Functional medicine is a unique form of medicine that has approximately 1,000 practitioners worldwide and growing. It takes a long-term disorder like arthritis and celiac disease and allows a practitioner to treat them more comprehensively. One advantage of functional medicine for example found out of functional medicine Colorado-based is that patients enjoy longer appointments. Elsewhere, a study at the Cleveland Clinic found that functional medicine improved patient outcomes overall. There are a few important ways that functional medicine treats long-term illnesses like arthritis and celiac disease.
Longer Appointments
A key component of the functional medicine form of health care is longer appointments. This is important for patients with celiac disease and arthritis because their needs are extensive, and a 15-minute appointment does not serve them. Longer appointments in functional medicine for arthritis and celiac disease patients will include taking more detailed histories and coming up with a more comprehensive treatment plan.
For patients in functional medicine, often use a combination of treatment methods, and this is likely why their outcomes are improved overall.
Combined Treatments
Functional medicine aims to look at the root cause of the patient’s problems. They don’t look at just one thing. This approach requires multiple treatment modalities.
For arthritis, for example, pain in the wrist may be caused by a number of factors outside of arthritis. It may be cold that day, or too warm, the person may be working with their hands too much, they may have a chronic condition in the family that hasn’t been uncovered to the doctor yet.
In functional medicine, understanding this history is part of the treatment plan. Then, the practitioner will work with combined treatment methods to alleviate symptoms and remove the root cause of the problem. This will include everything from acupuncture to prescription medication.
Improved Quality of Life
Everyone knows that a bad day with the doctors can be a bad day or a bad week or a bad month. Functional medicine tries to remove that problem from a patient’s life.
Combined treatments and longer appointments are important for good outcomes because not only will many health problems improve, or at least be managed better, but it’s good for the patient’s overall health as well. When a patient feels tended to and cared for, it’s good health care. This improves their quality of life.
When a patient feels good about their doctor, they feel more in control of their own lives. For patients suffering from the chronic pain of arthritis or celiac disease, this is an important thing to them. Functional medicine recognizes this.
Book an Appointment Today
If you think your life would improve with a practitioner that wants to get to the root of your problem, and help you, choose functional medicine. Choose it for just one day and see if it makes a difference in your life.
Muhammad Aqib