An Overview of Complementary (Alternative) Therapy (Medicine)

By David Edgar Lewis, 12th Jul 2011 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/25sm53bc/
Posted in Wikinut>Health>Alternative Medicine

An overview of the terms complementary therapy and alterrnative medicine

• Definitions
• Background
• The Healing Process

Definitions

The term 'alternative therapies/medicine' is often used synonymously with complementary therapies/medicine. A non-exhaustive definition is that alternative therapies/medicine are the sorts of treatments that are used as an alternative to conventional Western medicine. However, the term complementary therapy will be used in this article, and can be defined as the kind of approach that is used in combination with conventional medicine in an 'integrated' way.

Complementary therapy is an umbrella term encompassing those therapies that are not usually regarded as part of Western orthodox medicine or nursing. There is a diverse assortment of complementary therapies such as massage, aromatherapy, reflexology and healing in its many forms. Some therapies originally regarded as 'alternative' can now be obtained on the National Health Service in the U.K. e.g. homeopathy, acupuncture. However, many therapies are still regarded with scepticism by health professionals.

There is no doubt that many people have benefited from specific complementary therapies in one form or another. However, a therapy that has worked for one person may not work for another, and what has worked for one ailment/problem may not work for another. Clarity of the benefit and value of individual therapies for individual ailments and problems is therefore needed, as some will be more effective, appropriate and acceptable than others.

Background

Most complementary therapies utilise ideas and techniques that are of great antiquity, such as those in which some form of energy flow within the body is acted upon. It is difficult to establish a date for when these techniques were first used, but they seem to have grown up independently in more than one part of the world. For example herbal medicine may date back at least 5000 years, as does acupuncture from Traditional Chinese Medicine, and shiatsu, a Japanese technique.

Other complementary therapies of modern origin share similar philosophies based on ancient knowledge and practice.

More recently Hypnotherapy, in its present form can be traced back to the 1740s, with the work of Mesmer. The foundations of homeopathy can also be traced to the late 1700s.

The Healing Process

Despite their diversity a common bond seems to unite complementary therapies - all claim to attempt, in varying degrees, to recruit the self-healing capacities of the body. Further, they are said to amplify natural recuperative processes and augment the energy upon which the patient's health depends. These processes in turn, it is claimed, help the patient to adapt harmoniously to his or her surroundings. Many therapies aim at treating the whole person, thus improving the mental state and inducing a feeling of well-being in the patient. This may be achieved even if the physical condition is not markedly improved.

Complementary therapies may therefore be perceived as measures to provide comfort and relaxation which are not of necessity antagonistic to other therapies provided by a conventional health care system.

Mark Gordon Brown moderated this page.
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