A Guide to Alternative Medical Treatments

There is a increasing amount of alternative medical practices available and sometimes it's hard to keep them all straight. Many people seek holistic and natural approaches to treat injuries, stress and chronic pain, and find the treatments successful and side-effect-free. These treatments draw on fine tuned ancient practices and not only look at the whole body, but sometimes at the wellbeing of the mind.

That said, there are a lot of charlatans out there as well, so look out and check thoroughly. This guide will help you  understand some of the safest emerging practices.

Naturopathy

A naturopathic doctor is concerned with treating the whole body and offers a proactive and preventive approach to health. They will work with a patient to make adjustments to their lives that will lead to health and encourage adoption of healthy lifestyle choices. Their customized approach focused on natural treatment techniques.

Acupuncture

An acupuncturist works to tap strategic points in the body to balance the flow of the body’s energy.  The tapping stimulates nerves, muscles, and connective tissues. This treatment is perceived as scary and off-putting by many because of its use of needles. Fans of this therapy say that the practitioners insert them quickly and you barely feel the needles. Acupuncture works to reduce and relieve chronic pain. 

Reflexology

This practice uses application of pressure to specific areas on the hands, feet and sometimes ears, to reduce pain, anxiety and stress in other parts of the body. Each point is said to communicate with organs and other parts of the body and pressure to these areas can cause a reaction that helps with the flow of energy in the body. 

Homeopathy

A homeopathic doctor is similar in manner to a general physician but seeks to treat the cause of ill health and not mask symptoms. They seek a more complete picture, enquiring how symptoms are affecting patients, about relationships in their lives, sleeping patterns, eating habits and mental capacity. Homeopaths make use of natural ingredients to strengthen the body’s natural defense system so that the body can heal itself. They also use natural techniques to avoid the negative side-effects often associated with pharmaceutical medication. 

Reiki

A Reiki master transfers energy to encourage healing and this is done using their hands, a technique known as palm healing. This natural and spiritual practice believes that low energy can make one vulnerable to physical or mental illness while high energy enables one to thrive in life. Reiki treatments are also effective in reducing stress, which can drain the body of energy. 

Aromatherapy

Aromatherapists use essential oils and create unique oil combinations to promote the healing process and stimulate the body’s ability to heal itself. The idea behind this therapy is that each ingredient in an essential oil, made from herbs, plants, flowers or spices, carries the life force of the ingredient’s origin. This practice is commonly used in combination with other alternative medicine practices.

Ayurveda

This is an ancient Hindu medicinal practice, which works with the 5 elements (ether, fire, air, water, and earth) to achieve a balance of energy within the body.  This holistic approach investigates how the body interacts with the 5 elements and finds the strong and weak points in the body in relation to each element.  The Ayurveda practitioner looks at a patient’s whole life and suggests lifestyle changes to improve the healthy elements of the body to encourage the body to heal. 

Acupuncture

An acupuncturist works to tap strategic points in the body to balance the flow of the body’s energy.  The tapping stimulates nerves, muscles, and connective tissues. This treatment is perceived as scary and off-putting by many because of its use of needles. Fans of this therapy say that the practitioners insert them quickly and you barely feel the needles. Acupuncture works to reduce and relieve chronic pain.