Do you want to improve your child's health? Of course! No parent ever wants to see their child sick, but it's just a reality of life. Kids are more susceptible to sore throats, earaches, and upper respiratory infections like the common cold. If you learn how functional medicine can improve your child's health, you can do your part to help prevent childhood illness or even shorten the duration of an illness.

The main idea of pediatric functional medicine is to address the whole person because a healthy human system is the foundation of good health. Pediatric functional medicine addresses emotional brain stress as well as physiological imbalances. A trained pediatric functional medicine practitioner would look at all these factors while creating a customized treatment plan for your child. To get more details on how this works, please contact us at 417.812.8800

Functional medicine, like homeopathy, approaches children's health in a truly customized way. When working with your regular doctors, many of you are used to the conventional medicine method, which is considerably different from the functional medicine approach. Rather than addressing symptoms, functional medicine targets the fundamental causes of chronic sickness and disease.

Functional medicine aims to understand what goes wrong when your child has a chronic health condition. What happened in the interaction between your child's genetic composition and her environment to generate such an imbalance that she is now sick - whether she suffers from digestive issues or reflux, eczema, autoimmune disease, or autism. Functional medicine seeks to identify the underlying clinical imbalances in your child's body.

Conventional medicine focuses on treating disease symptoms with drugs and surgery and has primarily ignored underlying factors that can lead to disease or contribute to relapse or recurrence. Conventional medicine has had limited success in treating chronic illnesses in children due to this lack of focus on root causes. But Pediatric Functional Medicine offers hope for lasting improvements in health and is an exciting field that takes a different approach: instead of just treating sick people, it seeks to enable people to achieve their optimal health and well-being—not only preventing illness but also promoting wellness.

Pediatric Functional Medicine (PFM) is a holistic approach that recognizes the dynamic interaction between the child and his environment. It focuses on identifying the underlying cause of disease by assessing each child's genetic, social, psychological, physical, and biochemical influences. 

The PFM doctor then develops a customized treatment plan to treat the root cause of the disease rather than just managing symptoms. This approach promotes improved health and development and prevents future chronic illnesses from developing in young people.

1. When a child is suffering from chronic illness.

Pediatric Functional Medicine is a way of treating children who suffer from chronic illness. The treatment is centered on the belief that the body has an innate capacity to heal itself and that attention to diet, nutrition, environmental factors, and early developmental trauma can positively affect your child's health. 

Pediatric Functional Medicine physicians believe that the root cause of these illnesses stems from chronic inflammation and dysbiosis due to poor diets or other environmental factors. These conditions may trigger various symptoms, including digestive problems, autoimmune disorders, mental health disorders, allergies, asthma, ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, and chronic fatigue syndrome.

The most common treatments for pediatric patients are based on diet, lifestyle, and nutritional advice. This type of treatment aims to promote optimal health, decrease symptoms, and prevent chronic conditions from developing in the future. Treatment plans may also include medication or supplements and, if necessary, other complementary therapies.

2. When a child has been diagnosed with multiple health conditions.

When your child has been diagnosed with multiple health conditions, and you want to explore every option for healing, consider a functional medicine consultation. Functional medicine addresses the underlying mechanisms of disease instead of merely treating symptoms. It assesses and treats the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms or conditions. 

That holistic approach can help determine whether diet, lifestyle and environmental factors contribute to your child's challenges. It may also reveal underlying vitamin deficiencies or food sensitivities that have gone undetected by traditional practitioners.

3. Newborns who are struggling to nurse (tongue and lip tie)

In newborns, they need to have each of their senses stimulated and working properly. Newborns with sensory defensiveness (hypersensitivity) may not be able to nurse properly because they are overwhelmed by the sensation on their tongues and the feeling of swallowing. Tongue and lip tie can cause tongue malposition and make it difficult to nurse correctly. 

Functional medicine can help with these issues by combining diet, supplements, and other treatments that address digestive issues and stimulate sensory development. This is an area where health care needs to evolve—it's not enough for doctors to make sure babies are growing well and gaining weight; we need to look beyond those basic health measures into the root causes of disease so we can prevent it from happening at all.

