“Dr. Bergin at Chiromed Wellness Centers is the best chiropractor in town. I no longer have to take pain meds. If you still have pain, you’re not seeing to best chiropractor.”
Service
Functional Medicine Testing
in Lakeland and The Villages, FL
Testing that looks for the mechanism behind symptoms your standard bloodwork already called normal, read with you and turned into a written plan.
- 22 years in practice
- Doctor of Chiropractic led
- Results read with you
- $47 new patient exam
- 22 years in practice
- $47 new-patient exam
Medically reviewed by Dr. Justin Bergin, DC Updated September 14, 2026
Functional Medicine Testing at ChiroMed
There is a particular kind of frustration that brings people to this page. You feel worse than you used to. You had bloodwork done, it came back within range, and the appointment ended. Nothing was found, which is a relief, and nothing was explained, which is not. Functional medicine testing works in that gap. Standard laboratory work is built to catch disease, and it does that job well. Functional testing asks a narrower question: what is this particular body short of, reacting to, or struggling to process, and what would change if we addressed it. The answer is a plan rather than a diagnosis, and knowing the difference is the most important thing on this page. Dr. Justin Bergin, DC is a Doctor of Chiropractic with 22 years in practice, and this testing sits inside [the functional and holistic care offered here](/functional-medicine/) alongside the rest of it, not in place of the medical care you already have.
This page sits under holistic medicine practitioner, the ChiroMed holistic medicine practitioner pillar.
What functional medicine testing actually does
Functional medicine testing looks for the mechanisms behind symptoms rather than for disease: nutritional gaps, food reactions, digestive balance and how the body handles blood sugar. Results are read with you and turned into a written nutrition and lifestyle plan. It informs that plan and does not diagnose disease.
**What a laboratory test can do.** The National Library of Medicine puts it plainly in its patient guide to lab tests: testing helps detect a condition, reach a diagnosis, plan treatment and monitor how someone is responding. Those are four different jobs and they are not interchangeable. Functional testing lives in the third and fourth of them. **Range is not the same as optimal.** A standard reference range describes where most of a population sits, so a result at the far edge of normal is still normal and can still leave someone feeling flat. Functional testing looks at position within a range, at patterns across several markers, and at what the history says alongside them. **What gets examined.** Nutritional status, food reactions, digestive and microbial balance, and markers of how the body is handling blood sugar and inflammation. Testing is recommended only where the result would change what we do. If it would not, you are told to save your money. **The line we do not cross.** Functional testing informs a plan. It does not diagnose disease, it does not replace your primary care physician, and it is not a route around a specialist referral. Symptoms that need investigation get sent for investigation.
Background reading from an independent authority: the National Library of Medicine's patient guide to laboratory tests.
Conditions we treat with it
Each of these has its own page, and each one links back up to this service. The examination decides which of them applies to you.
Why patients choose it
The history takes as long as it takes
Most of what makes testing useful is knowing what to ask for, and that comes out of a long conversation about symptoms, food, sleep, stress and medication rather than a form filled in at a front desk.
Testing has to earn its place
Anything recommended here has to change the plan, and you are told what it costs before you agree to it. Testing that would not alter what we do is testing you should not pay for.
Results are read with you
You sit down and go through what came back, what it suggests, and what it does not establish. A results portal with colour-coded bars is not an explanation.
It connects to the rest of your care
This is a practice treating spines, joints, nerves and metabolic health, so a finding here lands in the same file as your pain and your function instead of in a separate silo.
Cost, insurance and financing
What this costs depends on what is recommended after the consultation, and nothing is ordered before you have agreed to its price. We will not publish a figure that pretends every patient needs the same testing.
The one published price
Consultation, Exam, X-Rays (If Needed) & Report of Findings: Only $47
What moves the cost
- Which testing your history and symptoms actually justify, if any
- Whether anything is repeated later to check the direction of travel
- How many review visits the plan calls for
- Whether supplementation is part of the recommendation
What a course includes
- The consultation and a full symptom, dietary and medication history
- A clear explanation of any recommended testing and its cost before you agree
- A results appointment where the findings are read with you
- A written plan and a review against the symptoms you came in with
Payment: Functional medicine testing is a cash-pay service at ChiroMed. Chiropractic care here bills insurance and our team verifies those benefits before your first visit, but functional testing is self-pay and most plans do not reimburse it. Medicare coverage varies by plan and by service, and our front desk will tell you exactly what applies before you commit to anything. Payment plans are available for self-pay care. Ask the front desk which plan fits your course of care. Every new patient starts at the same place: Consultation, Exam, X-Rays (If Needed) & Report of Findings: Only $47.
