At Life Medical we specialize in integrative medicine, because it allows us to give each patient the best treatment.
WHAT EXACTLY IS INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE?
The definition of the word integration is “to bring together or incorporate parts into a whole”. At Life Medical we bring together all types of medical experts for the benefit of our patients. Our practice combines both “conventional” and “alternative” practitioners together in a cooperative team approach.
WHY IS INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE BEST FOR THE PATIENT?
An integrative doctor understands what all the available modalities can do and refers appropriately to the right practitioners that do them. Each patient is assessed to determine the best integrative treatment plan. This plan may include any combination of conventional and/or complementary methods. Our providers manage the case based on the patient’s response to treatment. In most cases a combination of modalities works better for patients than a single modality.
- Integrative medicine allows us to get the biggest “bang for the healthcare buck” and achieve more permanent solutions vs. temporarily fixing the symptoms.
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INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE IS NOT MORE COSTLY
Some of our modalities are covered by insurance some are not. Our office can help patients determine what treatments their particular health plan covers. We always take our patients’ financial and insurance situation into account. We tailor the treatment as to what is best for their health as well as what is best for their pocketbook.
WHY ARE SO MANY PATIENTS FANS OF ALTERNATIVE MODALITIES?
Because of the challenges they face when they use only conventional medicine, more and more patients are looking for treatment with alternative modalities. Many patients are frustrated with what they feel is ineffective and industrialized conventional medicine and are looking for something “alternative” that combines gentle techniques and more personal time with a practitioner. Often patients say that their health has been improved simply because of the additional caring and personal attention they receive from alternative medicine providers. But the best reason to use complementary modalities is simply because some of them work better than the conventional treatments. At Life Medical we treat every issue while paying careful attention to all of the patients’ issues.
CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT AN EXAMPLE WHERE INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR A PATIENT SUCCESS STORY:
HOW DOES MEDICAL CANNABIS FIT IN TO THE INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE APPROACH?
At Life Medical we like to say that “cannabis is a gateway drug to good medicine”!
When a patient comes to Life Medical to be evaluated and certified for medical cannabis they first need to be certified and approved by the state. Then the pharmacist at the cannabis dispensary will help the patient figure out the right products and doses of medication. We give it some time to work and to make sure the treatment is optimized.
After three or four months we can really get a read on what the patient’s new baseline is, for pain, PTSD, any other issues, or all of the above; the patient is almost always vastly improved. We then see them at the clinic for a follow up.
With medical cannabis our goal is to eventually reduce the use. Most patients will be significantly better after using cannabis for a few months. This is when we really take a look at adding other modalities/treatment methods to treat their conditions.
SOME CASE STUDY EXAMPLES:
CASE STUDY ONE: A VERY POSITIVE EXPERIENCE USING MEDICAL CANNABIS AND INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE
A 60-year-old overweight woman came into Life Medical experiencing knee pain and a slight case of depression. She was certified by the State of Minnesota for cannabis under chronic pain from her degenerative joint disease. She greatly improved from the medical cannabis, but we also suggested that she do something else simultaneously to improve her health long term, so we suggested conventional physical therapy, muscle work and also we used low level laser therapy on her knees. At our suggestion she also started taking the supplement Glucosamine. To help with some sleep issues we gave her a preparation of Valerian with hops which improved her sleep. She is now trying our Neuro Research Protocol to help suppress her appetite and as a result has lost 15 pounds.
The stress on her knees has been reduced and her mood has greatly improved. Now that her knees are far less painful she can be more active which enhances her weight loss efforts. This is truly a full circle success story for integrative medicine!
UPDATE ON MEDICAL CANNABIS FLOWER IN MINNESOTA:
“Some of my patients are telling me that flower works better than the cannabis extract”, says Dr. Jacob Mirman. “They feel like it works better and has less side effects. The dispensaries are very helpful in figuring out which strain of flower to use for each patient’s particular needs. Flower appears to be more economical than other ways to use cannabis, however some patients still prefer the pharmaceutical preparations of cannabis.”
“Flower can be smoked rolled in paper, smoked in special pipes, or used in systems using water filtration to remove particulates (bongs). Some patients prefer to use electronic vaporizers. There are different types of these vaping devices; the best are probably “convection” types, where the plant material is heated by hot air circulating through the flower without burning it. These vapes cook the material to release the medicine from the flower. Two vapes that I recommend are “Pax 3” and “Firefly 2+”. They can be found online and in local headshops. For some reason understood only by the “wise” legislators who came up with this rule, the dispensaries are not allowed to sell these devices.”
CASE STUDY: ONE MAN’S VERY POSITIVE EXPERIENCE WITH MEDICAL CANNABIS
A 30-year-old veteran in his 30’s came in to be treated for physical pain and PTSD and physical pain. After being on medical cannabis for one year he is sleeping better and doing better and able to proceed with diet and exercise. He has also lost over 100 lbs. in just 12 months. The cannabis allows him to be more active and he is sleeping better and his pain is controlled.