Why You Need to Find a Functional Medicine Doctor in Your Community

What is Functional Medicine and Why Do You Need to Know About It? Is it related to value-based care?

Honestly it still baffles me to the degree to which most people still default to just going to the regular doctor when they don’t feel well.  As a wellness coach and consultant with over 15 years of experience in this industry I avoid going to the doctor at all costs.  It is the last option on my list for myself and my children unless it is something I know requires acute antibiotics or intervention.  If it is a general, ‘not feeling great’ or these XYZ symptoms won’t go away I first try to solve it with food, hydration, rest, sleep and herbal solutions like teas and essential oils.  

More often than not, anything that can be solved with an over the counter drug can be solved with home remedies.  

From there if there is something more serious going on, and especially if you have already been to a doctor, did a bunch of tests, and didn’t get answers I would go to a functional medicine practitioner, a holistic health doctor,  a Chinese Medicine doctor and/or an Acupuncturist next.

“Modern Medicine” or Medicine 2.0 as it is referred to, is broken.  It is based on treating isolated symptoms, body parts and systems and not looking at you as a whole energetic being. Traditional doctors are specialists in managing disease not preventing it or holistically connecting the dots. 

This month and next I host a series of really incredible women, most of them doctors who are trying to bridge the gap in the system.  This inability to find solutions that don’t involve prescription drugs, big pharma and/or surgery is only going to get harder if you stay inside the traditional hamster wheel of a system. 

Now is the time, if you haven’t already, to find and develop a relationship with a functional medicine practitioner and/or any of the other options of healers I mentioned above.   Why?  Because this is the future of medicine and the best option you have to get holistic, long term solutions to your health concerns. 

Value-based Medicine

I am optimistic.  Things are changing, albeit at a glacial pace.  So many health systems are on the brink of collapse - so there is not other choice than to rethink the solution.

As we all know, until there is a way to make a profit off of keeping people healthy, nothing is going to change.  One promising trend is what is called value-based medicine which essentially rewards everyone in the system (minus big Pharma) with patients being healthy. 

Shocker!  The solution to the current broken system is motivating everyone to prevent sickness and disease!  There are already strong players with this approach in the US that see the value in looking at the long-term costs saved in the system with good prevention.  I imagine elsewhere too.

“Value-based healthcare is a healthcare delivery model in which providers, including hospitals and physicians, are paid based on patient health outcomes. Under value-based care agreements, providers are rewarded for helping patients improve their health, reduce the effects and incidence of chronic disease, and live healthier lives in an evidence-based way.”

So is functional medicine related to value-based care? Most certainly, they are the players already in the system that work with the root cause of systems, holistically and employ coaches that help patients make the lifestyle changes that prevent and even at time reverse chronic disease, pain, symptoms and issues.

Women We Love - Doing Cool Things to Bridge the Gap

Dr. Erin Nance is an orthopedic surgeon and medical influencer who is known as the Patron Saint for medically gaslit women. Her TikTok account @littlemissdiagnosed has been viewed over 100 million times and been shared with over 1 million people. She is the Co-Founder and CEO of FeelBetr, a health focused social media platform that curates personalized content for women with chronic illness.

Stephanie Buckley is an alternative pain management coach. She specializes in helping women living with chronic pain return to the physical activities they love. She supports women along their journey in taking their power back from pain. Stephanie has a BSc in Physiology and Pharmacology and a MA of Physical Therapy. Along with over 6 years of clinical experience having worked as a physical therapist. She has created her own approach to pain management based on her knowledge of pain neuroscience, clinical experience having worked as a physical therapist combined with her own personal experience living with chronic pain.

Karin Reiter is a functional medicine nutritionist, meditation and breathwork teacher, fitness trainer, author, wife, mama and founder of Nutritious N’ Delicious,  founded in 2011 in Australia. She has led workshops and nutrition programs in Singapore, Hong Kong, Bali, Thailand, Greece, Israel and Australia. Karin is a passionate speaker & journalist in the area of nutrition and has written for numerous publications globally. Karin is also the author of 2 children's recipe books branded “The Rosy Cheeked Kids”.