Dr. Hoff Holistic Health & Wellness

06/18/2026

“The attitude of gratitude is one of the greatest attitudes of life.”💛Lysa TerKeurst

Sometimes the difference between frustration & contentment
… isn’t a change in circumstances
… it’s a change in perspective.

We can spend our days wishing everything around us would change.

We can hope for
different circumstances,
different people,
a different season,
or an easier path.

But a changed situation doesn’t always create a happier heart. Sometimes the greatest transformation happens when gratitude changes the way we see what’s already in front of us. ☀️

Gratitude doesn’t make life perfect.
It simply helps us see what’s already good.

It can soften the hard edges of marriage 💍, make parenting feel more meaningful 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦, bring purpose back into our work 💼, and remind us that even ordinary days hold gifts worth noticing 🌿.

God didn’t call us to be perfect…
He called us to be grateful. 🙏

📖 “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
1 Thessalonians 5:18

Today, I’m reminded that gratitude has a way of turning what we have into more than enough. ❤️

💭 What’s one thing you’re grateful for today?

This version subtly communicates, “happiness isn’t found in changing everything around you,” without sounding pointed toward any particular person.

06/16/2026

Some light lunch conversation .. 🤣

06/12/2026

🤧😷 THE COUGH THAT JUST. WON’T. LEAVE.

Honestly, I probably should have posted this back in December… 😂 but since we’re STILL seeing viral coughs hanging around like an uninvited houseguest, here we are.

If you’ve ever thought or texted me:

🙋‍♀️ “My child isn’t sick anymore… so WHY are they still coughing?!”

🙋 “It’s been 3 weeks!”

🙋‍♂️ “The fever is gone, they’re acting normal, but the cough is driving us all crazy!”

You’re not alone.

😷 Coughs 101 🤧 This might get long.

Here’s what’s often happening:

🫁 After a cold, the nerves in the throat and airways can become extra sensitive… almost like a sunburn on the inside of the throat. Even when the virus is gone, those irritated nerves keep sending “COUGH!” signals at every little thing:
❄️ Cold air
😂 Laughing
🏃 Running
🗣 Talking
🌬 Deep breaths

This is called cough hypersensitivity, and it can last forrrrr weeks after the infection is over.

The frustrating part?
👉 Coughing irritates the throat.
👉 An irritated throat causes more coughing.
👉 More coughing causes more irritation.

Welcome to the “cough-begets-cough” cycle. 😵‍💫

💧 THE POSTNASAL DRIP PLOT TWIST

Do you love your child, but you are about to evict them from your bed?

One of the biggest reasons these coughs linger is good old postnasal drip.

After a cold (or allergies), the nose can keep making mucus long after the infection is gone. That mucus drips down the back of the throat and tickles those already-sensitive nerves. Even more so at bedtime. 

Translation:
👃 Drip
➡️ Tickle
➡️ Cough
➡️ More irritation
➡️ More cough

And around and around we go.

🚿 ONE OF MY FAVORITE SIMPLE TRICKS: SALINE

Nasal saline spray or rinses or sodium chloride in the nebulizer can be surprisingly helpful because they:
✅ Wash out mucus
✅ Remove allergens
✅ Calm inflammation
✅ Reduce postnasal drip
✅ Provide respiratory hydration

I often recommend using it:
🌞 After outdoor play
🏫 After school or dinner
🌙 Not too close to bedtime

⚠️ If making saline rinses at home, always use distilled, sterile, or previously boiled water—not straight tap water.

🥶 COLD WATER HELPS

Ever notice your child coughs less after drinking cold water? There’s actually science behind that.

💧 Taking a sip forces a swallow, which interrupts the cough reflex.

🧊 Cold temperatures also help calm some of the airway nerves that trigger coughing.

🍧 Popsicles and ice chips can work similarly.

For some kids, keeping a water bottle nearby becomes one of the most effective cough tools in the house!

☕ DON’T FORGET WARM FLUIDS

Warm drinks help in a different way:
🍲 Warm broth
🍋 Warm lemon water or chamomile tea
🍯 Warm honey water (for children OVER 1 year old)

They can:
✅ Thin mucus
✅ Soothe irritated tissues
✅ Improve hydration
✅ Reduce throat irritation

Bonus: Honey has actually been shown to reduce cough frequency and severity in children over age 1.

