Dr. Helms | Healing | Medicine | Office Information          Steve Helms, N.M.D Biography Philosophy Specialty Combining Therapies Working With Other Physicians Future of Medicine Home   Welcome   I hope that you find what you are looking for at my website. There are multiple sections - about myself, my understanding on medicine and healing, and one with contact information and frequently asked questions (FAQ).   I encourage you to take an active role in your healthcare and look forward to creating a treatment plan that works for you and your lifestyle. I always look at healing as not only the absence of symptoms, but also as representing increased well-being, creativity and freedom. The World Health Organization holds a similar vision stating that "Health is not only the absence of infirmity and disease but also a state of physical, mental and social well-being". Over the last ten years I have worked to help those with crippling infirmities to medically mild concerns, but they all have in common that human spark to live and enjoy life more fully.   My goal is to find the medicine that works for you. That medicine may be blueberries, acupuncture needles or pharmaceutical drugs. The point is to return the body to a balanced state. Support is where healing starts, but I go further to find ways for your body to heal so that it is strong enough to no longer need unnecessary support. All of us have a vast capacity for change; our body's highest aspiration is to heal us the best it can. I am grateful to be a part of this process.   I hope that you will have the time to read through this site and find that a naturopathic medical doctor is a physician you need.   Best Regards, Steve Helms, N.M.D.   Back to the Top>>   Biography   With over ten years of medical practice Dr. Helms finds a balance between using energetic therapies (acupuncture, homeopathy and healing-hands treatment) with the more biochemical therapies of nutrition, herbs, dietary supplements and even pharmaceutical drugs. He is published in peer-reviewed journals on topics ranging from cancer and sinusitis to gluten-associated diseases; lectures regularly at professional conferences; and presents workshops in Mind/Body Medicine at medical schools in the US and Canada. He is formerly adjunct professor of physiology and microbiology at Central Wyoming College, associate editor of Alternative Medicine Review, and technical advisor for Thorne Research. He has enjoyed a meditation and yoga practice for over twenty years, started healing with his hands during his premedical studies, and includes appropriate energy medicine with all his patients (whether cranial osteopathy, neurofascial release, or qi gong). He has championed the growth of naturopathic medicine through co-founding both the Naturopathic Society at Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine and the Integrative Healthcare Foundation (a non-profit organization that serves the Idaho-Wyoming border). Dr. Helms completed residencies in both oncology and energy medicine and maintains a license to practice medicine in Arizona and California.   Back to the Top>>   Philosophy   First do No Harm Treat the Cause of the illness/condition Work together when creating a Treatment Plan My experience is that our disease and illnesses are associated to our past actions, thoughts, and injuries as well as our genetics. What I do that is unique as a naturopathic medical doctor is to ask, how can the body rebuild to the point that it can find balance and then heal itself?   I ask the questions of what are the weak and strong organs - is the liver the strongest eliminative organ and the skin the weakest? Does their nervous system have a strong reserve capacity or is it tapped out? How does this patient react emotionally and mentally when under stress? Where do they feel it in their body? These questions direct my treatment plan because respecting these points determines whether I am helping the person to rebuild a strong foundation or am I just supporting. Supporting may be the best we can do when there is organ failure, but otherwise, the body needs only assistance to rebuild and find balance so that it can heal.   I use the guiding principles of naturopathic medicine with a comprehensive group of therapies to strengthen whatever vital force you have left to the point where the disease/disorder/condition is relieved, reduced, and then removed. It may sound miraculous, but the body "wants" to function efficiently and well; all it requires is a degree of respect and the proper raw materials. I hope you come to appreciate the benefits of medical care provided by a naturopathic physician.   Back to the Top>>   Specialty   Balancing Healing and Medicine Patients: 50% Thyroid, 25% Cancer, 25% General Practice Using hands as medicine I see a great diversity of patients. Even though the majority have thyroid problems these same patients also have concerns with other aspects of their health that I address using the naturopathic principle that we need to "Treat the Whole Person". This is true of all of my patients. Finding the cause of the dis-ease requires more than prescribing the appropriate thyroid hormone, but to help restore function to the weakened endocrine or hormonal system as a whole. I commonly find concerns with the nervous system (numbness, headaches, anxiety, depression, etc.) because the neurons are very sensitive to fluctuations in thyroid hormone. And digestive concerns just further aggravate symptoms as the body has reduced absorbed resources to heal.   