Complementary therapies, such as TCM, acupuncture, chiropractic, and herbal medicine, take a holistic approach to patient care. Attitudes towards alternative medicine vary, with the US being more skeptical. Further research is needed to determine their effectiveness. TCM, acupuncture, chiropractic, and herbal medicine all have different approaches to healing, but they have all been used for thousands of years.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), acupuncture, chiropractic, and herbal medicine are all considered among the different types of complementary therapies and take a holistic approach to patient care. This means that instead of focusing on treating a particular symptom, the complementary practitioner looks at the patient’s entire body and attempts to treat the underlying disease in an integrated way; the goal is general health and well-being. Attitudes towards alternative medicine vary from country to country, with the United States being more skeptical of such treatments. Research findings on the effectiveness of complementary therapies vary; further research needs to be done before definitive conclusions can be drawn.
The Chinese have used TCM for thousands of years. At its core, TCM views the cause of disease as an internal or environmental disruption of natural bodily processes. Practitioners may use herbs, massage, acupuncture and nutrition as a means of healing the patient. In China, TCM is considered part of traditional medical treatment and is provided alongside allopathic or Western medical techniques.
Acupuncture involves inserting very fine sterile needles into the body at precise points to stimulate chemicals that reduce pain, improve circulation, and smooth the flow of chi, or life force. Headaches, arthritis, shoulder pain, and other conditions can all be treated by acupuncturists. Some studies show that this is one of the complementary therapies that appears to be beneficial for people suffering from migraines, rheumatoid arthritis, and other painful musculoskeletal conditions.
At its core, chiropractic medicine posits that spinal misalignment, or vertebral subluxation, is responsible for poor health. Based on this belief, chiropractors manually manipulate bones and soft tissue to correct spinal alignment. Spinal adjustments have been found in some studies to improve neck pain, low back pain, and some types of headaches.
Humans have used plants medicinally since the dawn of time. Many complementary therapies incorporate aspects of herbal therapy into their practice. Currently, more than 7,000 over-the-counter and prescription medicines have their roots in traditional herbalism. Herbs are some of the most studied complementary therapies and have proven effective when used to treat many different conditions. European doctors may prescribe St. John’s Wort for depression, for example, or patients can purchase over-the-counter pain creams containing capsaicin, a component of chili peppers.
Compared to doctors in the United States, European and Asian doctors tend to have a more accepting attitude towards complementary therapies. While US physicians may be skeptical, more than 40% of the US public regularly uses complementary therapies. Most people in the medical and scientific communities agree that more rigorous studies of complementary therapies must be conducted if they are to be accepted as a realistic medical treatment.
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