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Hello and WELCOME to Ikaria Integrative Health! I am so happy you stopped by! Grab a cup of coffee, tea, or glass of water and take a few minutes to learn about Ikaria Integrative Health and how I work with clients on a one-on-one basis in order to help regain their energy, restore their health and discover what it means to live on purpose.
What is Integrative Health?
Think about your life for a second. Now think about your parents’ lives, your kids’ lives, the lives of your neighbors and your friends. Would you be able to describe any of the lives that just crossed your mind as simple, identical, or one-dimensional?
NO! Absolutely NOT!
EVERYONE’S lives are drastically unique, and more often times than not, so much more complex than we can even comprehend. Now I want you to picture Western Medicine. Full of algorithms that state:
“If this is happening then we prescribe this,” or “If this happening then we operate on that.”
There isn’t much room in these algorithms to allow for the complexity of the individual. Sure, your high blood pressure medication is FDA approved, BUT has that same medication been tested alongside your antidepressant or acid reflux medication for long-term effects?
Maybe, but not likely.
Or better yet, should you be on the same medication as the person sitting across from you in the doctor’s office waiting room who is 20 years your senior living a vastly different lifestyle than you? Modern medicine would say, “if it’s controlling your blood pressure, it’s working- END OF. Integrative health asks WHY your blood pressure is high in the first place. AND instead of masking the symptoms with medication, Integrative Health uses information like diet and lifestyle analysis with Functional Medicine lab testing to get to the ROOT of the issue.
Call it time constraints, insurance constraints, etc, our primary care doctors (for the most part- I KNOW there are truly wonderful ones out there!) aren’t able to take the time to fully understand each of their patients’ stories.
They don't have time to give the nutritional advice or the exercise recommendations and they aren’t putting enough emphasis on the importance of stress reduction.
THAT is what I am here for- to bring these lifestyle practices back into your daily routine. To reintroduce these pillars of health in a way that is sustainable for you tomorrow, three months from now, and three decades from now. There’s so much more to getting well than taking prescription medications and putting up with their side effects for the rest of your life.
Keep in mind when I talk about Functional Medicine or Integrative Health I am speaking in regards to CHRONIC disease prevention, not the need for acute medical care. I see acute care health practitioners
SAVE. SO. MANY. LIVES
on a daily basis and, I respect and value the advancements of conventional medicine and its vital importance in acute situations. As an Integrative Health Practitioner, I aim to re-frame my community’s perception of health and what it means to live well. I work with clients to understand how to get to the root of their health concerns.
This is not an “either or” situation.
NEVER will you hear me say either Naturopathy or Western Medicine.
Rather, they work TOGETHER.
Ok, so now you know what and why I do what I do, but HOW do I get to the root causes?
Combining the teachings and modalities of the seven branches of Integrative Health which are:
Functional Medicine
Orthomolecular Medicine
Auyruvedic Medicine
Bio-regulatory Medicine
Traditional Naturopathy
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Eastern Philosophy
I am able to discover and begin to heal the root causes of your symptoms. I do not believe in settling for a pill for every ill approach to healthcare, but rather, to truly heal from the deepest level, finding the root cause.
Through extensive laboratory testing (the majority of which are able to be collected by YOU in YOUR OWN home) I am able to determine specific findings such as nutrient deficiencies, hormone imbalances, and toxicities—much of which is not ever tested for in your average health practitioner’s office.
Although lab testing, in my opinion, is the most concise way to get to the root of any health concern, I understand that option might not be for everyone. I also perform an extensive health intake for each client that addresses diet, lifestyle, and stress. I believe health should be holistic in the sense that the mind, body and spirit are ALL addressed when looking for true healing and sustaining a life lived well.
I believe Integrative Health puts the power of healing into your own hands, and gives you control of something that we have been taught to surrender to medical procedures and prescriptions. I respect and value the advancements of conventional medicine and its vital importance in acute situations; however, I believe if we are able to remove the toxins, replace the deficiencies, and rebalance the body, chronic conditions may not need to be masked with prescription medications, and dare I say, may be prevented all together.
