Our Specializations
Integrative Medicine of Central New York specializes in a variety of health services.
Click through any of these services to learn more or simply scroll down.
Are you searching for financing options to cover your medical treatments and procedures? Consider applying for the Advance Care card.
Integrative Oncology (Cancer) Consultations
Dr. Heidi Puc’s greater than 20 year experience in conventional medical hematology and oncology, merged with her ten year experience in integrative medicine and oncology, gives her a very unique ability to serve patients at risk for, diagnosed with, or recovered from cancer. Typical consultations include the following:
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Patients with numerous relatives having had cancer, and they wish to reduce their risk for cancer development.
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Patients just diagnosed with cancer, who need to clarify cancer stage and grade, and would like Dr. Puc’s opinion on their conventional oncologist’s treatment recommendations, including how natural remedies can merge with the conventional, in either the adjuvant (curative) or advanced cancer setting.
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Patients who have had surgery, radiation therapy, and/or chemotherapy for cancer previously or at the time of consultation and wish to improve their quality of life and decrease side effects from such therapies using an integrative approach.
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Patients dealing with cancer who decline conventional therapies and would prefer to only use oral and or intravenous herbals and nutraceuticals.
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Patients who are cancer survivors who wish to reduce their risk for cancer recurrence or development of new types of cancers.
In all of the above scenarios, Dr. Puc focuses on strengthening the patient’s “terrain,” namely the support structure and components of the body dealing with cancer (including immune system, detoxification system, mitochondrial function, gut microbiome, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential, and nutrient levels).
Integrative Lyme Disease Treatment
Lyme disease, caused by an organism known as Borrelia burgdorferi, is a tick-borne illness that is rapidly spreading worldwide; it is the number one “vector borne” spreading infectious disease in the United States and in Europe, and even countries beyond Europe. It can present as acute disease, from a tick bite alone to a tick bite associated with a bullseye rash, or a presentation that includes associated symptoms (fatigue, muscle and joint aches, headaches, and others). Often, other organisms are carried in the same tick known as co-infectors (examples: bartonella, babesia) which can make diagnosis and treatment challenging. Chronic Lyme disease can present with a host of symptoms that can mimic other conditions such as autoimmune disease and neuropsychiatric disease, and can be difficult to treat, especially when not recognized. Diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease is further complicated by differing guidelines and treatment philosophies, and the standard testing for Lyme disease is not 100% accurate.
Dr. Puc is a member of, and receives ongoing training through, the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS).
Dr. Heidi Puc has been trained by the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) and has been mentored by Dr. Richard Horowitz, a world-renowned expert in Lyme disease. She has also worked alongside Dr. Ronald Stram at the Stram Center for Integrative Medicine. Her approach to treatment of Lyme and the co-infectors is a clinical one, hearing the patient’s story and symptoms, assessing their vitals and physical exam, and selecting most appropriate testing for Lyme which includes specialty lab testing. She designs an individualized treatment program for the patient, addressing a detoxifying and anti-inflammatory nutrition plan, physical activity, restful sleep, stress reduction, and, when appropriate, herbals and/or antibiotics (oral or IV), or homeopathic remedies amongst others.
Integrative Wellness and Prevention
Our current healthcare system is most successful for acute, mechanically correctable disease, but falls short in terms of prevention, integrative practices, and management of many chronic diseases. Costs for healthcare have rapidly escalated yet lifespan is actually declining. The Western approach to healthcare is a disease-management approach and is very reductionistic in view, not addressing whole-person care. Prevention secures less than 5% of the funding in the healthcare industry, despite the large contributions to population health it makes.
Dr. Heidi Puc, with an integrative medicine approach, focuses on whole person care, strengthening a person’s biologic terrain and focusing on health promotion. She addresses optimum nutrition and herbal/supplement use, physical exercise and rest, resilience and stress management, and social and spiritual connection. Wherever patients are in terms of the spectrum of health and disease, Dr. Heidi Puc will consult as to how to best support their wellness and reduce the risk of illness, as well as to integratively manage any already identified chronic disease processes.
