I have found from
experience that long visits can result in information overload for the patient.
In contrast, more frequent shorter visits result in a clearer understanding of
treatment plans and much greater compliance. This means better results for
you.
The initial visit
to St George Naturopathic Clinic is divided into 3 consultations over a period
of 2 weeks. Before the initial visit you will need to complete some
questionnaires that will give me a picture of your health and diet.
Click here or blue box above to download. All new
clients need to do all three of the initial consultations.
Questionnaires: You MUST fill
these in before your first visit. If possible, please fax or post them
back to me at least 2 days before your first visit. If not, you may
bring them with you. There are four sections to the questionnaires:
-
Health Goals
- if you have clear health goals you will be more motivated to learn about how
you can work to better health.
-
Health
Appraisal Questionnaire - a comprehensive list of questions that need to be
asked, Yes some of them are repeated, but they are in different
categories. Please make sure you include a full list of any medications
and supplements you are taking. In the box "Main reason for visit", please
indicate what health issues are concerning you the most. The more
information you give on this questionnaire, the better. Feel free to add
any notes. Many questions are "double" questions such as do you have
"loose stools, constipation" - it is helpful if you circle the one that applies
to you and then rate it according to the A, B ,C, or D scoring.
-
DASS - a
standard questionnaire to rate depression, anxiety and stress.
-
Diet and
Lifestyle - it is important to know what you usually eat and drink, your
exercise, and general lifestyle.
First visit (30 to 40 minutes)
Cost $70: The purpose of this is to
gather information about you and factors that are influencing your health.
Please bring the following to the first visit:
-
Any recent blood
test results or any other relevant medical reports.
-
A detailed list of your current
medications and/or health supplements - or bring them with you so I can see
exactly what you are taking.
-
A urine sample or you can do one when
you arrive.
-
A willingness to learn how you
can manage your own health.
The first visit
will take the following format:
-
Discuss your
health goals - a chance for you to tell me anything about your health and about
any issue that is affecting your health.
-
Look at your
presenting symptoms in more detail.
-
Review your
questionnaires and discuss areas of concern.
-
Do some basic
testing such as:
-
Urinary indican
test for digestive health - you can bring a urine sample with you or do one when
you get here.
-
Combur9 urine
test for kidney function.
-
Zinc taste test
for zinc status.
-
Bio-impedance
analysis to determine fat mass, muscle mass, and cellular health.
-
Take your blood
pressure.
-
If necessary I
may do Iridology and/or a Ryodoraku Meridian test.
-
Give some basic
dietary and lifestyle advice. Often even a slight improvement in diet and
lifestyle can have a big improvement on health. If you do this for the
next 2 weeks, future treatment may be simplified.
-
If necessary
herbs or nutrients may be prescribed for symptom relief.
Second visit (30 minutes)
Cost $70:
-
See how you have
been coping with dietary and lifestyle advice.
-
Assess
effectiveness of symptom relief given at first visit.
-
Hemaview live
blood screening. I will take one drop of blood from your finger tip, put
it under a microscope, and you will be able to view your red blood cells and
white blood cells on a monitor. Much can be learnt about your health from
the shape and size of red blood cells, numbers and quality of different white
cells and presence of platelets and fibrin visible in the blood.
Third visit (30 minutes)
Cost $55:
Before your third visit, I will review all your collected
information and design treatment plan options for you. At the third visit
I will suggest one or more treatment plans, outlining costs and time frames.
You can then begin a plan of treatment to bring your body into a natural balance
that gives you health and vitality. All treatment will take into account
any current medical treatment you are having, and is in no way a replacement for
your medical treatment. You should tell your doctor about your
naturopathic treatment. A discount of 10% ($19.50) if you pay for first
three visits at time of first visit.
Continuing visits (30 minutes $45 or 15 minutes
$30):
Your progress will be closely monitored with visits every two
or four weeks for most. Weight loss clients visit weekly. As you
progress to wellness, visits may be every two or three months.
