Have you ever felt like traditional medicine was just treating your symptoms rather than the root cause of them? The unfortunate truth is that while the United States may be a leader when it comes to innovations and the GDP, but when it comes to healthcare, Americans tend to be very unhealthy. This is due to a number of factors, such as our poor quality of food in comparison to other developed countries to how absurdly expensive seeing a doctor and getting treatment can be, with how the United States healthcare system is so focused on profits that analysts say “curing diseases is bad for business”.
With how inaccessible healthcare can be and how it tends to treat the symptoms rather than the root cause of issues, it’s no wonder that even though the United States is among the wealthiest nations in the world, Americans tend to have poorer health and shorter lifespans than people in other developed countries.
This is where functional medicine can come into play and help. There are many benefits of functional medicine, not the least of which is how it’s focused on uncovering the cause of your symptoms and helping you to achieve better health. Here is what you need to know about some of the benefits of functional medicine.
What Is Functional Medicine?
Functional medicine is a patient-centered, science-based approach to medicine. It changes the types of questions doctors ask in order to learn not just about your symptoms, but potential causes. This is why visits with functional medicine doctors can last up to an hour, as they walk through your lifestyle, stressors, diet, habits, and more with you in order to get a holistic view of your health and what works and doesn’t for you.
Functional medicine is not anti-traditional medicine, but rather, patient-focused. This means that if you need medications or other traditional medical treatments, functional medicine is open to you using them. What matters with functional medicine is doing what is best for each individual patient in order to find what works for you, specifically, so that you can prevent potential health problems and not just manage current health issues, but recover from them.
Benefits Of Functional Medicine
Functional medicine is focused on understanding each patient’s individual needs. Thus, there are many benefits of functional medicine, from customizable treatment options to better patient-doctor relationships to treating disorders rather than just the symptoms. Here’s what you need to know about some of the benefits of functional medicine.
#1. Personalized Treatment Plans
One of the primary benefits of functional medicine is how your treatment plan is customized to your specific needs. Functional medicine understands that every body is different, and thus, the same treatments won’t work for everyone. You deserve to have your healthcare personalized to your specific concerns and needs.
That’s why functional medicine doctors will ask you about your lifestyle, diet, and more, so that they can get a good idea of potential causes of your specific health concerns as well as what treatment plans would work best for you.
With personalized treatment plans, you can work towards recovery from your issue, rather than just symptom management. Because functional medicine takes a comprehensive account of your health, your treatment is customized to your unique needs, for optimal efficiency.
#2. Better Patient-Doctor Relationships
Another one of the key benefits of functional medicine is a better relationship with your doctor where you can feel heard and listened to. Many people express frustration with the current American healthcare system, with how you wait for an hour to see your doctor only to talk to them for about ten minutes before you’re sent on your way.
Functional medicine believes that in order for you to obtain the best possible treatment, your doctor needs to understand your concerns and why you have them. This is why appointments with a functional medicine doctor last longer, because they really spend their time with you in order to get as much information as possible about your personal history and details that could be impacting your health.
#3. Treating The Cause, Not Just The Symptoms
In order to get well, you need to understand why you’re having symptoms in the first place. One of the key benefits of functional medicine is how it strives to do just that. In some cases, your doctor may guide you through a lifestyle and dietary change in order to achieve better health and treat the root cause of your symptoms.
Functional medicine works to help you achieve wellness and to get and stay healthy by working with your individual circumstances and needs in order to create a personalized treatment plan that targets your specific concerns.
Regeneration Health is an experienced functional medicine healthcare provider. If you’re experiencing health concerns such as adrenal fatigue, hormonal imbalances, difficulty losing weight, and more, we can help. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.
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