Functional medicine is a growing style of medical care that can often be quite confusing for patients who are coming from the world of traditional medicine. Most know that it is a more natural look at the health of the body but do not understand how it differs from other traditional and newer health care models. Functional medicine seeks to help your body by assisting all of your organs and systems to work together better. It often includes parts of holistic medicine and is seen as a natural alternative to traditional care. Our doctor will look at your body as a whole and will often spend more one-on-one time with you to achieve better treatment results.
Get to the Root Cause
When you head in to see a traditional doctor, you may leave with a diagnosis, but that diagnosis may not show the full extent of what is bothering you. Your doctor may want to label you with a disease or write off all of your symptoms to one problem, such as heart disease, fatigue, or irritable bowel syndrome. The problem with this level of care is that it fails to get to the root of what is bothering your body. A functional doctor will look deeper, using specialized tests and assessments as well as longer visit times to discover what is truly the problem. Often, by treating the one underlying problem, our functional doctor will be able to solve multiple problems at once.
Get Personalized Support
As mentioned, our functional doctor often has far more time to spend with you during each visit. They may also request a variety of blood tests and other tests to determine your body functionality. This could include a genetic makeup test as well as in-depth tests for hormones and other blood chemicals. You can expect your personalized visit to include questions about your lifestyle, your food and activity choices and your exposure to various environmental toxins.
Get Full Treatment Plans
When our functional doctor has all of this necessary information, they will be ready to provide a treatment plan that is uniquely created for your specific needs. Rather than labeling you with a disease and writing you a prescription, our doctor will treat the root cause of imbalance in your body. While it could include prescription medicine, it may also include natural remedies, stress management programs and lifestyle changes.
Functional medicine is a great choice for many patients dealing with chronic problems that may have been difficult or impossible to diagnose or treat within the traditional health care model. If this describes you, let the functional process at The Metabolic Institute give you renewed hope that you can once again live fully without chronic discomfort or disease and without confusion over where your real health problems lie. We are conveniently located in Spokane, WA. Contact us today to schedule your consultation!
