What You Can Expect
Some of the characteristic qualities of complimentary medicine that are used in this practice include the following:
1. A person’s lifestyle, including his or her diet, exercise patterns, sleep habits, stresses and interpersonal relationships, is believed to be directly related to the development of illness. Complementary medicine evaluates these factors and seeks to help the patient give up negative lifestyle patterns and establish more positive ones regardless of age or type of medical problem.
2. Although prescription and over-the-counter medications are used when the physician believes it is necessary, an attempt is made to use products that are natural to the body. These include nutritional supplements such as vitamins, minerals, enzymes, amino acids, essential fatty acids, herbs, and homeopathic products.
3. In addition to recommending that a patient take nutritional supplements by mouth, we frequently recommend that a patient receive a series of injections either intravenously or by intramuscular injection. Some of the reasons for recommending this procedure include the assurance that the particular substance gets into the body (which may not happen when the supplement is taken orally and the patient has absorption problems) and achieving a high concentration of the substances in the bloodstream, which may be difficult if the substance is taken only by mouth. This route of administration may not be accepted by consensus mainstream medicine.
4. Energy is the first thing that changes in a pathological process. Several systems of medicine (Acupuncture or Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic Medicine, Homeopathic Medicine and Kinesiology) use energy as their primary mode of treatment. In the past 50 years equipment has been developed to evaluate energy disturbances. These electrodermal screening devices are considered to be investigational by conventional, mainstream medicine. We believe that everyone’s energy needs to be evaluated and imbalances treated. Energy treatments are messages that your body needs to follow in order to proceed towards health. Most of these messages are delivered by the prescription of customized specific homeopathic remedies.
5. For some patients, we recommend either classical or combination homeopathic remedies. It is based on the principle of “like cures like” and uses extremely tiny concentrations of animal, vegetable or mineral substances to stimulate the body’s healing mechanisms. Although homeopathy is fairly well established in some European countries, India and other countries worldwide, it is generally not at all accepted by consensus mainstream medicine in the United States.
6. Because we look for imbalances in the body and for trends that may result in illness if not addressed, we sometimes order tests that may be considered by consensus-mainstream medicine to be either unnecessary or of no value. These may include tests for nutritional status, such as blood levels of functional vitamin-mineral tests, levels of hormone, amino acids, essential fatty acids, neurotransmitters, immune status, candidiasis, viral syndromes and toxic chemicals, or tests for allergies, liver detoxification and stool analysis.
7. We believe that environmental factors may play a major role in health and disease. Some of the diseases of unknown cause may be triggered or perpetuated by common environmental substances, many of which are man-made. Individuals may vary greatly in their susceptibility of various substances, so that one individual may be made deathly ill by an exposure to a substance, while another is not at all affected. We attempt to identify offending substances and help patients to detoxify from past exposures that are affecting them.
8. We very much believe in a person’s involvement in his or her own health care. We encourage you to question, explore and participate in decisions surrounding diagnostic and treatment procedures. We encourage consultation with consensus, mainstream medicine practitioners and use any other means that a person feels he/she needs to use tohelp decide about health issues.
9. We believe in the mind-body-spirit connection in bringing about wellness and preventing and dealing with illness. Consequently, part of our program may involve recommendation for counseling, meditation or psychotherapy.
10. Exercise is extremely important in maintaining health and promoting wellness as well as helping one to recover from an illness. Graded exercise, both aerobic and stretching, is encouraged for most patients.
11. We sometimes use medication that is approved by the FDA to treat one condition for the treatment of another condition for which the FDA has not approved the medication. Perhaps the best example is our use of EDTA-chelation therapy to treat many forms of atherosclerotic-cardiovascular disease and other degenerative diseases.
12. We strongly support spinal manipulation for many of our complimentary and alternative-care patients. We recommend that all patients receive a musculoskeletal examination and evaluation. Keeping your spine in alignment supports the nervous system and allows for proper communication within the body. Of course, any time there is interference or a loss of proper brain-body communication, all systems of the body will be suppressed. The goal of manipulative care in this office is to ensure improved nerve and body function, which results in faster response to care and a more holistic approach to achieving health and wellness.
How We Are Different
The above represents some of the ways that our practice may differ from other physician’s offices that you have visited. You should also be aware of the following points:
1. Our practice is exclusively an office-based practice. We do not work in a hospital. Additionally, some patients come long distances to receive care at our office. Consequently, we strongly recommend that in addition to our care, you maintain a relationship with one or more physicians appropriate to your condition and situation. For example, most of you may want to have a relationship with a family physician or a pediatrician in the case of children. Cardiac patients should have either a cardiologist or internist or both. We are happy to cooperate with any physician who is willing to work with us.
2. We make no representations, claims or guarantees that you will be helped with your medical problems or conditions by undergoing treatment here. However, we will do our best to help you accomplish your healthcare and wellness goals.
3. In our office, we make available some nutritional supplements and other recommended products; generally, we believe the prices are competitive with outside sources. We can arrange to make some of these products available for shipping to you from this office. You are in no way obligated to purchase these products from this office. You are free to purchase these products from any source that you may choose.
4. Most health-insurance plans today have clauses which limit coverage to “usual and customary fees for reasonable and necessary services.” Because many of the treatments used in complementary medicine are not recognized by consensus-mainstream medicine, we cannot guarantee the amount or availability of coverage for our services and treatment under your health-care insurance policy. You are responsible for the payment of our invoices without regard to insurance coverage. You are entitled to know the cost of all services and procedures in advance.