Meet Dr. Verma-Dzik, owner, and founder of Ridgefield-based Fairfield Naturopathic Health. A board-certified Naturopathic Physician, Dr. Verma is also a certified medical acupuncturist who practices holistic medicine in the treatment of acute and chronic health conditions. We sat down with Dr. Verma, a lover of nature, fitness, and all things healthy, to learn more about Naturopathic Medicine, what it can treat, and how it differs from conventional medicine.
What is Naturopathic Medicine?
Naturopathic Medicine is a health care profession that focuses on identifying the underlying cause of a patient’s symptoms/condition and treating the cause to re-establish health. Naturopathic medicine treatment includes nutritional therapeutics, herbal medicine, homeopathic medicine, counseling, lifestyle changes, dietary changes, and acupuncture. In order to find the cause of an ailment, patients undergo an extensive evaluation, including their medical history, personal history, and what their daily nutritional and lifestyle entails. Further evaluation may be made by utilizing tests that include hormone assessment, nutritional status, neurotransmitter assessment, stool analysis and allergy testing. It is very different from conventional medicine in that not only are symptoms addressed, but also the cause of the illness so that patients can truly be healed.
What are your healthcare beliefs and why did you begin your business?
There is a place for both conventional and alternative medicine. Many conditions can be treated effectively without side effects and can make people better. In some cases, such as pain, the conventional medicine may be needed to help people get through their natural treatments as they work on regaining health. There are many naturopathic physicians now involved in the integrative treatment of patients with cancer. As a patient is undergoing chemotherapy and radiation, naturopathic medicine is helpful in managing symptoms and providing additional support.
I’ve always believed in the use of both fields of medicine. However, naturopathic medicine individualizes care and treatment for each patient and uses safe therapies that get the patient better again - that drove me into this profession. I’m not prescribing “Band-Aid” treatments, but I am truly helping people get better long-term and helping them prevent future illnesses.
When it comes to each and every health condition, I always look at diet and patterns of sleep first. This is the root of everything. Sometimes making only a small adjustment can change everything. Once I address these contributing factors to health, people notice quite a big difference in their hot flashes and less abdominal weight and bloating. With any minor symptoms remaining, I then address them with hormone balancing herbs, which work great on naturally rebalancing a woman’s hormones without any harmful side effects.
Do patients need to see you on a regular basis to feel relief from their symptoms? How does it work?
When patients first come in for a visit to see me, I spend about an hour and half getting to know my patient, hearing about all of their health concerns, diet, lifestyle, what kind of stress they have in their lives, how long they have not been feeling well and really diving into what happened - when their illness/symptoms first began. This time is not just for me, but also for them. Not only is it important for me to get a full understanding of what my patient is going through, it is also important for them to be heard. The element of just listening to my patient is one of the keys to their successful treatment and healing. Due to the amount of time I spend with them on the first visit, it usually only takes a few more visits after that to get my patients better and on track.
Biggest surprise?
No matter how long I have been doing this, it will never cease to amaze me how a little change can make such a big difference. I don’t always prescribe oral therapies. Sometimes it’s not necessary and will not bring the change a patient needs. Sometimes I recommend either a change in diet, sleep, or ways of managing stress and that’s all they need to make a huge difference in their health and life.
You can find Fairfield Naturopathic Health at 20 Prospect Street. Learn more about Dr. Verma and Fairfield Naturopathic Health here.