With functional medicine, you can create new possibilities on your road to better health.
There’s a myth out there that if you have an autoimmune condition, your only option is to manage the symptoms with medications and hope for the best.
You’re stuck with fatigue, pain, and a life you didn’t sign up for. Words like reversal and remission don’t apply to you.
That myth couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Treating your autoimmune disease with functional medicine creates new possibilities on your road to better health.
You can get to the root of why you feel so bad, heal your body in non-invasive and natural ways, and embrace a new life that’s full of health, energy, and vitality.
You may think this sounds too good to be true. You may be skeptical. And, that’s okay.
After all, you’ve been to numerous doctors, been given handfuls of prescriptions, and been told that there’s nothing else that can be done.
But, functional medicine is different. It focuses on discovering and treating the root causes of disease. It’s gaining popularity quickly because it works and people get better.
What is Functional Medicine?
Simply put, functional medicine focuses on finding and healing the root causes of your chronic illness and looks at your health with the whole-person in mind.
Functional medicine healthcare providers are medical detectives who are constantly looking for the deeper underlying reasons you don’t feel well. They’ll look at your whole health history and know how to put together the pieces of your health puzzle.
When you partner with your healthcare provider to understand and treat why your body isn’t working optimally, your body has tremendous ability to reverse the disease process and heal itself.
Think of it this way.
Dr. Sidney Baker once said, “If you’re sitting on a tack, the answer is not to treat the pain with aspirin. The solution is to find the tack and remove it.”
Functional medicine does just that. It finds the source of what’s causing your symptoms and what triggered your autoimmune condition in the first place. And, functional medicine providers know what needs to be done for your body to heal safely (so you finally start feeling better).
A functional medicine healthcare provider will spend time with you, listen to you, and work with you to understand how you got to where you are. They’ll investigate what’s triggering your symptoms and know how to guide you and your body back to health.
The result? You’ll feel better. You’ll slow the progression of your autoimmune condition, have fewer symptoms, and enjoy life more fully.
Autoimmune Conditions and Functional Medicine.
Functional medicine healthcare providers treats autoimmune disease differently.
Instead of only using medications to manipulate the immune system and mask the symptoms, they’re focused on getting to the root cause and reversing the process of autoimmunity.
They’ll asks the question, “why did autoimmunity develop in the first place?” And, they’ll investigate until they find the answers.
When you see a functional medicine doctor or healthcare provider , they’ll ask you lots of questions about your medical history and order specialized functional medicine testing to discover what root causes are contributing to your health.
Thankfully, there are several common things that trigger autoimmune conditions (regardless of which condition you may have). So, it may be easier than you think to discover which ones are making you feel so bad.
Some of the most common root causes are:
- A Leaky Gut or Intestinal Permeability
- Exposures to Toxins and Poor Detoxification
- Chronic Infections
- Food Sensitivities
- Chronic Stress
Most people have several of these root causes that need to be addressed. Your functional medicine healthcare provider will know how to treat these issues in the safest and most strategic way. You can read more about the root causes of autoimmunity here: 5 Root Causes of Autoimmune Conditions (& Why It Matters).
And, although medications may be a necessary and important part of your treatment plan they’re not the only solution for helping you feel your best.
Functional medicine is focused heavily on food and lifestyle interventions. But it also places great emphasis on whole-person healing and will address your spiritual and emotional health as well.
Some Final Thoughts.
When you have an autoimmune condition, one important thing you can do is work with a functional medicine trained doctor or healthcare provider who will address the triggers and root causes of your symptoms.
When you treat your autoimmune disease with functional medicine, you’ll be able to slow the progression of your condition, you’ll have fewer symptoms and your body will heal.
You’ll see your health improve and you’ll get back to enjoying your life again.
Would you like to know more? My new series, “10 Days to Better Health: What You Need to Know About Autoimmune Conditions" may be helpful for you.
This article was originally published by Dr. Deborah Anderson at www.DrDeborah.com