Complementary Medicine Can Heal What Ails You

Medicine can be broadly grouped into two distinct categories. Allopathic medicine is also known as Western, mainstream, or conventional medicine; alternative medicine is also called complementary, or natural medicine. Complementary and alternative medicine is sometimes combined into the acronym CAM, complementary-alternative medicine.

Allopathic medicine relies on empirical, scientific data to diagnose and treat what it defines as disease, and utilizes primarily pharmaceutical and surgical approaches to "fix the problem". The phrase, "natural health remedy" is typically not in the vocabulary of an allopathically-trained physician! However, you can use a diagnosis by a competent, conventional medical doctor to help expedite your natural health treatment.

Natural Health Therapies Have A Long History

Natural health therapies include naturopathy, homeopathy, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), acupuncture, Ayur-Veda, chiropractic care, nutrition, and a wide range of other modalities. Some of these practices, such as TCM and Ayur-Veda, have been used successfully for thousands of years. Among the variety of complementary therapies available, there's probably a natural health remedy that is right for you.

A Natural Health Remedy Can Range From Diet Change to Chiropractic Care

In contrast to conventional medicine, which tends to segregate the patient into body parts and subspecialties, natural medicine takes a more holistic view. The words whole, holy and heal all derive from the same root word. To a practitioner of complementary therapies, considering the entire person-physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually-is natural. Health recommendations may then take various forms, from spinal manipulation to herbs, dietary changes to counseling.

Natural Health Remedies Focus On Wellness, Not Illness

This is because natural health remedies focus not on illness, but on wellness. If you haven't been getting the results you seek from mainstream medicine, or if you are interested in exploring additional healing options, consider consulting a practitioner who can recommend a natural health remedy. Expanding your health horizons is a positive step in creating a new model of what it means to be well.

Doctors Of Old Got Paid Only If You Stayed Well!

In ancient China, for instance, doctors were paid to keep people healthy. If someone became ill, payment stopped until the patient was again the picture of radiant health. Quite different from our current practice of viewing health as the absence of any noticeable, definable "dis"-ease, isn't it?

When you work with a practitioner of complementary medicine, you will most likely receive a customized healing program, and the natural health remedy or remedies selected will be unique to your individual situation and constitution.

Natural Health Remedies May Need More Time To Work

It's also vital to understand that natural healing takes time. In Western culture, we've become accustomed to instant gratification, and this includes "quick fix" drugs to eliminate pain and illness. However, the hallmark of a natural health remedy is that it relies on the body's wisdom to bring about healing, with assistance from the therapies being employed. Hippocrates himself, considered the father of modern medicine, has said, "Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity."

So, as your health remedy is working its alchemy, take the opportunity to educate yourself about alternative medicine, and the specific natural health remedy or remedies you've chosen to use for now. You will emerge on the far side of your natural healing adventure grateful for the time-honored remedy that supported your healing process.

Once You Try Natural Health Care, You'll Be Hooked On Wellness!

In fact, once you experience the joy of becoming truly well through natural health, "remedy" may no longer be part of your personal lexicon. You will have established new ways of caring for yourself, and hopefully will be so committed to living in good health that it will seem only natural to enjoy a vibrant, energetic sense of well being into old age. Here's to your health!