Functional medicine approach
At Walla Walla Naturopathic you can expect your doctor to do some or all of the following:
- Be interested in who you are as a person and what your life is like.
- Gather information including your records, old labs, and intake forms to understand your health conditions.
- Take a thorough health history.
- Perform indicated physical examinations.
- Order new labs if indicated. This could include blood work, saliva testing for hormone levels, food sensitivity testing or intestinal samples.
- Take a holistic approach to your complaint and treatment plan. This will ALWAYS include Lifestyle Medicine.
- Explain to you how we understand your case.
- Offer support and encouragement.
- Tell you the truth about your condition and expectations for improvement or cure.
- Refer you to another practitioner if that is in your best interest.
- Suggest Professional Grade supplements/nutraceuticals through FullScript (without sales tax when prescribed).
- Give you recommendations for follow up that are in your best interest.
What is functional medicine ?
Functional medicine addresses the underlying causes of disease. It addresses the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms. Functional medicine practitioners spend time with their patients, listening to their histories and looking at the interactions among genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that can influence long-term health and complex, chronic disease.
Functional medicine integrates traditional Western medical practices with what is sometimes considered “alternative” or “integrative” medicine, creating a focus on prevention through nutrition, diet, and exercise; use of the latest laboratory testing and other diagnostic techniques; and prescribed combinations of drugs and/or botanical medicines, supplements, therapeutic diets, detoxification programs, or stress-management techniques.
Testing for Food Sensitivities
More and more, people are finding they are reacting to the foods they are eating. At Walla Walla Naturopathic, your practitioner can help you identify food sensitivities either through blood testing or a guided elimination and challenge diet. This can be very helpful in identifying food triggers to digestive issues, chronic skin rashes, headaches, and general inflammation. Please be aware that the test we offer does NOT determine anaphylactic types of allergies, but food sensitivities that present as chronic conditions or delayed-onset reactions.
Testing for Hormone Imbalance
Many people experience symptoms of hormone imbalance at some point in their lives. These symptoms can range from pre-menstrual syndrome to menopausal hot flushes. There are many ways to optimize hormone balance including diet and exercise modification, herbal medicine, nutritional supplements, and bio-identical hormone replacement therapy.
Environmental Medicine Evaluations
Sadly, we live in a what is becoming more and more a toxic world. Luckily, our bodies typically do an amazing job tolerating and clearing those toxins. Sometimes though, the toxic load becomes to great, or some individuals are more susceptible to the negative effects of toxins. At WWN, we can help you identify your toxic exposures, educate you on how to avoid them, and help rid your body of the toxic build up.