Richmond Integrative and Functional Medicine

Richmond Integrative and Functional Medicine Aaron Hartman, MD
Restoring health & hope with science-backed solutions and innovative healthcare.

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12/23/2025

There are times when medical professionals offer a long list of surgeries and procedures that may manage symptoms, but do not move the body onto a true path of self healing and self repair.

One of the most humbling truths in medicine is that learning does not only flow one way. Sometimes it is the patient who opens your eyes to a new device or a new approach. I experienced this when a patient introduced me to Revitav, a neuromuscular stimulation device used through the feet.

I had been searching for something like this for years and never would have known about it without that patient.

This is an important reminder. There are many tools, technologies, and specialists available that even well trained providers may not yet know about. Patients often find options outside the conventional medical pathway that can support healing.

There is always a path to self healing and self repair, especially when curiosity and openness remain part of the process.

I am truly grateful to for the thoughtful conversation and for inviting me onto The Thyroid Fixer podcast!

Listen here:

https://dramie.com/podcasts/580-uncurable-diseases-and-tough-cases-is-there-any-hope/

12/23/2025

Medicine is science. Healing is love in action.

That is what my daughter taught me. When we brought Anna home as a foster child, I fell in love instantly. I knew that if she was going to find her way back to healing, I had to understand it myself.

Every doctor and surgeon had a different procedure to offer. My wife and I were the only ones asking how her body could heal. We did not want to manipulate her body. We wanted to support repair.

Love for the people around you matters. It will push you to do things that feel impossible.

I was up at 4 AM reading research, studying articles, traveling across the country, and finding the resources my daughter needed.

Healing requires hope. It requires self love. And it requires the belief that answers exist.

Let’s bring humanity back to medicine.

12/22/2025

Mary Ellen Chalmers completely changed how I think about gut health with this fact.

The average person swallows over one trillion bacteria every single day.

Think about that for a moment. The high end probiotics many people take introduce ten times fewer bacteria than what enters the body daily through the mouth alone.

This is why oral health matters far more than most people realize. Your mouth can set your gut up for health or for disease much more efficiently than whatever probiotic you are taking.

If you are only focusing on supplements and ignoring what is happening upstream, you are missing a major piece of the puzzle.

Healing always starts at the root.

12/22/2025

Hope isn’t a feeling. It’s a strategy.

Hope is the awareness that there is still something you have not discovered yet. An answer, a tool, a supplement, or a missing piece that can help move your body back in the right direction.

Without hope, people get stuck. They start believing that no doctor can help them. That their immune system will never improve. That decline is just part of aging and nothing will change.

The truth is this. Without hope, you stop searching. You stop looking for solutions. And when the search stops, healing stops. We never give up. I never give up on my daughter, my other children, or my wife. And we never give up on our patients.

Healing is a journey, and no one should walk it alone. Without hope and without faith, it becomes very difficult to move the body back toward healing, especially when everyone else says it is impossible.

If you want results that feel miraculous, you have to be willing to do what others are not doing. Hope is part of that process.

12/19/2025

You can’t heal what you hide.

Most people suppress their emotional journey. When that happens, the body’s natural healing process gets blocked. I often talk about three core areas that interfere with self healing and self repair. I call this the triangle of health.

One of the biggest obstacles is stress. Not just daily stress, but unresolved trauma and experiences from the past. When the nervous system is dysregulated or stuck in a trauma response, the body shifts out of healing mode.

A functional brain is a safe brain. A safe brain supports a calm and balanced nervous system. This state is driven by the parasympathetic nervous system, and it is essential for the body to heal and repair itself. If this system is not functioning properly, healing simply cannot move forward.

This is why brain health matters. When you regulate your nervous system and apply the right tools, you allow the body to return to its natural healing path.

12/18/2025

Did you know that dirt can actually support your health?

A hundred years ago, the average child would ingest nearly a pound of dirt by the time they turned ten. Not intentionally, but through everyday life. Playing outside, growing food, staying connected to the land. Today we are so focused on sterility that we forget something essential. Many of the foods we praise as healthy, yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, all begin with bacteria that originate in the soil.

As we have distanced ourselves from dirt, we have also lost touch with the Earth’s ability to help us heal. Modern science shows that the microbiome produces about 75% of our neurotransmitters and detoxifies nearly one third of all medications.

Without the right microbes in your gut, many of which come from the soil, your body struggles to repair and regulate itself.

It may be time to reconnect. Play in the dirt or start a garden. Rebuilding that relationship with the Earth can help guide your body back toward healing.

