Benefits and Uses of Alternative Medicine

Alternative medicine has a number of benefits. It is a practice of consuming a medicine without the use of drugs. This may involve herbal medicines, self-awareness, biofeedback, or acupuncture. With alternative medicines, a person becomes an active participant in techniques involved in the cure. Individuals know their physical body functions well and know the way it relates to their health.

Holistic medicine comes under alternative medicine. Nature, as a whole, has an vital role in the usage of fruits, herbs, detox, and vitamins for purification, stimulation and healing. Use of such therapies has gained popularity in recent times, since they offer fantastic health benefits to users. Many people are directing their attention toward alternative medicine and natural therapies for prevention of illnesses and solving their day-to-day health-related issues.

Benefits and Usage:

The natural therapies present in alternative medicines are age-ancient as compared to western form of treatments such as antibiotics and surgeries. According to physicians, most alternative medicine therapies started with clinical impressions or scientific research. The medicines are safe and involve natural substances. One primary objective of alternative medicines is to relieve people from depending largely on drug usage and help them manage their lives naturally. For users’ convenience, below given are some ways to use alternative medicines:

1. People following an alternative medicine may do physical exercises such as osteopathy, yoga, infuse physical activity, tai chi, meditation and reflexology. To do these exercises, place the pillow on a surface providing comfort to the body, since these exercises stimulate and manipulate structural balance of the body. In addition, the exercises improve overall bodily functions. Users may practice these exercises for mental, physical, spiritual and emotional benefits.

2. Users may undergo massage therapy, which involves manipulating and rubbing the body tissue for mental and physical relaxation. They may do this either at home or at a massage clinic. When at home, apply massage oils to the neck, forehead, feet and hands.

3. Change the way of thinking. Exercise the mind first, so the body follows it. Meditate for relaxing the mind, thinking positively and clearing stress. Take deep breaths for better healing. Simultaneously, make use of enhanced visualization of objects for forming excellent thought patterns.

4. For relaxing the body, drink herbal teas. Improvement of bodily functions depends on what people eat and drink, since the same relieves, stimulates and has a healing effect on the body. Consume fresh fruits, vegetables and vitamins daily so that the body gets essential nutrients. Drink ginger tea since it is effective in the cure of nausea and heals the body naturally.

5. Those who wish to develop strong bones and healthy muscles may seek the help of a chiropractor. Chiropractic is a method of treatment that manipulates the body structures, especially the spine to relieve low back pain or even headache or high blood pressure. The chiropractor shows people their pressure points.

6. A simple, yet curable method that comes under alternative therapy is laughter as being the best medicine. People have experienced miraculous changes in certain health disorders due to mere laughing. As such, it is advisable people watch comedy shows on TV. Read magazines and books that promote laughter. Alternately, cleanse the entire body with essential oils, herbs, fruits that have certain therapeutic benefits on the skin. Combine herbs, natural products and fruits together as a remedy to skin disorders.

7. Users may try alternative medicines such as the electromagnetic therapy and biofeedback, which controls body functions such as heart rate, brain activity and blood pressure.

People have turned to using alternative medicine, since it offers multiple health benefits and cures them from long-term ailments in a natural way.

Does Alternative Medicine Work?

The growth of alternative medicine over the past few decades has been rapid and the number of alternative medicine practitioners grows by the day. With thousands of private complementary health practitioners and an increase in GPs offering alternative therapies there is no doubting its popularity and continued movement toward professional healthcare validation. But the question about alternative medicine remains – does it work? Acupuncture, reflexology and therapeutic touch are now non-conventional therapies people will consider having when thinking beyond conventional medical practices.

Certainly if you posed the question of whether alternative medicine works to people in the Far East the answer would be a resounding ‘yes’. Many alternative medicine techniques and therapies started in places like China and India centuries ago and are integral to their healthcare systems. With that degree of use and such a rich history there must be a high level of confidence in its effectiveness.

If you speak to many physicians the argument against alternative medicine is that it is not proven to work. This is a somewhat blinkered opinion as it is based on a comparison with traditional pharmaceutical drug testing. Before drugs can be prescribed they must go through rigorous clinical trials using a broad cross-section of society and performed over a period of years under the supervision of trained research teams. The industry goes to fantastic lengths to highlight this clinical process and show that the evidence is scientific fact. But alternative medicine has been place through equally rigorous tests by research teams around the world; it’s just not as well documented.

