Frequently Asked Questions

Our Essential Primary Care program provides personalized care and 24/7 access to your provider who is trained and board-certified in conventional, functional, and integrative medicine. You can expect longer appointment times, little to no wait times, unlimited sick visits, annual re-assessment including labs, semi-annual or quarterly “check-in” visits, reduced fees on our Essential Hormone Balance Program, and reduced primary care subscription fees for additional family members.

Our primary care doctors work closely with you on an individual basis, taking the time necessary to listen and provide support and encouragement. We evaluate the root cause of your condition from a functional and integrative medicine perspective, then apply a personalized roadmap to improved health, ultimately guiding you towards optimal health. Essential Primary Care can either replace or serve as a valuable complement to your current insurance-based primary care provider.

For new clients, the first step toward enrolling as an Essential Primary Care client is to schedule a Meet & Greet. For existing clients, Essential Primary Care starts with an Essential Health Assessment with one of our primary care physicians. Then, you will be enrolled in our subscription-based primary care program and can enjoy the many benefits, including 24/7 access to your provider for emergencies and unlimited support from our team of medical experts.

Essential Health Assessment is a deep dive into your current health status, including health history, biometrics, functional exam, diagnostics, physical exam, and extensive lab testing. This is required for entry into our Essential Primary Care subscription program and is repeated yearly at no additional cost. A Functional Medicine Consultation is designed for those who are seeking an alternative or additional opinion regarding their current medical care or medical condition. Your provider will offer medical advice with a focus on addressing the underlying causes of your concerns. A Wellness Consultation is a deeper dive into your current state of wellness and includes detailed lab testing and functional medicine expertise. It can serve as a gateway to our other wellness programs or as an adjunct to your current primary care outside of Essential Health.

We also offer a Functional Health Assessment, Brain Optimization Health Assessment, and Pediatric Health Assessments for children & teens ages 6-20.

Conventional check-ups and lab testing tend to only skim the surface of your health status. Essential Health assessments and consultations use thorough and advanced testing to evaluate your overall health, biomarkers, hormone levels, micronutrient profiles and other in-depth information that can paint a more comprehensive picture of your health. Our functional medicine-trained providers also take time to fully interpret results and provide personalized recommendations so you can start feeling your best.

Hormones are often the root cause of many challenging symptoms, as levels naturally change with age. Hormone levels can also be affected by stress, environmental toxin exposure, or other lifestyle -related circumstances. If you are noticing symptoms like low energy, decreased libido, mood swings, hot flashes in women, weight gain, skin conditions like acne, brain fog, or other symptoms, you may be experiencing a decline or imbalance in sex hormones. Other hormones like cortisol, insulin, or thyroid hormones may also become imbalanced and lead to symptoms and chronic health conditions over time.

Enrolling in our subscription-based hormone balancing program includes expert assessment and management of your unique hormone levels, including sex hormones, cortisol (stress) hormones, thyroid, insulin, and glucagon (blood sugar). This program also provides labs every 90 days specific to each client’s medications, as well as follow-up appointments with your provider to discuss symptoms or concerns. We tailor our hormone balance program to each client’s individual needs and offer hormone prescriptions in the form of creams, injections, oral medications, pellets, and peptides.

When it comes to hormones, we believe you are not destined for discomfort. Our approach is safe, effective, and the opposite of one-size-fits-all. Unlike conventional approaches, we offer medically supervised solutions for women and men, including lifestyle modifications, peptide therapy, and Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT). BHRT is a natural and personalized approach to hormone restoration using subcutaneous pellets, topical creams, or injections. BHRT uses hormones that are identical in chemical structure to those produced naturally by the body, unlike synthetic hormones that are molecularly different. Our providers have completed rigorous training in hormone replacement therapy. We adhere to the strictest guidelines for testing and treatment in the industry, closely monitoring hormone levels every 90 days and adjust dosing as needed to precisely tailor each individual’s program to their unique biology. We also take every precaution to understand your family history, symptoms, and lifestyle when prescribing a hormone balancing protocol.