We’ve been taught—implicitly and explicitly—that our DNA determines our future.That if something “runs in your family,” ...
12/17/2025

We’ve been taught—implicitly and explicitly—that our DNA determines our future.

That if something “runs in your family,” it’s only a matter of time before it runs through you too.

But modern biology tells a more hopeful (and more accurate) story.

Genes don’t cause disease on their own. They respond to environment, nutrition, stress, sleep, and countless other signals. That system is called epigenetics—and once you understand it, the entire conversation about health changes.

I wrote this article to explain what genetics can predict, what they can’t, and why diagnosis is not destiny.

👉 Read the full article here → https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/uncurable-epigenetics

12/17/2025

We were taught in medical school that about 50% of what we learned was wrong. The problem was that no one knew which half.

Medical research is expanding at a pace that feels impossible to keep up with. Some estimate it is doubling every 18 months. Even the most dedicated clinicians and lifelong learners cannot read and integrate it all.

What is even more concerning is that we are discovering that a significant portion of published clinical research may be flawed or incorrect as well.

So if half of what you know may be wrong, and half of what you are reading may be wrong too, what is the north star in medicine? What is the guiding principle that helps us decide what to do for the patient sitting right in front of us?

I am truly grateful to for the thoughtful conversation and for inviting me onto The Thyroid Fixer podcast. It was an honor to explore these questions together and talk about where real hope comes from when cases feel impossible.

Listen here:

https://dramie.com/podcasts/580-uncurable-diseases-and-tough-cases-is-there-any-hope/

12/16/2025

Took this video on the final day of the conference with more than 8,000 attendees and over 700 vendors. An incredible few days surrounded by leaders who are pushing medicine forward.

I spent the week diving deeper into anti aging medicine, regenerative longevity, neural therapy, phototherapy, and so much more. I am excited to review my notes and begin sharing key insights over the coming months.

There is a great deal that can be thoughtfully integrated into patient care at my clinic, and I am looking forward to putting this knowledge into action.

12/15/2025

This weekend, I made a big mistake and it turned out to be exactly what I needed.

I thought I was signing up for a peptide therapy course for the brain. Turns out, I accidentally enrolled in a neural therapy course instead. And honestly, this is something I’ve been searching for.

I had no idea I was missing this type of therapy until today, and I’m genuinely excited to dive in. This is cutting edge work that’s been used in Germany for over 30 years, and now I’m committed to learning it deeply so I can bring it back to my patients here in Richmond.

I’ve already added two more textbooks to my reading list, so the next several weeks are going to be all about learning, studying, and expanding what’s possible for patient care.

Sometimes the best discoveries happen by accident.

12/14/2025

Find a doctor who listens, not one who just prescribes.

Over the years, countless patients have told me I am the first doctor who truly listened to them. That still blows my mind. How can simply asking better questions and listening with intention be so rare?

Here is the reality. To reach the right diagnosis, you must work with someone who listens deeply. When I was in medical school over 25 years ago, we were taught that nearly 80% of diagnoses come from the patient history and physical exam alone. That means most answers are revealed when the patient is truly heard.

Find a doctor who listens with their whole mind, body, and spirit. Someone who values your story and applies their expertise to it. That is how you put your body on the path toward self healing and self repair.

You are worth that level of care. Surround yourself with a team that is committed to walking with you on your healing journey.

12/12/2025

Never confuse prognosis with possibility.

Every doctor and every specialist told us our daughter Anna would never walk again. They were all wrong.

She was born too early and too small. She was exposed to drugs before birth and suffered a brain injury. Yet she continues to defy every odd and every expectation placed on her.

Here is the truth. If this little girl, abandoned at birth and written off by the system, can overcome the impossible, so can you.

My book UnCURABLE shares the insights behind that journey. It reveals foundational principles along with advanced strategies that help you see beyond limitations and uncover what is truly possible.

The message is hope. The message is healing.

Address

1 Park West Circle, Ste 301
Midlothian, VA
23114

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+18048933920

Website

https://made-for-health.captivate.fm/listen

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About Dr. Hartman

My own journey with Functional Medicine actually started with our first daughter, who we took in as a foster child, then adopted. She has cerebral palsy and countless dietary issues. We went to specialist after specialist, and even as a physician I felt let down and confused.

My daughter's health struggles forced me to confront an uncomfortable realization:

Our current health care system doesn't have all the answers.

My wife, a brilliant--and very stubborn--occupational therapist refused to give up hope. She ultimately pointed me towards functional medicine.