Conventional care often starts with a specialty and a symptom. Functional medicine starts with the person. At the Chicago Institute for Health & Wellness in West Dundee, that means looking at how hormones, metabolism, nutrition, movement, strength, recovery, and overall health interact - then building a plan around what we find.
It does not replace conventional medicine. It is a more complete way to use it. Labs, history, and clinical exam are used to name the underlying cause, not to hand you a generic protocol.
You do not need to know whether you “need functional medicine” before you contact us. If something is keeping you from feeling, functioning, or performing your best, this is a place to start.
Can a functional medicine doctor be your primary care doctor?
Sometimes as the person who coordinates the plan - not as a replacement for emergency care or a surgeon. At CIHW, Eve Brar, ANP-BC provides medical care for hormones, peptides, and metabolic health. Dr. Mitchell leads sports medicine and the structural side. We are not a hospitalist service. We are the institute you use when “normal labs” did not explain the year you are having.
Why would someone see a functional medicine doctor?
Because fatigue, gut, weight, and hormones were split across five offices. People in West Dundee, Elgin, and Algonquin come here when they want one history, targeted labs, and a sequence - not another specialty that ignores the rest of the body.
Does a functional medicine doctor go to medical school?
Training varies by clinician. At this institute, Eve Brar, ANP-BC is a board-certified adult nurse practitioner who provides medical care for hormones, peptides, and metabolic health. Dr. Thomas Mitchell, D.C., CCSP leads sports medicine and the functional model. We say that on the page because Google asks it next to “functional medicine near me.”
Can functional medicine be primary care?
It can be the plan you follow week to week. It is not the ER. Use emergency care when you need it. Use CIHW when you want hormones, weight, gut, and sports care sequenced in one building instead of five offices.
What services sit inside functional medicine here?
Lab testing, TRT, women’s HRT, peptides, gut restoration, nutrition, health coaching, and longevity work - next to chiropractic, PT, and training. That is the West Dundee version of the question Google still answers with a Springfield, Illinois generic. We wrote this page so the local answer exists.
Functional medicine at CIHW · What is regenerative medicine? · What can these approaches help? · West Dundee clinic
