You can find plenty of information on the web about functional medicine — websites, blogs, videos, podcasts, and more. In fact, I’ve even written about it myself (please see The Difference between Traditional Doctoring and Functional Healthcare here on my website).

But based on my 20-plus years of experience as a functional medicine practitioner, it dawns on me that some potential patients may not fully understand or appreciate the advantages of functional medicine until they experience the difference for themselves.

The patients who describe the most dramatic epiphanies say they reached a dead end on the path through conventional medicine just before discovering functional medicine. They arrive at my office only after having “tried everything.” They are frustrated and they say I was the last house on the block in their search for a solution to their health issues.

Even their doctors were losing patience — and patients — because nothing in their many years of conventional medical training offers them any insight as to what’s going on or how to treat it. As a result, these patients often are led to believe that “it’s all in their head” or that the best they can hope for is the ability to manage their symptoms.

Patients say their first encounter with a functional medicine doctor resulted in a session with someone who not only listens to them but understands and empathizes with them. These health practitioners can describe what’s going on in their patients’ bodies and in their lives and how corrections can be made. They begin to feel a huge burden lifted as their frustration is replaced with understanding and hope.

In this blog post, I explore some of the attributes of the practice of functional medicine that make it so different from conventional medicine. And despite my obvious bias, I will attempt to do so from a patient’s perspective.

Time and attention

One of the big differences you’ll notice when you visit a functional medicine practice is Continue reading…