Problems with integrated medicine
Firstly, the term doesn’t imply any guarantee of training of the doctor in natural medicines. It may be a couple of weekends here and there, or it can be an entire corpus.
Secondly, the term doesn’t say which natural therapies or medicines the doctor is practicing. Therefore, it can be anything: energetic therapies (Reiki, Craniosacral therapy, etc.), homeopathy, supplements, manual technics (acupuncture, reflexology, fascia therapy, etc.), hypnotherapy, etc.
This is problematic because it will change dramatically the scope and effectiveness of the integrative medicine practice. Therefore, it is up to the patient to find out which natural therapies or medicines the doctor is adding to his unnatural medicine practice.
Thirdly, an integrative medicine doctor, no matter if it’s a physician, a chiropractor, a mental health professional, a nutritionist, or something else, will never be a holistic natural health expert.
In that regard, people should know that consulting an integrated medicine doctor doesn’t mean that they tried the “natural way,” only the integrative way.
Any doctor who includes more or less natural remedies in his practice, which gives some nutritional advice or prescribes functional biology tests (this can consist of a wide variety of exams, little used by unnatural medicine), is then considered to be practicing integrated medicine.
Therefore, we must distinguish between a qualified doctor who introduces part of one or more natural medicines into his practice with a practitioner or a doctor in natural medicines. In the first case, natural medicines are an addition, in the second case, it is a complete practice.
Our advice on integrative medicine
The advice we can give you depends a lot on your available resources, your willingness to take charge of your health, and your medical environment.
Let’s take Switzerland, a country where health insurance companies offer complimentary insurance that covers part of your natural medicine treatments. Assuming that you have this complementary insurance (if you are sick, you will not be able to subscribe to it) and that you find a competent therapist recognized by the insurance companies (not all of them are), and that you can financially pay for the necessary remedies that are not reimbursed by the insurance companies, well in this case, we advise you to turn to a therapist in natural medicine.
Blood tests, urine tests, or other specific tests used by doctors in integrated medicine can also be prescribed by therapists, and in any case, they are not reimbursed for most of them.
If you are in a country where you need access to natural medicines or in a very rudimentary way, choose integrated medicine. At least you will be able to have alternative solutions, if only partially. However, be aware that most doctors practicing integrated medicine have part of their fees not reimbursed by insurance companies.
Inevitably, the financial question is at the heart of your decision.
If you do not have a healthy budget to stick to and your financial situation allows you to have access to the best care, we advise you, for optimal health, to have access to :
This will allow you to deal with different health needs, such as
- Specific examinations
- General or specific advice
- To know your therapeutic options
- Specific treatments
- Specific remedies
- etc.
Ideally, this care should be managed by a holistic natural health expert familiar with the medical language and the proposed treatments.