If you’ve been looking for options to traditional health care, you’ve likely heard the terms “functional medicine” and “integrative medicine” boxed in each other endlessly. Both are united in offering a more holistic, personalized approach to health – a personalized, root cause healthcare. They incorporate traditional science in the context of a holistic approach to wellness. And both of these are frequently employed synonymously, by itself adding to the confusion.

Not all functional medicine and integrative medicine are the same. They also have similar attitudes but different practices, training, and diagnostic and treatment approaches. Recognizing these distinctions can direct you toward the best way toward your health objectives, whether you have a chronic condition, are attempting to improve your wellbeing, or just exhausted from attempting rapidly fix solutions that don’t really handle the issue.

This guide will cover the definition of each approach, their comparisons and which approach may be more suitable for you.

What Is Functional Medicine?

One of the first differences people note between functional medicine and integrative medicine is a different way of looking at a health problem. The epitome of functional medicine is relying on the root cause analysis approach, which involves the practitioner tracing the symptoms back through the interconnected physiology, genetics, gut function, hormones and lifestyles of the body, and then developing a plan with careful consideration of supporting laboratory and diagnostic evaluations.

Everywhere you compare it, this is what differentiates it from integrative medicine, which uses a combination of conventional and complementary treatments: In functional medicine, it will be more diagnostic in nature, with treatment plans devised based on the test findings. For a more detailed explanation of functional medicine, ask us about our functional medicine page.

What Is Integrative Medicine?

Integrative medicine has a more holistic perspective. It uses mainstream medical care and expert complementary care that is effective to cope with the whole person – mind, body and spirit. Integrative medicine is not a substitute for conventional medicine but rather it is compatible with it, and, for instance, the use of acupuncture, massage, meditation, nutrition counseling, and mindfulness practices is included within a treatment plan.

Integrative medicine doctors usually begin their medical practice with conventional medicine training and then broaden their scope to treatments proven to be effective through research. The intent is not only to cure diseases; but to improve the state of integrative health and wellness by addressing the lifestyle, emotional, physical and symptom components together.

Integrative medicine could be indicated for individuals dealing with pain, stress-dwelling conditions, individuals recovering from cancer or who would prefer to give their conventional treatment program one more layer of holistic care.

Functional Medicine vs Integrative Medicine: What’s the Difference?

Functional and integrative medicine appear to be practically the same at first sight. They both prioritize patient-centeredness, both view the patient beyond their conditions and symptoms, and both take a holistic approach to lifestyle and nutrition as part of the treatment. However, the distinctiveness between functional medicine vs integrative medicine is simply a matter of focus and approach.

• Root cause vs. whole-person healing: Functional medicine focuses on identifying what is happening in the body and in the environment of a particular ailment through testing and data, as the root cause. Integrative medicine treats the big picture more broadly, bringing together treatments to aid in a patient’s overall healing, including emotional and spiritual health.
• Testing and diagnostics: Functional medicine also utilizes specialized laboratory testing, including food sensitivity test, gut microbiome analysis and hormone panels, as aids for treatment. Integrative medicine can incorporate conventional diagnostic procedures, in addition to complementary procedures, but with a less strong focus on extensive laboratory procedures.
• Treatment approach: Supplemental and dietary changes, as well as lifestyle modifications, may be specific to the patient, depending on the test results and may form part of a functional medicine treatment plan. Integrative medicine treatment programs could involve the employment of treatments that incorporate techniques including acupuncture, yoga and stress management.
• Background in training: Functional Medicine healthcare providers may have backgrounds in other areas in healthcare, and can become functional medicine certified. Integrative medicine doctors are typically a traditionally trained doctor who has trained in complementary methods.

Is Functional Medicine the Same as Integrative Medicine?

Functional medicine is not integrative medicine, although the two share similar goals and in practice there is a high interdependency. Integrative medicine is the sum of conventional and complementary medicine, whereas functional medicine is beneath the umbrella and is more of a method of analyzing conventional and complementary medicine that specifically involves studying an individual’s biological triggers behind illnesses through detailed and sophisticated testing and analysis.

Many healthcare providers these days actually are both functional and integrative medicine practitioners, combining the whole-person, mind-body bent of integrative medicine with the root-cause investigation approach of functional medicine. Integrative functional medicine is a combination of these that typically provides patients with the best of each – the best of a personalized diagnostic pathway, and the expanded arsenal of treatment options.

