When was the last time you left a healthcare appointment with the education, empowerment, and inspiration you need to take control of your own unique wellness journey? More often than not, do you walk out of the office with an undercurrent of irritation or sheer exhaustion because you’re still in pain even though the physician has reassured you there’s nothing to worry about? For many folks with unexplained health issues, this scenario is far too common.  

During her 30 years of practice in the functional medicine space, Dr. Laura Korman has witnessed chronic but treatable conditions linger due to a protocol that masked the symptoms of an illness, instead of resolving its root cause. So she transformed her practice into an integrated center with the equipment and expertise to treat disease at the source—in a way that honors the needs of each person. For this month’s Community Spotlight, Dr. Korman shares what this new iteration of her work entails and the whole-body wellness she aims to provide.    

Natural Awakenings: What factors influenced your decision to expand into a fully integrative practice, and can you describe the various modalities you offer?  

Dr. Laura Korman: I first started to envision opening an integrative wellness center several years ago. My patients would often share how frustrated they were after visits to their primary care doctors. The appointment times were too short for them to feel like their concerns were heard. Or a physician would tell them their lab results came back “normal” without providing answers for symptoms that felt abnormal. These patients were rarely offered meaningful advice on nutrition, and they often waited months to see a specialist.  

The truth is, our healthcare system is broken, so it became my mission to fix this. At my practice, we have created a nurturing wellness center. We listen intently, probe beneath the surface, run more tests, then analyze those results through the lens of a functional medicine practitioner. We think outside the box to create a tailored plan that will restore health and vitality to each patient, so they can live healthier, longer. 

Some of the modalities we offer include specific and gentle chiropractic care, as well as regenerative treatments such as laser therapy, Pulsed Electro-Magnetic Field Therapy, lumbar or cervical decompression, and shockwave therapy.  We also offer physician-guided weight loss programs, nutrition counseling, functional medicine, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy, and stem cell injections. In addition, we have a nurse practitioner on staff who offers primary care, and is certified in Bioidenticle Hormone Replacement Therapy.   

We recently brought in six new BTL devices to help with muscle building, joint function, body sculpting, and TMJ dysfunction. We can now naturally aid in mental wellness, urinary incontinence, and sexual health, as well aesthetic procedures to smooth and tighten skin, fill out lips, and rejuvenate facial features.  

NA: Which conditions do you specialize in treating, and how does resolving the root cause of these issues contribute to restoring overall health?  

Dr. Korman: We specialize in treating chronic back, joint, and neck pain from injuries or overuse. We also help eliminate fatigue, brain fog, and persistent body fat as a result of digestive concerns, insulin resistance, diabetes, metabolic issues, thyroid problems, or other autoimmune illnesses. Identifying the root causes of these conditions is vital to restoring optimal health and minimizing the need for unnecessary medications or surgeries.  

We often test for food sensitivities, environmental toxins, heavy metals, and pathogens, as well as treat gut disturbances, unresolved stress, sleep issues, hormonal imbalances, vitamin deficiencies, mitochondrial health, and genetic variants. When we identify the root causes, and then eliminate or manage them naturally, patients will benefit from more energy, mobility, mental clarity, and a restored sense of hope for a more vibrant future.  

NA: What role does patient education have in your practice, and why is it beneficial for folks to learn how to take ownership of their healing journeys?   

Dr. Korman: The word “doctor” in Latin means, “teacher” or “instructor.” In other words, my mission is to educate. I love to teach my patients about their health and offer insights into nutrition, lifestyle interventions, and current trends in longevity. This empowers them to take an active part in their own wellness journey and move the needle to reaching their goals.  

At my practice, we believe it’s crucial that patients take ownership of their health and are willing to do their part in order to make beneficial changes such as minimizing the intake of sugars, processed foods, vegetable or seed oils, and exposure to environmental toxins. 

Obtaining optimal health is not a destination—it’s a journey that evolves as we age. Wellness is our most important asset, and maintaining it requires our continuous attention and willingness to make necessary shifts to our lifestyles as we learn more about ourselves. Think of this process as a carefully executed lifelong marathon, rather than a 30-day sprint.  

NA: How do you define "whole-body wellness," and what are some practical, actionable steps you advise taking to prioritize and sustain it on a daily basis?    

Dr. Korman: Conventional medical care focuses on treating symptoms with medications or procedures, rather than taking into account the body as a whole. Functional medicine recognizes that all systems within the human body are interconnected, which means that illness does not exist in isolation. Often there are common denominators that must be uncovered at the source and treated with a holistic approach, so the entire body can heal. 

Inflammation is at the core of chronic pain and illness. Whether someone is dealing with metabolic dysregulation, orthopedic dysfunction, hormonal imbalances, cardiac disease, or cognitive decline, the whole body will be affected by an inflammatory cascade. When we can identify and resolve specific root causes that contribute to symptoms or diagnoses, we can restore true health, vitality, balance, and longevity.  

Whole-body wellness is not just about a long life. The ultimate objective is to increase our “healthspan” and  shorten “disease-span.” Said another way, it's not the length of our lives that truly matters, but the length of our lives that we can experience in full vitality. This is known as “healthspan,” and it’s what we aim to optimize for our patients.   

Dr. Laura Korman, DC, DACBN, is the owner of Korman Relief and Wellness Center. This fully integrative practice is located at 16954 Toledo Blade Blvd., Port Charlotte. For more information, visit https://www.drlaurakorman.com/ . To schedule an appointment, call 941-629-6700.