We often hear the term ‘Alternative Medicine’ these days. As the word says, “Alternative,” they are best described as complementary medical products and practices used for care and treatment. These new-age practices replace standard care and other conventional and mainstream therapies.
Alternative medicine is also referred to as complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), holistic medicine, and integrated medicine or integrative medicine (IM).
Alternative medicine entails a wide range of health care practices, products, and therapies. While creating awareness about Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Traditional Chinese medicine, etc., it embraces various healing procedures or newly developed approaches.
So, let’s know them all!
Unscientific belief systems: The following procedures are based on belief systems that are not grounded in science.
Religion, faith healing, and prayer: Many people believe that there is a divine or spiritual intervention in recovery. It includes:
Traditional alternative medicine: Alternative medicines that are based on conventional systems and are practiced for centuries worldwide. This field brings in the more mainstream and accepted forms of therapy like:
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Ayurveda
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Traditional Chinese or Oriental medicine
Mind intervention practices: It is a fact that there is a connection between mind and body, which also has been recognized by the standard procedures of medicine. It has been found that people heal better if they have good emotional and mental health. Therapies using the mind may involve:
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Meditation
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Hypnosis
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Biofeedback
Body-based practices: It is believed that the body can regulate and heal itself; hence these practices are primarily focusing on the body’s structures and systems. Healing by touch is an ancient practice and is often combined with those of the mind.
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Chiropractic and osteopathic medicine
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Massage
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Body movement therapies
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Tai chi
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Yoga
*Chiropractic, osteopathic medicine, or bodywork comes under Manipulative practices.
Herbal remedies: The evolution from simpler food to complex diets has led to nutritional excess and deficiency in individuals. Therefore, some remedies include varied dietary and herbal approaches to balance nutritional well-being. It embraces practices that use substances found in nature like herbs, food, non-vitamin supplements, etc. Moreover, it is the most successful branch of alternative medicine commercially. These remedies include:
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Dietary supplements
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Herbal medicine
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Nutrition/diet
External energy: These therapies are based on the belief that external energies from objects or supernatural energies (that are not detected by the science) directly affect a person’s health. These include:
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Electromagnetic therapy
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Biofield therapy
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Reiki
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Qigong
Senses: These include therapies based on the conviction that the five senses, sight, hear, smell, taste, and touch, heal the overall health. The following therapies incorporating the senses are:
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Art, dance, and music
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Visualization and guided imagery
Why Alternative Medicine?
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Most forms of alternative medicine focus on whole-body care and work on the overall health of an individual.
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Alternative medicine help in coping with the side-effects of cancer treatment.
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The treatment also helps in reducing mental health disorders like stress, depression, anxiety, etc.
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A further draw to alternative medicine is its focus on prevention. The therapies are mainly focused on preventing disease before it happens, in addition to being cared for when sick.
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Alternative medicine is all about restoring the balance or peace of the body on your own body’s terms through a natural approach.
And why not?
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Natural does not always mean safe. Many dietary supplements and herbal remedies that fall under the alternative medicine category are may be harmful when consumed in large doses.
So, it is essential to know the details before taking any dietary supplements or even vitamins.
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Alternative medicine has limited scientific research and has left many questions unanswered.
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Alternative medicines demand a more prolonged time during treatment, and it all depends on how your body interacts with natural products involved in the process.
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Alternative medicine is not a good option in case of an emergency. Traditional or mainstream approaches are better as they are made to work fast.
Today, more than half of adults use some form of alternative medicine. This is because some therapies have undergone careful evaluation and have usually been found effective. However, there is a lack of awareness regarding alternative therapies as they do not have the necessary scientific validation, and their efficacy is either unproved or contradicted.
Alternative medicine is mainly based on the belief that the body naturally balances itself to boost healing and restoration. And it is good to talk to a specialist and approach requisite therapy for your healing and recovery.