As people become more health-conscious it’s quite natural for them to turn away from conventional medicine. One alternative is functional medicine. Studies have found it to have significant benefits on overall health as well as individual symptoms.
Functional medicine has grown in popularity, but you might not have heard of naturopathic medicine. In this article, we’ll take a look at functional medicine vs naturopath. We’ll help you better understand the subtle differences between the two and the benefits of each.
What Is Functional Medicine?
Conventional medicine looks at individual symptoms and aims to prescribe a cure to those symptoms. Functional medicine is a systems-based approach. It aims to identify the root causes of presenting health conditions.
A functional medicine doctor takes a holistic approach to treatment. They will consider several different factors when treating a patient. This will include taking your physical, emotional, mental, and even spiritual health into account.
Functional medicine doctors are likely to ask you about your:
- Diet
- Current medications
- Lifestyle
- Exercise habits
- Sleep patterns
- Emotional and mental wellbeing
- Existing and current symptoms
- Family health history
By taking all of this this into account, functional medicine aims to create an overall picture of your health. From here it is easier to identify different contributing factors to your condition.
From here, a functional medicine doctor can make adjustments to any areas that seem necessary. This might include prescription medications, other therapies, and supplements. It can also include diet changes and exercise routines.
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What Is Naturopath?
Naturopathic medicine is technically a part of functional medicine. Not all functional medicine doctors practice naturopathy. But all naturopathic doctors are practicing functional medicine.
Naturopathy also takes a holistic approach to treatment. A naturopathic doctor will investigate the same things as a functional medicine doctor would look into.
The key difference is that naturopathy only uses natural therapies. It stems from more traditional medicines such as Ayurveda and indigenous medicines. Some common therapeutic approaches of naturopathic medicine include:
- Botanical medicine
- Homeopathy
- Hydrotherapy
- Physical therapies eg. massage and acupuncture
- Counseling techniques
- Dietary and nutritional advice
- Bio-dynamics
The key philosophy behind naturopathy is that the human system is capable of repairing itself. The therapeutic approaches including in naturopathy all aim to help restore the body’s self-healing process.
Functional Medicine Vs Naturopath
When it comes to the benefits of functional medicine vs naturopath it’s important to realize that the two systems are closely linked. The main benefit of both is that they use a holistic approach to help treat medical conditions.
Both approaches aim to prevent further harm to the body and help the natural healing system do its job. Functional medicine might include prescription medicines as part of the treatment. Naturopathy only uses natural remedies.
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Thanks for helping me understand how a naturopath could help you treat your illnesses by buffing your body’s self-healing ability. I heard rumors that my aunt has been experiencing routine headaches recently. I should talk to her about finding a local naturopathic expert that can help her recover.