How do you know you need functional medicine?
01
You have a chronic health condition.
02
You’ve tried everything for relief and haven’t found an answer yet.
03
Natural health is a priority for you.
04
You’re looking for a custom plan to feel your best.
What health conditions may functional medicine help alleviate?
Functional Medicine Physicians look for the root-cause of disease by using tests and lab work. As functional medicine specialists, they take a holistic approach to the body. They treat the body through nutrition, supplementation, and lifestyle modifications instead of medicine. Common health conditions our functional medicine physicians help treat are:
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Headaches
- Migraines
- Allergies
- Asthma
- Attention deficit disorder (ADD)
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Autism, Asperger’s syndrome, and autism spectrum disorders
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
- Ulcers
- Diverticulosis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Lupus
- Fibromyalgia
- Celiac disease
- Psoriasis
- Acne
- Eczema
- Hyperthyroidism and Hypothyroidism
- Hashimoto’s
- Chronic fatigue
- Menopause
- and more!
*Note: We recognize that sometimes medication is medically necessary to assist a patient. In those cases, we will refer a patient to a medical doctor for medication.
Functional Medicine
Functional medicine is what it sounds like. It is medicine that focuses on how the body functions. Functional medicine physicians recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to treatment and spend time listening to patients about their health history, environment, and life. All of these factors are recognized as influencing chronic disease and health long term.
Is functional medicine right for you?
We don’t treat the symptoms. We treat you.
With our holistic approach to patient care, we know that alleviating the symptoms matters, but we never lose sight of the bigger picture: your health. Functional medicine physicians evaluate and test the body to find out what the cause of the health condition is and then treat it. The symptoms are alleviated by addressing what caused the issue.
At Loehr Health Center, formerly Loehr Chiropractic & Acupuncture, we will guide you through our treatment process. As part of that process, your treatment will include a physical and neurological examination, diagnosis, and treatment. We may also order laboratory tests to help identify your healthcare needs.
Understanding Functional Medicine
Functional medicine seeks to find the source of the underlying health condition. Doctors practicing internal medicine ask, “What is causing the symptoms? How do we treat the cause, so the symptoms are alleviated long-term?”
When diagnosing a health condition or disease, it may be the result of many causes. A health condition may be the result of more than one cause. For example, depression can be caused by numerous factors like vitamin deficiency and a low thyroid. Similarly, one cause may create many health conditions. For example, vitamin deficiency can cause leaky gut syndrome, depression, allergies, or anemia.
How the body manifests a condition varies based on an individual’s genes and environment.
Functional medicine providers offer a holistic approach to treating your health.
There are many factors that impact your health: physical, mental, and emotional. Each one of these areas affect one another and your overall health. Your physician will discuss with you standard health history questions, but also ask about what you do in your daily life. This will help narrow down what could be causing your health condition and assist in diagnosing you.
Functional Medicine FAQs
Functional or Internal Medicine is a different approach to diagnosing or treating disease than the traditional, western, medicine model. Neither is incorrect. They are just different.
A doctor will recommend the specific tests needed to help diagnose and treat your specific health concerns. A functional medicine lab work up may include tests like: lipid panel, cholesterol, white blood cell count, food allergy, or a hormone screening. The doctor will evaluate how to treat you based on your blood, urine, or stool. These data points give a more accurate idea of what is going on in the body.
Functional medicine physicians provide nutrition, supplementation, and lifestyle modification support.
In our clinic, Dr. Steven Baca has his Diplomate of Internal Medicine (DABCI) from the American Board of Chiropractic Internists and is a licensed acupuncturist. This means, that he also uses his knowledge obtained from his doctorate and post-doctoral internal medicine education to treat with chiropractic, acupuncture, therapies, nutrition, and lifestyle modifications. He is well-versed in multiple modalities to help treat and diagnose disease without the use of medication.
Functional medicine is not covered by insurance.
A health savings account (HSA) may be used to pay for lab fees if they are part of medical care, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). A patient may also submit a claim to their insurance company for potential partial or full reimbursement of lab work.
We accept Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Flexible Savings Accounts (FSAs) to pre-pay these services in advance. We will provide you with all of the required receipts to submit these services. Please note that most HSAs and FSAs will allow you to pre-pay for these services in advance. However, it is the account holder’s responsibility to determine the limitations with their contact person who holds these specific guidelines.
For many other services at our office, we are in-network with various insurance companies. We will run your insurance benefits prior to your first appointment so that you know what is covered before receiving treatment.
You have multiple personalized options to choose from when scheduling your Functional Medicine New Patient Appointment. Please call our office to further discuss which would best meet your needs.
