At present, the growing awareness of the majority of Westerners about alternative medicine and alternative healing has shown an increase in the medical industry. Many still question the power of alternative healing, but perhaps what we should be asking is who are the statistically healthier populations living longer and healthier?
Although most academics still question and criticize alternative medicine, the benefits of an alternative lifestyle show that there is certainly some advantage to it.
Different types of alternative healing
There are five main types of alternative healing in practice. They are: alternative medical systems, mind-body techniques, biological therapies, body therapies and energy healing.
Alternative medical systems
Alternative medical systems include treatments such as traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, Ayurveda, homeopathy, and naturopathy. Alternative medical systems also include unconventional Western practices of natural healing.
Traditional Chinese medicine, for example, originated thousands of years ago and is the belief system that all disease is the result of an improper flow of life force, or better known as “qi,” through the body. Only when the qi is restored and balanced through herbal remedies, massage, meditation, and acupuncture can the body function normally again.
mind-body techniques
The theory with mind-body techniques is that there is a connection between mental and emotional influence on your physical health. There is a wealth of evidence that this is more than theory and the benefit of this is that there are few risks involved. Treatments that generally fall into this category are: meditation, relaxation techniques, guided imagery, hypnotherapy, biofeedback, and cognitive behavioral therapy.
Meditation, for example, is a method that specifically focuses on quieting the mind. With this comes the granting of greater self-awareness. Although most meditation practices originally developed within a religious or spiritual context, today it is commonly used as a health care intervention. Meditation has been shown to have many health benefits, but the most common factor is that it relieves stress and pain, ultimately leading to a happier, healthier way of life.
Biologically based therapies
In the case of biobased therapies, it involves the use of chemicals, almost all of which are derived from natural sources. The most common among this type of therapies are: phytotherapy and orthomolecular medicine.
Orthomolecular medicine focuses on proper nutrition to maintain and restore health. The therapy focuses on supplementing the diet with the necessary vitamins. Some of the orthomolecular treatments even use shark cartilage for cancer treatment. Chelation therapy, which is the removal of toxic materials from the bloodstream, is used to help treat cardiovascular disease, and glucosamine or chondroitin, both naturally occurring substances in the body, are used to treat osteoarthritis. Its effectiveness has been proven with greater success.
body-based therapies
As the name explains, these are alternative healing techniques that treat conditions through body manipulation. The most common practices are chiropractic, massage therapy, rolfing, postural reduction and reflexology.
With reflexology, pressure massage is applied to the bottom of the foot where the corresponding meridian points of different organs and body systems are located. Through massage stimulation in these areas, energy blockages that are responsible for pain or illness in the corresponding body part are believed to be removed.
Energy Therapies
Energy therapies work through the energy fields throughout the body, also known as biofields. With this practitioner you can open blockages and influence health and healing through electromagnetic fields. Bioelectromagnetic-based therapy, reiki, therapeutic touch and manual nerve release are some of the most common practices in this field.
Manual nerve release, also known as MNR, is one of the few practical treatments that uses electromagnetic heat to identify and treat the source of pain. Through manual nerve release, pain, muscle spasms, organ blockages, arthritis, certain types of muscle lameness, and Parkinson’s syndrome are permanently relieved by locating the source of inflammation, pain, and the lock. Very few people practice this non-invasive technique.
The power of alternative healing shows. There are even many traditional western doctors who make use of alternative healing in their own practices. In 1980, the World Health Organization also confirmed 43 types of pathologies that were successfully treated with acupuncture. The advantages of alternative healing appear to be more positive and the benefit is that side effects are minimal.