Only now are we beginning to see the outcomes of these tests as demand for alternative medicine increases. And as demand increases, so the clinical trials into complementary and alternative therapies will increase. We should also be careful to dismiss practices that have been used successfully for thousands of years in other countries.

Another argument against alternative medicine is that evidence is anecdotal and based purely on personal experience of a therapy. But then the same argument could be right of conventional drug treatment. It is only because a clinical trial has taken place that the drug is deemed to work for everyone. That’s not always the case. How often has someone told you to take a certain drug for an ailment as it worked for them only to find that it didn’t work for you? It’s right that certain conditions require traditional treatment but that’s not to say that alternative medicine cannot be used alongside it. A well loved benefit with alternative medicine is that it doesn’t have the nasty side-effects or discomfort that pharmaceutical drugs can have.

Alternative medicine is effective and can work for you

Alternative medicine is matter of choice. There are many therapies and techniques to choose from that can fit in with your thoughts about health and well-being. Alternative medicine can help with a variety of conditions illnesses and approaches health in a holistic way. Concern for the body as a whole and the use of natural herbal remedies really can target a specific illness. So to answer the question – yes, alternative medicine does work if you find the therapy that works for you.

Does Alternative Medicine Work?

The growth of alternative medicine over the past few decades has been rapid and the number of alternative medicine practitioners grows by the day. With thousands of private complementary health practitioners and an increase in GPs offering alternative therapies there is no doubting its popularity and continued movement toward professional healthcare validation. But the question about alternative medicine remains – does it work? Acupuncture, reflexology and therapeutic touch are now non-conventional therapies people will consider having when thinking beyond conventional medical practices.

Certainly if you posed the question of whether alternative medicine works to people in the Far East the answer would be a resounding ‘yes’. Many alternative medicine techniques and therapies started in places like China and India centuries ago and are integral to their healthcare systems. With that degree of use and such a rich history there must be a high level of confidence in its effectiveness.

If you speak to many physicians the argument against alternative medicine is that it is not proven to work. This is a somewhat blinkered opinion as it is based on a comparison with traditional pharmaceutical drug testing. Before drugs can be prescribed they must go through rigorous clinical trials using a broad cross-section of society and performed over a period of years under the supervision of trained research teams. The industry goes to fantastic lengths to highlight this clinical process and show that the evidence is scientific fact. But alternative medicine has been place through equally rigorous tests by research teams around the world; it’s just not as well documented.

Only now are we beginning to see the outcomes of these tests as demand for alternative medicine increases. And as demand increases, so the clinical trials into complementary and alternative therapies will increase. We should also be careful to dismiss practices that have been used successfully for thousands of years in other countries.

Another argument against alternative medicine is that evidence is anecdotal and based purely on personal experience of a therapy. But then the same argument could be right of conventional drug treatment. It is only because a clinical trial has taken place that the drug is deemed to work for everyone. That’s not always the case. How often has someone told you to take a certain drug for an ailment as it worked for them only to find that it didn’t work for you? It’s right that certain conditions require traditional treatment but that’s not to say that alternative medicine cannot be used alongside it. A well loved benefit with alternative medicine is that it doesn’t have the nasty side-effects or discomfort that pharmaceutical drugs can have.

Alternative medicine is effective and can work for you

Alternative medicine is matter of choice. There are many therapies and techniques to choose from that can fit in with your thoughts about health and well-being. Alternative medicine can help with a variety of conditions illnesses and approaches health in a holistic way. Concern for the body as a whole and the use of natural herbal remedies really can target a specific illness. So to answer the question – yes, alternative medicine does work if you find the therapy that works for you.

Does Alternative Medicine Work?

The growth of alternative medicine over the past few decades has been rapid and the number of alternative medicine practitioners grows by the day. With thousands of private complementary health practitioners and an increase in GPs offering alternative therapies there is no doubting its popularity and continued movement toward professional healthcare validation. But the question about alternative medicine remains – does it work? Acupuncture, reflexology and therapeutic touch are now non-conventional therapies people will consider having when thinking beyond conventional medical practices.

Certainly if you posed the question of whether alternative medicine works to people in the Far East the answer would be a resounding ‘yes’. Many alternative medicine techniques and therapies started in places like China and India centuries ago and are integral to their healthcare systems. With that degree of use and such a rich history there must be a high level of confidence in its effectiveness.

