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| As
a naturopathic physician, I am your partner for learning how to take
good care of yourself and your family. There are a lot of common sense ways to take care of your own well being. It doesn't require a degree in rocket science to figure it all out. However, self-treatment is often directed at relieving symptoms, which may not be the same as actually addressing what is causing the symptom. Sometimes not looking deeper into the cause of a symptom will mean you are delaying the diagnosis and treatment of a serious problem. I invite you to take advantage of my ability to sort through the pages and pages of information you might gather off the internet, or read in popular books. Together we can determine what parts of all that information is going to be most useful to your unique circumstance. It is always best to identify the underlying cause of any symptom. This is where my experience with thousands of patients, plus our ability to work with specific information about you through things like blood tests or ultrasound exams, works in your favor. The time and expense of making use of my expertise and the information we get with the careful use of diagnostic testing, will save you time, money and distress in the long run. It is simply more efficient to zero in on the source of a problem as soon as possible. Another important reason to have an ongoing relationship with me as your physician is for common sense prevention. Regular monitoring of your physical, emotional and mental health, allows us to head off certain conditions and minimize the inevitable discomforts of others. This monitoring becomes more and more important as we age and statistical risks increase. Early detection is not the same as prevention, but they go hand in hand for optimizing quality of life throughout our lifespan. Let’s look at menopause as an example. If you are a woman, it’s going to happen. For some of us it is a barely noticeable transition. For many there are significant changes in our experiences, physically and emotionally. It’s a powerful time; there is a lot to learn about the events of menopause and particularly how your unique experience can be made as comfortable and as interesting as possible. Yes, I said interesting! I think it is actually fun and fascinating to go through life transitions when we have the information and support we need to enjoy them. You can learn a lot about menopause from reading the many excellent books on the topic, and you should. It’s also vitally important for women to talk to each other and our daughters and mothers and aunts and grandmothers, to share stories and compare notes and learn in these conversations how many ways are normal, common and “right” ways to go through menopause. It is also important to realize that some common symptoms can have uncommon causes: hot flashes can be due to hyperthyroidism; night sweats can be due to Hodgkin's disease; mood swings can be due to clinical depression, thyroid disease or micronutrient deficiencies. Heart palpitations can be a distinctly cardiac event, unrelated to menopause. Abnormal vaginal bleeding patterns can be especially confusing- thyroid conditions, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, pituitary tumors, overgrowth of the uterine lining and uterine cancer can all cause variations in bleeding patterns. Your health is enhanced when you have an established relationship with a trusted health care provider. I am able to help you with proper diagnosis as well as guidance about how you can access the complete range of treatment options currently available. Sometimes the most important service I provide is to help you find another medical specialist, whose expertise is exactly what you really need. The most important part of self care is taking the responsibility to create and maintain such a relationship, and to bring to it as much self awareness and curiosity and interest in your own well being as you can. Two heads are almost always better than one, and for your health care partner you want a person who has had the inclination and the opportunity to commit to the education and experience and on-going development of services that meet your health care needs with both depth and breadth of knowledge and skills. I am happy to offer just that kind of service. Nothing interests me more than this kind of useful give and take. I learn from every one of my relationships. In this way your experience and wisdom will be shared through out the community we create, making life better for all. © Nan Dunne, ND 2007 |
Good
Self Care