In the medical world, Naturopathy and Conventional medicine are two very different approaches, but both can play very important roles when it comes to dealing with autoimmune and other chronic diseases.
Conventional medicine is “modern” medicine, and through scientific discoveries and advancements over the last century it has become the standard approach to diagnosing and treating disease. Conventional relies heavily on prescription drugs, procedures, and surgeries. It’s VERY good when you truly need it. It is hands down the best approach to medical emergencies, some acute conditions, vital health screenings, and life-saving medications.
But when we start talking about chronic disease that is not life-threatening, or no longer at the point of being life-threatening, then we’ve got to look a little deeper beyond what Conventional has to offer. Living with a chronic disease does not have to mean you are condemned to always be sick and tired, and it does not always have to involve toxic medications that come with a laundry list of side-effects.
Enter Naturopathy. Naturopathy is the age-old approach that digs deeper and asks the question that is often overlooked in the Conventional world, WHY is this happening in your body, and then asks, what does your body need in order to truly heal, not just mask symptoms. Naturopathic medicine avoids Conventional approaches such as synthetic drugs/prescription medications and surgery, and pursues healing through natural ways, such as diet/nutritional improvements, herbs, supplements, and other alternative therapies. It also gives attention to emotional well-being and self-care. In short, through Naturopathy, the patient is empowered to overcome the illness by getting to the root of the problem, and believing that with a little support, our bodies are designed to truly heal themselves.
When I first came to my own beloved Naturopath, it was about two and a half years after my life threatening flare of Ulcerative Colitis, and one and a half years after going off of all medications because of the side effects. I was progressing well along the journey of educating myself, and had completely overhauled my diet to be a very restrictive anti-inflammation diet. What I was doing was already working to keep me in remission, but I still had numerous issues that lingered from the effects of having been so sick and from all the medications I had been on, and lots of confusion about when and how to allow my diet to be less restrictive. More importantly, I still had many unanswered questions as to how and why I had gotten so sick in the first place. On top of everything else, I was very fearful of getting sick again.
In my initial visit with her, my Naturopath spent over an hour getting to know me and my complete health history and asking all kinds of questions. Being that I was used to five to ten minute face-to-face time with doctors, that was a first. She then did two things that none of my previous doctors had done, and those two fairly simple things completely changed my life and my future health: she tested me for vitamin deficiencies, and she tested me for food sensitivities.
She found that I was very low in multiple essential vitamin levels and that I was extremely sensitive to multiple foods (that I was eating daily) at that time. In the next several appointments she worked with me to help me understand the impact being so ill had made on my body and she helped me see how hard my body was now working to heal. She worked with me to know what foods I needed to avoid in order to help my body calm down, and she helped me understand the importance of other healing foods that I hadn’t been eating enough of or at all. She also got me started on the right high-quality supplements.
All of this was absolutely KEY in helping me continue to recover and stay healed, and I firmly believe that if it wasn’t for her digging deeper and finding the deficiencies and food sensitivities, I would not have had near the success that I’ve had with staying flare-free for over 10 years now.
Above all else, as I was still dealing with the after-effects of the trauma of being so sick for so long, she made me feel hopeful and even confident that I could live a vibrant, healthy, and amazing life. Because of all this, you won’t be surprised to know one of the very first pieces of advice I give to anyone dealing with a health issue is to find a good Naturopath.
When I was terribly ill from a merciless Ulcerative Colitis flare up, Conventional doctors and drugs truly saved my life and I am forever grateful for that. If, God-forbid, I ever find myself having another major flare that isn’t responding to alternative approaches, I wouldn’t hesitate to call my Gastroenterologist and pop whatever pills I needed long enough to get it back under control, and then, my next call would be to my Naturopath.
But thankfully I haven’t had any need for autoimmune-related pill-popping (besides my vitamins!) in nine years. So I continue to see my Gastroenterologist only every two years for my routine colonoscopy. I continue to see my Naturopath whenever I have any minor issues or a long enough list of questions to warrant an appointment.
So in a nutshell, Conventional medicine saved my life and got me stable; Naturopathy has helped keep me that way. Both are important, and both have their place.
If you are interested in finding a good Naturopathic physician in your area, a simple google search can lead you to one, just be sure to always read reviews and testimonials like you would with anything else. Or, if you are in the DC area, feel free to reach out to me for the name of mine, who I will of course, highly recommend!
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