Naturopathic medicine is conventional medicine which diagnosis, treats and prevents disease using natural therapies. ND’s are general practitioners of natural medicine, whose medical training includes western medicine with the integration of natural therapies.
The Ontario Ministry of Health and the College of Naturopaths of Ontario oversee Naturopathic Medicine under the Regulated Healthcare Practitioner’s Act. Naturopathic doctors and naturopathic medicine has been regulated in Ontario since 1925.
Naturopathic Dr’s adhere to 6 guiding principles:
- First Do No Harm
- Harness the Healing Power of Nature
- Address and Treat the Cause
- Doctor as Teacher
- Treat the Whole Person
- Promote Healthy Living and Preventative Medicine
Great health starts with understanding your unique health factors and taking the time to make the connections between them.
Our Naturopathic Doctors use a Functional medicine approach to practice. Functional medicine is a careful and specific approach to assess your health from the inside out paying close attention to your physiology and optimal functioning. Functional medicine uses various testing and assessment criteria to understand how your mind and body are functioning. Your results and functional medicine assessment provide the template to build our natural and evidence-based treatments aimed at restoring and optimizing health.
Naturopathic Doctors study and use various treatment modalities including; Botanical medicine, Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nutrition and Supplementation, Homeopathy, Detoxification and Drainage and Lifestyle Counselling.
Treatment may include any combination of the following:
Botanical Medicine
Herbs are used in conjunction with other therapies to promote health. Using traditional remedies combined with recent clinical advances in plant-based medicine, we can craft a plan to create better health.
Detoxification and Drainage
Detoxification is the natural cleansing process that our body uses to remove pollutants, toxins and waste. As our environment becomes more polluted or stressed so do our detox pathways. Fortunately nature provides us with its own solutions. Herbs, supplementation, homeopathic drainage and nutrition can serve as powerful tools to enhance and support our organ and cellular detoxification pathways.
Nutritional Supplementation & Diet Modification
Nutrition and the therapeutic use of foods is a vital part of naturopathic medicine. Food intolerances, deficiencies, dietary imbalances or nutritional excesses have been associated with many medical conditions. A naturopathic doctor is trained to understand the impact that your diet is having on your health. Dietary modification and nutritional supplements may be used and catered to meet the unique health needs of every patient.
Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine
In the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) system of medicine, the body is seen as a delicate balance of two opposing and inseparable forces: yin and yang. The main assumption in TCM is that health is achieved by maintaining the body in a “balanced state” and that disease is due to an internal imbalance of yin and yang. This imbalance leads to the blockage of Chi (vital energy) flow. The Chi is carried along pathways known as meridians that lie just under the skin. These meridians nourish the organs with vital Chi and maintain overall balance in the body. A Naturopathic doctor will use Eastern herbs and acupuncture to regulate the flow of Chi and achieve balance. Acupuncture is the use of very thin needles which are inserted into specific meridian points.
Homeopathic Medicine
Homeopathy is a medical system over 200 years old that utilizes microdoses of substances from the plant, mineral or animal kingdom to stimulate a person’s natural healing response. The underlying principle in homeopathy in the “law of similars”. This law states that a substance that produces a set of symptoms in a healthy person can cure the same set of symptoms when given in a small, infinitesimal dose. This is the same principle of allergy desensitization or immunization. There are thousands of homeopathically prepared medicines that have been tested, researched, and documented.
Lifestyle Counselling
Our mental and emotional state is as important as the physical one. Altering one’s lifestyle, addressing long-standing issues and developing stress reduction strategies can help the healing process. Not only do we believe that “You are what you eat,” but even more importantly, “You are what eats you”.
Bowen Therapy (Offered by Dr. Bizios ND)
The Bowen Technique is a “head to toe” physical treatment that promotes self-healing and benefits all ages and stages in life. Bowen treatments help rebalance the nervous system and signal the body to eliminate inflammation and reset painful muscles, joints, nerves and tendons to their original blueprint of health. These techniques address pain, postural complaints, injuries and rebalancing of other systems.