Any burning questions for a Naturopathic Doctor?
I'll start: What is a Naturopathic Doctor/ Naturopathic Medicine?
Wow, that is a BIG question. Naturopathic Doctors are primary care physicians.
That means that we are very similar to your family doctor or GP. The difference is we have a different set of tools to address your concerns. As such, naturopathic doctors can be a benefit to anyone: we diagnose and treat any health condition. Naturopathic doctors (NDs) are regulated healthcare professionals who can work independently or alongside medical doctors (MDs) and specialists for the greatest patient outcomes. My philosophy of medicine is very tightly woven with the principles of naturopathic medicine, which make the profession unique. Naturopathic medicine relies on the principles of: - The body has innate healing nature - Doctor as teacher - Identify and treat the cause - Treating the whole person - Prevention I use these principles as framework as a way to treat my patients. Let's tease these apart a bit! Prevention is so important. You don’t have to be in dire health to come see me. Think about it as prehab rather than rehab. Making an investment to set yourself up to be healthy for the rest of your life is one of the best choices you can make. There are a lot of great things that naturopathic medicine can do, but it works even better when used early on. Treating the cause of the problem as well as the symptoms is so important. You are more than simply your symptoms. And seemingly unrelated symptoms can actually be related. Take gut health and mental health. The majority of serotonin,
the feel good hormone, is made in your gut. If your gut isn’t functioning properly, you have an increased risk of mental health consequences like anxiety, depression, low mood or panic attacks. That’s why it's so important to identify the cause of the problem as well as treat the whole person.
We use a number of different techniques to align with these principles, such as nutrition and lifestyle counselling, acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine, nutraceutical support, herbal medicine, counselling and mental health support, and can recommend certain pharmaceutical therapies.
And don't fret, I don't always take away your gluten and dairy. Please send me your questions and I will answer them all week long!
To book an appointment check out "book now" tab my website, or call 306-545-2225. In health, Dr. Larissa, ND