Counter to mainstream medicine, drugs are not the answer here.
Naturopathic medicine aims to take care of your health in the most natural way, with the most natural methods.
It is not about band-aid solutions.
According to the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors, more people than ever before are seeking and benefitting from naturopathic medical care.
Dr. Katelyn Butler-Birmingham is a Doctor of Naturopathic medicine in London. She explains that naturopathy is not just one singular treatment for one singular problem.
“It’s a lot of things. The nutshell version of what naturopathic medicine is that it’s a medicine that aims to get to the root cause of disease with the safest, most effective, natural method possible.”
Naturopathic medicine offers several different services, including acupuncture, herbal medicine, supplements, vitamins, nutritional counselling and more. The mission is preventative medicine, as they try to catch any illness, disease, or physical implications before they occur.
This is what happened to Danielle Hall, who has been seeing a naturopath for two years now.
“I was having trouble sleeping and I was told that a naturopath could potentially help with that. Because of these treatments, I sleep better through the night. I have more energy and focus throughout the day because I’m getting a full night of sleep.”
Similar to many people, Hall initially had no idea how much her naturopath could actually address, and how much her overall health would benefit from these treatments.
“I didn’t think a naturopath could fix my sleeping issues for me. And then through those treatments, some other things came up that I didn’t realize a naturopath could help with as well. With my anxiety, my naturopath has helped me figure out how to control my thoughts and relieve the stress that they used to cause me.”
As they make various lifestyle changes, Dr. Butler-Birmingham has been able to see her patients’ lives transform.
“That’s what makes the job worth it. Day after day, I get to see how people have made these lifestyle changes. They come in and tell me that I helped them so much, but really I am just their guide through it all. They make all of the changes for themselves and they are the rockstar throughout the entire process.”
There are several reasons as to why naturopathy works for people, and a major factor is empowerment.
“They’re not handing their health over to somebody else – they’re actually taking control of it. Naturopathy opens a door that people never even knew existed.”
