FAQ: Holistic & Integrative Dermatology Answers

vitaminsQ. Do you use supplements in integrative skin treatment?

A. Yes, my preferred method is to use multiple supplements to simultaneously correct a variety of factors leading to your condition. I have you add to the program over time, and then make changes as your condition improves.

Q. I find it hard to take supplements without having reactions because I am very sensitive.

A. I use a number of techniques which do not require supplements. These include NMT (Neuro Modulation Technique,) Lang desensitization, and Scenar (Tennant Biomodulator) treatment, and others. I look for a reason for overwhelming sensitivity. If these methods are not adequate, I will recommend that you see a good homeopath.

tomatosQ. Will I have to change my diet? I’m very particular about what I eat, and very busy.

A. Likely, yes. What you eat is one of the biggest sources of foreign substances that enter your body. Unless there are medicines you take, materials you touch or breathe, or hidden infections which can be found and controlled, it is fairly likely that you will need to make some changes in your diet to get improvement in an inflammatory condition. Other conditions don’t need these changes, but I can evaluate your situation to find out. In general, you must be brave and flexible enough to consider making some changes in what you eat, and what supplements you will take, to work with me successfully. You probably will find that the resulting improvement in health, comfort, and appearance is worth it.

insurance

 

Q. Do you accept Medical insurance, or belong to any HMO’s?

A. Unfortunately, we do not. Medical Insurance usually does not cover preventative care which may not show up as savings in your health care for several years. In non life-threatening conditions, payment only covers brief visits, and strict definitions limit charges. Most physicians have to spend only 5 to 10 minutes per patient to cover their expenses Indeed, some patients report to me that the dermatologist they saw under insurance barely walked into the office to see their skin condition, for a minute. They haven’t the time or experience to overhaul your diet or life style to get changes in your underlying condition There is no way that their current payments cover the amount of time I spend in consultation and research on your problem.

Patients are sometimes told that there is nothing else that medical science has to offer them, which from a conventional medical viewpoint, is true. Those people often need to unravel a lot of problems and past treatment experience to get to the core of their problem. This takes a lot more time and work, just as if a part at the center of your car’s engine needs replacement. Insurance companies may call this work unproven, preventative, or unnecessary, and pay for it at their whim and rate. Years of experience tell me that digging deeper with the synergy of conventional, scientific, and complementary diagnostic and treatment tools allows me to help people who were told that there was nothing else that would help them.

 

welcome_3

 

Q. Can you treat my unique skin disorder with natural dermatology? Can you guarantee a solution?

A. This sort of question is most important when a specific technique is being used, as in a surgical treatment for skin cancer of the bridge of the nose. In other conditions, I apply several methods of diagnosis and an individual specific approach, so the individual factors are much more important than the name of the disease in my selecting a treatment regimen. Most skin disorders have a common final presentation and similar mechanisms of expression, but different ways to trigger that final pathway.

I go back to the specific ways the initial inflammation occurred, and what outside influence or inner deficiency was most likely to have brought it on. It is my familiarity with the skin, the specialty of dermatology, immunity and inflammation, evaluating the scientific literature, knowing and contacting experts when necessary, and my background in alternative medicine and having numerous techniques to apply it to someone in need, which gives me an edge. The work often turns out to be so individual specific that the question is irrelevant. You do better to ask whether I have treated you or your identical twin for the same disorder, for that is more likely to be relevant. I have been successful with treatment of patients with many different skin disorders, some of which I never treated before. Success is more dependent on my tools, varieties of approach, network of experts, and different systems for defining the underlying cause.

 

skincancer


Q. Do you treat skin cancer with alternative methods?

A. I have treated many dozens of cancer patients. Being the only dermatologist at my community hospital in Northeast Connecticut for over twenty years, in a town where there was no other plastic surgeon, and being a sculptor who is skilled with my hands, I performed over a hundred facial plastic surgical procedures transferring tissue (flaps) in order to repair the defects where skin cancer was removed. I get great results in older patients, because their skin is more lax, and good results in middle aged ones.

 

whyderm

 

Q. Why should I go to you as a holistic dermatologist or integrative dermatologist, when I can go to my HMO dermatologist for free and to a nutritionist for less?

A. Actually, for some people, that’s a good idea, because they might be able to get some additional help from the combination.

But since both tend to have different worlds of knowledge, you will have the additional burden of evaluating the treatment plans of one over the other. And, neither will be informed enough to really offer you a perspective which evaluates the suggestions of the other in a knowledgeable and unbiased manner. The nutritionist skilled in alternative treatment may not know when to stop and consider a more serious internal medical condition which is presenting as the skin problem. When the combined experience is necessary, you really need someone who is knowledgeable about both.

Next: Contact Dr. Dattner for a holistic skincare appointment