Many people feel frustrated after dealing with traditional doctors and medical care. However, there are natural and effective alternatives available. Functional medicine is one alternative for those who want to take control of their health and wellness and work with their medical providers to find personalized solutions. At Jacksonville Health & Wellness Center, our functional medicine practitioner has years of experience providing our patients with holistic medicine services. Still, not all residents understand how the holistic approach to wellness differs from other forms of medicine.

What Is Functional Medicine?

Functional medicine recognizes that many health conditions are caused by imbalances in the body. A functional medicine practitioner considers many individual factors including genes, environment, history, and lifestyle, to determine the causal relationship of any condition. This approach to medicine can effectively diagnose and treat patients as individuals rather than feeling like another number or statistic. This is especially true because functional medicine practitioners spend more time with their patients than typical medical doctors.

Functional medicine is closely related to holistic medicine, an approach that provides healthcare through the lens of the entire body. The holistic approach combines traditional medicine with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) to treat the patient's condition and symptoms to provide overall improved mental, spiritual, and physical health. Like functional medicine, holistic medicine is often considered patient-centered care as opposed to symptom-centered care.

These forms of medicine are especially effective when treating bone, joint, and nerve conditions, especially those in the back, spine, shoulder, arms, legs, knees, head, and neck. Holistic and functional medicine providers also offer long-term treatment for conditions such as arthritis. In addition, some patients seek out functional medicine because traditional medicine has failed to adequately relieve their symptoms.

Contact Our Function Medicine Practitioner Today

Patients who are interested in working with a functional medicine practitioner should contact Jacksonville Health & Wellness Center today. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call us today at (904) 268-6568.