Provide A More Thoughtful Path To Maintaining Your Health Over the Long Haul.
Healthcare providers often provide overly rushed appointments and short-term remedies versus long-term fixes for their patients. Functional Medicine Physicians take a unique approach to get to the bottom of the cause of the patient’s illness by treating it at its source. By not only treating the patient’s symptoms but using individualized treatment plans that target the underlying issues, Functional Medicine Physicians achieve more effective long-lasting results for their patients than traditional healthcare practices.
What Is A Functional Medicine Physician?
Physicians who practice Functional Medicine approach healthcare differently than most physicians. Rather than simply treating the symptoms of disease, Functional Medicine focuses on identifying and treating the root cause(s). When a physician diagnoses a patient with a disease/condition, they typically prescribe medication to provide immediate relief from the symptoms of the disease. Functional Medicine takes a different, more investigative, and individualized approach than does traditional medicine.
For example, when a patient is experiencing symptoms of a disease, rather than ask, “What medication will relieve my symptoms?” a Functional Medicine Physician will ask, “Why am I having this symptom in the first place?” This shift in thinking permits the doctor to identify the underlying imbalances in your body that have contributed to your disease (nutrition, hormones, gut health, stress, environmental factors, and/or lifestyle practices).
Let’s take an example. If your doctor diagnosed you with chronic fatigue due to your lifestyle choices, a traditional approach would give you a stimulant or tell you to rest. A Functional Medicine Physician, on the other hand, would investigate the many causes of your chronic fatigue—like low vitamin/mineral levels; a thyroid imbalance; poor quality sleep; chronic stress; and/or imbalances in your gut—before they can help you improve your chronic fatigue with a variety of treatments.
Another important difference between traditional and Functional Medicine is the degree to which physicians focus on the individual patient. Even if two people have the same diagnosis, no two people are alike. Therefore, their treatments will need to be tailored to each individual’s needs.
Key Principles for Functional Medicine:
- Identify the Source of the Healthcare Issue vs. Trying To Treat The Symptoms.
- Consider The Body as A Whole Unit (ie, The Whole Body Is Interrelated).
- Create a Customized Plan of Care for Each Patient.
- Integrate Complementary & Alternative Healthcare Into The Plan of Care.
- Functional Medicine Physicians Can Be A Good Option For Patients With Chronic Health Issues That Do Not Respond Well to Traditional Medical Treatments.
Why Live in Manhattan, NYC and Work With A Functional Medicine Physician?
When you are accessing healthcare through traditional methods it is easy to be a patient who does not feel appreciated or valued. If you are living in NYC, rather than receiving the healthcare that you deserve through traditional methods, you should work with a Functional Medicine Physician who can create a customized plan for maintaining your overall health.
