FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE

What is Functional Medicine? Functional medicine addresses the underlying causes of disease and focuses on promoting optimal wellness. With functional medicine we look at all the systems in the body and identify where there are issues and then work to correct them. It is a whole body approach to discovering WHY you have the symptoms you do.

What does Functional Medicine entail? When you begin your functional medicine journey, you will start off by filling out a comprehensive medical history questionnaire to ensure we have every possible piece to the puzzle. Once that has been completed, Dr. Neumann will review all the information and you will be scheduled for a functional medicine consultation where you can discuss your health and wellness goals in further detail. Dr. Neumann will recommend specific tests that will uncover more information. After the results are in, you will meet once again to discuss the results and a plan of action to improve your health.

Am I a candidate for functional medicine? Anyone who suffers from chronic illness, autoimmune diseases, inflammation, pain, fatigue or other unexplained symptoms can benefit from functional medicine. Functional medicine does not TREAT disease, it simply discovers WHY your body is not functioning optimally so we can work to correct that function.

Leaky Gut

The gut is so vital to your health. What we eat plays such a big role in how our bodies function. One of the first things we take a look at is your gut health. This is different for each person and may entail checking for harmful bacterial overgrowth in the gut, good bacteria undergrowth in the gut, and discovering what foods or chemicals your body has sensitivities too. Once we know the overall state of your gut health, we can work on repairing and rebuilding.

Dr. Neumann’s functional medicine journey

About 6 years ago I began to notice the skin on my shins was becoming irritated, dry, flaky and itchy. When the symptoms got really bad and I was no longer able to wear shorts without feeling like I was getting disgusted looks from people on the street I decided I needed to find out what the cause of this irritation was because it wasn’t going away on it’s own. After a trip to the dermatologists office, skin cream in hand, I thought I would be flake free in a week or two. It was just a little eczema!

After a few tubes of 3 different types of cream and many, many weeks I still had very minimal relief. I tried so many different kinds of medicines and even did cold laser therapy with almost no change in my skin condition. I gave up on the expensive creams and treatments that were doing little more than discoloring my clothing.

I had all but given up on the idea of ever wearing shorts again, when I decided to join a friend who was doing a 30 day health challenge.

One week into this 30 day challenge I started to notice the irritation on my legs SLOWLY getting better. By day 30 my skin had almost cleared up! Then, on day 31 after conquering the challenge, we rewarded ourselves with a delicious burger (from Au Cheval!). On day 32 the itching and flaking had returned. It was then that I knew I must have been having a reaction to something I was eating. After a very simple blood test (part of most functional medicine protocols) I discovered I had a gluten sensitivity and was also lacking in some key vitamins and nutrients, even with this healthy diet.

Now, as long as I avoid gluten and grains and add in the nutrients my body is lacking, my skin remains clear. It took YEARS for my body to become so inflamed from eating grains that I started to see it in my skin. When I keep grains out of my diet I am also less tired, my mind is sharper and I feel so much healthier because I am not inflaming my body from the inside out with something my body cannot process. That is when I began my training into finding out why this happens and to learn how to help others with inflammation that causes our bodies to malfunction. If you have unexplained symptoms or signs of inflammation and autoimmunity like I did, and you’re ready to fix them instead of covering them up, lets talk! Click the schedule now button below to set up your consultation.

In Health,

Dr. Ashley Neumann, D.C.