Functional Medicine vs Holistic Medicine

One more word within conversation generally gets confused with this is holistic medicine. Then what is the difference between functional medicine and holistic medicine?

These three approaches are the broadest in holistic medicine. It sees the mind, body and spirit as part of a whole and may incorporate traditional healing traditions, herbal medicine, energy therapy, lifestyle adjustments, and more. Holistic medicine doesn’t necessarily use standard laboratory testing like that of functional medicine.

Functional medicine approaches the body, however, is more clinical and data-driven. It still believes in whole-person care, but it keeps science and evidence-based, research-supported interventions on track to guide treatment decisions. Simply put, holist physicians approach life about doctrine-centered or philosophy-based, functional physicians approach life about diagnostics-based, yet both physicians treat the individual and not any single symptom.

Functional Medicine Testing: What to Expect

Comprehensive, detailed testing is another hallmark of functional medicine, which will reveal the imbalances that a lot of blood tests may overlook. Common lab tests done in functional medicine may include:

• Complete blood hormone levels (Thyroid, Adrenaline, sex hormones)
• Testing the gut microbiome and digestive function
• Blood tests for food sensitivities and allergies
• Testing for nutrients and vitamin deficiency
• Exposure screening for toxins and heavy metals
• Genetic screening for susceptibilities

These tests provide a practitioner with a detailed picture of what can be seen inside a body, and they make it possible for the practitioner to develop a treatment plan that is specific to the patient’s individual biology and not a one-size fits all approach. It often is this that entices those who have failed with standard treatment options to seek out functional medicine.

Which Is Better: Functional Medicine or Integrative Medicine?

It’s one of the most frequently asked questions and in reality, there isn’t a definite answer. The question of whether functional vs integrative medicine is better just depends on what you want to recover and what your health objectives are.

Functional medicine or integrative medicine can be useful if you are suffering from a long-standing, complex or unexplained condition and desire a deeper investigation into the root causes, however, your answers may be provided faster by functional medicine with their more rigorous testing approach.

Integrative medicine may also be more comfortable if you want to enhance your current health care using a more holistic approach, such as pain management and stress reduction or just general wellness, without abandoning your traditional treatment.

Most people benefit from a provider who combines both of these approaches, as they can have root cause analysis performed, and receive a variety of supportive therapies in one place through integrative functional medicine.

Integrative Family Medicine and Integrative Health and Wellness

Integrative family medicine is a more preferred choice for families seeking a long-term healthcare provider and a choice that is growing in popularity. An integrative medicine philosophy that is used at any age, and across all life stages, which involves a combination of prevention, nutrition components, lifestyle counseling and conventional medical care being followed in order to provide an “all-inclusive” approach to health, over time, across the entire family.

Likewise, integrative health and wellness providers not only want to treat a patient’s sickness, but help them form sustainable habits in sleeping, eating, moving and managing their stress. It’s a healthy perspective on health that is central to both integrative and functional medicine that can sometimes distinguish these practices from conventional medicine, which is more reactive.

How to Choose the Right Approach for You

There are a couple of factors to keep in mind when determining functional medicine versus integrative medicine:

• Health concern: Complex, chronic, or unexplained symptoms can be a great fit for functional medicine where detailed testing is used. Integrative medicine will be better suited to general wellness or a complementary support modality.
• Your comfort level with testing: When you wish to find data-driven answers, functional medicine tests can give clarity. Integrative medicine might be more like you, if you’re looking for something more holistic, less testing.
• Your existing care team: If you already have a doctor you trust and you would still like to supplement with complementary treatments, integrative medicine blends in well and makes sense.
• Your long-term goals: If delaying or preventing the loss of mobility is your goal, seek a provider that includes integrative health and wellness and rehabilitation components.

In the end, most individuals can reap benefits from a mixture of both the functional and integrative principles, and can shape a plan around them that fits their specific and unique needs.

Conclusion

It is possible to have both hands covered with functional medicine and integrative medicine without making a choice. The approach of trying to treat the whole person, not just the symptoms, is shared by both of the above, but the approaches are different, the level of testing, and the degree of congruency with conventional medicine varies. Functional medicine gets deeper and deeper into the root cause with specific testing, while integrative medicine combines traditional care with complementary treatments for a comprehensive approach to healing.

This will depend on your health background, objectives, and the way that you would like your treatment to be structured. The ideal course of action is one that simultaneously has the advantages of both-functionally oriented medicine coupled with integrative medicine’s wide, holistic practices and support.