Naturopathic medicine is used to treats a variety of health concerns from pediatric to geriatric. The use of naturopathy is the belief that the body will heal itself naturally.
The purpose of naturopathic medicine is to improve health, treat illnesses, and prevent diseases by eating healthy and exercise. The philosophy of naturopathic medicine is that a balanced healthy lifestyle and use of natural medicine treatments like herbal therapy can significantly help a person’s health.
A naturopathic physician strongly believe that nutrition, herbal remedies, nutritional supplements, lifestyle counseling, and physical medicine (therapeutic massage) all play an effort in fixing a person’s overall health. Most naturopathic physicians treat allergies, earaches and a variety of common problems.
Naturopathic medicine was established in the late 1800s in the United States. Today, to become a naturopathic physician, you need to obtain a license from a four-year naturopathic medical school. Prospective naturopaths learn basic sciences, herbal medicine, homeopathy, and bodywork.
This type of medicine is usually used to diagnose disease, prevention, and treatment by using natural therapies, such as herbal medicine, hydrotherapy, clinical nutrition, homeopathy, naturopathic manipulation, Chinese medicine, acupuncture, disease prevention, and health promotion.
A properly trained naturopathic physician will initially ask you questions about your lifestyle, diet, environment, family background, and history of your illnesses or complaints. As soon as the naturopathic physician has gathered the information on your health history, they will suggest other forms of help then pharmacy medicine, such as kinesiology, blood analysis, stool and urine samples, iridology, functional testing and hair analysis.
Naturopathic medicine will use a variety of non-invasive techniques, such as:
- Nutrition – an unhealthy diet can prevent the body from functioning correctly and can cause toxins to build up that leads to a variety of illnesses. Naturopathy will offer advice on nutrition and information on food to help you switch to a healthier lifestyle.
- Advice on herbs – herbal medicine can help heal illness naturally
- Homeopathy – is used to stimulate the body through homeopathic treatments
- Hydrotherapy (water therapy) – a naturopathic physician could use hot or cold compresses to treat specific conditions or to influence blood flow through the body
- Physical therapies – physical therapies like a massage, acupressure, bio-puncture, and kinesiology
- Counseling – Naturopathic physicians can counsel their clients to help with emotional or stressful problems that are interfering in their healing process, such as stress management or life coaching
Naturopathy can be used to treat numerous forms of medical concerns, from small systems to chronic illness, physical to psychological. Using a naturopathic physician can be helpful if you are looking for help in the following:
- Prevention of diseases and strategies to promote a healthier lifestyle
- Health symptoms that haven’t been addressed on your own or with the help of medical practitioners
- Looking for alternative health treatments to a severe or chronic illness
- Want to minimize the side effects of drugs, traditional therapies, or surgery by using naturopathic therapies
Final Thoughts
As natural medicine becomes more mainstream, more and more people are seeking and benefiting from the use of naturopathic medicine. Many factors can affect a person’s health and lead to infections, which include poor choices in dietary, chronic stress, lack of exercise and proper sleep. It teaches people to watch for signs and to listen to the body, experiencing illness is the body’s way of letting us know that we need to examine our health. Visiting a naturopathic physician, determine a treatment plan that involves you in your health, can significantly help improve your health.
Although naturopathic medicine does have its benefits, it’s essential to remember that it won’t treat specific illnesses or diseases. Naturopathic medicine can be used along with medical or therapeutic techniques. Always keep your doctor or specialist involved, or ask for guidance about using naturopathy is you suffer from any severe or chronic diseases.