Being the owner of Functional Wellness and Chiropractic Center, I get asked a lot, “What does functional wellness mean?” To be honest, when I was trying to come up with a name for my clinic I was trying to show that my clinic was more than just a chiropractic clinic. Wellness was going to be a huge aspect to my clinic as well, and that included nutrition, stretches, rehab exercises, soft tissue massage, and many other therapies. Reason why I wanted the wellness aspect to be incorporated with the chiropractic, is because the human body is so complex that only one form of therapy probably isn’t going to solve a condition 100%. People are result-driven, and they want to feel better, quicker so a multi-faceted approach is the way to go.
Mixture of Tools
Chiropractic was the foundation of my clinic, and by itself it can be a very powerful tool to help fix people (to get rid of pain and/or to restore function). Functional medicine was another aspect in healthcare that resonated with me, and was the other powerful tool that knew could help fix people (or at the very least minimize signs/symptoms). Using all that information in my thought process, it just came together as Functional Wellness and Chiropractic Center.
I didn’t really think about the whole “Functional Wellness” part until I was asked by someone who does a lot of marketing, and at the time I didn’t know. But thinking it over and as far as my goals for patients and where I want to take my clinic, it became clear what it meant. Functional Wellness means that people are on a continuum of a healthy lifestyle and no matter what stressor is thrown at that person, they are educated enough to continue their healthy lifestyle and increase their wellness (rather than increase dysfunction). People should be as independent with their healthcare as possible, and only really should be required to do a yearly check-up to make sure everything is working optimally, and that should be the only intervention.
That is in a perfect world, and the one we are living in is far from perfect. How much healthcare intervention boils down to how many stressors a person has to deal with on a daily basis, whether it is mental, chemical, or physical. The more stressors a person has, the more healthcare intervention is needed. A healthy lifestyle is essentially removing as many stressors from your body and allowing it to heal and grow and ultimately thrive.
About the Author
Dr. Eric Johnson, Doctor of Chiropractic and Diplomate of the American Clinical Board of Nutrition as well as owner of Functional Wellness and Chiropractic Center in Madison, WI, is a functional medicine doctor that identifies root causes of pain and/or dysfunction. His systems-based, not symptoms-based, approach is a comprehensive, holistic approach that helps identify mental, chemical, and physical stressors that are underlying numerous health conditions. If you are in the Madison, Middleton, Verona, Waunakee area and looking to not only feel better, but live better, contact Dr. Eric at (608) 203-9272.
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