Regenerative Medicine uses the body’s own healing mechanisms to repair and regenerate tissues to restore them to a functional state. Treatments typically utilize growth factors, platelet-rich plasma, and certain hormones and peptides to help support healing, reduce inflammation, and prevent future issues.

Regenerative medicine services can help reduce or eliminate joint pain due to injury, overuse, or arthritis. It can also help support skin rejuvenation, hair restoration, sexual health, detoxification, and anti-aging through various forms of technology.

IV Therapy delivers important hydration, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants directly into the bloodstream intravenously. IV Therapy may help to enhance energy levels, recover from jet lag, reduce general inflammation, improve recovery from athletic activities, enhance immunity, and increase hydration. Our IV Therapy protocols are developed by our providers, administrated by our functional IV therapy-trained nurses, and are personalized to complement your health and wellness goals.

When administered through IV, nutrients bypass the gut which eliminates the process of absorption and guarantees direct access into the blood stream for optimal effect. Nutrients delivered through an IV have a more substantial and immediate impact than if taken orally as a supplement.

Our aesthetic services are designed to promote cellular health and achieve powerful anti-aging results to help you look and feel your best. Unlike at med spas, we consider your aesthetic program a part of your overall wellness plan, knowing that whole-body health comes from the inside-out. We offer neuromodulators, dermal fillers, chemical peels, body contouring, and advanced regenerative therapies for skin and hair restoration including microneedling, platelet-rich plasma and other highly effective growth factor products for skin, all overseen by our fully trained and experienced practitioners. We also offer a private line of medical-grade skincare. Please note, aesthetics programs and pricing may vary by location.

Most over-the-counter brands do not consider safety or clinical effectiveness when formulating products. This can lead to adverse skin reactions and minimal effectiveness, which can ultimately put your skin at risk and waste your money. Our curated medical-grade skincare line, Eleon, has been researched and vetted for the highest quality and safest possible ingredients while also being highly clinically effective.

We have provided weight loss support for clients since our inception more than a decade ago. We have always offered GLP1 peptides as part of our primary care and weight management programs. We fully personalize protocols to each individual based on their goals and health markers. Care is supervised by our expert medical providers who can prescribe any brand name or personalized compounded medication, ensuring we always have a source for medications, and continuously vet pharmacy options for quality and consistency. We help each individual find the right medication fit, personalize dosing at each step of care, and take costs and other goals into consideration.

What sets apart Essential Health’s weight loss program is our providers commitment to reviewing lab work, lifestyle, progress, and setbacks every 90 days and helping to determine if other medication, supplements, lifestyle changes, or other strategies would best help you reach your goals safely and effectively, with the goal of long-term, sustainable results.

Issues in the gut, or the microbiome, can affect overall health in many ways. We offer services to test, diagnose, and provide relief from digestive health issues, food sensitivities, leaky gut, or other systemic symptoms that can lead to chronic disease. For help navigating this complex concern, we offer both Functional Medicine Consultations and Functional Health Assessments.

Our providers are experts in diagnosing and helping resolve autoimmune diseases through specialty lab testing and in-depth conversations about your symptoms, medical history, and lifestyle. If you are concerned about an autoimmune condition or would like to consider a functional approach to an already existing condition, we recommend contacting us to schedule an initial Functional Medicine Consultation.

Thyroid conditions are often overlooked or misdiagnosed by conventional medicine due to limitations in routine testing procedures. We dive deeper into hormone health with specialty lab testing that can indicate early markers for thyroid conditions or establish an active thyroid imbalance. While we do not have a formal thyroid management program, we do offer ongoing medical consultations and lab testing at select intervals to help us personalize your care. Additionally, clients in our Essential Hormone Balance program receive comprehensive hormone care, which includes thyroid management.

Select Essential Health locations may offer vaccines and travel consultations. Please contact a location nearest to you for more information.

We offer COVID antibody testing, but typically recommend at home testing for COVID PCR in the case of acute illness. We offer virtual COVID consultations in the case of acute illness for further prescription, supplement, and lifestyle interventions. Additionally, many of our providers are well-versed in assisting clients with concerns for Long-COVID.