Naturopathy is a type of alternative medicine that looks at the bigger picture when it comes to medical ailments. A naturopath understands that a person’s health and well-being are influenced by all the factors that determine a person’s quality of life, from psychological and physical to emotional and even spiritual aspects. The goal of naturopathy is to determine what underlying issues may be hindering a person’s health and then proceed to help and encourage a healthy lifestyle. Read on to learn how Naturopathic Medicine can help restore your health and vitality.
What Is Naturopathic Medicine?
The concept of naturopathy revolves around preventing illness, using alternative methods of treatment, and helping people reach optimal health through natural substances and therapeutic measures. This method of using Naturopathic Medicine influences the body to use its innate healing process from within, rather than relying on pharmaceutical medications. Naturopathic physician, Karen Threlkel, who practices in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia, believe in the body’s innate ability to establish, maintain, and restore balance. Naturopathic Medicine is about facilitating this natural healing process to identify and remove obstacles to health and recovery. This method takes a closer look at how the body works in general and how it can aid in maintaining a healthy environment to promote our well-being.
How Does It Restore Health and Vitality?
During a Naturopathic consultation, you will be asked questions regarding all aspects of your body, even if there is a specific reason why you acquired a consultation at the time. This is because a naturopath takes into account your mental and physical state in general. They will determine whether all your organs are working in harmony or if there is an imbalance from within. If you are experiencing certain symptoms, it is a naturopath’s job to identify what is causing the symptoms to treat the source of the issue, rather than simply treating the symptoms.
Identifying the core issue helps to prevent future occurrences of the condition. For instance, if you have any skin disease, from acne to eczema, a naturopath will uncover the underlying cause, which could be a certain sensitivity the person has, digestive dysfunction, or even a food allergy. This is crucial to restoring optimal health because naturopathy finds out how serious diseases are and why they reoccur. Some skin diseases are a result of the way a person’s liver function, their microbiome being out of balance, a poor diet, or a lack of hydration.
If you had just treated the symptoms of the disease, you would be prone to having the condition return without ever fully curing it. Moreover, you could be taking pharmaceutical medication for the skin disease that is only prolonging or worsening the condition. This is why naturopaths use natural healing properties, and they understand that each case is different and deserves treatment regimens according to their specific needs.
Naturopathic Treatment Approaches
Naturopathy is based on certain philosophies such as do no harm, identify the cause and treat the underlying issue, support the body’s inherent healing power, treat each body as a whole, and finally, prevention is better than cure. As such, naturopathy treatments often start with nutrition as it is believed that food is medicine, and a person’s dietary choices play a huge role in determining how healthy they are.
Lifestyle is another crucial part of helping the body heal because proper sleeping patterns, hydration, sufficient exercise, and stress management are all key in maintaining all aspects of health. Moreover, other treatments include herbal medicine and flower extracts. Naturopathy understands that nature intended for us to use plants in the healing process through culinary herbal medicine, teas, tablets, and tinctures. Homeopathy, aromatherapy, and hydrotherapy are other methods that encourage natural healing using herbs, energetic medicine, super-concentrated plant extracts, flower essences, mineral baths, and hot and cold treatments.
By taking a holistic approach to health and wellness, Naturopathic Medicine supports mental health as well as physical health. This branch of alternative medicine focuses on nutrition, exercise, breathing techniques, and herbal treatments to restore the body’s health and vitality. Naturopathy also offers treatment to those who suffer from chronic fatigue, anxiety, depression, insomnia, addictions, and stress. Moreover, a naturopath can help a patient manage the side-effects caused by pharmaceutical medications and introduce them to natural means that can help them cope with mental health conditions. Naturopathy understands that there is a correlation between mental and physical health and that Naturopathic Medicine can assist the body’s natural healing power to help a person reclaim their health from within.
