Naturopathic medicine is a distinct primary care health system with a deep philosophical history and over 200 years of clinical practice. As a profession, naturopathic medicine continues to grow, evolve, and fill a vital role in today’s medical system of specialists and referrals. Modern naturopathic medicine still holds on to the philosophy of our founders, but we now able to incorporate evidence based medicine (science) into our practice. Patients are drawn to the holistic, patient-centered medicine with treatment that focuses on prevention rather than simply symptom management.

For more specific information on the philosophy and education of naturopathic physicians check out my about naturopathic medicine page.

You should expect to be heard. I want get to know you on our first meeting, I want to hear your story.

Part of your story is your recent health history, I would like to know all the prescription and over-the-counter medications and supplements you are currently taking. I would also like any recent (in the last year) laboratory work up or imaging (X-rays, MRI, CT, ultra sound) you have had done, or at least the name and contact information of the facility where tests were done so I can request copies.

This kind of detail in an office visit takes some time, I realize that you do not want to spend your entire day at the doctors office, but I schedule all my new patient appointments for an hour. After the detailed history and explanation of your health concerns I will complete all necessary physical exams. You will leave our first encounter with a basic and personalized treatment plan, this may include nutritional recommendations, botanical medicine, movement therapy or assorted stress management  techniques; I will also make recommendations for regenerative injection therapies or physical medicine as needed. I may refer you to other providers or order labs based on your current state of health.

Follow up visits are usually 30-60 minutes, and are generally treatment focused. If you are receiving Regenerative Injection Therapies or manual therapy we will a brief check in before starting treatment. If you are following up on nutritional counseling or lifestyle management we will discuss any new developments (improvements or regressions) since our last visit and discuss next steps or address necessary changes that need to made to your current treatment plan.

Prolotherapy is a form of Regenerative Injection Therapy. These therapies are used for pain management in the joints and soft tissues. They rebuild and tighten connective tissues that have been damaged from injury or overuse. Prolotherapy uses an irritant solution of dextrose to stimulate an immune response in the injected tissues, essentially giving your body a second chance at healing.

You can read more about Prolotherapy on my services or research page.

Unfortunately there is no cut and dry answer to this. Humans are amazingly complex beings, what one person responds to may not work at all in another. The issues we will address likely did not appear overnight and so it is doubtful that they will resolve quickly. Depending on what your health needs are, treatment times and responses may vary.

With Regenerative Injection Therapies I will discuss in detail your individualized plan for a treatment schedule. These treatments are not a “one shot wonder” and do require multiple treatments for best results. Generally there are anywhere from 3-6 treatments spread out from weekly to monthly visits.

Most of my patients come in to treatment day with an expectation that injections will be painful, then after the treatment they are pleasantly surprised with how easily the treatment went! Most say they hardly felt a thing.

Obviously using a needle to break the skin will be felt, but it is never my goal to cause you more pain than necessary.  I have been trained in a “painless needle technique”, and I do my best to make the treatment as fast as possible so that any discomfort is over quickly. Really the magic from the needle is all dependent on who is actually holding the needle, meaning you will have an easier experience and better results from a well trained practitioner. If you have had an acupuncture treatment without pain you will probably tolerate my injection therapies just fine.