Every HTMA package includes a laboratory report from Trace Elements, Inc., the laboratory that analyzes your hair sample. Below is an example of the laboratory’s report format, followed by what our separate Report of Findings and Premium video add.
1. Your laboratory report (every package)
Prepared by Trace Elements, Inc. after it analyzes your hair specimen.
- Each element measured in your hair specimen, graphed against the laboratory’s reference intervals — for example calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, zinc and copper, and toxic metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic and aluminum.
- Calculated ratios, labelled by element — for example Ca/Mg (calcium to magnesium), Na/K (sodium to potassium) and Zn/Cu (zinc to copper).
Ratios are calculated from measured elements. They are not tests of thyroid, adrenal, hormone or blood-sugar function. A result outside the reference interval is not a diagnosis of deficiency or toxicity, and a result inside it does not mean a level is “safe”.
Hair reflects elements incorporated into hair as it grew (scalp-near hair roughly covers the past few months of growth) and can be affected by external contamination, hair treatments and collection conditions.
Essential includes this laboratory report only, with no practitioner review — perfect to review with your own naturopath or functional-medicine provider. Related reading: how to read HTMA results.
2. Our Report of Findings (Comprehensive and Premium)
A separate, educational document written by our practitioner, Madison Ordway, FDN-P. It is not part of the laboratory report.
Comprehensive and Premium add a custom 10+ page Report of Findings and a Supporting Minerals Through Diet handout. They walk through your laboratory results in plain language and offer educational nutrition and lifestyle suggestions to discuss with your healthcare provider. Any supplement ideas are educational, for adults, and to discuss with a licensed healthcare professional.
What it is not: the Report of Findings is educational wellness information. It is not a diagnosis, a medical treatment plan or a prescription, and it does not replace care from a licensed healthcare professional. FDN-P is a certification, not a license to practice medicine.
3. Your prerecorded practitioner video (Premium)
Premium adds a custom 30–60 minute prerecorded video in which Madison Ordway, FDN-P, goes over your results and your Report of Findings, plus 10% off a retest. The video is recorded for you after your laboratory results arrive. It is not a live consultation, and there is no appointment to schedule.
About the laboratory’s example reports
The example above and the examples on Trace Elements’ website show the laboratory’s report formats. Not every package includes everything shown in the laboratory’s examples: for example, the laboratory’s own interpretive Profile 2 narrative is a laboratory product, not our Report of Findings. Your package includes the laboratory report described above, plus the Report of Findings and video only if your package lists them.