Why Try Naturopathic Medicine?

Naturopathic medicine is dedicated to the study and celebration of nature’s healing powers. It is as old as healing itself and as modern as cutting-edge medical breakthroughs. With a dynamic philosophy, the profession recognizes that all living things are interconnected and interdependent. Fundamentally, naturopathic medicine views the body as an integrated whole and prioritizes the most natural, least invasive and least toxic therapies to treat illness.

The Six Fundamental Principles of Naturopathy

Naturopathic medicine is defined by principles rather than by treatment options. Above all, it honors the body’s innate wisdom to heal and gives patients the tools for lifelong wellness. The ultimate goal of naturopathic care is restoring balance in the body to support its natural healing process.

At its core, naturopathic medicine is distinguished by six underlying principles:

1. First, do no harm. Utilize the most natural, least invasive and least toxic therapies.
2. The healing power of nature. Trust in the body’s inherent wisdom to heal itself.
3. Identify and treat the causes. Look beyond the symptoms to the underlying cause.
4. Physician as teacher. Educate patients in the steps to achieving and maintaining health.
5. Treat the whole person. View the body as an integrated whole in all its physical and spiritual dimensions.
6. Prevention. Focus on overall health, wellness and disease prevention.

Quite often, patients find themselves working with a naturopathic doctor after they’ve exhausted “traditional medicine.” Usually only after trying conventional medical means with no success that people do their own research and learn of the potential and long history of natural medicine. However, naturopathy is not just for people who have hit their breaking point with a health condition.

So, why should you see a naturopathic doctor?

• You want a doctor who will treat all of you, not just your illness.
  Naturopaths handle patients differently than other doctors. Instead of diagnosing ailments, the whole person is considered, across their entire lifetime, inspecting the body, mind, and environment.

• You want personalized treatment.
  With a thorough intake of your lifestyle; nutrition; work and leisure activities; current and past ailments, stressors and injuries, as well as environmental influences, a naturopathic doctor can create a personalized treatment plan.

• You want to treat the root cause of an illness, not just the symptoms.
  Symptoms are an external manifestation of an internal imbalance due to any combination of causes. While symptom management is important, it is more important to diagnose the underlying cause of disease.

• You want to actively participate in managing your own health.
  A marked component of naturopathy is educating patients in the steps to achieving and maintaining health.

• You have chronic pain and don’t want to use pharmaceutical drugs to manage it forever.
  As a medical discipline that emphasizes a holistic approach and natural treatments, naturopathic medicine offers safe and effective alternatives to highly addictive drugs for managing chronic pain.

• You have tried all conventional medical options for diagnosing and treating a health condition.
  When all else has failed, naturopathic medicine is an invitation to change perspectives and dig deeper.

If you’re interested in trying naturopathy with Mend’s naturopathic medical doctor and acupuncturist, Dr. Stacey Kargman, NMD, L.Ac., please call to book your session at (410) 337-7940.

Sources:

“How Do Naturopathic Doctors Help People Manage Chronic Pain Without Highly Addictive Opioids?” Institute for Natural Medicine, 16 Feb. 2022, https://naturemed.org/how-do-naturopathic-doctors-help-people-manage-chronic-pain-without-highly-addictive-opioids/.