Are you looking for a functional medicine, integrative, patient-centered, evidence-based, whole health doctor who communicates well with all of your other providers?

Yeah. Me too.

And judging from all of the marketing out there, it should be easy to find one. But is it? And what does it even all mean?

You go online looking for help with your digestive problems, and I’m sure that you’ve seen terms like:

Functional Medicine, Integrative Medicine, Holistic Care, Whole-Person Care, Personalized Care, Lifestyle Medicine, Patient-Centered Care, Root-Cause Medicine, Preventive Medicine, Evidence-Based Care, and Coordinated Care.

And you're sitting there thinking:

“Okay... but can somebody just help me stop having IBS after I eat?” 😩

I'm Dr. Stephen Wangen, and I've been treating digestive disorders for over 25 years. During that time I've watched the alternative healthcare world create an endless supply of labels to try to set itself apart from conventional care.

But what is alternative healthcare? And why did it even exist?

Well, it exists because conventional (i.e. regular) medicine doesn't do a lot of the things that we’d all like it to do.

What People Are Really Looking For 🧭

Feel like your doctor only looks at one body part and never sees how everything is connected?
You need holistic, whole-person care.

Feel like nobody is really listening to you?
You need patient-centered care.

Feel like your doctors never talk to each other?
You need integrative and coordinated care.

Want somebody to actually discuss how nutrition and lifestyle habits affect your health?
You need lifestyle and naturopathic medicine.

Want somebody focused on preventing disease instead of waiting for it to happen?
You need preventive medicine.

Tired of treatments that only manage symptoms?
You want a root-cause approach.

Want a plan that's actually customized to you and your specific situation?
Oh, you want personalized care.

Want somebody focused on making you feel better instead of simply making your lab results look better?
You want functional medicine.

And you want all of that backed by the best available science?
You want evidence-based care.

Sounds pretty good, right? 🙂

The Problem With the System

The funny thing is that if conventional medicine already did all of those things, we wouldn't even be having this conversation. It would just be called regular everyday healthcare that we all get.

But that's not what’s happening out there, is it?

What we really want is something different. Something better. And this has turned into a wish list.

So first we got alternative medicine, which became holistic medicine. Then holistic medicine became integrative medicine. Then integrative medicine became functional medicine. Then functional medicine became root-cause medicine.

Then came personalized care, whole-person care, whole health, lifestyle medicine, patient-centered care, and coordinated care.

At this rate, by 2035 we'll have:

“Human-being-centered, root-cause, personalized, evidence-based, whole-life, integrative, functional health optimization.” 😅

And honestly? That sounds pretty good. Because that’s what it should already be. And I'd probably sign up.

The Marketing Problem 🎭

The problem is that none of these terms have universally accepted definitions. Anyone can use them. And everybody does.

Now they are just marketing words. They’re becoming the healthcare version of the word “natural” on a food package. It sounds good, but it doesn’t actually mean much.

And I understand why patients get frustrated.

Because you know you need something more than what you've already experienced.

You want a doctor who listens.
A doctor who looks at the whole picture.
A doctor who cares about nutrition.
A doctor who focuses on prevention.
A doctor who connects the dots.
A doctor who treats you like an individual.

The problem is figuring out who actually does those things—and who is simply using the words.

So What’s the Bottom Line?

You need help. And you want to find a doctor who gets all of this.

That’s the bottom line.

And that’s why I created the IBS Treatment Center. And honestly, I don't care what you call us.

Functional? Integrative? Holistic? Root-cause focused? Whole-person? Patient-centered? Evidence-based? Lifestyle-focused? Preventive?

All true.

But the label isn't the point. And you’ll notice that we don’t really use those words.

The only thing that matters is whether or not you get better—and stay better.

Because at the end of the day, I’ll bet that you didn’t wake up this morning thinking:

“I hope I find a really patient-centered, evidence-based, root-cause-focused, holistic, integrative provider today.” 😄

What you probably thought was:

“I hope somebody can help me stop feeling miserable.”

Closing

That’s the goal.

In fact, that’s our guarantee.

At the IBS Treatment Center, we've spent more than 20 years helping people recover from complex digestive conditions.

Call it whatever you want.

We just call it helping people get better.

And that's the only label that really matters.

And remember, at the IBS Treatment Center, we work with people regardless of where they live via telemedicine.

Take good care of your body—it's the only place you have to live. 💙

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Did Your Doctor Just Give Your Problem a Label, Or Did They Figure Out What’s Wrong?

The IBS Treatment Guarantee: Get Results or Your Money Back