4. Poor weight gain (low, average, or high birth weight)

A child who doesn't gain enough weight or doesn't grow appropriately over time may have a biological risk factor (for example, a genetic predisposition toward being small) or a physiological problem that is affecting his ability to grow as he should (like chronic inflammation). Either way, pediatric functional medicine can provide a comprehensive assessment by looking at all aspects of the child's biology, environment, and lifestyle—including diet—to determine what factors need to be addressed to reach his growth potential.

5. Food intolerances and symptoms related to food allergies

Finding the right help for a child with symptoms that seem to be caused by food can be confusing. When you decide between a visit to the pediatrician, an allergist, or the functional medicine practitioner, how do you know when to make those visits and what they will each do? Thankfully, functional medicine is well-suited to this task.

The main thing that sets functional medicine apart from other healthcare professionals is its use of whole-body systems. Instead of focusing on a single cause for symptoms, they look at everything happening in the body. They identify and address underlying causes of illness and can work with other practitioners to treat them effectively.

6. Frequent ear infections, respiratory issues, and/or digestive distress

Children with frequent ear infections, respiratory issues, and/or digestive distress could benefit from a functional medicine approach to their health. Functional medicine addresses the root cause of chronic illness rather than just the symptoms. Doctors who practice functional medicine believe the body has an innate ability to heal itself, so they focus on removing obstacles to healing and restoring function.

For example, look at a hypothetical child who suffers from frequent ear infections. A conventional doctor may prescribe antibiotics to treat the infection. However, if a functional medicine physician looks at that same child, he or she may wonder what is causing that recurrent infection. Does the child have allergies? Food sensitivities? Is there too much mucus in the ears? The physician might treat those underlying causes instead of just the ear infection itself.

If this sounds like something your family could benefit from, make an appointment with a functional medicine specialist now.

Our nurse practitioners at Flourish Integrative Wellness are trained in Pediatric Functional Medicine. We know how to treat the root causes of many pediatric health concerns rather than just the symptoms. Our goal is to help your child achieve optimal health and wellness now and for a lifetime.

We provide treatment for a myriad of conditions, including:

• Abdominal pain
• ADHD
• Allergies
• Alopecia
• Asthma
• Autism Spectrum Disorders
• Behavioral Concerns
• Bed Wetting
• Chronic/Recurrent Ear Infections
• Diarrhea/Constipation
• Eczema/Rashes
• Emotional Outbursts
• Food Allergies/Sensitivities and Related Concerns
• Headaches
• OCD and Related Concerns
• PANS/PANDAS
• Tics/Tic-Related Disorders
• Weight Gain/Weight Loss

While your child might seem perfectly healthy, it's essential to know that other conditions can affect them. The first step in treating your child is to take a second look at what's going on and address any underlying issues. A functional medicine practitioner will work with you and your family to develop a comprehensive treatment plan that considers the whole person, including genetic factors.

The following are the benefits of a pediatric functional medicine treatment plan:

-Early intervention when there are disease symptoms present

-An individualized treatment program tailored to your child's needs based on extensive evaluation and testing

-A specific plan that targets the root cause of symptoms, not just the symptoms themselves

To get more information about our pediatric functional medicine treatments and to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced practitioners, please contact our office at 417.812.8800 today!

It is crucial to consider the practitioner's qualifications when looking for a pediatric functional medicine practitioner. Flourish Integrative Wellness has been in business for many years and is an excellent choice when searching for a pediatric functional medicine practitioner. 

Moreover, when you choose a pediatric functional medicine practitioner, they must have experience working with children because what works for adults may not work for children. We know what you're going through. Our integrative pediatric functional medicine team has worked with hundreds of children and parents who have been struggling to find the right approach to their health concerns. The journey can be long, but you can start your path to wellness with us.

If you're ready to start your journey with us, call us at 417.812.8800 or fill out our form to schedule your phone consultation today!