Therefore my focus is not so much on thyroid disease, but in helping people to "get well". I look at the science of the disease/condition and work with you to develop a treatment plan that will strengthen the body overall, get to the cause of why this has occurred, and treat appropriately so that your body can better work to heal itself. I have done a year long residency in oncology and still see cancer patients that are looking for a complete approach. A comprehensive program of evidence-based and less-documented therapies often includes intravenous therapy employing high-dose vitamin C with other appropriate nutrients. I particularly enjoy working with cancer patients just because of their willingness to change as well as their desire to live life fully.   I do specialize in numerous healing-hands therapies that few physicians utilize. Combining cranial osteopathy, neurofascial release, and qi gong allows strain patterns in the joints, muscles, organs and connective tissue to be removed releasing physical as well as energetic stress. Through these therapies I have found that patients heal most deeply, permanently and quickly. I have noted that addressing the energetic aspect of disease is pivotal in most long-standing illness. The immune system and other systems function to their potential if the energetic as well as the physical systems of the body are in good health. Therefore I use these therapies with all patients.   I love my work and am grateful that there are so many resources available to help people "get well!"   Back to the Top>>   Combining Therapies   Assessing Healing Benefit vs. Health Risk Benefits of pharmaceuticals and surgery Individualized process Assessing Healing Benefit vs. Health Risk is an ongoing question in your care and close communication is required when combining therapies. What is common in many pharmaceuticals, some herbs and even high dose supplements is that they push too hard and the body overreacts with what we call side-effects. The issue is whether these negative side-effects disappear on removal of the medicine or if after withdrawal there are strains or repercussions that need healing. One benefit of many naturopathic therapies is that the body has the opportunity to decide how to use the medicine and this causes less chance of harm - "First do no harm".   Pharmaceuticals are occasionally needed to initially stabilize a condition and surgery may be required. Fortunately, post-surgical healing is speeded up by appropriate nutrients and as the healing process unfolds while drugs are tapered as function is restored by combining therapies that work for you. Unfortunately, if the individual has low strength/vitality the added strain of some therapies may be more then the body can withstand and recover. We see this most often with chemotherapy drugs for cancer as well as autoimmune drugs. Here often the risks often outweigh the benefits. The fear that "nothing else" can be done has produced poor treatment plan decisions before seeking opinion of a naturopathic medical doctor.   In naturopathic medicine the point is to support the individual so that healing can take place. Some days this is more counseling then IV therapy while the next month the focus may not be on the "disease", but perhaps more liver cleansing so that the body can gain strength to marshal new force towards the "condition". Combining therapies is an individualized process and therefore does not often translate to others with the same condition. We each have our own different genetic, social, and medical histories that need special attention.   Back to the Top>>   Working With Other Physicians   I continually find inspiration working with other physicians and healthcare providers. Their experience has helped guide me to better decision making and presenting a more complete understanding of the available options. Sharing of lab work and imaging almost goes without mentioning and I have a growing group of surgeons and specialists with whom I work.   Physicians are basically a normal cross-section of society when it comes to needing to be brought up to speed regarding NMDs and naturopathic medicine. Certainly over the years I have had physicians hang up on me and have even received angry letters, but this sort of prejudice I see becoming less intense all the time. Rarely have such experiences not been maturely resolved in the patients favor. Being close-minded no longer serves if someone wants to retain patient confidence.   Back to the Top>>   Future of Medicine   Every year more and more of naturopathic medicine is absorbed into the mainstream. Just fifty years ago mainstream medicine stated that smoking and diet did not affect health. Now television advertisements stress the health aspects of different food products and defame smoking. Even listening to your favorite news programming seems to be echoing what naturopathic medicine has been teaching since the 1800s. Most recently, the importance of "good" fats and concerns about sugar and salt have been accepted. Mainstream medicine even rallies around boosting the immune system that not to long ago was considered unscientific unless it involved vaccination. A lot has changed and naturopaths are delighted to see this tide of change as therapies and perspective are folded into mainstream medicine and general society.   Nonetheless, the medicine of the future will also grow by a technological understanding of cloning, stem-cell therapy and genetic manipulation, but these will not supersede the continuing benefits that naturopathic medicine folds into the health care philosophy. Of great benefit will be the acceptance of energy therapies (homeopathy, acupuncture, hands-on & hands-off healing) as these have benefited many, but still baffle most. Change is always afoot; the merging of ideas is everywhere to be seen. The future will see the treating of each patient as an individual not a disease, the physical as well as the energetic body will be healed, and the mind, body and spirit will be accepted and respected as whole.   Back to the Top>>     Your First Visit   Your Treatment Plan   Our Toxic Burden Copyright © 2009-2010, Steve Helms, N.M.D., All rights reserved.  Site design & host: NeuronLinks, Inc.