Suite 100, 555 West Georgia Vancouver, BC. V6B 1Z6
FAQ
Naturopathic Frequently Asked Questions
Is a naturopathic doctor a real doctor?
A naturopathic doctor attends an accredited naturopathic college to gain their licensure. Naturopathic doctors attend a 4-yr undergraduate degree program with specific science classes as prerequisites before applying to one of the accredited naturopathic colleges in North America. At the end of their 8-10 yr education, they receive the title “doctor of naturopathic medicine,” or ND.
Both naturopathic doctors at Bay Wellness Centre attended the Southwest College of Naturopathic medicine.
Are naturopathic doctors covered by BC medical?
In BC, naturopathic doctors are not covered under regular MSP. Naturopathic doctors are typically covered under extended health benefit programs through third party companies and places of employment.
The most common companies covering naturopathic medicine are Sunlife, Manuflife, and Canada Life.
Unfortunately, naturopathic offices cannot call your insurance company for you to determine your annual maximum or per visit spend. You will personally have to call you insurance company for that information.
What does a naturopathic doctor do?
Naturopathic doctors are trained as primary care physicians who view the body as a whole, and treat the root cause of all symptoms. They all swear under the Hipporatic Oath (the same as medical doctors).
Naturopathic doctors have many different tools of treatment, so seeing one naturopathic doctor may be very different from seeing another. At Bay Wellness, we use treatments that are scientifically-based and proven to be effective. At your first 1-hour appointment, your ND will cover all of your current health concerns, past medical history and family history. They will then be able to determine if any testing is required and develop a treatment plan for you.
Can a naturopathic doctor help with hormones?
Yes! At Bay Wellness, we have completed our extra training in women’s health specifically and functional endocrinology.
There are many different tools available to use to treat and balance hormones, including specialized testing, using food as medicine, herbs and botanicals, nutrient IV’s and specific nutrition programs, acupuncture and prescription medication and bio-identical hormones.
How do naturopathic doctors diagnose?
Naturopathic doctors diagnose in a similar way to medical doctors. They get as much information as possible about your symptoms, conditions and health to be able to determine if testing is required. If testing is required, they will take those results into account with your entire symptom picture to come to a diagnosis. Then they will begin treatment plan.
If you’ve recently done other testing, sometimes those results can be used, instead of getting new tests done.
How long are visits with naturopathic doctors?
Our initial visits are 1-hour long, and follow up visits are 30 minutes.
How much will it cost me to see a naturopathic doctor?
That is completely dependent on what is going on with your health.
If you are someone who is dealing with chronic illness, disease or conditions, then you may require more specialized testing and treatment over long periods of time, increasing your overall cost. Once you are following a treatment plan, your cost generally decreases.
Our initial visits are $275/hour.
A better question may be ‘how much will it cost me NOT to see a naturopathic doctor?’
Who should see a naturopathic doctor?
Everyone.
At Bay Wellness, we believe that in an ideal world, we would be born and assigned a medical doctor, naturopathic doctor, chiropractor, physiotherapist, and registered clinical counsellor so that we had all the tools in place to prevent illness and live as healthy as possible!
Can naturopathic doctors prescribe medications?
Some can.
At Bay Wellness, we have completed our board exam to be able to write pharmaceutical prescriptions, bio-identical hormones and nutrient IV therapy.
Why should I see a naturopathic doctor?
You should see a naturopathic doctor to improve your overall health, increase your longevity and quality of life, and prevent disease conditions.
Naturopathic doctors can offer a different perspective for many different health conditions than our traditional medical system in Canada.
What does the word naturopathic mean?
Naturopathic medicine is a distinct system of primary health care that emphasizes prevention and self-healing through the use of natural therapies.
Prolotherapy Questions
How long does it take to recover from prolotherapy?
Typically, prolotherapy injections heal within 72 hrs, meaning you can go back to your regular exercise routine after 3 days post-injection. The number of injections that you require depends on the type of injury you have sustained, how long it has been and your overall health.
What are the risks of prolotherapy?
The risks of prolotherapy injections are:
- Bruising at the site of injection
- Pain and stiffness for 3 days after the injection
- Infection due to puncturing the skin
What is the success rate of prolotherapy?
The success rate of prolotherapy is dependent on the skill of your injector, your body’s ability to heal, and the chronicity of the injury.
In patients with low back pain, 85-95% have resolution of pain with prolotherapy injections.
How does prolotherapy work?
Prolotherapy injections work by stimulating the body’s own ability to heal. By injecting the prolotherapy solution into the joint, or over the damaged tendon or ligament, a local inflammation is stimulated, moving the white blood cells and proteins to the area of injury to enhance healing and improve healing time.
Prolotherapy injections improve the stability of joints by healing tendon and ligament injuries.
What is prolotherapy solution made of?
Prolotherapy solution is made specifically for you and your injury but will consist of:
- Dextrose (sugar)
- Procaine (anesthesia)
- Methylcobalamin (vitamin B12)
- Normal saline
PRP Questions
What does PRP stand for?
PRP is platelet rich plasma. This is a portion of your blood with the growth factors and proteins present to promote healing of tissue, and regeneration of collagen.
Does PRP therapy really work?
Yes, PRP therapy injections provide healing to joints, tendons, ligaments, muscles, collagen (aesthetic treatments), and hair growth.
Does PRP therapy re-grow hair?
Yes, however, your body must be in a place to heal for the PRP injections to be efficacious.
For example, for hair re-growth to occur, your ferritin levels must be around 80ug/L.
Since we are using your blood for this treatment, your overall health matters! You’re only as healthy as your blood.
What is facial PRP good for?
Facial PRP injections are great for overall anti-aging. By puncturing the skin and injecting PRP under the surface, we are creating micro-damage (with the needle poke) and placing the ingredients for collagen growth directly where we want it.
With PRP injections for aesthetics, you will see:
- Overall skin glow
- Reduction of fine lines, wrinkles, scars
- Tightening of the facial ligaments
- Plumping of lips, cheeks, under-eye filling
Botox Questions
What type of botox are you using?
At Bay Wellness, we are using Xeomin as our botox product. We have chosen this product because it is very clean. The purification process of Xeomin is very thorough, and it does not have adjuvants and extra proteins attached to the botox molecule itself.
What should you avoid before getting botox injections?
Before your botox injections you should avoid:
- Blood thinners (i.e. Aspirin)
- Alcohol
Is botox for cosmetic use?
Yes, botox is injected for anti-aging benefits, to reduce fine lines and wrinkles and prevent new ones from forming.
There are benefits such as:
- Migraine headache reduction
- TMJ pain reduction
- Hyperhydrosis (excess sweating)
Can naturopathic doctors inject botox?
Yes. In BC, naturopathic doctors can get specialized training for botox injections. At Bay Wellness, we completed the botox course from the Canadian Society of Skin Medicine, which included an additional weekend course of advanced facial anatomy.
Acupuncture Questions
Can naturopathic doctor’s perform acupuncture treatments?
Yes, naturopathic doctors learn acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine during their four-year naturopathic medical degree program.
When you see a naturopathic doctor for acupuncture, they will still be using their ND license number, not a separate acupuncture license unless they have also gone through a TCM college.
Does acupuncture hurt?
No, the needles used in acupuncture treatments are very thin and in most cases aren’t felt at all.
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