If you speak to many physicians the argument against alternative medicine is that it is not proven to work. This is a somewhat blinkered opinion as it is based on a comparison with traditional pharmaceutical drug testing. Before drugs can be prescribed they must go through rigorous clinical trials using a broad cross-section of society and performed over a period of years under the supervision of trained research teams. The industry goes to fantastic lengths to highlight this clinical process and show that the evidence is scientific fact. But alternative medicine has been place through equally rigorous tests by research teams around the world; it’s just not as well documented.

Only now are we beginning to see the outcomes of these tests as demand for alternative medicine increases. And as demand increases, so the clinical trials into complementary and alternative therapies will increase. We should also be careful to dismiss practices that have been used successfully for thousands of years in other countries.

Another argument against alternative medicine is that evidence is anecdotal and based purely on personal experience of a therapy. But then the same argument could be right of conventional drug treatment. It is only because a clinical trial has taken place that the drug is deemed to work for everyone. That’s not always the case. How often has someone told you to take a certain drug for an ailment as it worked for them only to find that it didn’t work for you? It’s right that certain conditions require traditional treatment but that’s not to say that alternative medicine cannot be used alongside it. A well loved benefit with alternative medicine is that it doesn’t have the nasty side-effects or discomfort that pharmaceutical drugs can have.

Alternative medicine is effective and can work for you

Alternative medicine is matter of choice. There are many therapies and techniques to choose from that can fit in with your thoughts about health and well-being. Alternative medicine can help with a variety of conditions illnesses and approaches health in a holistic way. Concern for the body as a whole and the use of natural herbal remedies really can target a specific illness. So to answer the question – yes, alternative medicine does work if you find the therapy that works for you.

Does Alternative Medicine Work?

The growth of alternative medicine over the past few decades has been rapid and the number of alternative medicine practitioners grows by the day. With thousands of private complementary health practitioners and an increase in GPs offering alternative therapies there is no doubting its popularity and continued movement toward professional healthcare validation. But the question about alternative medicine remains – does it work? Acupuncture, reflexology and therapeutic touch are now non-conventional therapies people will consider having when thinking beyond conventional medical practices.

Certainly if you posed the question of whether alternative medicine works to people in the Far East the answer would be a resounding ‘yes’. Many alternative medicine techniques and therapies started in places like China and India centuries ago and are integral to their healthcare systems. With that degree of use and such a rich history there must be a high level of confidence in its effectiveness.

If you speak to many physicians the argument against alternative medicine is that it is not proven to work. This is a somewhat blinkered opinion as it is based on a comparison with traditional pharmaceutical drug testing. Before drugs can be prescribed they must go through rigorous clinical trials using a broad cross-section of society and performed over a period of years under the supervision of trained research teams. The industry goes to fantastic lengths to highlight this clinical process and show that the evidence is scientific fact. But alternative medicine has been place through equally rigorous tests by research teams around the world; it’s just not as well documented.

Only now are we beginning to see the outcomes of these tests as demand for alternative medicine increases. And as demand increases, so the clinical trials into complementary and alternative therapies will increase. We should also be careful to dismiss practices that have been used successfully for thousands of years in other countries.

Another argument against alternative medicine is that evidence is anecdotal and based purely on personal experience of a therapy. But then the same argument could be right of conventional drug treatment. It is only because a clinical trial has taken place that the drug is deemed to work for everyone. That’s not always the case. How often has someone told you to take a certain drug for an ailment as it worked for them only to find that it didn’t work for you? It’s right that certain conditions require traditional treatment but that’s not to say that alternative medicine cannot be used alongside it. A well loved benefit with alternative medicine is that it doesn’t have the nasty side-effects or discomfort that pharmaceutical drugs can have.

Alternative medicine is effective and can work for you

Alternative medicine is matter of choice. There are many therapies and techniques to choose from that can fit in with your thoughts about health and well-being. Alternative medicine can help with a variety of conditions illnesses and approaches health in a holistic way. Concern for the body as a whole and the use of natural herbal remedies really can target a specific illness. So to answer the question – yes, alternative medicine does work if you find the therapy that works for you.

Nearly half the US populations turns to complementary, alternative and integrative practices to maintain or improve their health. UCSF’s Dr. Sudha Prathikanti explores Ayurvedic medicine, ancient wisdom for modern times. Ayurvedic medicine aims to integrate and balance the body, mind, and spirit. Series: “UCSF Mini Medical School for the Public” [12/2007] [Health and Medicine] [Show ID: 13107]
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