Why ChiroMed
Plenty of places will sell you a test. Fewer will sit down and tell you what it does not mean. Dr. Justin Bergin, DC has spent 22 years building a practice where chiropractic, spinal and knee decompression, Omniwave shockwave, Neuromed electroanalgesia, metabolic care and functional testing run on one plan under one roof, which means a finding here gets read next to your pain, your function and your history rather than in isolation. It also means we have somewhere honest to put the answer when the honest answer is that this belongs with your doctor.
Where you would be treated
The Lakeland office is at 6595 Florida Ave S, Suite 13, on S. Florida Avenue in South Lakeland, minutes from Southgate Shopping Center and Lakeside Village and straightforward to reach from Highland City, Christina, Grasslands, Scott Lake, Dixieland and the Polk Parkway. The northern office is at 929 US-441 #404 in Lady Lake, just above CR 466, serving The Villages, Summerfield, Wildwood, Oxford, Fruitland Park and Leesburg, with parking at the door for anyone arriving from Spanish Springs Town Square or Brownwood Paddock Square. Consultations run at both addresses.
In Lakeland that is 6595 Florida Ave S, Suite 13, Lakeland, serving Polk County. In the Villages market the office is at 929 US-441 #404, Lady Lake, serving Lake County, Sumter County, Marion County. Dr. Justin Bergin, DC performs the examination personally at both, 22 years into practice.
This page links up to its parent hub only: holistic medicine practitioner.
Compare your options
Real alternatives exist, including ones this practice does not perform. Here is the honest set.
| Criteria | Our approachFunctional medicine testing | What it is | Typically considered when | Invasive? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Functional medicine testing | Yes | Testing aimed at nutritional status, food reactions, digestive balance and metabolic markers, read with you and turned into a written plan. | Symptoms are real, standard investigation found no disease, and nobody has looked at nutrition, absorption or metabolic pattern. | No. Sample collection only. |
| Standard bloodwork through your physician | Not performed here, and it should come first. Your physician orders the panels that detect or exclude disease, and we would rather you had that done before spending anything here. | Laboratory testing ordered to detect, diagnose or monitor a medical condition. | Symptoms need a medical explanation, or a known condition is being tracked. | No, beyond a blood draw. |
| Specialist referral | Not performed here. The right step where symptoms are alarming, where a named condition is suspected, or where a system needs an expert rather than a plan. | Assessment by a physician who specialises in the organ or system involved. | Red flag symptoms, an abnormal result, or a diagnosis that needs confirming. | Depends on the specialty and what they investigate. |
| Direct-to-consumer home test kits | Not sold here. Cheap to buy, frequently hard to interpret, and of limited use without a history and someone to read them with you. | Testing kits bought online and posted to a laboratory, with results returned to you directly. | Someone wants a number quickly and without an appointment. | No, though the interpretation is the part that is missing. |
The second row is the one people skip, and it is the one that matters most. Functional testing is a supplement to medical care, not a substitute for it, and if you have not had standard bloodwork through your physician then that is the appointment to make first.
Is functional medicine testing right for someone like you?
Candidacy is decided at the examination, not on a web page. These are the general lines.
Likely a good candidate if
- Persistent fatigue, brain fog or low energy with normal standard bloodwork
- Weight that will not move despite genuine and sustained effort
- Digestive symptoms, food reactions or inflammation without a clear trigger
- You want to understand a mechanism rather than collect another prescription
- You have a physician you see and are looking to add to that care, not replace it
We will point you elsewhere if
- You are looking for a diagnosis, which this testing does not provide
- Red flag symptoms such as unexplained weight loss, bleeding, chest pain or new neurological changes, which need a physician now
- You want to stop a prescribed medication, which is a conversation for the doctor who prescribed it
- You have no primary care physician and no intention of finding one, since this care is designed to sit alongside that relationship
- The expectation is that a test result will settle everything, which no single result does
When we’re not the right answer, we say so , and connect you with someone who is.
Your first visit
What to expect, step by step
You know the plan and the cost before anything begins.
- 01
A long first conversation
Symptoms, timeline, what has already been investigated, what you eat, how you sleep, what you take and what changed before you started feeling this way. Bring your recent laboratory results and your medication list.