🧂 THE GRANDMA REMEDY THAT ACTUALLY HAS DATA

Warm salt water gargles aren’t just an old wives’ tale.

For older children who can gargle safely:
🧂 ½ teaspoon salt
💧 1 cup warm water

Studies have shown this can shorten illness duration and help improve throat symptoms.

🌿 WHAT ABOUT ALLERGIES?

If allergies are contributing to all that drainage and postnasal drip, treating the allergies can make a huge difference.

Common options include:
✅ Zyrtec (cetirizine)
✅ Other age-appropriate antihistamines

For families looking for more natural support, some of our patients have also reported benefit from HistAssist through Magnolia Pharmacy, which supports healthy histamine metabolism and inflammatory balance. Kids that need a chewable can get D-Hist Jr there or I can recommend it through full scripts .

🧠 THE BRAIN KEEPS IT GOING! 🧠

🤯 And then there’s the cough that parents absolutely LOVE to hear about… the one that a recent urgent care implied is “all in your child’s head“… but there is some truth to this.

Sometimes after a cold is long gone, the cough sticks around… not because of infection, asthma, or mucus… but because the brain and throat have essentially teamed up to create a HABIT.

These kids are often completely fine otherwise. They’re running, playing, eating, driving everyone in the house crazy… and coughing every 30 seconds. The biggest clue? The cough mysteriously clocks out for the night and completely disappears during sleep. 😴

This is called a “habit cough” and it can become so automatic that children don’t even realize they’re doing it…
It’s like nose picking but less in your face, or maybe not. 👀

The good news? Once you recognize the pattern, simple tricks like sipping cold water, sucking on ice chips, or learning to suppress the urge can often break the cycle surprisingly quickly.

We try reassuring the child that the cough is not their fault and explain that sometimes the body develops a habit of coughing, even when it is no longer needed. When they feel the urge to cough, encourage them to take a deep breath and swallow or slowly count backward from 5 to 1 while breathing out. Remind them that the cough will improve with practice and celebrate their progress with something positive to look forward to.

📌 THE BIG TAKEAWAY

When a cough hangs around after a cold, it doesn’t always mean a new or lingering infection.

Sometimes it’s:
👃 Postnasal drip
🫁 Sensitive airway nerves
🌬 Dry air
🌿 Allergies
💧 Not enough hydration
🔃 A Habit

And remember…

If your child is coughing every time they laugh, every time they run, every time they talk, every time the wind changes direction, every time Mercury is in retrograde… 😆

… you are not alone … let us know if you need us!

Disclaimer:
This is not medical advice -always talk to your provider! As always, seek medical care for:
🚩 Trouble breathing or Wheezing
🚩 High fever or Dehydration
🚩 Cough lasting longer than expected
🚩 Any symptoms that concern you

❤️ Parents, you’ve got this. These lingering coughs can be incredibly frustrating, but understanding WHY they happen can maybe make them a little less scary?

Ps . We do stock a lot of remedies in our clinic. Open to the public. 

Kindly,
Dr Hoff

📖 References in comments.

06/11/2026

I know it can seem like a luxury 💅 to have a lactation support visit with an RN/IBCLC, but I consider it 1000% necessary to have at least 1 visit just like we would have a well child exam. 🤱🏽Even better if education starts before baby arrives!

Why? Because during my medical training, breastfeeding education amounted to 1 paragraph.

1 paragraph. 📖😳

Unfortunately, if breastfeeding education in medical training was only a paragraph for me, there’s a good chance your healthcare provider received very little formal lactation education as well…🤷‍♀️ which may explain why many moms feel unsupported, dismissed, or unable to get the breastfeeding help they truly need.

