Your body is an ecosystem, and sometimes, when one part becomes infected, it can spread to the other healthy parts of your body. What’s even worse is that we often don’t know this is happening in the first place until we fall sick. However, a naturopathic doctor who has a deep understanding of the body’s interaction with nature can help you in preventing these diseases from striking. They are equipped with the tools and training needed to test for underlying conditions and prevent health issues.
First, let’s define naturopathy before delving into how naturopathic doctors can prevent disease.
Naturopathy: What Is It?
Naturopathic medicine is a health care philosophy that combines modern scientific knowledge of medicine with various evidence-based, natural health therapies. A naturopath uses a variety of natural treatments, including clinical nutrition, homeopathy, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and herbal therapy.
Naturopathy focuses on preventative and restorative healthcare. This holistic approach can help restore your body’s normal functioning and enhance your quality of life while minimizing the risks of disease and chronic illness.
What role do Naturopathic Doctors play in preventative care?
Most people only visit a doctor when they are ailing; visits to the doctor are usually expensive and inconvenient; that’s why most people don’t see the need to see a healthcare professional until they’ve been ailing for a long time. Preventive care looks to avoid sickness before it starts. That’s where naturopathic doctors come in!
Naturopathic doctors are trained to utilize their knowledge of the body and nature to optimize your health. These doctors do more than treat acute and chronic illnesses. They also work with patients to improve their lifestyles and prevent future diseases, improving the overall sense of well-being while decreasing their healthcare expenses.
Naturopathic doctors will give their patients a better understanding of holistic health while equipping them with the skills to make changes in their daily lives, ultimately improving their quality of life.
How Can A Naturopathic Doctor Help You?
There isn’t anyone who cannot be helped by seeing a naturopathic doctor. Whether you’re suffering from an acute or chronic problem or looking to achieve optimal health and vitality – a naturopathic doctor can help you.
However, the patients that naturopathic doctors see mainly can be categorized into three:
Taking Preventative Health Measures
This type of patient is completely healthy and looking to maintain optimal health through natural measures. Preventative health patients want to make sure they’re making the right choices that help improve their future health. Their visit to naturopathic doctors is to get guidance on taking charge of their health through preventive healthcare approaches such as proper nutrition, herbal medicine, lifestyle modification, and stress management.
Managing Chronic Symptoms
If You’ve had chronic symptoms for a long time, it’s most likely that you have sought treatment from conventional medical doctors. However, as much as your health may have improved, the after-effects of medications may give you considerable discomfort. In addition, some symptoms may persist; This is why patients seek the help of naturopathic doctors. A naturopathic doctor can help improve lifestyle factors that may be worsening your symptoms. They can also help you taper off conventional medications, which will allow your body to adjust naturally.
Life-Threatening Conditions
When patients enter a hospital with a life-threatening illness, they’ll often be given “standard treatments” that may not help them return to their full potential. While undergoing invasive treatments paired with heavy medication, little is done to address the patient’s “whole” health. A healthy approach — incorporating all aspects of a patient’s holistic health — can drastically improve the outcome of disease treatment.
A life-threatening illness is challenging enough to deal with, but it can become overwhelming when you factor in invasive treatments paired with heavy medication; This is why naturopathic doctors work with such patients by incorporating a holistic health approach, where all aspects of a patient’s health are considered. This approach can subsequently improve the outcome of disease treatment and allow patients to recover faster or enjoy a better quality of life.
How do Naturopathic Doctors Treat their Patients?
The treatments naturopathic doctors offer to aim at modifying lifestyle and helping the body heal itself. Naturopaths use a holistic treatment approach not found in standard Western pharmaceuticals. These treatments can include:
Botanicals: This is where plant-based remedies are used to support and stimulate the body’s natural healing process.
Clinical Nutrition: Clinical Nutrition emphasizes whole, organic foods to support critical body systems.
Homeopathic remedies: Where highly diluted substances are used to stimulate the body’s natural healing process.
Hydrotherapy: Hydrotherapy is where the body’s pores are opened to help flush out toxins and promote healing.
The treatments naturopathic doctors offer aim to modify lifestyle to help the body heal itself and prevent future health problems. Naturopaths use a holistic treatment approach not found in standard Western pharmaceuticals. These treatments can include botanicals, clinical nutrition, homeopathy, or hydrotherapy which may help you taper off conventional medications. In this way, naturopathic doctors can help prevent future health problems, improve the outcome of disease treatment and allow patients to recover faster and enjoy a better quality of life.
