What is Naturopathic Medicine?

Naturopathic medicine (also known as naturopathy) is a school of medical philosophy and practice that seeks to improve health and treat disease chiefly by assisting the body's innate capacity to recover from illness and injury. Naturopathic practice may include a broad array of different modalities, including manual therapy, hydrotherapy, herbalism, Acupuncture, counseling, environmental medicine, aromatherapy, nutritional counseling, homeopathy, and so on. Practitioners tend to emphasize a holistic approach to patient care.

Naturopathic practitioners prefer not to use invasive surgery, or most synthetic drugs, preferring "natural" remedies, for instance relatively unprocessed or whole medications, such as herbs and foods. Practitioners from accredited schools are trained to use diagnostic tests such as imaging and blood tests before deciding upon the full course of treatment. If the patient does not respond to these treatments, they are often referred to physicians who utilize standard medical care to treat the underlying disease or condition.

Naturopathy is based on six tenets or principles:

First do no harm - The process of healing includes the manifestations of symptoms, so that any therapy that interferes with this natural healing process by masking symptoms is considered suppressive and should be avoided (primum non nocere).

The healing power of nature - The healing power of nature has two aspects: first that the body has the ability to heal itself and it is the naturopathic doctor's role to facilitate this natural process, and second that nature heals. Following this principle includes getting enough sleep, exercising, feeding the body nutritional food and, if needed, additional earth food, such as herbs, or algae, which is a living organism. It is asserted, yet strongly refuted by critics, that plants can gently move the body into health without side effects posed by some synthetic chemicals in modern pharmaceuticals.

Identify and treat the cause - The underlying root causes of disease must be removed for complete healing to take place (tolle causam). These root causes can exist at many levels: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. It is the naturopathic doctor's ostensible role to identify this root cause, in addition to alleviate suffering by treating symptoms.

Treat the whole person - A core tenet of naturopathy is the belief that health must go beyond treatment of immediate symptoms, and instead treat the entire person's well being. That means treating the entire body, as well as the spirit/soul and mind. This approach is usually called the wholistic or holistic method.

The physician as teacher - It is the role of the naturopath to educate an individual in their practices and encourage that individual to "take responsibility for their own health". This cooperative relationship between doctor and patient is essential to healing.

Prevention - The ultimate goal of the naturopathic physician is prevention. The emphasis is on building health, not fighting illness. This is done by fostering healthy lifestyles, healthy beliefs, and healthy relationships.