There are many benefits to working with a Naturopathic Doctor (ND) and even more benefits of naturopathic medicine. Whether you are looking for general wellness advice or support while working through chronic health concerns, a licensed naturopathic doctor from our team can provide support by recommending individualized lifestyle, nutrition, and natural therapies. The main benefits of naturopathy flow from the guiding principles of naturopathic medicine.
Here are the naturopathic medicine benefits.
1. First to Do No Harm: A naturopath will use the least invasive and least toxic therapies to gently guide you back to wellness. There are circumstances (injury and illness) where stronger medicine is required; NDs are trained to assess and refer for treatments outside their scope of practice.
Benefit: You will receive non-invasive therapies with fewer side effects.
2. Maximize the Healing Wisdom of Nature: The nature of biology is to be self-healing and self-correcting. Many of the body’s innate mechanisms for healing (pain, inflammation, redness, and heat) are signs that the body is attempting to regenerate. An ND from our professional team will look for these signs and work with the body to promote healing where possible with lifestyle recommendations and natural therapies. It is important to understand that these recommendations and naturopathic medicine advantages are designed to support your body’s capacity to heal. This means that while the therapies are supportive, your body is doing much of the work.
Benefit: You will be encouraging your body to restore balance rather than relying on therapies that suppress symptoms. While suppressive therapies are sometimes required, your body gets stronger and learns each time it is naturally able to self-correct.
3. Identify and Treat the Cause: An ND will explore deep into your health history and look for strengths and barriers to healing. Ideally, this involves looking for the ‘root cause’ of imbalance. They will use this information to set up an individualized treatment plan targeted at your overall health.
Benefit: Asking ‘why’ certain symptoms or conditions are happening while searching for the bigger picture allows you to reach for a deeper level of healing than treating specific symptoms alone. Treating the underlying causes of disease can help to heal numerous symptoms.
4. To Teach and Provide Tools that Empower Health Literacy or ‘Doctor as Teacher’: At the core of the naturopathic profession is the desire to empower individuals to be the experts on their own health. One of the biggest advantages of naturopathic medicine is that an ND will provide information and education so that an individual may be better able to understand their own health and advocate on their own behalf.
Benefit: You may grow a better understanding of your own health and feel more comfortable discussing this with other healthcare professionals as well as advocating on your own behalf. This may also help you become more in tune with your body.
5. To Treat the Whole Person: Our current medical system is designed around specific expertise in specific systems. While this has greatly advanced our medical knowledge, it often results in treatments that focus narrowly on symptoms. And even multiple treatments for various complaints without acknowledging the interconnectedness of our health. By treating the whole person, naturopathy compliments conventional care by taking into consideration all the physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual aspects that affect individual health.
Benefit: You may be able to address multiple systems, symptoms, or imbalances by taking into consideration the bigger picture in your health. This approach facilitates self-awareness and aims to reduce unnecessary treatments.
6. To Promote Prevention of Disease: The prevention of diseases tops the list of naturopathy benefits. Naturopathic Medicine is focused on providing education and tools that individuals can use throughout life. It is a core belief of NDs that prevention is essential to long-term wellness, or in the words of Benjamin Franklin, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Benefit: You will have knowledge and tools to promote long-term wellness. You will also have the tools and ability to redirect yourself when life pulls you off your path. Knowledge of prevention can be as valuable as prevention itself.
Contact our naturopathic doctors to find out more about the benefits of naturopathic medicine.
