Six Principles That Guides a Naturopathic Doctor’s Care for Patients

Most of us feel safe in the hands of a medical doctor. The truth is, the field of medicine involves a lot of guesswork, and some things that were commonly accepted forms of medical treatment yesterday have been proven to be very harmful today. George Washington actually succumbed to the medical practice of bleeding the toxins out of the body, leading him to bleed to death. In the late 19th century, doctors gave their patients heroin to sooth cough symptoms. Beginning in the 1940s, and continuing all the way until the 1960s, it was common medical practice to use electrocution and lobotomies for relieving mental stress, such as mild depression, anxiety, and even migraines.


Due to the unnatural practices that the medical profession has a history of using, alternative healing methods have become popular. This is where naturopathic doctors and enter the scene.


Naturopathic doctors marry the development of western science with the eastern medical philosophies that have been used for centuries for healing and wellness. The goal of a naturopathic doctor is to identify the mental, emotional, and physical cause for the health issue and treat it, rather than just trying to make the symptoms disappear (which often brings a host of new problems to the patient’s well-being).

They are six principles that a naturopathic doctor follows in the diagnostic and treatment process of a patient:

1. First do not harm.
   
   As we previously mentioned, many medical practices actually destroy the human body in the effort to suppress the symptoms. The first principle that a naturopathic doctor follows is to implement treatments and diagnostic practices that are not invasive and do not involve side effects that harm another part of the body.
2. The healing power of nature.
   It is a mind-blowing phenomenon that the human body is naturally designed to heal itself when it is hurt. The holistic approach of naturopathic medicine focuses on promoting the bodies self-healing process, rather than intruding unnatural factors to patch it up. When the human body heals itself, it generally leads most complete and long-term results, as well as the least-invasive method to reach completeness.




3. Identify and treat the cause.
   Many medical practices involve taking harmful chemicals and drugs to hide the symptoms of the issue that a patient is experiencing. For example, while doctors (usually) do not use shock therapy and lobotomies to treat depression, anxiety, and migraines anymore, instead patients are given toxic chemicals that have the same brain-killing impact that the previously invasive procedures had. Additionally, these toxic medication never actually remove the culprit that caused the issues to begin with. The patient is just left with all the side effects of the medication, and are just as prone to problems without it.

   The naturopathic approach is to identify what is causing the depression, anxiety, and migraines to begin with, and remove the root of the problem, so that the patient is left whole and well.




4. Doctor as teacher.
   The ideal outcome of a naturopathic treatment is for the patient to gain the knowledge and empowerment to maintain a healthy lifestyle, which reduces the risk of needing medical care in the future. A naturopathic doctor should act as a teacher, helping their patient gain the knowledge lead healthy lifestyle by empowering them to take control of their physical, mental, emotional, and environmental well-being.
5. Treat the whole person.
   A naturopathic doctor takes a holistic approach to the patient’s entire well-being, while treating a small part of their body. This medical approach involves analyzing the patient’s overall physical, mental, emotional, genetic, And environmental circumstances to identify a treatment plan that leads to total body wellness.
6. Emphasize prevention.
   Naturopathic doctors literally work to put themselves out of business. The naturopathic model of healthcare focuses on identifying environmental and hereditary risk factors and guiding the patient to make lifestyle changes that prevent illnesses they could be prone to.

Following these six principles that are involved in naturopathic, a patient is able to achieve the greatest odds of overcoming their medical roadblocks without the need for invasive and harmful medical procedures. Additionally, the holistic and natural approach to patient care give a patient the tools to lead a healthy way of life, which prevents the need for medical care in the future.