Naturopathic Medicine
Whether you live with a chronic illness or rarely have health complaints, seeing a licensed naturopathic doctor (ND) can help improve your quality of life. The only doctors trained to use conventional diagnostic testing and natural treatments, naturopathic doctors emphasize disease prevention, the body’s inherent healing ability, and treating the whole person. Dr. Josh Reilly, ND and his team at Wild Wellness will help you become a full partner in your own health care, teaching you how to gain control of your health and encouraging you to make thoughtful and informed decisions regarding your own care.
Who Can Benefit from Naturopathic Care?
Naturopathic medicine provides all aspects of preventive and natural health for your entire family. Dr. Reilly has advanced pediatric training and regenerative medical training. He helps patients prevent, alleviate, and in some cases even reverse chronic health conditions such as asthma, arthritis, and diabetes. As an ND, he also helps patients prevent and recover from minor ailments such as a common cold, flu, or minor injury. Additionally, annual wellness exams make an important component of preventive health and are included in your treatment plan under an ND. View a more comprehensive list of health conditions most commonly treated by NDs.
If you are unsure of how to choose the best treatment for your health condition – no matter how broad or specific your concern may be – simply begin by making an appointment with Dr. Reilly. He will take ample time to listen to your concerns and fully assess your health. He will then offer a thorough diagnosis and recommend a comprehensive treatment plan suited to your individual needs. Plan for your initial appointment to last approximately 60-90 minutes.
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Doctor Reilly Focusses His Practice in These Areas:
Primary Care Family Medicine (Preventative Medicine)
Lifestyle, Nutrition and Health Counseling (see "The Roots of Wellness")
Pain Relief & Regenerative Medicine
Medical Marijuana Consultation
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Scope of Practice for Naturopathic Doctors
Under Arizona state law, NDs have a broad scope of practice and are licensed as primary care doctors. NDs can diagnose, order lab and imaging tests, and treat illness with natural therapies. NDs can also prescribe all hormones and most pharmaceuticals independently, just like any other Primary Care Provider (PCP).
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The Six Principles
The term “naturopathy” was coined in 1892 to describe a rapidly growing system of natural therapeutics that drew from Hippocrates and the traditional and indigenous medicines of the world. Today’s naturopathic doctors easily blend modern, science-based diagnostic and therapeutic procedures with ancient and traditional methods. They follow the six fundamental principles of Naturopathic Medicine:
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The Healing Power of Nature (Vis Medicatrix Nature)
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Identify and Treat the Causes (Tolle Causam)
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First Do No Harm (Primum Non Nocere)
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Doctor as Teacher (Docere)
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Treat the Whole Person
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Prevention
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Therapeutic Order
1. Establish conditions for health - Create the lifestyle essential for health, including diet, exercise, social support, and spirituality suited for each individual patient.
2. Remove obstacles to cure - Identify and address environmental, physical, psychological, social, and spiritual obstacles to the cure of illness.
3. Stimulate the vital force - Evoke the self-healing force within. This can be done with exercise, hydrotherapy, homeopathy, and a variety of other modalities (eg. infrared sauna, phototherapy, prolotherapy, ozone therapy, etc.).
4. Tonify weakened systems - Strengthen weakened body systems and organs by supporting the metabolic and energetic pathways with diet, nutrient, energetic, oxygen, and botanical medicines.
5. Correct structural integrity - Support the physical and energetic structures that are essential parts of metabolic and biochemical health.
6. Address pathology with low-risk natural and synthetic medicines - Directly address pathology with safe natural or synthetic substances, eg. turmeric, cramp-bark, thyroid hormone, etc.
7. Address pathology with higher-risk natural and synthetic medicines - Directly address pathology with higher-risk natural or synthetic substances, according to a risk-benefit analysis, eg. antibiotics, prednisone, belladona, etc.
8. Surgically remove pathology - Surgery is generally reserved for advanced illness, due to the inherent risk of such a procedure, but is sometimes the best and quickest way to restore health (eg. abscess drainage, cancer excision, etc.). Although major surgery is not performed by Naturopathic doctors, many minor office procedures are performed in some states, such as cleaning and suturing a wound, draining an abscess, removing warts and moles, and other minor cosmetic procedures.
Licensure Requirements of Naturopathic Doctors
All states and provinces with laws regulating the practice of naturopathic medicine require a resident course of at least four years and 4,100 hours of doctoral-level study from a college or university recognized by the Council on Naturopathic Medical Education (CNME). To qualify for a license, the applicant must satisfactorily pass the Naturopathic Physicians Licensing Examinations (NPLEX), which includes basic sciences, diagnostic and therapeutic subjects, and clinical sciences.
Applicants must satisfy all licensing requirements for the state or province to which they have applied. Please consult the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP) website for current U.S. Licensure information.
Legal Status of the Profession
Currently, naturopathic doctors are licensed or registered as health care providers in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, Washington and the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Legal provisions allow the practice of naturopathic medicine in several other states. Naturopathic doctors are also recognized in British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Saskatchewan. Efforts to gain licensure elsewhere are currently underway.
Additionally, professional associations exist in 42 states and 11 provinces.