I was so frustrated by that lack of education on a child’s start to NUTRITION that I personally let my program know at Yale that it was unacceptable. 🎤 I also made it a priority to speak at my state’s PA conference that same year to educate PA students and practicing PAs on the importance of breastfeeding and lactation support. 💡

As many of you know, I was an IBCLC for 10 years before becoming a PA, so this is a topic that is incredibly close to my heart. ❤️ That experience showed me firsthand how much feeding support can impact the health and well-being of both mother and baby. It’s also why I felt so strongly that having an RN/IBCLC on our team wasn’t optional…
it IS essential. ✨

Breastfeeding is so much more than feeding a baby.
It’s nutrition. 🐣
It’s bonding. 💞
It’s comfort. 🫶
It’s immune support. 🛡️
It’s life-giving for both mother and baby. 🌱

It is also more than breastfeeding support.
👶 Oral tie evaluations (tongue, lip, and cheek ties)
🍼 Bottle-feeding guidance
🥛 Formula discussions and supplementation support
📈 Weight checks and growth monitoring
🏥 NICU and medically complex feeding support
🧑‍💼 Returning-to-work pumping plans
🍼 Pump fitting, fl**ge sizing, and pump education
🌙 Feeding schedules and sleep-related feeding concerns
🌱 Weaning guidance, starting solid food when the time is right
💕 Encouragement, reassurance, and confidence-building for parents

So whether your little one is 30 weeks in the womb, 3 days earth side, 3 months old, or even 13 months old, there is tremendous value in meeting with Karen, our amazing RN / IBCLC. 🌟 Her knowledge, encouragement, and support can make all the difference in your breastfeeding journey.

You do not need to be an established patient of mine…and your baby does not need to be a pediatric/primary care patient in our practice… to receive lactation support. We are happy to care for and support any family seeking expert guidance on their feeding journey.

💗 “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you…”
— Isaiah 66:13

Kindly,
Dr Hoff

Ps. If our lactation room didn’t have a chandelier, would we even be doing it right?! 🤣

Ps.s. If you’ve had the opportunity to work with Karen, we’d love to hear your experience! Please share below and help encourage another mama.
👇💬❤️



Call/Text: 832-861-0615.

06/04/2026

Patients: Send a message to FDA

https://www.compounding.com/thyroid

06/03/2026

There’s finally “Direct Primary Care” for your pet. Where you can text the vet and get your meds via TeleMed. Kind of like our care but for your Furry Babies!! 🐕 🐈

https://refer.dutch.com/nicole94

Get $50 off with my link.

05/22/2026

What’s one thing you’re doing for YOUR health tomorrow ?

I’m going to bed early tonight 🛌 to feel better tomorrow.

Come meet us, taking new patients.
www.DrHoffHealth.com

-Dr. Hoff 🌸

05/16/2026

Who else has been half nak3d on a cold table waiting for a doctor to come in with a cold speculum…. cursing traditional medicine that is the opposite of trauma informed care ??

Yea….

I’ve done my research & I’m a fan. Cheers 🥂 to doing a “pap smear” at home 🏡 .

https://www.getteal.com/teal-wand

If you’re already my patient, let me know when you get results so we can discuss. 

The first FDA-authorized self-collection device for at-home cervical cancer screening in the US, the Teal Wand is a Pap smear alternative that is accurate, comfortable, and designed for you.

05/12/2026

📚❤️ If you’ve been in the clinic, then you already know… I LOVE books.

So I’m starting a new album sharing little glimpses from books around the clinic shelves.

Some are old.
Some are new.
Some make perfect sense.
Some are a little questionable 😅
…. but all of them spark conversation, curiosity, and learning.

And honestly? It’s fascinating to see how health conversations have evolved over the decades… while some ideas seem to keep circling back around.

📸 Book #1: The Prevention Method for Better Health by J.I. Rodale & staff (1970)

This book is basically a time capsule of the early “natural health” movement in America that our mothers might remember in magazines. It focuses heavily on prevention through nutrition, lifestyle habits, movement, stress reduction, and avoiding environmental toxins long before many of those conversations became mainstream.

Inside, you’ll find discussions on:
✨ Whole foods
✨ Vitamins & supplements
✨ Exercise
✨ Gut health
✨ Environmental exposures
✨ The belief that the body can often heal when properly supported

Some recommendations feel surprisingly ahead of their time… and others definitely make you pause and say, “Wait… what?” 😂

That’s what makes these old books so interesting to me. They show where health culture has been, what we’ve learned, what we’ve forgotten, and what still deserves discussion.

Discussion time, add thoughts in comments: 📖👇

Is love enough ??

((Not medical advice…
talk to your provider, y’all)

Kindly, Dr Hoff 🤓

05/10/2026

💚 🌳 🍃