Functional medicine is a method that seeks out root causes of symptoms rather than treating them. While this might seem intuitive, it’s not the case with every medical practice. It can be difficult to navigate finding a physician that’s right for you, but there are some things to look for when seeking out a functional medical practitioner.
Taking a Detailed Patient History
Although this is a standard practice in most medical offices, functional medicine goes beyond it. Sometimes, illnesses or conditions can go far beyond just symptoms, and functional medical providers tend to look at your lifestyle and many other factors when creating a treatment plan. This is because there is rarely one cause, and looking at all possible factors can often lead to a more complex and effective treatment plan that doesn’t just mitigate symptoms.
Determining Cause and Effect
Determining patterns and the causes of your condition can help you make lifestyle changes to treat it, which can often be much more effective than just taking medications. It can also help you address things that may be extending or perpetuating your symptoms, which can usually be determined through an extensive personal and family history. With functional medicine, this can often span your whole life and even prenatal health.
Viewing the Body as Central to Good Health
Functional medicine believes that most common medical drugs are detrimental to good health because, although they mitigate symptoms, they also create new ones. A functional medical practitioner will see your body as a self-correcting entity that can be brought into balance through lifestyle changes and prevention of harmful behaviors and substances. They will believe that body is a highly complex system of balances and functions that can be affected by many different factors, and a simple treatment plan of drugs to relieve symptoms will not bring the body back to health.
Function medicine believes, above all, that a physician-patient relationship is central to determining an effective treatment plan. Dr. Robinson is available to meet with patients looking for functional medicine solutions through appointment at our St. Petersburg, FL office. Contact us to schedule yours and explore our other medical services.
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