What Is a Functional Medicine Doctor?
When you have been suffering from a chronic illness for as long as you can remember, it may be frustrating to continue to deal with it without a solution or remedy. The pain, discomfort, and other debilitating side effects of your illness simply become an unwanted part of your life. This is when a functional medicine doctor can help you.
Functional medicine doctors understand that complex chronic illnesses tend to branch out and incorporate various systems within the body. They understand that a patient’s condition is not in isolation from other factors in that patient’s life and body. With this being said, they have a different approach compared to doctors practicing conventional medicine.
Doctors who practice conventional medicine will attempt to provide you relief from the symptoms of your illness, but it is rare that the root of the condition is discovered, let alone treated. With a conventional doctor, you know that you will be reliant on prescription medication to deal with your condition’s symptoms. When you are tired of feeling sick, you need to make a change. That’s where functional medicine makes a difference.
What Is Functional Medicine?
Functional medicine focuses on the holistic approach to patient care and treatment because it attempts to find out the root cause of a patient’s condition and treat that cause rather than just treating and managing symptoms. They rarely affect only one system. Figuring out the root cause of your illness will allow your functional medicine doctor to develop a customized treatment plan designed to achieve optimum health for your whole body.
Functional medicine requires time, patience, and a thorough understanding of the body’s complex interconnectedness. Your genetic, biochemical, and lifestyle factors all play a part in your illness, so that means that a “one-size-fits-all” approach is not going to provide each patient with the optimum wellness we are striving for. For this reason, it is integral that patients play a part in their healthcare and work with their functional medicine doctor directly to improve your long-term well-being.
When you meet with our functional medicine doctors at True Life Medicine, you will likely be surprised at the amount of time you spend discussing your lifestyle and medical history with us. We take everything into account when diagnosing your condition because we understand that you have already been to specialists and other conventional doctors who are only interested in treating the symptoms. Our goal is to show you that you do not have to rely on prescription medications to overcome your condition. Changes in lifestyle, diet, stress, and other factors can lead to the improved health you need for better overall well-being.
How Does Functional Medicine Differ from Conventional Medicine?
Conventional medicine has a much narrower focus when it comes to diagnosing and treating chronic illness. Our providers use their specialty to provide medications and procedures that deal with your symptoms. If you have a skin condition, you will see a dermatologist. For stomach issues, you will contact a gastroenterologist. While doctors certainly understand how the parts of the body in their particular specialty function and can become ill, they often do not consider outside factors that may be contributing to the illness.
On the other hand, doctors who practice functional medicine focus on the holistic approach to patient care and treatment. That is the primary difference between the practice of conventional medicine doctors and functional medicine doctors.
When you seek out the medical advice of a functional medicine provider at True Life Medicine, we will listen to the way you describe your body’s condition and consider all aspects of your life. We understand that the functionality of the human body depends on all of the systems working together, and an illness can be affected by various internal and external factors. Our goal as functional medicine doctors is to treat the root cause of your condition, not just the symptoms that result from it. We are not going to write you a prescription for a medication that will cover your symptoms for a time and then send you back to your everyday life. Our team will work with you on a regular basis to ensure that all aspects of your life are considered in our diagnosis and treatment plan.
What to Expect from a Functional Medicine Doctor’s Appointment
When you visit our offices for the first time, we will spend a good amount of time listening to you discuss your medical history, medications, and lifestyle factors such as nutrition, exercise, stress, and sleep. We will also consider your genetics and conduct diagnostic tests to make sure we have a fully formed picture of your whole body so that we can identify the problem and its primary root cause. Once we have completed this extensive survey with you, our Institute for Functional Medicine trained doctor will develop a customized treatment plan for you that will often involve dietary changes, lifestyle alterations, supplements, and other aspects related to your everyday life.
Over time your body will begin to change as a result of the treatment plan, and we will be there with you every step of the way. We want to eliminate the reliance on medications to cover your symptoms. Through our treatment process, your body will heal itself with a little push from our functional medicine doctors. With functional medicine, you won’t have to worry about the nasty side effects of harsh prescription medications because the symptoms will be eliminated when we discover and treat the root cause of your illness. Functional medicine truly keeps your whole body in mind and so does Dr. James and our whole medical team at True Life Medicine.
Contact Our Functional Medicine Doctor Today!
If you are dealing with a chronic illness and want to discover the root cause of your condition, contact our functional medicine doctor at True Life Medicine. Dr. Randolph James has his training in conventional medicine but realized that it is more important to treat the entire body holistically rather than just the symptoms of your condition. We use the most cutting edge laboratory and diagnostic testing to provide us with the results we need to focus on the root cause of your illness. If you want a healthcare system that only has you and your overall well-being in mind, contact True Life Medicine today to schedule a call with our functional medicine providers.
