Originally posted on https://karenthrelkelnd.com/benefits-of-seeing-naturopathic-doctors/
When it comes to natural medicine, there are a lot of myths and quacks out there.
So let’s separate the true from the false and get down to what a real naturopathic doctor actually is.
What is a Naturopathic Doctor?
Currently, there are around 6,000 naturopathic doctors (NDs) practicing in the United States who are licensed and have graduated from an accredited 4-year medical school.
That’s right, a real naturopathic doctor will have more than 4,000 hours of class and clinical training and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on medical school just like a conventional MD.
So what’s the difference?
Conventional and Naturopathic Medicine
First, naturopathic doctors are educated and trained in both naturopathic medicine and conventional medicine.
The main focus of a naturopathic doctor is to diagnose, prevent, and treat acute and chronic illness and to restore a person’s optimal levels of health through inherent self-healing processes of the body.
While much of conventional medicine is focused on treating the symptoms of a disease or illness, naturopathic medicine focuses on the root causes and develops a treatment plan to address the issue where it began.
Remove Those Obstacles!
Another main focus of a naturopathic doctor is to remove obstacles to your health. The natural state of one’s body is a healthy and disease free organism.
When obstacles to health enter a person’s life, disease eventually follows. The first step to returning to health is removing obstacles that disturb or interrupt healthy body patterns.
For example, poor diet, chronic stress, and individual disharmony are all obstacles to optimal health. A naturopathic doctor will work to stimulate self-healing mechanisms in the body, to strengthen and rid the body of disease.
One of the great things about seeing a naturopathic doctor is that, because naturopathic doctors are trained by professional naturopathic medical schools, they may opt to use conventional modalities as a last resort (such as antibiotics).
Naturopathic doctors are trained to start with natural therapies first, and only use extreme measures when absolutely necessary.
The Advantages of Naturopathic Medicine
As mentioned before, naturopathic medicine focuses on health at its roots.
Rather than treat the symptoms of a problem (i.e. give you pain killers), naturopathic medicine attempts to uncover what is causing the pain in the first place, and then provide you with a natural solution to uproot the cause of the pain.
This helps restore normal body function by enhancing the body’s own healing capabilities.
1. Prevention of Disease
The aim of every person and doctor should not be reactive but proactive. Disease prevention is one of the highest principles of naturopathic medicine.
Naturopathic doctors work with patients to help them understand how to prevent disease so that it never has a chance to show up.
Trust us, preventing cancer is a much better option than treating cancer after it shows up. The same goes for any type of disease.
2. Individualized Treatment
There is no “one size fits all” health plan.
Each person’s biology and genetic makeup is unique to them. One of the biggest pitfalls with conventional medicine is that it treats everyone as if they are the same person.
This is what leads to many complications in conventional medical treatment.
Naturopathic doctors understand that each person is an individual who will react in a unique way to different types of treatment. Working to develop a plan to stimulate the person’s individual and innate healing ability is paramount to every naturopathic doctor.
Additionally, naturopathic doctors are very aware that the most important healing takes place after the doctor visit.
There is a strong emphasis on helping patients understand how to implement a health program to make more educated self-care decisions for their future.
3. Access to Conventional Medicine (when needed)
Naturopathic doctors are the first to admit that there are times and situations that call for more invasive and conventional medical procedures.
Naturopathic doctors work with conventional medical doctors and are trained to refer patients to other health care professionals when needed.
4. Very Cost Effective
Naturopathic medicine is very cost effective. It is no secret that selling prescriptions is a money game.
By keeping you away from prescriptions and getting you back to the root of health, naturopathic doctors help patients take control of their own lives while helping them save thousands of dollars by not spending on unnecessary medical treatments.
Contact Karen Threlkel, ND today, get control life, breathe vitality and grow healthy roots.