrition is the supply of nourishment through food to provide your body with everything it needs to function correctly. In addition to optimal body function, your nutrition — or lack thereof — contributes to certain diseases and chronic health conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure (hypertension), and certain food allergies and intolerances.
The food you eat can also affect your mood and energy levels. For example, a diet that’s high in sugar and salt can leave you feeling bloated, listless, and irritable. Furthermore, unhealthy eating habits contribute to obesity, which can have a negative impact on your mental health and confidence, as well as your physical health.
What should a nutritious diet include?
You may remember the four food groups or the food pyramid, which provide suggestions of what types of foods to eat and in what quantities. These guidelines create a framework for a nutritious diet. You should aim to eat plenty of fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes (beans), nuts, and lean protein like chicken or fish. You can have red meat and healthy fats in moderation, but they shouldn’t form the bulk of your diet.
You also need to ensure you’re eating the right amount of calories. A calorie is the unit of measurement for the amount of energy in a food product. On average, you should consume around 2,000 calories each day to provide your body with the energy it needs for optimal function. This number is just an estimate as your physical activity levels, muscle mass, and other factors contribute to your caloric needs.
How can a doctor help me improve my nutrition?
The medical experts at Mountain Medical Arts offer comprehensive nutritional consultations to help you improve your diet and overall wellness. They talk to you about what you eat on a daily basis and may ask you to keep a food diary for a few days before your appointment. Your doctor will also order lab work to gather additional information about your health, including your hormone, vitamin, and nutrient levels.
Once your doctor understands your current nutrition, they work with you to create a meal plan that includes a variety of foods you enjoy that provide the nutrition you need. Your doctor may also suggest supplements and antioxidants to ensure your body has everything it needs for optimal functionality.
Call Mountain Medical Arts or schedule a consultation online today to start your journey toward better health through nutrition.
Icon Laser System
If you’re troubled by wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, or spider veins, you don’t have to live with your skin imperfections any longer. The team at Medical Mountain Arts, PLLC in Burnsville, North Carolina, offers skin rejuvenation treatments using the state-of-the-art Icon® laser system developed by the aesthetic technology experts at Cynosure®. Call the practice or schedule a consultation online today to learn how Icon laser treatments can restore your youthful appearance and help you look your best.
What is Icon?
The Icon laser system is a uniquely customizable aesthetic machine developed by Cynosure. The team at Mountain Medical Arts can calibrate the laser to address nearly any skin concern you might have.
The equipment has seven different handpieces and can be calibrated to target a variety of skin concerns. The laser penetrates your skin and revitalizes it in several ways, depending on the setting of the laser.
For example, if you’re troubled by wrinkles or loose skin, the laser triggers collagen and elastin production that plumps and tightens your skin from within. Different calibrations stimulate deep exfoliation or break up excess pigment in your skin. Icon can even be used for laser hair removal treatments.
What skin imperfections can the Icon laser treat?
The team at Mountain Medical Arts use the Icon laser to correct an array of skin imperfections, including:
- Wrinkles and fine lines
- Loose or sagging skin
- Age spots and other types of hyperpigmentation
- Vascular lesions and spider veins
- Scarring
- Unwanted body hair
If you’re concerned about skin imperfections or signs of aging, schedule a consultation at Mountain Medical Arts to discover how Icon laser treatments can enhance your appearance.
What happens during an Icon treatment?
Laser treatments can take up to an hour, depending on your specific treatment and the size of the area being treated.
During your treatment, you and your provider wear goggles to protect your eyes from the flashes of laser light. You can apply an ice pack or a topical numbing cream before your treatment to maintain your comfort.
Your provider uses a handheld device to direct the laser over your skin. Icon laser treatments can cause a snapping sensation and may warm your skin, but the feelings subside soon after your treatment is complete.
You may notice an improvement after just one treatment, but in most cases, you’ll need a series of treatments to achieve optimal results. For example, most patients have six appointments for laser hair removal.
How should I take care of my skin after an Icon laser treatment?
You won’t need to take any time off to recover after your Icon laser treatment. The laser can make your skin more sensitive to the sun, so you should make sure to wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen every day and avoid being outside when the sun is strongest.
Call Mountain Medical Arts or make an appointment online today to learn how Icon laser treatments can help you look your best.
Advance Care Planning
You can plan for your future at any point during your life to ensure that your personal values and wishes are understood and documented in the case that you’re unable to speak for yourself due to a medical crisis. At Mountain Medical Arts, PLLC in Burnsville, North Carolina, the team of compassionate medical experts can help clarify your wishes to give you and your family peace of mind. They also offer education and advice to help you approach your older years with grace. Call Mountain Medical Arts or schedule a consultation online today to learn more.
