Under the concepts of naturopathic medicine, assessment is oriented toward determining what is impeding your body's ability to function normally and then treating this root cause using natural therapies such as diet, supplements, herbs, homeopathy, Traditional Chinese Medicine, among others. While some of the conventional medical approaches may help in this determination, they may not necessarily apply to a naturopathic approach.
The first steps in evaluating patients who complain of any forms of indigestion including gas and constipation are obtaining a thorough medical history and performing a complete physical examination. At our clinic, during your initial 1 hour one - on - one consult with our Naturopathic Doctor, Sushma Shah, you will be undergo a comprehensive symptom intake in detail, in order to find out what is the root cause of your symptoms and at the end of the visit, you will be required to do some blood and urine testing.
Additional testing depends upon the specifics in each individual. Those with "alarm" symptoms such as severe constipation, diarrhoea, weight loss, abdominal pain, anemia, and blood in the stool, lack of appetite (anorexia), fever, or vomiting usually require specific testing.
Her assessment is oriented toward determining what is impeding your body's ability to function normally. She may require you to do some specialized stool, urine, blood and saliva testing in order to correctly diagnose what is causing the disorder in the body. She will determine what assessment tools would be most helpful in establishing a treatment strategy specific to your health needs.
Following this visit, you will be coming in for your second visit, in which she will be doing a full physical check up, including a breast exam (for females), a traditional Chinese medicine tongue and pulse diagnosis, body fat analysis and blood glucose testing.