In Highland Heights, Functional Medicine Matters
When you visit your conventional doctor, does it seem they don’t understand your concerns? Rushed office visits, detached physicians, and a one-fits-all approach to medicine leave patients with more questions than answers and seldom provides relief. In Highland Heights, functional medicine continues to be a popular alternative to conventional treatment.
Why is functional medicine so effective?
Treating the Whole Person
Conventional medicine, while effective in its way, is like repairing a leaking ceiling without fixing the burst pipe behind it. You can fix the problem temporarily, but the leak continues to cause more damage until it’s stopped.
The functional medicine approach to health recognizes that your symptoms—such as fatigue, gastrointestinal disorders, skin issues, allergies, and pain—aren’t stand-alone medical conditions. They are the result of a deeper problem within the body. Even things such as high blood pressure, anxiety, or diabetes aren’t stand-alone medical conditions: they are warning signs that something is out of balance in the complex network of systems that make up your body.
Conventional medicine can provide effective relief for symptoms, usually through pharmaceuticals. Unfortunately, this approach doesn’t identify the root causes of your symptoms. It only masks them.
Once you stop taking medications, your symptoms return. You rely on drugs to continue to feel better. Unfortunately, your medications have potentially harmful side effects, may be addictive, and possibly contain toxic chemicals. Your body reacts to medicines by building up an immunity, or tolerance, to them, and they must be adjusted to maintain their efficacy.
Throughout Highland Heights, functional medicine doctors understand that every system in your body contributes something to help maintain a healthy balance. Each system has its part to play in this balancing act, and when one system fails, the entire network is affected. Some of the common factors that affect your body’s balancing act include:
- Diet
- Lifestyle
- Environment
- Genetics
- Health history
Functional medicine doctors fix the leaky pipe behind the wall by focusing on the whole body rather than just the disease and symptoms.
The Seven Functional Medicine Imbalances
In Highland Heights, functional medicine providers assess your overall health by looking for one (or more) of seven core clinical imbalances. These imbalances are:
- Assimilation: Absorption, GI health, digestion, respiration
- Defense and Repair: Infection, immune function, inflammation
- Energy production: Mitochondria, energy regulation
- Biotransformation and Elimination: Toxicity
- Communication: Neurotransmitters, hormones
- Transport: Heart, lymphatic system
- Structural integrity: Musculoskeletal and membranes
If unbalances are uncovered, your provider creates a wellness plan to reverse them.
Wellness Plans
Functional medicine provides modern diagnostics alongside natural treatments for a truly science-backed, evidence-based wellness plan that includes any combination of lab work, botanical and herbal medications, supplements, dietary and lifestyle adjustments, detoxification programs, and even pharmaceuticals if needed.
A wellness plan focuses on restoring health, but you don’t have to be ill to benefit from a visit to your Highland Heights functional medicine office. Illness prevention is an integral part of functional medicine, and many therapies—such as chiropractic care, acupuncture, and massage therapy—reduce stress and anxiety.
Conditions Your Highland Heights Functional Medicine Provider Can Treat
Functional medicine is a practical approach to addressing a wide variety of illnesses and conditions—including chronic diseases such as diabetes, allergies, and autoimmune disorders. Here are just a few conditions functional medicine can treat:
- Metabolic conditions
- Cardiovascular disease
- Pain and inflammation
- Arthritis
- Depression and anxiety
- Nutritional deficits
- Hormonal imbalances
- GI disorders
- Maintaining a healthy weight
What Can I Expect from My Functional Medicine Office Visit?
Unlike conventional medical office visits, which are limited to fifteen minutes due to insurance requirements and the sheer volume of patients seen daily, a Highland Heights functional medicine office visit can last more than an hour.
During this time, your provider will listen to your concerns and conduct a thorough medical background assessment, including your risk for inherited health conditions. Your lifestyle, nutrition, and environment are evaluated as well.
Next, your doctor performs a thorough physical examination and—depending on your symptoms and the exam findings—orders lab tests to better understand your health status. There is no judgment in these exams, as providers understand that each person’s journey is as unique as the person taking it. Instead, you leave the office knowing you have a partner committed to your health.
Your wellness plan is created for you and is specific to your unique needs. While your functional medicine doctor is there to provide guidance, they also give you the information and tools you need to take control of your health.
Choosing Your Highland Heights Functional Medicine Provider
In and around Highland Heights, functional medicine at the Highland Wellness Center means natural therapies, a caring and committed staff, and real relief from fatigue, pain, anxiety, allergies, and more. Find the healing you deserve and get back to your healthiest you through functional medicine. Get started on your journey to health by scheduling your first appointment and discovering the functional medicine difference for yourself.