What is advance care planning?
Advance care planning is the process of planning for your care in case of a medical crisis. Although many people use advance care planning to prepare for getting older, you can talk to your doctor and family about your wishes at any time.
Planning for your future health care now means that you can make your wishes clear about the type of medical care you’d want if you weren’t able to speak for yourself and don’t want your family or doctors to make uninformed decisions on your behalf.
As part of your advance care planning, you create an advance care directive which outlines your values and desires for end-of-life care or what you want in the case of a medical crisis or emergency. This document isn’t set in stone and you can adjust it if your situation changes.
What do I need to consider for advance care planning?
Advance care planning is highly personal, and your directives are unique to your views and wishes. However, in general, some of the things you need to consider include:
• When to use cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
• Ventilator use
• Artificial nutrition like tube feeding or intravenous (IV) fluids
• Comfort care such as hospice and palliative care
You should also talk to your doctor and family about what is critical to your quality of life and what percentage of risk is acceptable for you to maintain an acceptable quality of life.
For example, how important is unassisted mobility to your well-being? If you were to have a crisis and treatment could save your life but you would be confined to a wheelchair for the rest of your life, is that acceptable? What if you had to spend the rest of your life in a nursing home having round-the-clock care?
These aren’t easy topics to consider or talk to your family about, but planning for the future now, no matter how difficult it is, can help you have the care you want.
Who is responsible for carrying out my advance care directive?
In addition to your directives for end-of-life care, you should also appoint a durable health care power of attorney to ensure your wishes are carried out when you can’t speak for yourself. You’ll need a lawyer to draw up this document, but your provider at Mountain Medical Arts can provide medical advice and help you explain your concerns and wishes to your family and power of attorney.
If you have questions or concerns about advance care planning, call Mountain Medical Arts or schedule an appointment online today.
TempSure Skin Tightening
What is TempSure?
TempSure is an innovative radio-frequency skin tightening treatment. It’s gentle but also an effective method of reducing fine lines and wrinkles on your face and tightening skin on your body and reducing the appearance of cellulite. TempSure is safe for all skin types and colors.
TempSure works by delivering radio-frequency energy into your skin, where it heats your subdermal tissue. As your deepest layers of skin heat up, the increased temperatures stimulate your body’s natural healing response, which boosts new cell growth and increases your collagen cells.
Your new collagen is tight and dense, which improves and tightens the surface of your skin. It also strengthens the mesh of connective tissue that separates your skin and subdermal fat, which limits the amount of fat that can bulge through to cause cellulite.
What skin imperfections does TempSure correct?
The team at Mountain Medical Arts use TempSure aesthetic treatments to reduce wrinkles, fine lines, and sagging skin on your face and neck. They also use the treatment on your body to eliminate the appearance of cellulite on your abdomen, buttocks, or thighs.
What should I expect during a TempSure treatment?
Most TempSure treatments take less than an hour, depending on the type of treatment you have and the size of the area your provider targets with the radio-frequency energy. Most patients have a series of TempSure procedures to achieve their ideal results. You may also want to have an annual touch-up treatment to maintain your youthful appearance.
During your treatment, you relax on a comfortable treatment bed. Your provider uses the handheld TempSure wand to direct the radio-frequency energy into your skin. You may notice a warming sensation during your treatments. If you have a body treatment, the applicator also massages your skin to stimulate lymphatic drainage and further enhance your appearance.
How should I take care of my skin after TempSure treatment?
TempSure treatments are gentle and don’t require any downtime for recovery. Your skin may be slightly pink after your TempSure procedure, but this mild discoloration subsides quickly.
You should always wear sunscreen to protect your skin from the harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays in sunlight. Not only does this habit reduce your risk of skin cancer, but it also limits signs of skin damage such as wrinkles and discoloration.
Call Mountain Medical Arts or make an appointment online today to learn more about TempSure skin tightening treatments and how they can enhance your appearance.
Mountain Medical Arts Staff
Mountain Medical Arts uses the best evidence-based, allopathic, osteopathic and integrative medical approaches to deliver comprehensive health care for patients of all ages from birth through life and into the dying process.
Our practice has an in-house lab and can coordinate state-of-the-art skin, urine, salivary and blood testing including allergy/immunology, autoimmune, neuroendocrine, nutritional and toxicity panels for accurate diagnoses and treatment of myraid diseases and assessing wellness.
We also carry and can recommend a variety of nutritional supplements that have been tested for quality and efficacy in the potencies used in clinical trials.
Kelly Rothe, DO
Jeffrey Polgar, MD
