Most people are familiar with the doctors’ general saying, “take this medicine and call me tomorrow.” But image a scenario where the physician discusses every component of his/her lifestyle with the patient. That is precisely what physicians practicing functional medicine do.
Irrespective of your health condition, they will discuss everything and then find a customized treatment option for you. They can be osteopaths, chiropractors, MDs, or others. What they all share in common is the holistic approach to one’s health. Studies indicate that many people benefit from it.
Benefits of Functional Medicine
Functional Medicine has an array of benefits of which the top three are as follows,
- Patient-Centered Treatment- Patient-centred healthcare in the past decade has become immensely popular. Healthcare must always center on a patient. That is a chief value, especially in functional medicine, which means physicians emphasize the person as a whole instead of a disorder or disease. Rather than getting a quick means to remove symptoms, doctors that offer functional medicine try to discover the root cause of the disease that the patient is suffering from. They recognize the individuality of every patient and do not believe in the concept of one-size-fits-all.
- Body, Mind, and Spirit- A physician that deals with functional medicine probe to discover what is happening with the patient physically. Such physicians may talk to the patient regarding their emotional and spiritual well-being and wish to know more about their relationship with their loved ones. They aim to capitalize on their patient’s overall energy instead of purely treating the disease.
- Affordable Disease Prevention- To prevent diseases is always cheaper than treating them. A functional medicine practitioner will save a patient’s money by preserving their health and minimizing the damage done by exposure to various environmental toxins, stress, and poor nutrition.
Relationship between a Chiropractor and Functional Medicine
There is a strong connection between active edge chiropractic & functional medicine in the sense that chiropractic care is a part of a comprehensive functional medicine as it aids patients to attain optimal health. Besides, this approach’s concepts fit into most chiropractors’ practice because they maximize such tools to treat a patient. On the one hand, some chiropractors chiefly focus on traditional spinal manipulation while others add more elements into the chiropractic as per the functional approach’s principle. This can entail lifestyle, nutritional counseling, and acupuncture. Functional medicine is popular among chiropractors that treat complex yet common illnesses like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.
A chiropractor practicing functional medicine may work in collaboration with other practitioners to maximize a patient’s health. For instance, an acupuncturist may refer his patient to a chiropractor and vice versa. They work together by emphasizing the best interests of the patient.
The bottom line is the patient plays a pivotal part in functional medicine. A patient will work with his/her chiropractic physician to improve their health, at times changing their lifestyle and diet, instead of taking medications passively to alleviate symptoms.