DEFINING ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

When something new enters into the medical field, it can be a difficult to find
a reasonable definition that everyone can agree to.
Such is the case with alternative medicine.

At its simplest, alternative medicine is a therapy of medicine which is
considered to be an alternative to the regularly prescribed treatment
therapies. This can range from therapies that aren't prescribed often or
simply therapies that haven't been studied intensively and gotten approval
for use.
Also called complementary medicine, alternative medicine practices allow
patients to have addition treatment options when they are faced with a
disease.
But working not only with the body, but also with the mind and spirit,
alternative medicine approaches more of a 'healing' methodology rather than
a 'fixing' approach, as conventional medicine tends to favor.
Within alternative medicine are many different systems:
• Ayurveda
An ancient Indian practice of learning your specific body dosha in order
to make the best choices for your health. Your food choices and even
your recommended exercises can be based on the knowledge of what
dosha you are.
• Traditional Chinese Medicine
Combining everything from acupuncture to herbal supplements,
Traditional Chinese Medicine can help treat number conditions by
looking at the meridians of the body and whether they are blocked or
free flowing.
• Chiropractic work
By manipulating the spine and the way the body is aligned, you can
help to help release muscular tension that might be building up and
causing the body to release feel good chemicals.
• Osteopathy
Like a chiropractor, this specialty works to realign the body through
spinal adjustments, but also has a medical background to work to
diagnose the patient's condition.
• Homeopathy
The use of minute amounts of symptom causing ingredients in order to
stimulate the healing response of the body.
And if you were to break down each of these systems, you would find more
and more approaches to healing with can allow a patient to be more
comfortable in their lives.
It's interesting too to note that when alternative medicine practices are seen
to be effective that they move into the practices of conventional medicine
practitioners. Such has been the case with acupuncture. With more and
more studies supporting its use, it's hard for doctors to deny that it's not an
effective form of treatment.
But while some therapies are given the name of 'alternative' and others are
not, it's still a fuzzy distinction between what is considered legitimate by your
general practitioner and what is not.
The good news is that if you are interested in alternative medicine therapies,
you will be able to find a doctor who can help you get the treatment you
need – even if you need to go to another doctor.