It’s time to look further than the medicine cabinet to treat injuries. Functional Medicine practitioners use evidence-based natural healthcare to discover the source of the injury, not just treat the symptoms. Read on to find out how I redefine the healing process for my own patients recovering from sports injuries and other physical ailments.

Customized Care

Your body deserves the best treatment possible, which means healthcare that is designed specifically for you. I can’t stress this enough, especially during times of injury.

Through one-on-one sessions, I explore the links between the source of the pain and how it relates to the body as a whole. A hip injury, for example, should be examined to see how it may relate to the knee, ankle, or foot.

Comprehensive Lab Reports

Under the conventional system, doctors typically use lab work to diagnose a disease so it can be matched with a corresponding pharmaceutical drug. These labs are sufficient for prescribing medication, but they’re very incomplete from a functional medicine perspective.

In addition to running the lab reports that mainstream medical facilities run, functional medicine practitioners also run more extensive labs that delve further into underlying deficiencies, imbalances, infections, and other dysfunctions to look at the full scope of a patient’s physiology. These insights – which are frequently overlooked under the standard model of care – are often the key to understanding how to guide an injured patient’s path to wellness.

Addressing Underlying Dysfunctions

While managing symptoms is the cornerstone of the conventional system, functional medicine is more concerned with identifying the underlying dysfunctions that cause the symptoms in the first place. For example, high blood sugar is typically treated with medications that stimulate the pancreas to produce more insulin, which brings blood sugar levels down into the normal range.

A functional medicine practitioner will want to explore why blood sugar levels are high in the first place. Understanding and addressing the underlying dysfunctions can be the answer to helping patients who want to get healthy without any medications.

Natural Treatments

To be clear, functional medicine is not anti-medication. Instead, our focus is on the best option for the patient – finding the most effective treatment that causes the fewest negative side effects.

If a medication fits these criteria, it may be the best option. But many times, there are better alternatives.

I often discuss herbal and micronutrient medicines, therapeutic diets, and detoxification programs with my patients. Many prefer natural options and foods to pills and prescriptions.

Thomas Edison is known to have said, “The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will instruct his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.”

My patients trust me as a medical resource, a friend, and a caring, skilled partner in their healing process. Contact our office today to schedule a consultation and begin your path to optimal health and wellness.