Naturopathic Doctors use conventional and Naturopathic
diagnostic tools for assessing health concerns and determining the most
appropriate treatment program. The diagnostic tools used include:
Thorough Health History
The initial intake with a Naturopathic Doctor is usually about 1½ to 2 hours in length and includes a detailed history. A Naturopathic Doctor
will take the time to find out about your family history, your
lifestyle, the stresses in your life, past medical history, history of
accidents or injuries and the significant events in your life that have
affected your health or well being. Often Naturopathic Doctors will use questionnaires to ensure that they are aware of the factors that may be affecting your current health status.
Nutritional Analysis
Understanding your nutritional status, eating habits and patterns
and the type of food that you eat on a regular is an important part of
the Naturopathic assessment. Naturopathic Doctors
will often take the time to assess the impact that diet is having on
health and your body's ability to handle the food that you are eating.
Physical Examinations
Naturopathic Doctors are trained to do complete physical
exams as use them as a standard part of an assessment. As your health
changes or as acute situations arise, Naturopathic Doctors
will use aspects of the physical examination to aid in diagnosis and
assessment of your health concerns. Having a complete physical exam on
yearly basis is an essential part preventative health care. Naturopathic Doctors often take the time to ensure that the "small" symptoms are identified and addressed before they become a "bigger" problem.
Chinese Tongue and Pulse Diagnosis
Traditional Chinese Medicine provides additional insight and
information about an individual's health status. Through tongue and
pulse diagnosis, a Naturopathic Doctor is able to understand a person's health status on many different levels.
Comprehensive Laboratory Testing
Laboratory testing, including urine analysis, blood work and saliva
testing, is an essential aspect of a complete medical assessment. Naturopathic Doctors will use standard laboratory testing to provide them with further information for a complete assessment.
Previous Medical Reports and Diagnostic Testing
All medical reports, such as MRIs, X-rays or scans are valuable assets that a Naturopathic Doctor will use during their assessment of your health concerns. Naturopathic Doctors
will refer to another medical health professional when appropriate to
ensure that all patients receive the best quality health care possible
and that all required information is available in order to fully
understand the root causes of a patient's health concerns.
We thank the Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors for this article.