FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHAT IS A NATUROPATHIC DOCTOR (ND OR NMD)?
A licensed naturopathic doctor must complete 4 years of graduate medical education in conventional primary care medicine, in addition to a wide array of natural therapeutics including nutrition, botanical medicine, homeopathy, counseling and physical medicine. After completing their education, they must pass extensive board exams. While each state separately regulates naturopathic medicine, in Arizona NDs are trained to be primary care physicians and can accordingly order labs tests and imaging, perform physical exams and prescribe medications when necessary. When possible, however, we tend to favor leveraging lifestyle factors and therapeutic nutrition, in addition to pharmaceutical-grade supplements, botanicals, homeopathy and more. NDs in Arizona are required to complete 30 CMEs on an annual basis.
WHAT IS FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE?
Functional medicine seeks to look at an individual from a whole-person integrative approach—instead of a list of symptoms or diagnoses—and aims to help the individual regain health and vitality using evidence-based recommendations. As mentioned in our introduction, each person is genetically, biochemically, emotionally and environmentally unique. Through taking a comprehensive history and evaluation of labs, we assess for both the root cause of illness and how well the greater body is functioning. Through this lens we are able to not only treat disease, but transform and strengthen the entire individual.
ARE YOU JUST GOING TO GIVE ME A BUNCH OF SUPPLEMENTS?
Absolutely not. While there is a place for high-quality supplements, especially in the early stages of treatment, we rarely suffer from supplement deficiencies! Therefore, wherever possible, we try to leverage nutrition and lifestyle recommendations to foster health. Sometimes the simplest building blocks—high quality nutrition, good sleep, movement, stress reduction, meaningful relationships, spiritual connection—can be the most healing.
WHAT IS HOMEOPATHY?
Homeopathy is a system of medicine created in the 1700’s by Samuel Hahnemann, using the principle of “like cures like”. Today, we use homeopathy to gently and safely stimulate self-healing in the body. Homeopathic medicines or “remedies” are made from natural substances such as plants and minerals, in highly dilute forms, and are prescribed based on an individual’s presentation of symptoms.
WHAT CONDITIONS DO YOU TREAT?
This is a little tricky to answer, because we treat the person in front of us, not the label by which their cluster of symptoms is named. It may sound a little corny, but it’s true—most patients benefit from this approach regardless of their diagnosis. That said we commonly see the following conditions/concerns:
Depression and anxiety
Fatigue, muscle aches, brain fog
Food sensitivities and digestive complaints including IBS, inflammatory bowel disease, GERD, SIBO
Migraines and headaches
Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome
Autoimmune conditions
Thyroid and hormonal disorders
We don’t treat urgent or emergent illness, or severe untreated psychiatric illness. Additionally we do not offer invasive male or female exams and we do not perform heavy metal IV chelation.
HOW LONG BEFORE I FEEL BETTER?
While it can take months or even years to fully bring your body back into balance and health, you should begin to feel better within the first month of treatment. Other factors include how long you’ve been ill, the severity of your illness and how aggressive you choose to be with treatment, including making nutrition and lifestyle changes.
DO YOU SEE PATIENTS OUTSIDE OF THE LOCAL AREA?
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, patients were required to have at least one in-person appointment per year to establish care and for a physical exam, while follow-ups could be conducted via telemedicine. Since regulations are rapidly changing, please contact our office for current policies.
For out of state clients, Dr. Manter provides some limited educational consulting. Please contact us for more details.
DO YOU ACCEPT INSURANCE?
No, we do not accept insurance at this time, though we do accept payment through health spending accounts (HSAs) or flexible spending accounts (FSAs). We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover.
WHAT IS YOUR CANCELLATION POLICY?
Due to high demand for new patient appointments and the generous length of these appointments, we request 5 days notice for cancellation of comprehensive or homeopathic intake appointments for all new patients. Appointments that are not cancelled with five days notice will be subject to the full cost of the new patient appointment. For all other appointments, we request 24 hours notice. Please see our financial policy for more details.
4111 East Valley Auto Drive, Suite 209
Mesa, Arizona 85206
Phone: (480) 269-1214
Fax: (833) 969-0107