The other day I saw an eager 8 year old patient who really wanted to listen to his heart with the stethoscope. I love it when my patients want to learn and happily let him. Then I asked him if he wanted to be a doctor when he grows up. He replied “No, I want to be a private eye!”
I paused and realized in many ways we are a “Private Eye medical practice” where we investigate health issues for our patients. We look individually at their issues and dig deep to figure out what the causes are to help demystify their health and help them feel better.
We don’t take everything at face value. Using our training and experience, we dig deeper and look at all your information to connect the dots and identify root causes. It’s fun and it’s rewarding and, most importantly, it’s effective at helping people feel well.
We certainly aim to help people who feel healthy stay that way, but we also help people with advanced issues solve the puzzle. It usually involves interconnected layers including mindset, diet, lifestyle and exercise. But it may involve incorporating other pieces as well- such as genomics, detox, gut microbiome, neuroplasticity and more.
“My most challenging detective work was with my food allergy patients. Sifting through their meals, snacks, personal care products, occupational exposures, and airborne exposures; exhausting every single thing they came into contact with, trying so desperately to locate the culprit of their symptoms. And this is exactly what practicing Integrative Medicine is like- digging so deeply at times it’s painful, exhausting, and frustrating but at the end- YES! an ah-ha moment! Yes, we can actually use this process to discover a root cause to almost any disease process, modify related factors, and put together a treatment plan. The work we do as clinicians is a collaborative effort, our patients have all of the background information, we serve as your navigators, we will steer you in the right direction and get to those root causes.
My passion and my focus has always centered around prevention- let’s just try and do it right the first time, as much as that’s possible, right?! Our young population needs us to steer them and keep them on track. If we can provide functional nutrition, promote healthy, not excessive exercise, support the immune system, and promote healthy brain development, we can raise happy, healthy children. Diet, lifestyle, sleep, and stress DO matter. If you or your children are in the midst of a tumultuous time, let us help you navigate through these muddy waters. We have the experience of being a “private eye” paired with the compassion and empathy of an unsung hero. In fact, this quote by Shakespeare beautifully denotes my life’s work and passion: ‘The meaning of life is to find your gift, the purpose of life is to give it away.’”
Yours truly in health and wellness,
Dr. Julie Reardon
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