Say you notice a stained ceiling in your living room, and you’re fairly sure that water has been leaking from plumbing on the second floor. You call a contractor, who confirms your suspicion of a water leak. She advises that to fix it, she’ll need to open the wall and ceiling to locate the leak. Since the home is old enough for its pipes and valves to be worn, she’ll likely need to replace a segment of plumbing. She’ll test the lines to assure that they’re leak-free, and then repair and paint the walls and ceilings.

Would you then tell the contractor “let’s just paint over the ceiling stain and the problem will go away”?

Now let’s say you have recurrent sinus infections, or heartburn, or bladder infections. Or every spring, like clockwork, you suffer from seasonal allergy symptoms. You may take a prescription or over-the-counter medicine that relieves your pain or congestion. But what happens when you stop taking the medication? The problem returns, often more severely than before. Clearly there’s an underlying health issue that isn’t being resolved by the medication.

Taking medication that relieves symptoms but doesn’t address the source of the problem is like asking the contractor to repair the ceiling without resolving the plumbing issue. Health symptoms, like the ceiling stain, are signals of a larger issue that’s crying out for resolution. We can paint the ceiling over today and forget about the problem for a while, but that stain’s going to come back to haunt us until we fix the underlying leak, which is probably getting worse while we procrastinate.

Most pharmaceuticals only relieve outward symptoms; they don’t address the underlying cause of the symptoms. Nor do the short patient appointments typical of the Western medical system allow for investigation of issues underlying symptoms. Thus, common recurrent symptoms such as headaches, sinusitis, digestive disturbances and bladder infections cause persistent, unresolved discomfort for many.

As a naturopathic physician, I’m committed to your long-term radiant health. I go beyond symptom relief to find out why your body is raising its symptoms again and again. In my office, you can expect:

• Safe, natural relief for current symptoms
• Time spent getting to know you, so I can accurately identify the causes of your symptoms
• A thorough treatment plan that addresses the cause, so you can look forward to a symptom-free future

Wondering whether there’s a safe, long-term solution for your recurrent symptoms? Call my office today to find out – you may be pleasantly surprised!