Solutions for food allergies and intolerances
Does your patient experience stomach pain or bloating, headaches or skin flare-ups that aren’t explained by a medical condition? Perhaps they suspect that their symptoms coincide with consuming certain foods and have become fearful of eating or adopted restrictive eating practices? These frustrating experiences are common among both patients and doctors encountering undiagnosed or unmanaged food intolerances and allergies.
A Soaring Health accredited practising dietitian (APD) can help by partnering both you and your patient in medical- and self-management of food allergy and food intolerance.
Allergy versus intolerance
While food allergies are immunological and may be identified through tests including skin prick tests (SPT) and radio-allergo-sorbent-tests (RAST), food intolerances can be harder to identify – despite being more common. There is no diagnostic method other than a carefully-monitored elimination diet and dietary modifications that omit offending components while introducing substitutes and reintroducing eliminated foods to ensure adequate nutrition.
Why your patients need a dietitian
Our dietitians are qualified and experienced to identify specific food intolerances and help clients to modify their diets to prevent reactive symptoms while ensuring that they don’t miss out on important nutrients or develop deficiencies (which is a risk with DIY elimination diets). By thoroughly assessing a client’s diet and lifestyle, medical history and status and symptom patterns and staging a targeted elimination diet, a dietitian can pinpoint specific offending constituents in foods, from FODMAPs such as fructose and lactose to cow’s milk protein and natural chemicals such as salicylates and amines, and educate clients in ways to manage intolerances while enjoying the freedom and flexibility to eat what they like without fear. For food allergy sufferers, whose symptoms can be life-threatening and whose management requires total avoidance of trigger foods, a dietitian can devise a personalised dietary strategy to prevent symptoms and ensure balanced nutrition.
How a dietitian can help
Common symptoms and conditions we can address in adults and children include
- GI/digestive symptoms (bloating, pain, gas, constipation, diarrhoea)
- Headaches and migraines
- Skin reactions such as hives, rashes or eczema
- Persistent fatigue or feeling ‘run-down’
- Sinus congestion
- Brain fog or irritability and attention problems
- Coeliac disease
- Identified food allergies
- Make a thorough assessment based on self-reported symptoms and diet as well as medical results and past treatment outcomes (e.g. SPT and RAST)
- Prescribe and help with implementation of evidence-based elimination diets to identify food intolerance symptom triggers
- Recommend and oversee safe reintroduction of eliminated foods
- Recommend food substitutes to ensure nutritional adequacy
- Provide guidelines and frameworks for menu planning and recipes
- Educate on label reading and shopping selections
- Advise on simple strategies and work-arounds for socialising and dining out
- Consult with a patient’s GP or specialist to review medical results after dietary interventions
Melinda
- Dietitian
“Dietetics is most effective when it’s harmonious with each person’s goals and motivation, lifestyle, capacities and preferences and broader healthcare management. I am committed to person-centred care and providing tailored advice to best support individuals to achieve their health and nutrition goals,” says Soaring Health dietitian Melinda. This collaborative approach extends to consulting with clients’ other medical and allied health providers. “I believe strongly in a multidisciplinary team approach to best support clients in achieving their health and wellbeing goals.” -Melinda, Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD)
Simple referrals
For Medicare (CDM) patients and those eligible for dietetics services through NDIS, TAC, DVA, My Aged Care and WorkCover, our online referral and enrolment process is simple and enables your patient to promptly access the care they need. Each community program has distinct requirements, which you will be asked to upload on your patient’s form.
For private dietetics clients, a formal referral is not required. They can simply make an online booking via the button below or by phoning (03) 9013 5987.
Online consulting
If your patient(s) can’t get to our clinics or feel more comfortable in their own home, our dietitians can provide online consulting for food allergies and food intolerances. All a patient needs is an internet connection to receive full clinical dietetics consultations via video at their convenience.
2 convenient clinic locations
Our two clinics are conveniently located and offer appointments to fit in with your patients’ schedules. We’re open 6 days with 8am-8pm weekday opening hours. Choose a clinic to suit.
Thomastown Clinic
Located in: Thomastown Recreation & Aquatic Centre
Address: 54 Main Street, Thomastown VIC 3074
Open Hours:
Weekdays: 8am-8pm
Saturdays: 8am-2pm
Craigieburn Clinic
Located in: Splash Aqua Park and Leisure Centre
Address: 60 Central Park Ave, Craigieburn VIC 3064
Open Hours:
Weekdays: 8am-8pm
Saturdays: 8am-6pm
Fees, subsidies and rebates
The fees for private clients for standard 60-minute and 30-minute dietetics consultations are $194 and $80. Eligible private insurance policies may offer rebates on dietetics. Clients with a Chronic Disease Management (CDM) plan may be eligible for Medicare-subsidised consultations. NDIS participants and patients eligible for My Aged Care, TAC, WorkCover and DVA may be eligible for no-gap dietetics consultations.