Complimentary medicine is extremely effective in enhancing conventional health care. What used to be referred to as an alternative to traditional western medicine has become a compliment to the conventional medical world. According to the Mayo Clinic, "Ranging from herbs to acupuncture, alternative medicine is becoming increasingly popular."
Our medical care used to be limited to resolving a symptom which our family doctor could fix, but with complimentary medicine and treatment techniques, the medical world has achieved unlimited possibilities for actual healing. It took time to open the minds of physicians within the western medical world, but today at medical facilities all over the USA, like the Mayo Clinic, conventional physicians are using complimentary medicine and techniques to not only fix our symptoms, but to prevent what creates damage and disease to the body in the first place.
Today, our physicians are more likely to suggest treatments like homeopathy, ayurveda, acupuncture and hears. We are learning words we've never heard within the medical world, but are they safe? Are they a compliment or a demise to our well being and life? The following explains in laymen's terms what complimentary medicine means and why it's effective today in the USA.
WHEN ALTERNATIVE TECHNIQUES COMPLIMENT CONVENTIONAL MEDICINE:
Alternative medicine is seen as a treatment the patient chooses to the exclusion of conventional modern medicine. If the alternative technique has not been scientifically proven to be beneficial, it won't be used within the modern medical world. On the other hand, when physicians and medical facilities combine proven alternative medicine to their conventional treatments, alternative medicine becomes, "Complimentary medicine."
In other words, when a patient chooses alternative medicine to the exclusion of conventional treatment, that treatment is then referred to as, "Alternative medicine," but if the physician combines alternative medicine with conventional medicine, it's known as, "complimentary medicine." As confusing as it seems, this basically means that what was once seen as alterative medicine is quickly becoming a compliment to conventional medicine.
THE INTEGRATION OF ALTERNATIVE AND CONVENTIONAL MEDICINE:
Some physicians choose to use tai chi or auromatherapy massage techniques to compliment their conventional treatment of depression and anxiety. Through complimentary medicine, the physician is not only treating the patient's symptoms, but he or she is combining the complimentary techniques that will hopefully prevent what creates depression and anxiety in the first place. That's why complimentary medicine can benefit the patient's over all well being instead of just relieving symptoms.
When a physician integrates what used to be alternative treatments into his or her patient care, it provides the patient with the benefits of both medical worlds. The patient no longer needs to exclude something new or what was once missing within conventional medicine.
WHY COMPLIMENTARY MEDICINE IS EFFECTIVE:
More and more doctors in western medicine are learning why combining alternative medicine with their patient care is an effective way to treat the complete human being, instead of just the symptom. They are learning how to heal more effectively than ever before by including homeopathic treatments. Medical schools today include more and more nontraditional techniques within the curriculum as well, and this means that medical care has become more all inclusive than it's been since ancient times when man understood that any disease is created by a human beings sense of, "dis-ease." It's called, "Interactive medicine," when a doctor combines complimentary medicine to his or her patient care.
Today, physicians are beginning to see how to treat the complete human being, and when we find the key to well being, we become more effectively healthy. That's why physicians today are learning more about the nutritional benefits which traditional medicine was clueless of. The medical world no longer dismisses the benefits of vitamin supplements, and today they are more likely to prescribe an omega-3-fatty acid to your diet to improve heart health and reduce cholesterol. When patients feel free to discuss the need for vitamin supplements, it benefits the patient's care and keeps them from combining all the wrong chemicals into their system.
THE PRINCIPLES OF COMPLIMENTARY MEDICINE :
1. Prevention:
Since prevention is the key to well being, complimentary medicine is an effective way to take the steps we need to take to create good health in the first place. Complimentary medicine acts as the facilitator of good health, but it's based on the concept that the body can and will heal itself, so treatment enhances the body's natural healing power.
2. The physician acts as a guide to healing:
As the Mayo Clinic states, alternative medicine practitioners, "see themselves as teachers and mentors who offer guidance," but it's the patient who does the work of healing.
3. The physician is aware of holistic care:
When the focus is on treating the whole patient, physicians become better prepared to heal rather than simply repair damage. That's why more and more doctors today are recognizing the fact that physical health goes hand in hand with mental and spiritual well being and play a huge part in a patient's over all health.
COMMON TYPES OF COMPLIMENTARY MEDICINE:
1. The use of healing systems:
Ayuryeda: This healing treatment originated in ancient India and focuses on curing what makes us sick through yoga, meditation, massage, diet and herbs.
Homeopathy: A treatment which uses small doses of substances that cause the body's natural self healing properties to become stimulated into action.
Naturopathy: This type of complimentary treatment focuses on, "noninvasive treatments," which help the body to do it's own healing. This treatment draws on a variety of techniques and medicine for healing, such as massage, acupuncture, herbal remedies, exercise and counseling.
Ancient Medicines: Ancient methods of healing which came from the Chinese, Asian, Pacific Islander, the American Indian and Tibetan practices are now being combined with modern medicine.
2. Mind-Body Connections:
When conventional medicine includes meditation, yoga, biofeedback, hypnosis and relaxation therapies like art, music and dance to their treatment plan, this becomes the effective way the physician guides the patient to self healing from the inside out. This technique for treatment tends to improve the communication between the mind and the body, so your over all health can be more complete.
3. Vitamin Supplements and Herbal Remedies:
Traditionally, physicians used to dismiss vitamin or herbal use as, "useless." Still, history and basic common sense has taught us the benefits vitamin and herbal Supplements can provide to their care. These complimentary treatments use natural ingredients from nature to improve patient care and health. Herbs like ginseng, ginkgo and echinacea are commonly suggested by doctors today. Other Supplements which are included with conventional medicine include, selenium, glucosamine sulfate and SAM-e, taken as teas, oils, syrups, powders, tablets or capsules to stimulate good health and counteract the damage done through poor nutrition.
4. Manipulation and Touch Therapy:
These complimentary treatments include massage, Chiropractic and spinal manipulation, but other types can be used, such as osteopathy, cranioacral therapy and acupressure to improve over all medical care.
5. Therapies to boost energy:
Some doctors use complimentary medicines and techniques to boost energy which include therapeutic touch, Reiki, Magnet therapy, Polarity therapy and Light therapy,
BEWARE: COMPLIMENTARY MEDICINE NEEDS DOCTOR-PATIENT COMMUNICATION:
Just because a medicine is stated to be, "natural," doesn't mean it's wise to ingest unless your doctor suggests it. As with anything else you choose to do or not do with your body and mind, be wise and consult your modern day physician. Complimentary medicine means that your health care is discussed with your conventional physician, who will be the best guide to lead you to a sense of well being.
For the source of this and more information:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/alterna tive-medicine/PN00001