What is Naturopathic Medicine?
A Traditional Naturopathic Doctor doesn’t diagnose or treat disease. Instead, he/she recognizes that 80% of health conditions are considered life-style preventable “disease”. Many of these conditions are a result of improper diet, environmental factors, unhealthy lifestyle habits, etc. A modern American diet/lifestyle is not healthy and even products labeled as such can be detrimental to our health. A Naturopath does not look only at “disease” or only at the symptoms present, but also at the body systems. The goal of this approach is to discover the actual underlying or “root” cause for the particular symptom and identify imbalances in the body that weaken the natural defenses and cause a breakdown in health.
A headache can be alleviated by taking an Aspirin, but the Aspirin only works to mask the symptom, not to prevent future headaches. The headache is not caused by an “Aspirin deficiency”! A naturopath will look further to find what may be causing the headaches and find what the body needs to restore balance. Each person is unique and symptoms manifest in many different ways.
The philosophy of Naturopathy is based on the belief that the body has been created to heal, to be healthy. Naturopathy focuses on identifying what is interfering with the body’s ability to heal. After the imbalance/interference has been identified, the Naturopath works with the client to find solutions to remove this interference and give the body what it needs (nutrition, targeted supplements, homeopathics, etc.) This is all done with an individual and holistic approach – addressing the “whole person” and understanding that all is connected, the mind, body and spirit.
A Traditional Naturopathic Doctor specializes in teaching wellness. The root word for Doctor in Latin is docēre – ‘to teach’. Doctor = Teacher. A Naturopathic Doctor is known as a “drugless” professional who does no harm, looks for natural ways to restore balance to the body, so the body can do what it has been created to do….heal.