Naturopathic medicine is becoming more popular every year as the average American looses trust that our current medical system can solve their chronic illnesses. Currently 1 in 3 Americans are diagnosed with at least one chronic disease and 25% of those diagnosed have more than one. We are seeing worsening trends with each generation as a greater number of chronic illnesses are creeping into younger age groups. In 1994 the chronic disease rate in children increased from 12.8% in 1994 to 26.6% in 2006. This number has continued to rise over the last 10 years. To make matters worse insurance is getting more expensive and is not covering the time or treatments you need with your doctor. This leads to frustration in patients as they are sent home with a prescription and maybe a referral to another specialist after waiting an hour for a 5 minute visit with the doctor. So this is where naturopathic medicine comes in.

Naturopathic doctors are trained in western, eastern, and naturopathic perspectives which on top of standard medical training includes a long list of modalities (found at the end of this article). The real difference though is in the philosophy of a naturopathic doctor. They believe in the bodies innate ability to heal itself which means that any list of symptoms can potentially be healed depending on the person. Also they are trained in finding the root cause of the problem. They understand symptoms are a sign that the body is out of balance; so regardless of the name of the disease or diagnosis they know the only way to truly rid the body of the problem is to treat the body (not the disease). The body is the only thing that can heal/expel/cure a disease. Western medicine is focused on treating the disease which usually consists of medications that modify or suppresses the disease symptoms neglecting the true issue/s which led the body to be out of balance in the first place. This type of treatment can palliate the current symptoms (which can be necessary at times) but in turn leads to new symptoms which are then treated in the same manner.

To further contrast the western perspective of how to treat chronic disease a naturopathic doctor after finding the root system imbalances has a large tool bag to choose from in treating each individual (see the list at the bottom of the article). Just like a mechanic can’t fix your car without the right tools, neither can your body heal itself without the right tools. That’s our job, to find the root problems and the right tools to help your body finally be able to heal itself.

If you have questions about how we can help you please give us a call to schedule a free consult. To solve the current problem with insurance being too expensive and and not covering the most effective modalities of treatment we have designed a wellness plan that makes a standard visit cost as much as a standard co-pay. Contact us for more info.

Naturopathic Modalities: This is a basic list of tools naturopathic doctors are trained in.

• Nutrition/Diet
• Homeopathy
• Botanical/Herbal Medicine
• Physical Medicine/Spinal manipulation
• Hydrotherapy
• Injection/IV therapies
• Nutraceuticals
• Pharmaceuticals
• Mind/body medicine
• Minor surgery
• Acupuncture

Outside of school most naturopathic physicians go the extra mile and learn even more therapies/modalities they are interested in. Dr. Mowery is trained in several extra modalities including  biotherapeutic drainage, muscle testing techniques, emotional clearing techniques, and gemstone acupuncture.