The healthcare system in America is continually growing to a system that is not concerned with quality patient care, leaving many patients looking for alternatives to this conventional model of healthcare. This type of medicine focuses on caring for an entire person, body, spirit and minds, not only the organs, bones and flesh, and is increasingly becoming a logical and desirable option for a number of people.
Integrative Medicine: Explained
Integrative medicine is a type of medicine that focuses on the whole person and then uses the appropriate approaches of therapeutic treatment in order to help a patient reach optimal healing ability and health. This type of approach to medicine combines both conventional treatments, as well as other types of therapies that have been selected and deemed safe and effective. The ultimate goal of this approach is to use the best parts of conventional medicine in addition with other types of therapies and healing systems that have been derived from both new and old cultures.
The model of integrative medicine recognizes the important role of the patient-practitioner relationship and the role that it plays in taking care of a patient. It also works to take care of the entire person by considering the interrelated nonphysical and physical factors that will affect a person’s wellness, health and disease, which include the spiritual and psychosocial dimensions of a person’s life.
What Falls Under Integrative Medicine?
There are hundreds of integrative treatment types that can be used with conventional treatments, with the key being to make the most of treatments to help a patient achieve superior health. Some of the most common types of integrative medicine techniques are highlighted here.
Acupuncture
This is when stainless steel, thin needles are inserted into your skin at specific locations in order to manipulate the energy flow into your body. Acupuncture is a proven method of treatment for nausea, pain, vomiting and a number of other conditions such as osteoarthritis, menstrual cramps and asthma.
Biofield Therapies
This is a type of technique that is used to tap into a person’s healing energy and manipulate it in a manner to encourage and increase healing. The most common type of Biofield therapies that are used includes healing touch, polarity therapy, qigong and reiki.
Guided Imagery
This is a type of visualization technique that teaches patients to focus on various mental pictures that are positive in nature. Guided imagery is a technique that is based on the belief that a person’s mind is able to affect the functions of the body. This technique can be used to help increase relaxation, reduce the stress that a patient feels and help to effect positive body changes.
Why You Should Consider Integrative Medicine
There are a number of reasons that people make the decision to seek integrative medicine. There are many studies that show that it is more in line with people’s beliefs, philosophies and values about life and health than the conventional approach. Others prefer the personalized care that is offered with integrative medicine practices. The fact is that most people that try the techniques integrative medicine become proponents for the methods and seek the services for other issues in their lives.