How to collect your sample

1. Collect your urine sample in a clean, sterile specimen container (preferably a disposable cup).

2. Your urine sample should be collected as near to your appointment as practicably possible. Samples older than 2 hours, or not at room temperature, can affect the test results.

3. If you unavoidably can not collect your sample as near to your appointment time, you must store the sample in a fridge (preferably in a plastic bag, not near food and observing hygiene safety principles).  Please advise this at the time of your appointment.

4. Do NOT freeze your sample.

5. Do NOT place your sample in direct sunlight.

Note – specimen containers may be purchased from chemists or pharmacies.

Naturopaths, like all professional service providers, have different experience, strengths, working preferences and skills.

Whilst we can request a copy of your healthcare notes from your previous provider (with your written permission), it is in your best interest to undergo the thorough and extensive initial consultation that Nature’s Medicine offers, to assist you in your health goals. For this reason, you will need to pay for the 1.5hrs.

Check here to see if you qualify for a discount.

DEXA, now condensed to DXA, is an abbreviation for the term dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. This technology is typically used in hospitals and research facilities to measure primarily bone mineral density (BMD).  As secondary technology to hydrostatic weighing, DXA can also be used to measure body composition and fat content.

Please see the FAQ on Urinary Indican testing.

NATA is the abbreviation for National Association of Testing Authorities, Australia, which is the organisation responsible for ensuring that testing facilities comply with national and international testing standards.

Although a laboratory can follow Good Laboratory Practice (an international standard), this does not mean it is NATA accredited. Within a laboratory that undertakes multiple pathology tests, individual tests must be  independently accredited by NATA.  For example, a laboratory may undertake a range of tests, but only have NATA accreditation for its Salivary Cortisol testing procedure. This then becomes a guarantee of reliability for that test, and an indicator of quality.

Importantly, when conducting pathology tests with an external supplier, Medicare rebates for eligible tests are only available to laboratories that have this accreditation.

For additional information, see the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare.

Everyone is an individual, and everyone has their own puzzle or picture of health with varying pieces of information.

These ‘pieces’ of information have different details, shapes & sizes that all contribute to the overall state of health for the individual. These pieces also have a ‘lock & key’ ability that help the pieces all fit together to form the overall picture of health. Any pieces that are ‘missing’ also help inform the picture of health.

The skill of Naturopathy comes in fitting all these pieces together and in helping to complete your overall holistic health picture. This in turn informs the direction of treatment in helping to find any ‘missing’ pieces.

The core naturopathic principles can be viewed in the blog article titled What is Naturopathy.

The traditional principles are also summarised here:

1. First Do No Harm– Utilize the most natural, least invasive and least toxic therapies.
2. Identify and Treat the Cause(s) – Look beyond the symptoms to the underlying cause.
3. The Healing Power of Nature – Trust in the body’s inherent wisdom to heal itself.
4. Doctor as Teacher – Educate patients in the steps to achieving and maintaining health.
5. Treat the Whole Person – View the body as an integrated whole in all its physical and spiritual dimensions.
6. Prevention – Focus on overall health, wellness and disease prevention.

‘Point of Care’ is a term used to define any testing, procedures or examination(s) that is conducted in the immediate vicinity of the client (You).  It is generally applied to testing and procedures that can be conducted when you actually visit the clinic as a healthcare consumer, hence, it can also be referred to as ‘In-clinic Testing’.

Nature’s Medicine utilises a number of point of care testing (PoCT) or In-clinic testing tools.  A summarised list can be viewed here.

The advantage of offering point of care testing is that it yields immediate results, which may enable a more focused treatment plan relevant to your health goals.  The benefit to you is that this ultimately leads to faster results. The other advantage is that they can be easily re-tested to monitor progress towards your health goals.

Directions to the clinic are confirmed in your appointment confirmation letter. You can also find the directions by going to the Contact page.

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