Integrative Health and Lifestyle Coaching
Here at IM of CNY, our health coaches take a holistic and whole person approach to health coaching by looking beyond just food. Although food and nutrition play an integral role in overall health and wellness, our health coaches also consider other areas of one’s life. We take a deeper look at areas that may need additional nourishment, like relationships, stress levels, sleep, self-care, career, diet, and other aspects unique to the individual.
Our Health Coaches take a lifestyle approach to helping clients reach their goals. This means that the changes we ask our clients to consider are doable, sustainable and make sense for the current stage of life they are in. Any sort of change can be difficult at first, our health coaches are available to provide support and accountability. We encourage our clients to be an active part of their wellness plan- reclaiming a better more balanced health and wellbeing.
Our Health Coaches are available to work with patients one on one either in-office or through telehealth options. Sessions are patient driven and can be a simple jump start session or a more long-term relationship. We focus on teaching our clients to find balance in their lives. While food may be an initial motivator for seeking health coaching throughout the process our patients will see how all areas of their lives are connected. They will develop a deeper understanding of the choices and practices that will work best for them to achieve overall balanced health.
Neurofeedback
The brain plays an active role is nearly every function of your body. From logic and critical thinking to imagination and talent; from digestion and sleep quality to heart rate and recovery, the brain is there, making sure everything runs smoothly.
So when the brain isn't working properly, it can affect us in many negative ways. When we lose our temper or experience extreme sadness or lack of control, it could very well be that our brain is out of balance. An improperly balanced brain can lead to many neurological problems, such as:
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ADHD, Autism & Learning Issues
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Anxiety, Depression & PTSD
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Concussion & Brain Injuries
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Insomnia & Sleep Disorders
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Chronic Pain & Fatigue
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Memory Loss & Dementia
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Stroke & Seizures
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Fibromyalgia & More!
We Can Help Balance Your Brain!
IM of CNY offers a scientifically proven system that can safely fine-tune the brain to eliminate the triggers that often cause the issues above. We can also help overcome attention and focus issues, as well as improve memory retention. Best of all, this process is drug-free, safe and non-invasive.
HeartMath®
For more than 25 years, HeartMath® Institute has been researching the heart-brain connection and learning how the heart influences our perceptions, emotions, intuition and health.
HeartMath® helps you tap into the power and intelligence of your heart – your heart’s intuition – which awakens you to the best version of yourself.
Stress affects the body physically, mentally and emotionally. What can we do about it?
It is not the event or situation that creates the stress, it is how we respond to it. Emotions have a powerful impact on the human body. Positive emotions like appreciation, care and kindness feel good and are good for us. They help the systems in our body synchronize and work better.
Research has shown when we intentionally shift to a positive emotion, the heart rhythms immediately change. This shift in heart rhythms creates a favorable cascade of neural, hormonal and biochemical events that benefit the entire body.
NES Health
NES Health is the leader in bioenergetics: the study, detection, and correction of energy in living systems. They spent decades mapping out the energy and communication systems of the body. Collectively, these are called the human body-field, which acts as a control system for the body’s physical activity.
When this field is underpowered or distorted, it’s unable to run the body in an optimal way and the body’s cells and systems may begin to fail. Symptoms often begin with simply feeling tired, but they can continue into just about any known health problem. When we improve function of the body-field, and we combine this with good nutrition and lifestyle choices, the body’s incredible healing system can take over and begin restoring the body to health.
The NES Health system involves three steps:
1) Assess the Body-Field - We use their scanning technology to provide you with a holistic wellness report in just seconds. While this isn’t a medical assessment, the scan’s bioenergetic matching process often shows a strong correlation to known health concerns. But more important, this approach looks for the underlying problem so we can address health concerns from their roots with their bioenergetic solutions. This can be done either virtually or in person!
2) Unblock and Rejuvenate - If we work together in person, our service can include the use of the exciting NES miHealth device. This unique device uses PEMF technology with NES Health’s proprietary field correction signals. We can also work “on body” with smart bioelectric stimulation that uses real-time biofeedback to give your body exactly what it needs. This can yield a lot of fast results. We also use it to clear away energy blocks and begin to rejuvenate your energy field before you ever leave the office.
