Alternative therapies are a big deal, and their reach and popularity are growing every year as people look past conventional medicine and its many side effects. However, there is a lot that most people don’t know or realize about alternative medicines, and here is a guide to some of the basics.
What type of alternative therapies are there?
You might lump most alternative therapies together. However, there are, in fact, many different types, and it is important to know the differences between them.
- Aromatherapy involves using the application of essential oils to relieve pain and de-stress patients.
- Acupuncture includes placing small needles into pressure points around the body to eradicate tension and pain.
- Functional medicine aims to discover the root cause of a health issue and treat it from there.
- Herbal medicine uses all-natural ingredients and home remedies to perk you up and make you feel better.
- Homeopathy uses the same ingredients that can cause symptoms to cure them, such as treating poison with poison.
- Chiropractic treatment will see a professional use their hands to push bones and joints back into alignment and stop aches and any stiffness in their tracks.
How do you get them?
If you are looking to try alternative therapies, the best option for you is to head to a local clinic that can prescribe them as necessary. This clinic will be able to develop an individualized treatment plan for you and ensure that you are happy with what is going to happen. They might combine treatment types of use integrative medicine to blend alternative and conventional therapies together. However, you might need to travel further afield to find a recommended clinic that you trust and that comes highly recommended. You might also want to visit a few before making a final decision on which one to get treatment at. For instance, you might speak to BlissMD about the treatments that are available to you.
Are they safe?
Many types of alternative therapies are completely safe, and you will not need to worry when receiving them. However, alternative therapies are not all made the same, and some have side effects and will produce negative symptoms, just like traditional medicine. These may depend on the person that they are being administered on. This is why it is always vital that you do your research and that you speak to your doctor and care team before trying a treatment out without any idea what is truly involved in the process or what research has been done on it.
Are they effective?
There has been a lot of research into alternative therapies and there is still more that needs to be done. Some treatments have scientific evidence that they are effective and might even be recommended by your doctor, while others still need to have more research performed on them. You might need to try out a number of therapies before you find one that works for you and you should always stop treatment if it making you feel worse without a reason for this.