Are you a little shady on what a naturopath actually does? My mother never took me to see an alternative healthcare practitioner of any sort. If I hadn’t become so fascinated in nutrition I may never have found out. Now I’m super passionate about naturopathic medicine as a well rounded, affordable and effective health care with real value for everyone in our community. To put it simply, a naturopath uses herbal and nutritional science to get you healthy, and ideally, Super healthy. We see you for about an hour or maybe two, depending on the practitioner. We have a good long chat, we look at your blood, we put you on a fancy machine and give you a health scan. We look into your eyes with our iridology torch, We’ll talk about your diet, your lifestyle, and then we discuss nutritional, herbal solutions that are chosen based on your individuality to help you and your body gently heal and reach optimum health.

So does herbal medicine actually work?

Yes herbal medicine absolutely works and is a wonderful tool for helping the body to heal. There are thousands of studies proving herbal medicines are effective in many different conditions. Plant medicine is 100% natural and organic, just like you are. Our bodies have a natural affinity for naturally occurring compounds, be they nutritional or medicinal. Just think about how good you feel after a vitality giving green juice compared to an artificially coloured, flavoured and sugared up refreshment. Your body can assimilate the goodness in an earth created product much easier.

Naturopaths and Doctors

Modern naturopathy combines evidence based science and modern testing techniques with traditional knowledge and health care. Naturopaths help you heal and repair back to a level of optimum health.

Your naturopath may refer you back to your doctor for testing and diagnosis of a suspected condition. Once diagnosed, we will work with you and your doctor to give you the best well rounded health care possible.

Gentle nurturing to help your body heal itself

Naturopaths are trained to help you with any medical condition, and treat based on the whole person, rather then individual symptoms. Naturopaths great for dealing with chronic conditions such as allergies and auto-immune disease. The aim of naturopathic medicine is to get to the source of the problem and heal you from the inside out.

Case Study: Sally has eczema on her hand

Sally goes to her GP with eczema who prescribes her a corticosteroid cream, a potent anti-inflammatory to make the symptoms go away. It works quickly and her skin clears. However once she stops using that cream Sally’s eczema comes back. She is frustrated and feels like she’s going round in circles. Sally doesn’t want to use the cream long term because she knows continual use of topical steroids thins the skin, weakens the bodies innate ability to heal, and also may interrupt her natural hormonal balance.

Whole Body Healing

Sally see’s her naturopath and is prescribed a herbal anti-inflammatory cream to protect the inflamed skin and lessen symptoms, without any side effects. Her naturopath takes a full health and diet check, and identifies possible lifestyle factors that may be contributing to her skin condition. Together Sally and her naturopath eliminate irritants from the diet, and treat Sally’s digestive system and detoxification pathways. After 6 weeks the eczema has healed on its own, and after 12 weeks Sally is able to reintroduce some of the irritant foods with no re-occurrence of symptoms. Sally also has lost a little weight, is sleeping better and has more energy

Naturopaths have Science Degrees

It takes four years study in a full time science degree to graduate as a degree qualified naturopath.

Time to talk:

A consult with your naturopath takes an hour initially, and an average of 30 – 50 minutes for each consult thereafter. These long consults are an opportunity to really explore your health and lifestyle thoroughly and identify ways and means to improve your experience of living. Your health is important and often the value of having someone to really listen to you rather then rush you out the door can be priceless. The act of talking and being heard is often quite healing in itself. A naturopath gives you the benefit of being heard by a scientifically trained expert in herbal and nutritional medicine, who can really give you solid strategies for achieving your health goals.

Are you feeling a little more informed now? Can you see the benefits of seeing a naturopath? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Tell me your naturopath story, or put down any concerns or questions you might have regarding seeing a naturopath and I’ll do my best to nut it out with you.

Healthily Yours

Libby