3) Restore Correct Information - Finally, I provide you with liquid remedies called Infoceuticals. These help to optimize the body-field’s energy levels and information flow so that proper communication takes place. A healthy body is all about energy and communication.
These remedies have helped thousands of people around the world, and they are simple to take by putting some drops into water and drinking the water.
Women's Health
Jennifer’s experience with over 22 years in Women’s Health and chronic disease management, coupled with her family health experience and interest in Integrative Medicine, allows her to combine conventional medicine and integrative medicine. She believes the evaluation of each individual needs to be comprehensive in regard to their physical, mental, and emotional health. Jennifer believes that wellness plans need to focus on each individual’s uniqueness and lifestyle.
Women’s Health
We offer hormonal saliva testing to use in conjunction with blood testing to obtain a comprehensive picture of the patient’s current state in conjunction with symptoms. Symptom diaries, combined with nutritional evaluation, vitamin and mineral levels will also be utilized. We offer extensive bacterial and fungal profile evaluations for those experiencing chronic GYN infections.
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Menstrual Irregularities
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Perimenopausal/menopausal symptoms
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Chronic GYN infections
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Pre-Menstrual Symptoms
Endocrine Health
We offer evaluation of endocrine function, in relation to thyroid and adrenal function through lab work and saliva testing. Identifying triggers, chronic stress and sources of inflammation are important in building a wellness plan.
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Thyroid disorders
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Adrenal dysfunction
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Blood sugar support
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Stress response
Gastrointestinal Health
We offer comprehensive digestion and stool analysis, evaluation for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and food allergy/sensitivity testing. GI health is a foundation for overall health and identifying the root cause is our goal to prepare the foundation for healing.
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Digestion/stool analysis with parasite testing
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Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth
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Food allergy/sensitivity
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Nutritional analysis
Oral and IV Nutraceuticals
Dr. Heidi Puc may recommend certain oral or intravenous (IV) vitamins, herbals, or supplements to help patients with chronic illness to achieve optimal wellness. Although eating whole foods provides the substrates needed for essential bodily functions and enzymatic processes, taking isolated herbals in relatively higher doses is often helpful to restore the balance needed for health in a variety of disorders. High quality oral supplements will be available onsite and by online order at IMofCNY, and a variety of IV therapies of single vitamins or compounded blends will be available in the IMofCNY infusion room.
What are Nutraceutical Infusions?
Every body system requires nutrients to perform efficiently. Nutrients like vitamins and minerals are essential to wellness and health, and nutrient deficiencies can affect how the body performs. Eating right and taking oral supplements can provide nutrients, but must first be digested before entering the bloodstream, which takes time. IV nutraceutical infusions go directly into the bloodstream and begin working immediately, and can be a safe and effective way to help your body heal and build immunity.
Nutraceutical compounds can help your body perform healing, inflammation reduction, tissue repair, and enhance immune function. Vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and antioxidants that are found in food play important roles in health and pain relief. Unfortunately, getting the right combination of these nutrients to absorb through the digestive system can be difficult or inefficient. IV nutraceuticals introduce specific combinations of nutrients in highly absorbable forms to the blood, and are used for maximizing health, performance and treating certain health conditions.
IV nutraceutical therapy uses an IV drip to deliver specific nutrients that can help improve your health, both for preventative wellness and during treatment or recovery. Patients that may benefit from IV nutraceuticals include those with:
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Chronic pain
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Cancer
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Lyme Disease
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Immune System disorders
IV nutraceuticals are performed in our office and typically take 30 minutes-90 minutes depending on the infusion. Our Providers may recommend IV infusion therapy as part of your wellness plan to enhance your body’s health for improved symptoms or performance. To view a full list of IV therapies offered, ingredients, and additional information, click here.
