Alternative Health Therapy: A Growing Variety
Alternative health therapies have been abundantly endorsed by a lot of people. This gives an individual or patient more option to choose from on how he can take good care of his body.
The following are some alternate health therapies that may be included in a patient’s treatment plan:
Ayurveda. Originating from India for more than 4,000 years ago, Ayurveda is based on the concept that illness results from the imbalance of the body’s life force, or prana. This alternative health therapy uses herbs, body therapy, yoga, and internal cleansing to restore balance within the body and with nature.
Homeopathy. Developed in the late 1700s in Germany, Homeopathy is derived from natural substances such as plant extracts and minerals. These substances are used to stimulate the body’s natural capacity to heal. The more dilute the homeopathic medicine, the stronger it is considered to be.
Naturopathy. This type of alternative health therapy uses a combination of body therapies, including nutrition, herbal medicine, homeopathy, physical medicine, exercise therapy, counselling, stress management, acupuncture, and hydrotherapy. Naturopathy promotes disease treatment through a healthy living lifestyle, treatment if the whole person, and the use of the body’s natural healing abilities focusing on finding the cause of the illness rather than just treating symptoms.
Acupuncture. This is an alternative health technique where in needles are inserted and manipulated into specific points on the body with the aim of relieving pain and for therapeutic purposes. According to acupuncture theory, these acupuncture points lay along meridians along which qi, a kind of vital energy, is said to flow. Acupuncturists educate themselves with the correct pressure points so as to not harm any good flows of qi in the body and correctly release the proper flow of energy that promotes better health.
Mind-Body Techniques. This is an alternative health therapy that uses mental and emotional factors to influence physical health. Methods such as relaxation, cognitive-behavioral therapy, meditation, imagery, biofeedback, and hypnosis, for example, are used in the treatment of coronary artery disease, headaches, difficulty sleeping (insomnia), and loss of urinary control (incontinence). As one of the more popular types of alternative health medicine, there are few known risks associated with the use of mind-body techniques
Meditation. Meditation focuses on stilling the mind and allowing for greater self-awareness. It usually involves sitting or resting quietly, often with the eyes closed. As a health care intervention, however, meditation may be effective regardless of the person’s cultural or religious background. Meditation has been shown to offer numerous health benefits, including relieving stress and pain.
Herbal Medicine. The oldest known from of alternative health care, Herbal Medicine uses plants to treat diseases and promote health. Unlike conventional drugs, where in the active substance is extracted from the herb; herbal medicine usually makes use of the herb in its whole form.
Massage Therapy. Massage therapy is a type of body therapy that manipulates of body tissues to promote wellness and reduce pain and stress. It involves a variety of techniques, from stroking and kneading (as used in Swedish massage) to applying pressure to specific points (as used in Shiatsu, acupressure, and neuromuscular massage). These techniques are claimed to help the musculoskeletal, nervous, and circulatory systems of the body.
Acupressure. The human body is like a map with key points that, when pressed, can stimulate the body’s natural healing and self-curative abilities. Acupressure, the more than 5,000-year-old healing art of using the thumb and fingers to press on these key locations, is one of the most effective complementary modalities a massage therapist can employ. Acupressure can release muscular tension, promote circulation of both the blood and the body’s vital energy (Qi) and enable the body to relax deeply. By relieving stress, acupressure strengthens the body’s resistance to disease and promotes wellness.
Reiki. Reiki is an alternative health technique of Japanese origin in which the practitioner channels energy through his hands and into the person’s body to promote healing.
While not everyone is into the alternative health theories over conventional medicine, some do prefer to experiment. These therapies may not prove to be 100% efficient, but to those who believe and do try to help themselves promote health and balance, it sometimes becomes effective.
Tags: alternative health | acupuncturists | acupuncturists | body therapy | acupressure | acupressure | acupuncture | acupuncture
September 23rd, 2008 at 10:16 am
Different culture, different different beliefs. But what is a must here is knowing how to fight stress. Some people might think that stress is just stress. But when one realizes the many forms stress may take with single goal: to destroy people. Stress is everywhere. Potentially, everyone can experience it. It can attack us mentally, psychologically, emotionally, and physically, etc. Not to mention our life styles which also can bring us tremendous stress-smoking. Thus, it is imperative that we know how to get rid of stress by letting ourselves experience some authentic and different kind of relaxation. This is for as long as this won’t harm us, why not?