Further tests may be advised to assist in
treatment. The Candia5 test for candida and the BioCard Celiac test for
gluten intolerance are simple pin prick blood tests that can be done in the
clinic. Other external laboratory tests such as Hair Mineral Analysis,
Amino Acid Profile or any one of a number of others may be suggested.
Please note that purchase price of herbs and
supplements is in addition to cost of consultation as shown above.
Treatment may be one or more of the following. Diet and
nutrition, nutritional supplements, herbal medicine, homoeopathic medicine,
massage treatment, exercise and advice and encouragement on
possible lifestyle changes. You may need to seek treatment from a medical doctor.
If this is the case, I am happy to work in conjunction with your doctor.
Nutrition: The mention of nutrition often
brings to mind the word "diet" and the idea of
suffering on a restrictive diet- this idea is far from the truth.
I would like to encourage you to think of nutrition as a positive
way of providing the body with the necessary nutrients for
optimum health. The body can survive for many years on a less
than adequate nutritional diet, but it will catch up with you -
the sooner you examine you nutritional status, the better.
It is my aim to educate
you, so that when an understanding is gained of why certain foods
are beneficial to health and others are not, you will grow to
choose healthy foods, and in a good balance, without necessarily
becoming a vegetarian. In many cases foods can be used as "medicine".
Due to our stressful lifestyle, increased pollution (both
airborne and ingested), and the depletion of soil nutrients for
crops, the need for vitamin, mineral, and other supplements is
often needed to restore health.
I use the very successful Ultra Lite Weight and
Health Management program for those who need to lose some weight. It is a
great training ground for learning how to eat healthy foods.
For more information click on "Weight Loss" on the side bar menu.
Herbal
Medicine:
The
use of plants for medicine is as old as history itself. The long
traditional use of herbs is now increasingly being verified by
scientific validation. Compared to the strong chemicals of
pharmaceutical drugs which over-ride the natural body chemistry,
herbs are a very gentle form of treatment, working with the body
to bring a natural healing. You may be concerned about the safety
and reliability of herbs, but in Australia, the Therapeutic Goods
Act ensures that herbs used are safe and of high quality. Herbs
are safe, so long as they are used as directed. There is always a
danger in self-prescribing, as some herbs if used inappropriately
can have an adverse effect, and there are many herbs that should
not be used in pregnancy. I am a fully qualified herbalist,
trained in using herbs to gently restore health and vitality.
Homoeopathy:
Samual
Hanhemann (1755-1843) was a medical doctor who called his form of
treatment "Homoeopathy" from the Greek words "Homoios"
meaning "similar" and "Pathos" meaning "suffering".
The principle is to find a substance that in a healthy person
will give a certain set of symptoms. When this same set of
symptoms occur in a sick person, the same substance can be used
as a remedy when it is diluted according to Homoeopathic
principles. This extremely dilute medicine can have a very
powerful effect, in fact the more dilute the remedy, the more
powerful the effect. The popularity of Homoeopathy declined with
the introduction of anti-biotic drugs in the 1930's. Today, as
people look for an alternative to the side effects of modern
drugs, Homoeopathy is again becoming more popular.
Bach Flowers:
In the 1930's,
Dr Edward Bach developed the use of remedies made from various
flowers to address various emotional states which have an
impact on disease. I often put these in your herb
mixture or in a separate bottle if needed.
Massage
Therapy: If you have muscular pain, a
remedial massage is a great way to effectively reduce pain. Massage can
benefit your whole body via the central nervous system, improving both muscular
function and mental wellbeing. Peter Kelly has a WorkCover number for
massage required to be done for Worker's Compensation insurance claims.
For more information on massage therapy click here
Weight
loss: If you are overweight, perhaps the
most important way to improve your health is to lose weight. I use the
very successful Ultra Lite Weight Management plan - you can lose up to 2 kg per
week of fat in a proven, safe and natural weight loss program.
For more information on Ultra Lite Weight Management
click here
St George
Naturopathic Clinic
