Hamilton Naturopathic Doctor
Dr Justin Gallant ND
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Why Should I Pay for Naturopathic Medicine?

1/3/2013

 
A couple of people have told me that they have a hard time justifying paying to see a Naturopathic Doctor. 

Hopefully this analogy will help shift the mindset:

Scenario 1: You pick up a car for $500 to last you through the winter. You go to start it up and all of the sudden you hear a terrible noise coming out of the muffler. It’s just a beater so it’s reasonable to just patch up the hole. You’re going to get rid of it after the winter anyway right?

Scenario 2: You’ve saved up to buy that new car you’ve always wanted and a couple months later you hear that dreaded noise. You want this car to last at least the next 10 years. That hole is a just a small sign of things to come so it’s better to get a professional service to fix your car (i.e. mechanic or dealership) and get the whole part replaced. After spending hundreds of dollars on your car, your bank account isn’t happy but you won’t have to worry about the problem coming back for a long time.

Scenario 3: You’re born with a priceless body that scientists would not be able recreate with billions of dollars. Your body is not disposable; you want it to last a century. If you don’t want to patch up a decent car that you hope will last a decade I would hope that you would not want to just throw a patch on your body that has the potential to last 100 years. By the time you’re retired would you rather be driving around that car that you decided to patch up every time something went wrong or would you prefer to have that ol’ classic car that looks brand spankin’ new and everything runs perfectly. You’ll be the envy of all your peers. We don’t have the option to sell or trade our bodies, so it’s important to seek professional services in order to keep them in optimal shape.  

Regarding your health,

     While those temporary patches are important while you work on finding a solution, they shouldn’t be depended on for life. It might be necessary to apply a patch until you can find the right person to fix your problem or until you can get the money to pay them but the mindset of, “That’s good enough” shouldn’t suffice. Most of us get one chance with our body and our health is what will maintain it so we can enjoy it for as long as possible.

      If you’re willing to spend over $20 000 on a vehicle and dish out hundreds of dollars at a time to keep it tuned up or to repair it, you should not be afraid to treat your health the same way. You’re more important than your car.   

     Our bodies are miraculous machines, they can enable us to do so many things or they can literally be the death of us. We have to cherish and invest in our irreplaceable bodies rather than the replaceable material things in life. We have to look at our bodies as if they are the vehicle that will get us through the next 100 years and treat it as such. 

A couple of other things to keep in mind: 
  • The less a Doctor is paid per patient, the more patients that Doctor will try to see
  • Aside from the advanced education, research and experience your ND utilizes to help improve your health, most ND's spend a lot of out-of-office time working on each patient's individual case. It's better to treat the price you pay as if it's "per health" rather than "per hour" because you might sit down with your ND for an hour but they could spend a whole day working up your case.  
  • If money is an issue, just like most other professions, most ND's will be able to work something reasonable out for you. 
  • If you have benefits, depending on the company you could get the first 4 visits for free or 80% off of all of your visits. 
  • Most people you talk to who have been to an ND have no problem paying for the service, these people realize how valuable their health is because the majority of them have realized how severely poor health can affect their life. 

Thanks for reading! 
Any feedback would be much appreciated. 
Let me know if you agree or disagree, if my blogs are too long or you'd like more detail, etc...
Dr. Wendy Presant-Jahn link
1/4/2013 03:29:16 am

Dr. Gallent, thank-you for your well written article. In a country of socialized medical care, it can be difficult for people to understand the need to pay out of pocket for health care services. Seeing a naturopathic doctor, though, is a bit like attending a class about your own health each time you visit. You learn how to treat and prevent health problems using nutrition and safe and effective natural rememdies. I often find that treating a mom results in improved heatlh for her whole family. You are so right about the amount of time that can go into preparing a patient's case as well. I have shared your article on my Facebook page, since you have put, so eloquently, what I would like to tell those with health issues.

Dr. Justin Gallant
1/4/2013 07:50:09 am

Thanks Dr. Presant-Jahn,
I appreciate you sharing and your input.

EHAB
2/5/2013 09:21:39 am

Nice article and fined tuned directions to good health specially doing what is known as primary prevention strategy in public health,I wish if you write in future the financial drains of poor health and its impact on country economy.

Dr. Justin Gallant
2/12/2013 01:12:24 pm

Thank you!
Those sound like good things to discuss.

Aminder link
3/18/2013 06:08:02 pm

Hi Dr.Gallant,
I'm glad I bumped into your website and especially this article, I like the the analogy and will use them as a reference.
This point really stuck out to me "If you’re willing to spend over $20 000 on a vehicle and dish out hundreds of dollars at a time to keep it tuned up or to repair it, you should not be afraid to treat your health the same way." You’re more important than your car.

Aminder (ND cand.2015)

Dr. Justin Gallant ND link
7/17/2015 04:57:06 am

Thanks Aminder!

Kaye Wright link
10/26/2014 06:30:40 pm

Hi Dr Gallant,

Nicely put! Not only are our bodies more important than our cars but just about everything else as well.
And I agree, we put so much out-of hours time into putting the pieces of the puzzle together to work out that unique picture that is our patients so we can come up with the best health plan for them.
Kaye Wright (naturopath, Melbourne Australia)

Dr. Justin Gallant ND link
7/17/2015 04:58:04 am

Thanks Kaye!


Comments are closed.

    Dr Justin Gallant ND

    Naturopathic Doctor with a passion for teaching about health. Health detective, health guide, health ambassador and health educator. 
    Hamilton, Ontario

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Dr. Gallant's office is located in Advantage Chiropractic and Massage

59 Dunsmure Road
Hamilton, Ontario
L8M 1S1
Phone: 289-808-9076
Fax: 1-289-667-0100


website: www.DRJGND.com

​email: justin@DRJGND.com 
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