About
What is Naturopathy?
Naturopathy (also known as naturopathic medicine or natural medicine) is an alternative medical system that focuses on natural remedies and the body’s innate vital ability to heal and maintain itself. Naturopathic philosophy favors a holistic approach and minimal use of surgery and drugs. Naturopathic physicians craft comprehensive treatment plans that blend the best of modern medical science and traditional natural medical approaches to not only treat disease, but to also restore health.
Naturopathic Medicine Treatments
Naturopathy comprises many different treatment modalities. Sample treatments include family practice, detoxification, acupuncture, homeopathic medicine, massage therapy, reflexology treatment, colon hydrotherapy and vitamins injection. Due to the holistic approach of natural medicine and naturopathy, areas such as obstetrical care and postnatal care, nutrition and lifestyle advice are also important parts of a comprehensive holistic treatment.
Natural Medicine Principles
Naturopaths base their practice on six timeless principles founded on medical tradition and scientific evidence.
- Let nature heal. Our bodies have such a powerful, innate instinct for self-healing. By finding and removing the barriers to this self-healing cycle- such as poor diet or unhealthy habits- naturopathic physicians can nurture this process.
- Identify and treat causes. A Naturopathic physician understand that symptoms will only return unless the root illness is addressed. Rather than cover up symptoms, they seek to find and treat the cause of these symptoms.
- First, do no harm. Naturopathic physicians follow three precepts to ensure their patients’ safety:
Use low-risk procedures and healing compounds -such as dietary supplements, herbal extracts and homeopathy- with few or no side effects. The use of natural healing arts such as reflexology and massages is also a common practice.
When possible, do not suppress symptoms, which are the body’s efforts to self-heal. For example, the body may cook up a fever in reaction to a bacterial infection. Fever creates an inhospitable environment for the harmful bacteria, thereby destroying it. Of course, the naturopathic physician would not allow the fever to get dangerously high.
Customize each diagnosis and treatment plan to fit each patient. We all heal in different ways and the naturopathic physician respects our differences.
- Educate patients. Naturopathic medicine believes that doctors must be educators, as well as physicians. That’s why naturopathic physicians teach their patients how to eat, exercise, relax and nurture themselves physically and emotionally. They also encourage self-responsibility and work closely with each patient.
- Treat the whole person. We each have a unique physical, mental, emotional, genetic, environmental, social, sexual and spiritual makeup. The naturopathic physician knows that all these factors affect our health. That’s why he or she includes them in a carefully tailored treatment strategy.
- Prevent illness. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” has never been truer. Proactive medicine saves money, pain, misery and lives. That’s why naturopathic physicians evaluate risk factors, heredity and vulnerability to disease. By getting treatment for greater wellness, we’re less likely to need treatment for future illness.
