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We understand that everyone in Dallas has unique health needs and goals. That’s why our extensive Functional Medicine approach is designed with your personal health requirements in mind. We start with thorough health assessments to identify your body’s specific needs. Our team of functional medicine experts create a personalized health plan that may include dietary guidance, lifestyle changes, and cutting-edge treatments.
Experience our integrative and holistic medicine services and deepen your connection with your wellness and healing journey.
Choose from our broad care package designed for various health needs, from chronic conditions to improving overall wellness or opt for our 12 month memberships for continuous, affordable healthcare solutions.
Tailored for the unique health needs of children, supporting their growth and well-being.
A comprehensive program focused on sustainable weight management, combining nutritional counseling and support for lifestyle changes.
Our practitioners can help you make sustainable and impactful changes to your lifestyle that support your overall health goals and quality of life.
A frequent reason for visits is to seek relief from ongoing allergies. Our method involves identifying the root causes of these allergic reactions, often related to diet, environmental factors, and immune system imbalances. Through tailored dietary plans, treatment strategies, and specific nutritional supplements, our healthcare professionals have helped clients significantly reduce or completely eliminate allergic symptoms.
Central to our Functional Medicine philosophy is the connection between mental and physical health. For individuals dealing with mood swings, anxiety, brain fog, depression, or other mental health challenges, we explore gut health, nutrient deficiencies, and hormonal imbalances. Personalized nutritional plans, integrative medicine approaches, lifestyle adjustments, and stress management techniques have been key in enhancing our clients' mental well-being, leading to more stable moods, clearer thinking, and a more positive outlook on life.
Our weight loss strategy extends beyond traditional diet and exercise plans. Recognizing the complexity of weight management, which is influenced by metabolism, hormonal balance, and emotional well-being, we offer customized nutritional advice, address hormonal imbalances, and recommend lifestyle changes. Our clients reached their weight loss goals in a healthy, sustainable way. They also experienced increased energy and a better understanding of their body's needs, leading to lasting health benefits beyond weight reduction alone.
Acupuncture is a type of traditional Chinese medicine that’s been around for about 2,500 years. It’s used to support wellness and improve overall mental and physical well-being. The acupuncturist places needles into specific points on the skin to help activate an energy in the body, called qi. According to traditional Chinese medicine, qi is the lifeforce energy in the body — it helps regulate and move things in the body to keep us well. Stress, environmental factors, lifestyle behaviors, and genetics are some of the things that can block qi in the body. The needles help to unblock or move qi to other areas in the body to help support wellness.
Acupuncture needles are solid, stainless steel needles that are usually not much larger than a strand of hair. Acupuncture needles are placed at a very shallow depth and go between tissues, making them less painful than a typical injection.
You might be more sensitive in certain areas, but acupuncture shouldn’t hurt. If you feel pain, tell your acupuncturist. They’ll adjust the needles or choose other points. Their goal is not to make you feel pain. They do a lot of work to position you properly and make sure you feel comfortable.
Indeed you can do acupuncture or massage while pregnant. It is safe and our practitioners are very well versed in how to treat pregnant women. Please let us know when you book a treatment if you are pregnant and how far along you are.
From spa treatments to functional medicine, Alive and Well offers a holistic health ecosystem at each of our three locations.
Dr. Pero was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Coming from a long lineage of accomplished and well-respected physicians in her family, she naturally gravitated towards the field of medicine. Being surrounded and supported by fierce women in her life, her affection for women’s healthcare blossomed as she entered the specialty of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
She had always been taught in Western Medicine that “if it runs in your family…” so she assumed, as she came from a large family, that starting her own family would be effortless.
As she and her husband started on their infertility journey, she was diagnosed with Endometriosis, Uterine Fibroids, Hormone Imbalance, and Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura- none of which “ran in her family”. This is when an unfolding in her personal life and in her professional career began, as she began to see the disadvantages of the sole reliance on Western Medicine narratives and the advantages of Integrative, Lifestyle, and Functional Medicine.
Once she became aware of the benefits of nutrition, supplements, and acupuncture as augmentative and facilitative to modern fertility treatments, she was able to conceive. Her and her husband went on to have three biological children and recently adopted their fourth child. Since ascribing to a Functional Medicine lifestyle herself, through a personally tailored nutrition and supplement plan as well as regular exercise, sleep/stress optimization, and the many other important pillars of whole body/spirit health, she has been symptom free from Endometriosis and Uterine Fibroids without needing surgical intervention or hormones.
In her “spare” time, she loves live music, competitive exercise, and reading. Her life is full with her 4 children, husband of 14 years, and sweet pup but also her intense love of her craft in medical care, especially in Functional Medicine. She has been able to realize that, through her health journey and struggles, she is able to relate and provide hope to her clients.
She is excited to help you realize your full health potential and start living your best life yet!