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02A recommendation, with the cost attached
If testing would change the plan you are told which testing, why, and what it costs before you agree to any of it. If it would not change anything, you are told that instead and nothing is ordered.
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03Results, read together
You sit down with the findings and go through what they suggest, where the patterns are, and what they do not establish. Anything that belongs with your physician or a specialist is flagged there and then.
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04A written plan, then a review
Nutrition, supplementation where a finding calls for it, and the lifestyle changes that matter most, written down. Then a review measured against the symptoms that brought you in rather than against the paperwork.
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An adjustment that is not aimed at a specific finding is just noise. We treat what the exam and the X-ray tell us to treat.
“I have had sich a great experience seeing Dr. Bergin. When other offices have told me I just had muscle damage or the only thing they could do for me was give shots, he said he had others ways to manage my pain and numbness, along with improving mobility. And he was right! I feel so much better!”
“I have had pain in my right upper back quadrant by my shoulder blade for at least a year now and the doctors have been unsuccessful in making the pain go away. I came to Dr. Bergin looking for some help. Within 3 to 4 weeks. My pain in that area is completely gone.”
“Dr. Bergin is phenomenal. Chronic lower back issues led a different doctor to mention back surgery to me. That was not an option I wanted to entertain. After a consult with Dr. B, he was confident that he could help resolve my back issues. I’ve been seeing him weekly to resolve the issue, and I am so pleased with the results so far! More mobility, less pain, and a great customer experience.”
“I bless the day that Dr. Bergin started working on me. I have had long standing pain for so long. After just a few visits my pain left and I feel so good. He is very patient oriented and caring. I regard him highly.”
“Dr. Bergin was instrumental in relieving my back pain which I had for many years. The techniques he used on relieving my back pain were impressive. I been going to chiropractors for years and Dr. Bergin is the best.”
Get in touch
Book your functional medicine testing evaluation
Tell us what the problem is and which office is closer. A member of the ChiroMed team follows up within one business day.
- 1
Send the form
Two minutes. Tell us what hurts and which office is closer.
- 2
We call you back
A real person, within one business day, to find a time that works.
- 3
Exam and answers
History, orthopedic and neurological testing, imaging on site when it changes the plan.
- $47 consultation, exam, X-rays if needed and report of findings
- Payment plans available on the self-pay programs
- 4.8 out of 5 from 225 Google reviews
- Choose Lakeland or The Villages on the form
Functional Medicine Testing questions
Tap a message for the honest answer. Call Lakeland (863) 940-3444
What is the difference between a regular doctor and a functional medicine doctor?
A physician is trained and licensed to diagnose disease, prescribe medication and manage illness, and that work is irreplaceable. Functional medicine describes an approach rather than a licence: a long history, testing aimed at nutrition, digestion and metabolism, and a plan built from food and lifestyle. Here it is delivered by Dr. Justin Bergin, DC.
the clinic teamCan a functional medicine doctor be your primary care doctor?
Not here, and be wary of anywhere that says yes. ChiroMed does not replace your primary care physician. We do not manage medical conditions, prescribe for them, or provide the screening, vaccination and acute care that primary care covers. Keep that relationship, tell your physician what you are doing here, and use this care alongside it.
the clinic teamWhat is the downside of functional medicine?
Three honest ones. It is usually self-pay, so the cost falls on you. The evidence behind some functional testing is thinner than the evidence behind standard medical investigation, so results are a pointer rather than a verdict. And it attracts practitioners who overpromise. Ask any clinic what its testing cannot tell you.
the clinic teamWill insurance pay for a functional medicine doctor?
Usually not. Functional testing and nutrition programs here are self-pay and most plans do not reimburse them. Chiropractic care does bill insurance and our team verifies those benefits separately. Medicare coverage varies by plan and by service. You are given the cost of any recommended testing in advance, and payment plans are available.
the clinic teamAre naturopathic doctors legal in Florida?
Florida has not licensed new naturopathic physicians for decades, and the small number of remaining licence holders are the exception rather than a current pathway. The reason it matters here is scope, so we will be direct about ours: ChiroMed is led by Dr. Justin Bergin, DC, a licensed Doctor of Chiropractic. Nobody here holds or claims naturopathic licensure.
the clinic teamSame-week appointments
Find out whether functional medicine testing is the right tool.
One examination tells you which discipline the problem actually needs.
- 4.8 out of 5 on Google
- $47 consultation, exam and report
- 22 years in practice
Consultation, Exam, X-Rays (If Needed) & Report of Findings: Only $47