Functional Medicine in Colorado Springs, CO
What is Functional Medicine?
“Functional medicine is a systems biology–based approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease.” - The Institute of Functional Medicine.
Functional Medicine takes an approach that based on a diagnosis, there can be multiple factors that could be contributing to it. Such as depression, could be caused by any or sometimes all of the following: low back pain, omega 3 deficiency, magnesium deficiency, antibiotic use, low thyroid, pre-diabetic, and Vitamin D deficiency. Similarly, one physiological response can lead to multiple dysfunctions/diagnoses. Such as inflammation can lead to depression, heart disease, IBS, arthritis, cancer, autism spectrum disorders or diabetes.
The symptom manifestation depends on multiple factors such as genetics, lifestyle, and the environment. Only interventions that treat the root cause of the problem will stage an environment for healing past symptom suppression.
What’s a Chiropractors Take on Functional Medicine?
We believe that chiropractors have been practicing functional medicine before the phrase “functional medicine” became popular! As chiropractors, we look at the root cause of dis-ease with the amazing tool of being able to influence the function of the nervous system.
Your brain and body are in constant communication through the sensory nervous system and the autonomic nervous system. If the liver starts to work harder to detox something in your body, your nervous system may signal to your respiratory and cardiovascular system to breath at a faster rate and communicate to your kidneys to filter more blood to help eliminate the processed toxins. Your nervous system will even communicate to your consciousness to give you certain cravings based on the metabolic demand of your body or if there is an organ that needs a certain nutrient. In short, your nervous system has the incredible potential to coordinate and heal your body with no extra nutrition or chemicals needed. But the nervous system needs to be able to communicate to the body well and be in a balanced state (not be stuck in a fight or flight state). Chiropractic care excels in this realm! This is why we have seen 85% of our patients improve their health from irritable bowel syndrome, hormonal challenges, infertility, Crohn’s disease, auto-immune syndromes, spinal pain, headaches, anxiety and depression with chiropractic alone!
Knowing that the human body and nervous system communicate every millisecond, there can be a viscerosomatic response as well. In other words, if there is a particular organ that is under stress or inflammation, this dysfunction will then cause stress signals in the nervous system. This will alter function in the neuro-musculoskeletal system and can cause pain of the body. Think how gull bladder attacks cause mid-back pain. Addressing supportive measures like organ based nutritional therapy, lifestyle changes, toxin identification and avoidance, and homeopathies can help heal the organ that is in trouble which helps heal the whole person.
Here at CJ Chiropractic we use tools such as applied kinesiology, CLA insight neuro-scans, chiropractic adjustments, neuro-emotional technique, nutraceutical companies such as Standard Process, Metagenics, Klair Labs, Pure Encapsulations, NET Homeopathic Remedies, and Boiron Homeopathic Remedies to provide a multi-teared and personalized approach at addressing the root cause of your dis-ease. The diagnostic tools of case history, neuro-scans, applied kinesiology, orthopedic testing, and if indicated blood work and imaging allows our doctors to determine which interventions should be implemented and in what order. This may even involve working with another provider such as a Functional Medicine MD or Naturopathic Doctor as they have their own “bag of tricks”.
What to Expect With Functional Medicine/ Chiropractic?
Expect a health journey! As mentioned in the beginning of this page, with this approach to health care we are finding the root cause of the neurological-physiological dysfunction and aiming to help improve this function. If you can successfully improve the function of the root cause of your dis-ease then your health experience will change for the better. With this said, we are not artificially changing the function of a cell that is causing symptoms, so this approach feels and functions very different than to western medicine. However, taking this approach tends to produce long lasting results for our patients even though getting to the desired goal varies from patient to patient. Our goal with every patient is to see how we can make them more self-sufficient without the need of ongoing active intervention. To achieve a health state that is optimal, change lifestyles that sustain that, and utilize a proactive approach to health care that help keep our patients healthy.
Click below to inquire more about functional medicine and chiropractic here!
