Most people still don’t know what Integrative and Functional Medicine is. While this healing method has been around since ancient times, its concepts are somewhat new and innovative than our current “disease management” system.
The modern medicine lingo has become confusing, especially when you start hearing words like alternative, holistic, integrative, and functional. If you have a migraine, for instance, aside from seeing a general practitioner, you have the option to see an acupuncturist or attend a yoga class.
However, more people are now turning to Integrative and Functional Medicine to address such health conditions. This method will focus on you as an individual, not on your disease, providing a holistic and conventional approach to improving overall life. Many clinics like Grewel Center are offering this kind of method to many patients.
Below is a quick guide to different treatment methods and why Integrative and Functional Medicine is the best option right now.
Conventional
This is also referred to as mainstream medicine. It is the first thing you think of when talking about standard health care. This method’s main goal is to alleviate all the physical symptoms of injuries and illnesses using pharmaceutical drugs. For instance, infections are treated with antibiotics, and high blood pressure is treated with antihypertensives.
However, most of these medications have side effects and can be very expensive in the long run. Moreover, conventional doctors are receiving many patients daily whom they need to check as fast as possible, sacrificing the good doctor/patient relationship.
Alternative
This approach uses non-traditional treatments like chiropractic therapy, hypnotherapy, massage, yoga, homeopathy, acupuncture, herbal medicines, Ayurveda, or Chinese medicines.
Integrative
This method checks on the patient’s physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and environmental influences that can affect a person’s health. Using a personalized approach that evaluates the patient’s unique circumstances, conditions, and needs, integrative medicine has the right interventions from a wide range of scientific disciplines. This cures diseases and illnesses and helps the patient regain and maintain their prime health.
The integrative medicine’s defining principles are:
- The patient and the practitioner work together in the healing process.
- Each factor that affects wellness, health, and disease will be examined, including mind, body, community, and spirit.
- The practitioner will use all healing disciplines to enable the patient’s body’s natural healing response.
- Beneficial interventions that are less invasive and natural are used if possible.
- Patients receive a personalized approach to address their unique needs, conditions, and circumstances.
Functional
Functional medicine started when Jeffrey Bland, Ph.D., established the Institute for Functional Medicine in 1991. This approach addresses the root causes of disease through a systems-oriented method and allowing the practitioner and the patient to have a therapeutic partnership.
It is progress in medical practice, which offers a better approach to healthcare needs in managing chronic diseases. It uses advanced history taking and testing to understand what causes the diseases and dysfunctions.
While conventional medicine seeks what causes the diseases and what medication to take, Functional medicine addresses why the symptom is occurring and seeks its origin.
Integrative and functional medicines are the same when analyzing different segments of specialized, conventional medicine: The patient’s body, experience, and the doctor-patient relationship are essential. This is what integrative functional clinics like Grewal Center are offering to heal their patients.
Unlike the mainstream approach to disease and illness, the integrative and functional approach supports the body’s healing mechanism, allowing your body to restore and optimize its health. This makes them the best choice if you want to take control of your health.
