People hear the word ?Naturopath? and often have a vague understanding of what it means. For some, it conjures up images of someone who uses herbs, crystals, and various other traditional methods of healing. For others, it simply means a general practitioner with an education in natural medicine as opposed to conventional medicine. The truth is, Naturopathic medicine is very eclectic and you can find a practitioner to fit either description above, or anything in between.
Naturopathic physicians take a completely different approach to medicine than medical doctors. Medical doctors have a drug-based education. When is comes to diagnosis, medical doctors are very well-trained. However, with treatment the entire pattern of thought is based on how the body responds to medication. This is a very limited way of thinking about the body and it usually does not allow the physician or practitioner to get to the root of the problem.
Naturopathic physicians are well-trained in both diagnosis and treatment. They learn how the body works through subjects such as biochemistry, physiology, clinical-physical diagnosis, pathology and many others. Their education teaches them to think about the relationships between body systems and helps them identify and treat the cause of the problem, rather than just fixing the symptom.
The bottom line? If you need medication surgery, a medical doctor is a good option. If you want someone to spend time finding the cause of the problem, you might want to consider a Naturopathic physician.