What you should know before scheduling an appointment with a functional medicine practitioner
Caveat emptor
I've seen it too many times.
An innocent, well-meaning patient, who has become disillusioned with the state of conventional medicine hears about functional medicine. They start reading blog posts, listening to podcasts, or watching videos online, and they're hooked. They see the brilliance and promise of this new model.
So they book an appointment.
And they have no idea what they're in for.
I've worked all over the country, in small hospitals in the country, in big hospitals in the city, in small functional medicine clinics in strip malls, and in fancy functional medicine practices that cater to celebrities. There have been days in my telemedicine practice where, in one moment, I was taking care of gun-toting rednecks, and Park Avenue or Highland Park housewives in the next.
I certainly don't know it all, but there are very, very few therapies out there that I have not tried for myself, my family, or my patients. From homeopathy to yoga to IV nutrition to ozone to hyperbaric oxygen - I have studied the tools of modern functional medicine in practically my every waking hour since I was scarcely a boy.
And for every person who raves about functional medicine, there is someone else who had a decidedly negative experience.
And this pains me. I'll never forget the first time I had a request for a refund, the first time a patient sent me a nasty email, or the first time someone told me they didn't see the value of my work.
It doesn't bother me that these people don't think much of me - what bothers me is that they didn't understand what they were buying when they engaged my services. They thought they were buying x, and they got y.
I failed to communicate my value and the nature of my services. I'm not alone in this. The functional medicine community has been taken over by clever marketers who are cashing in on the good ideas and the tremendous value of functional medicine. The functional medicine narrative has become an overly simplified song-and-dance of, "gluten is bad, carbs are bad, just go keto/paleo and your diseases will melt away." Or some variation on that theme. If that doesn't work, then it's, "here, take these supplements for three or four months and then see me for a follow up." If that doesn't work, then it's, "here, take this ozone, hyperbaric oxygen, high-dose vitamin C, or glutathione."
Then what? I've seen people chase their health from coast to coast and beyond. I've seen them spend every last penny they had on functional medicine.
I don't want that to happen to you. No matter who you go to for your care, I want you to have a good experience. Because above all, I care about taking care of people. The Bible says, "Man exists that he might have joy." You are certainly not "enjoying" the problems for which you are seeking functional medical care, but I at least want you to enjoy the experience of functional medicine, feel you got a square deal, and, no matter what, get back to enjoying your life. I know that when I engage my own personal physicians, I enjoy the interaction, and not just because I am insatiably curious about my art. I genuinely enjoy them as people, I see the value in what they are providing me, and I understand what I am buying.
I've seen patients waste years of their lives and their entire life's savings on their functional medical care. I've been the doctor patients turned to after they had failed to get results at clinics where they might have spent tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in vain. "No pressure," right?
What have I learned, after years and years of toil, travel, study, sleepless nights, and countless patients, that I think you need to know before you even bother scheduling an appointment with a functional medicine practitioner?
"We are the sum of our actions, and therefore our habits make all the difference."
- Aristotle
"If someone wishes for good health, one must first ask oneself if he is ready to do away with the reasons for his illness. Only then is it possible to help him."
- Hippocrates
If you don't make a daily practice of good, healthy habits, you might as well just set your money on fire rather than engage a functional medicine doctor. That's how much good functional medicine will do you if you aren't engaged in a solid daily routine of healthy habits.
That's the number one thing you have to know before you bother with functional medicine. That is the foundation of your health and wellness. And habits are the foundation of your illness too.
"There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil, to one who is striking at the root."
- Henry David Thoreau
The promise of functional medicine is that it should strike at the root of a disease. People are constantly talking about "root causes" in the functional medicine world. The truth is that root causes always come down to habits.
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
- Albert Einstein
If you're running to functional medicine expecting to keep doing what you're doing that's making you sick, then you have another thing coming.
And that's the heart and soul of functional medicine. Changing what you're doing day in and day out, to change your body, your mind, and perhaps even your spirit.
That's the promise of functional medicine. To restore and optimize your function by restoring and optimizing your habits. And that's what I've built my practice around, because I've seen the fallacy of thinking that around the next corner, on the next shelf, or in the next bottle, bag, or box lies the secret to your wellness.
Don't get me wrong - there's a place for "stuff" in getting you better. But we've got to start with the fundamentals, and this is what I see people getting wrong and misunderstanding. They don't understand the value of habits. They don't understand the value of a guide. And that leads them to what is essentially malinvestment in their health.
I'm here to help you understand what you are buying, so that you can not only get a great outcome, but feel good about how you got there.
Next up, we'll be talking about what functional medicine is, and what it isn't.
Until then, be well,
Dr. Stillman
Thank you. I know this but it helps to be reminded of it now and again. I will be writing a couple of those quotes in my journal haha
Thank you, Dr. Stillman. I couldn't agree more. I am a Functional Massage Therapist in Florida. I created that title because, like you, I practice massage therapy differently from the standard massage therapy approach. Instead of the traditional rub down, I found through many mentors, physicians and therapists alike, that there is more to the muscles story than what we are traditionally taught. Most of my new clients have no idea what to expect. I will do some massage, some Active Isolated Stretching, and some brain work so they can learn how the brain affects their muscles.
Like you, I want them to learn that they can stop their chronic aches and pain with their own hands, so I teach them how their body works and how what they do will affect how they feel. I agree with you that most patients are looking for their doctor to heal them without the patient changing anything in their lives. I love the look on their faces when I show them that, even they are taking a drug or have surgery, there are things they will need to change in their lives to make the treatment most effective. Going back to what they did to get sick, will treatment in a negative way. I have the Hippocrates quote you used in my office, how funny. It is sad that most patients do not understand that everything eat, think, or do affects their health, good or bad. We just get to see the outcome of their actions.