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.

FINDING LICENSED PRACTITIONERS

When it comes to alternative medicine, it used to be that you would have to
go to some dark alley or know someone in order to find an actual
practitioner.

And even then, their training was a bit questionable.
In today's times of alternative medicine acceptance, there are numerous
schools who offer degree programs for those interested in studying
everything from massage to aromatherapy and homeopathy.
This is good news for you: you're going to be able to find someone who's
actually been tested and trained to help you.

However, since regulation of alternative medicine can be a bit sketchy, you
will want to make sure to ask the following questions of the practitioners you
do find:
• Where did you go to school?
• What licenses/certificates do you have?
• Are your certifications current?
• How much experience have you had?
• How many people have you treated?
• Have you attended any additional training courses?
• Do you update your training?
• How do you keep up with current alternative medicine research?

By taking the time to listen to what the practitioner has to offer, you will get
a better sense as to whether they can help you.

In many instances, the rapport you have with someone is just as helpful as
the skills they have. Of course, you will want to double check to see if any
training they say they have is legitimate.

The first person you will want to ask about alternative medicine practitioners
is your regular doctor.

And if they don't know of any, talk to your insurance company.
Very often, you will simply be able to look in your local phone book or online
address directory to find who you need.

The only thing you need to keep in mind is that if you're not comfortable wit
the person you're going to or how they practice their form of healing, you
should try to find someone else.

You need to be comfortable with how you are treating your body – or letting
someone else treat it, as the case may be.

THE PLACEBO EFFECT AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

The reason why many people don't believe in alternative medicine is because
study after study seems to show that these therapies are only have a placebo
effect.
This means they are not actually healing the problem, but since the mind
thinks they are, it heals the problem on its own.
To a scientist, this is a worthless therapy then.
But if you are the patient who is feeing better, do you really care how you
might be feeling better?
The mind works in ways we still do not understand. For example, when you
close your eyes and picture a certain thing, your brain's receptors and nerves
light up as though that thing is in the room with you – even if it isn't.
This simple fact illustrates the idea that your mind is capable of believing in
something that is not true – and then creating its own reality in which it
becomes true.
You mind is capable too of creating the right antibodies and other disease
fighting chemicals if it thinks that it can.
Without becoming too New Age-y, if you were to put into your mind the
thought that going to yoga everyday was going to help you reduce your back
pain, chances are good that you will reduce your back pain. If you sincerely
believe that yoga will help, it will.
Now, whether this is because you believe and thus you go to yoga religiously,
that's anyone's guess.

In order to make any medicine work, you do need to have a little faith that it
will because the body can work in the opposite direction too. If you were to
believe that something was a bunch of hogwash, chances are pretty high that
nothing would happen and your brain would make sure of it.
Does creating the placebo effect really diminish the power of alternative
medicine? Hardly.
While the ingredients themselves or the healing process itself might not be
directly causing the body to become healed, the fact that these therapies
allow the mind to take over the healing process is a pretty compelling
argument for using the alternative medicine in the first place.
Results are what matter when you are sick and feelings awful. And so long
as the therapy isn't making you sicker, perhaps alternative medicine is just
what your body (and mind) really need.