Functional Medicine

What is functional medicine?

Functional medicine is medical care that emphasizes finding and treating the underlying causes of illness, dysfunction, and disease. As functional medicine providers, the Hands on Health Wellness Center team considers the whole person as they evaluate your health issues. 

This whole-person approach is important because multiple lifestyle and environmental factors may contribute to one disease. The opposite is also true: One underlying issue could contribute to many health issues.  

What conditions does functional medicine treat? 

Functional medicine can help with many health problems, including: 

Chronic Pain

Functional medicine can help pinpoint and resolve the sources of chronic pain. Common chronic pain factors include inflammation, nerve damage, and lack of endorphins (the body’s natural painkillers). 

Fatigue

Fatigue can be a sign of many health problems, including adrenal fatigue, anemia, and autoimmune disorders. Functional medicine involves detailed testing to find the causes of your fatigue.

Autoimmune disorders

Autoimmune illnesses, such as Type I diabetes, Celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus, happen when the body’s immune system attacks healthy cells. Functional medicine testing can find the source of the autoimmune disorder. 

Digestive issues

Many digestive problems, like recurrent gastrointestinal infections, food sensitivities, and gut microbiome imbalances, can cause stomach cramps, constipation, and diarrhea. Functional medicine can uncover the source of your issues.

Arthritis

Inflammation, joint damage, endorphin imbalance, and other issues can contribute to arthritis, which leads to joint pain, stiffness, and sometimes swelling. Functional medicine determines the source that triggered your symptoms. 

Some integrative medicine approaches that help many patients include nutritional counseling, supplements, chiropractic care, massage therapy, and acupuncture. 

Hands on Health Wellness Center also offers treatments like platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, which uses your own blood platelets to speed up your body’s internal tissue healing and regeneration. 

Why is functional medicine unique?

Functional medicine is unique because it’s biology-based and centered around your bodywide health. Instead of medicating a problem, the first step with functional medicine is discovering why the problem exists. Because functional medicine accurately identifies the reason for your symptoms, it provides a clear pathway to treatment. 

Functional medicine can provide a noninvasive and more natural approach to healing and wellness. To learn more about how it can support your healing, call Hands on Health Wellness Center or book your appointment online today.