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What is a Certified Naturopath?
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What are your office hours?
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Where is your office located?
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Are your services covered
by insurance or Medicare?
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If all I want to do is (for
example) lower my blood pressure, why do I need to come in for an
office visit? Can’t you just give me the herbs to lower my
blood pressure?
·
What is a typical
appointment like, and what is the associated cost?
·
What if I can’t afford the
initial $200.00 appointment?
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Do you work with children?
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Do you help people lose weight?
What is a Certified Naturopath?
This is
probably the most commonly asked question.
A Naturopath
is an individual who helps others improve their health through a
series of natural (non-prescription) therapies, including diet and
lifestyle changes as well as herbal supplementation, the use of
flower essences, essential oils, etc… Unlike a medical Doctor
who will prescribe medications to reduce or eliminate symptoms, a
naturopath will look for the root cause of the symptoms and address
the root cause rather than the symptom, thus facilitating true
healing. Naturopathy deals with individuals from a w(holistic)
perspective, meaning that we address all levels of that individual
including the physical, emotional and spiritual realizing that it is
the intermingling of these 3 areas of someone’s life that
dictates their overall health and wellbeing.
A Certified
Naturopath simply means that this person has successfully completed
the extensive course of study required to be certified in the State
of Michigan. Although we are often called Doctor by our clients, it
is important to note that a Certified Naturopath is not a medical
doctor.
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What are
your office hours?
My office
hours are Monday through Friday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. I do not
take clients on Mondays as it is reserved for planning, research and
administrative tasks. I am however available to field telephone calls
during that time. Occasionally, I will schedule clients during
evening or weekend hours if their schedule does not permit a visit
during normal office hours.
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Where is your office located?
My office is
located in my home @ 4915 Tiamo Lane, Rockford, Michigan. I am about 1 mile from the downtown area of Rockford and very easy to find.
Please click here for a map.
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Are your services covered by insurance or
Medicare?
Naturopathy
is currently considered an alternative therapy and as such is
unfortunately not covered by insurance. This seems odd to me as much
of what we do is preventative (and less expensive than traditional
medicine) thus one would think it would be beneficial to the
insurance industry. Hopefully, given time, the insurance industry
will realize the validity of natural health therapies, as well as the
importance of people having the right to choose their own method of health
care. For now, we will await their enlightenment.
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If all I want to do is (for example) lower my
blood pressure, why do I need to come in for an office visit?
Can’t you just give me the herbs to lower my blood pressure?
I wish it
were that simple… The truth is, there are a number of reasons
why someone might have high blood pressure… and root cause of
the high blood pressure will dictate the appropriate therapy.
Additionally, an herbal that works for one person, doesn’t
necessarily work for another. The purpose of the office visit is to
ensure that the course of action we set you on to lower your blood
pressure is the correct one for your individual needs.
Often times,
when there is one symptom presenting itself, there are multiple other
imbalances elsewhere in the body. Without a proper evaluation, it
would be very easy to miss potential problems in other areas…
thus leaving them unaddressed. This is a situation we would like to
avoid.
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What is a typical appointment like, and what is
the associated cost?
Although
each appointment is customized to the client, there are some standard
things that are done at each appointment. There are also two
distinctly different types of appointments: Initial
Appointments and Follow up appointments.
Initial
Appointments:
Initial
appointments are designed to gather information about your current
state of health, including physical and emotional. The information
gathered helps me to understand what aspects of your life are making
the greatest impact on your body. In addition to going over the
comprehensive health history questionnaire (which is completed prior
to the appointment), a number of other tests are completed and
recorded for comparison measurements at a later date. These tests
include… but are not limited to:
Urinalysis:
Measuring
• Glucose
• Bilirubin
• Ketones
• Specific
Gravity
• Blood
in the Urine
• pH
levels
• Protein
• Urobilinogen
• Nitrites
• Leukocytes
(white blood cells)
• Oxidation(Free
Radical Activity)
• Electrolytes
• AM
Ammonia
• AM
Nitrates
• Adrenal
Function
• Indican
(Malabsorption Test)
• Calcium
Levels
• Vitamin
C Levels
Salivary:
Measuring
• pH
Saliva Challenge
• Salivary
pH
Other Tests:
• Zinc
Test
• Height/Weight
• Waist
to Hip Ratios
• Blood
Pressure
• Iodine
Test (Thyroid Function)
• Basil
Temperature (Thyroid Function)
• Applied
Kinesiology: (Organ function)
• Live
Blood Analysis
Bio
Impedance Analysis:
• Measuring
Body Composition
• Body
Mass Index
• Phase
Angle
• Basil
Metabolic Rate
• Body
Fat Percentage
• Body
Cell Mass
• Extra
Cellular Mass
• Total
Body Water
• Intracellular
Water
• Extra
Cellular Water
Optional
Tests: On occasion there is a need to complete some additional
tests, where the information is not available to us through other
sources. Some of these tests are:
• Blood
Type Tests
• Dry
Blood Analysis
• Cholesterol
Tests
• Salivary
Hormonal Testing etc.
Once the
tests have been completed, we will go over the results in detail,
outlining their meaning and associated actions required to improve
the results where necessary.
The Initial
Appointment Cost is: $200.00 and takes approximately 3 hours.
As my services are considered alternative medicine, they are not
covered by insurance or Medicare. The payment options I currently
accept are cash and check and payment is due at the time of the
appointment.
Follow Up
Appointments:
Follow up
appointments are designed to fine tune the program and as motivation to
keep you on track with your program. We will complete the basic
urinalysis test at each visit as well as the Live Blood Analysis as a
means of monitoring your progress. All results will be charted during
each visit, so we may easily follow your progress over time.
Occasionally we will rerun some of the initial tests i.e.… BIA,
Adrenal Stress Test, Oxidata, etc. to monitor your progress in those
areas as well.
Follow up
appointments last approximately ½ hour to 1hour at a cost of
$75.00 per hour.
As your
health improves, and the program is refined, the appointments will be
farther apart and shorter in duration. Ultimately, the goal is to run
tests once p/year and touch base each 3-4 months to keep you on
track.
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What if I
can’t afford the initial $200.00 appointment?
It is my
preference to do all of the testing up front… as it gives me
the best information with which to write your program. Ultimately,
testing up front, costs less as 3 hours @ $75.oo p/hour is $225.00. I
do however understand that financial restrictions may make this
initial appointment difficult for some. There are a number of options
that we can explore… I will do my best to work with you to help
you get the care you need. We can break up the first appointment into
shorter appointments and deal with only the most critical issues. There
are discounts available for referrals etc. that have proven to be
very beneficial for some of my existing clients. The bottom line is,
if we put our heads together, we can find a creative solution to this
issue.
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Do you work
with children?
Absolutely!
It is wonderfully refreshing to work with children as they respond so
quickly to the therapies. Children have no preconceived ideas about
health care and therefore are very open minded with regard to dealing
with their issues. It is also very rewarding to know that positive
changes in a child’s life now, will greatly impact their
health, for the better, in the future.
You would be
amazed how some simple changes to a child’s diet, can change
their general health, ability to learn and behavior.
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Do you help
people lose weight?
Inadvertently
yes! What I really do is… help people get healthy! The wonderfully
positive side effect is the natural balancing of their weight. By
losing weight in a healthy method, you will increase your ability to
keep the added weight off for life! Wouldn’t you like to get
off the diet roller coaster? Even if your goal is just to lose
weight, you will be amazed at how your life will change for the
better once you are in balance. Weight is under control, energy
levels are higher, motivation is better, emotions are under control
etc…. Like my tag line says, “find your balance…
change your life!”
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