Therapeutic BioMat
The BioMat is an FDA approved medical device that promotes stress relief while relaxing the muscles of the body through the use of a combination of Far Infrared Rays, negative ions, and the conductive properties of amethyst crystals*. These powerful health stimulators are combined to produce remarkable benefits. It’s a safe and natural way to experience temporary relief from minor spasms, minor sprains , minor strains, minor joint pain associated with arthritis, and minor muscle pain, especially in the back. Additional benefits that can be experienced include: reduced stress and fatigue, increase of local circulation/tissue oxygen at the points of BioMat contact, immune system support, improved sleep, and reduced inflammation.
*Amethyst Crystals infused into the top layer of the BioMat are a natural source of Far Infrared Rays (FIR) and negative ions. Negative ions elevate cellular activity, communication, and purification at the ion channel level, and help to remove toxins.
Dr. Puc is a licensed BioMat distributors for those wishing to purchase their own BioMat. $100 discounts are available for Health Providers, Veterans, and First Responders.
CBD Oil
Cannabidiol or CBD is one of more than 80 chemical substances known as cannabinoids, which are all found in the cannabis plant. CBD is the second most abundant compound in cannabis, or hemp. Full Spectrum CBD is believed to be the best way to consume cannabinoids to receive the medicinal benefits of the plant. Full spectrum means all of the plants cannabinoids are present, including not only cannabidiol (CBD), but also Cannabinol (CBN), Cannabicyclol (CBL), and Cannabichromevarinic Acid (CBCVA) to name a few. There are more than 80 cannabinoids in the cannabis plant, and when all of these cannabinoids are present it creates what is called the entourage effect.
In order for the hemp to be legal in the United States it must contain less than .3% THC or tetrahydrocannibinol.
Unlike THC (which is usually a major component of medical marijuana), CBD and the rest of the cannabinoids do not cause a high because it does not act on the same pathways as THC, making CBD oil a good choice for those who do not wish to consume THC. Although the FDA has not yet recognized CBD oil as a treatment or cure for any disease, there are dozens of studies on PubMed discussing the many benefits of using CBD oil as a dietary supplement.
Tick Removal and Acute Treatment
Dr. Heidi Puc at Integrative Medicine of Central New York offers ACUTE TICK BITE CONSULTATIONS to evaluate you and provide recommendations for testing and treatment based on your individual assessment. She can also perform tick removal in the office, and provide information on where to have the tick tested if you so choose.
A common practice when someone gets a tick bite is to have the tick tested for Lyme disease (borrelia). This poses some challenges, and patients end up not receiving the treatment they need to prevent tickborne infections. Public health departments only test ticks for borrelia, but not for the other bacteria/co-infectors that can infect ticks. Additionally, results often take days to weeks to report and the patient misses an important window of time to initiate appropriate treatment.
Most patients we see have been chronically ill with debilitating symptoms for months to years. If tickborne infections are not properly diagnosed or treated early, people can develop severe symptoms that persist. Initiating treatment right after a tick bite prevents bacteria from spreading to joints, organs, and the central nervous system and elsewhere.
A single 200 mg dose of doxycycline has proven to NOT be enough for Lyme disease prophylaxis, and treatment for 20 days or less with antibiotics in someone with a “bullseye” rash has a high failure rate. In addition, studies have shown ticks can carry multiple bacteria, which could require treatment with different antibiotics. This explains why up to 50% of people treated following a tick bite go on to develop chronic symptoms.
Common Misconceptions About Lyme Disease:
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Ticks need to be attached for 24-36 hours to transmit Lyme disease. This claim has not been substantiated, and evidence has shown that ticks can transmit infections in as little as a few hours.
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You need to develop a bullseye rash to have Lyme disease. Although a bullseye rash is diagnostic of Lyme disease, few people develop this rash that go on to develop Lyme disease. In one study, only 17% of people who developed Lyme disease had a bullseye rash.
If Lyme disease is not diagnosed and treated early, the spirochetes can spread and may go into hiding in different parts of the body. Weeks, months or even years later, patients may develop problems with the brain and nervous system, muscles and joints, heart and circulation, digestion, reproductive system, and skin. Symptoms may disappear even without treatment, and different symptoms may appear at different times.
if you or someone you love has a tick bite, DON’T hesitate-call the experts who will evaluate and guide you to the proper testing and treatment. Remember, the best way to treat Lyme disease is to prevent it!
