Alternative Medicine

Alternative Medicine

Alternative medicine is defined as any health practice that takes the place of, or is incompatible with, conventional Western medicine. Distinction must be made between alternative medicine and complementary medicine. Complementary medicine may involve nontraditional medical practices, but is undertaken along with traditional healing approaches. Alternative medicine implies using only nontraditional methods.

 

Alternative medicine includes a broad range of practices. Some healing therapies are based on Ancient Chinese beliefs, like acupuncture and the use of certain herbal compounds. Others focus on Hindu, or Ayurvedic, therapies including diet changes, the practice of yoga, and emphasizing the connection of mind, body, and spirit.

 

Mind, body, and spirit healing is also championed as holistic health, and can be alternative or complementary. Dr. Deepak Chopra, for example, practices medicine in this way, leaning more toward alternative than conventional thinking, although he holds a Western medical degree. His teachings have been hotly contested in the medical community.

 

Some other examples of alternative medicine include massage, meditation, chiropractic techniques and practice, spiritual healing, exercise practices like Tai Chi, and aromatherapy. This is just a short list of an almost inexhaustible supply of alternative therapies. Many people use some form of alternative medicine when they take vitamins or herbal supplements without consulting a doctor. For example, many people who contract a cold use Airborne, a nutritional supplement, instead of seeing a doctor. With no traditional medical advice, the user of Airborne practices alternative medicine.