What is Functional Medicine?

Functional Medicine is an integrative, science-based approach to healthcare.

It is a holistic approach to healing aimed at addressing the root cause of disease or illness. It utilizes a biology-based systems approach to identifying causes of disease or illness.

Functional medicine utilizes the use of cutting edge laboratory testing and other diagnostic techniques, along with a thorough look at an individual's genetic predisposition, their lifestyle and environment, emotions, and nutritional factors.

Therapies used may include:

• botanicals

• supplements

• detoxification programs

• restorative exercise programs

• stress management techniques

• therapeutic diets

Functional medicine recognizes that to truly resolve the root cause of illness, all of these factors must be taken into consideration and addressed. Only then is a person able to move beyond symptom suppression and experience lasting relief. 

Functional medicine is a patient-centered holistic approach, addressing the whole person, looking at all of their signs and symptoms.

Functional medicine practitioners spend time with each client, thoroughly listening to their history. In addition to the person's story and medical history, data may also be collected from the person's blood, saliva, or urine.

WHat Makes Functional Medicine different from conventional care?

The current medical system is set up to treat acute care and disease. If you are experiencing a broken bone, conventional medicine is well equipped in how to help you recover. Or, if you are experiencing elevated blood pressure, conventional medicine can help you to quickly get out of the danger zone.

What it lacks is a systematic approach in assessing and preventing a person from getting into that danger zone. Once a person is in that danger zone, it lacks the ability to resolve the issue at the root level. This way, a person is tied to taking a band-aid treatment, never resolving why their blood pressure may have spiked so high. Life saving for sure in so many cases, but root issues are never resolved.

Conventional care also lacks an understanding and approach to working with complex conditions as well as those who don't present as having a pathological issue. Those with complex conditions like autoimmune conditions, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and mental illness are left without much help. Those with sub-clinical conditions are also often dismissed.

These are the people that just don't feel right and they know something is off with their body. But, by conventional medicine diagnostics, the person's labs may look fine and they are told nothing is wrong or that it's all in their head.

If you are ready to have a more holistic, collaborative, evidence-based health experience in Optimizing your fertility with Functional Medicine, then book a free Fertility Audit consult below.