Lauren dedicates her career to facilitating wellness and empowering her patients to take an active role in their health. She has a particular interest in helping her patients get to the root-cause of their health problems by listening, asking detailed questions and understanding that most health problems stem from past experiences. Through guidance and patient education, Lauren gives her patients the tools they need to heal, stay well and thrive.
As a daughter of a neuroscientist and a nurse, Lauren has always been interested in science and medicine. However, she quickly learned that laboratory based research was not well suited for her–she loves connecting and talking with people too much!
She first earned her undergraduate degree in Environmental Sciences from Washington University in St. Louis. Afterwards, she achieved her Nursing Degree, Masters in Public Health Nursing, and Family Nurse Practitioner from the University of Texas, Austin. She is now a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner with prescriptive authority in the state of Texas. Lauren is also certified by the Institute of Functional Medicine. Even with her plethora of knowledge, Lauren still devotes time to continuing her education in functional and integrative medicine; as well as continuing to stay up to date on current medical research and best practices.
Lauren lives in Austin, Texas with her husband Sam, and their three children: Hazel (7), Harrison (3) and Holland (1). She loves anything outdoors– hiking in the mountains, around Austin, or at the beach. Lauren also adores live music, cooking nourishing food, and dancing two-step with her husband.
Megan (Meg) McElroy is a board-certified Physician Assistant with more than a decade of experience in functional and integrative medicine. She began her journey in functional medicine as a patient with chronic health issues. She believes there are 2 general approaches to the practice of functional medicine: lots of testing/treatments all at once (i.e. the most expensive approach), and the more methodical approach (the approach she currently utilizes).
‘’After over 12 years of experience in Functional Medicine, I have learned that simple steps are often most effective at improving health. We are intended to thrive, but we don’t have to have “perfect,” strict diets and a long list of supplements to do so! There is so much information at our fingertips—I see my role as being able to filter out the “noise” and simplify the overwhelm. It may take time and patience, but I never give up on finding ways to help my patients feel better.”
Clinical expertise: Thyroid health, autoimmune conditions, gastrointestinal health, cardiovascular and metabolic conditions, health optimization and longevity, fertility and hormone optimization
Daniel Chege, a Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner, brings a wealth of experience in integrative medicine to his practice. With a background in computer and mechanical engineering, his journey into healthcare was sparked by a passion for finding lasting solutions to health challenges. Originally from Kenya, Daniel pursued a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at Mountain State University in West Virginia upon relocating to the USA in 2008.
After gaining invaluable experience in critical care within the surgical ICU, Daniel continued his education, earning a Master of Science in Nursing with a focus on becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner from Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio in 2013. He further solidified his expertise by obtaining certification through the ANCC.
During his tenure at UPMC Pinnacle, where he initially worked in urgent care before transitioning to family practice, Daniel developed a keen interest in integrative approaches to medicine. He has dedicated himself to integrative medicine, focusing on personalized treatment plans that incorporate nutraceuticals, essential oils, peptides and IV therapies. His gentle bedside manner coupled with his high success rates in managing hormones, Thyroid dysfunction, PCOS and adrenal fatigue, explain his large and loyal female patient base.
Since the beginning of her medical career, Dr. Dina Pavilonis, M.D. continually asked questions about health, longevity, and healing that conventional medicine didn’t answer. Seeking those answers, she began studying Functional Medicine to complement her traditional medical studies.
Utilizing this multi-disciplinary approach, Dr. Pavilonis has been at the forefront of Integrative Medicine, devoting her career to treating patients in a highly personalized manner that focuses as much on overall health and wellness as it does on specific issues and diagnoses.
Functional and Integrative Medicine
Obesity Medicine
Metabolic
Endocrinology
Family Medicine
Specialties:
Completed her residency training at Swedish Covenant Hospital in Chicago, then worked as a primary care doctor for six years before choosing to focus on Bariatric and Functional Medicine.
She is a member of The Institute of Functional Medicine, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, Obesity Medicine Association and the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine.
Cindy Nilson is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine, Full Mesa Carrier, Reiki Master and Intuitive advisor. Utilizing acupuncture, energy-infused acupressure massage therapy and body psychology, she integrates teachings from eastern medicine, shamanism, energy/chakra healing and archetypal patterns to provide a unique diagnostic perspective and treatment experience. Specializing in how stress, our thoughts and emotions affect the physical body, and resourcing from the 10,000 hours spent honing her work, Cindy creates new and exciting collaboratives to her foundations in acupuncture therapy. She believes joining Alive + Well is the joyous culmination of her work and is excited to share this beautiful environment and healing space with her clients.
Cindy holds a B.A. from Texas A&M University and a Masters degree from the International Institute of Chinese Medicine. In 1999 she received her Doctor of Oriental Medicine from the New Mexico State Board of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. A native of Central Texas, she has been in private practice in Lakeway, where she lives happily married, raising kids.