Alternative Medicine: The Old Ways in a New Light (Research Paper)
Alternative medicine, or Oriental medicine, first came into being thousands of years ago in Asia. The medicines were generally a group of philosophies upheld by Chinese medicine with modalities acquired from many different Asian countries. These techniques worked to bring balance to mind, body, and spirit through acupuncture, massage, herbal medicine, meditation, and many other alternative forms (Cannon). For most people, alternative medicine is used in place of conventional medicines, although the two can be used together. Many people in the USA are discovering the efficacy of alternative medicine. Thirty percent of American adults regularly used alternative treatments in 1990; in fact, about $14 billion was spent that year in what was mostly nonrefundable cash (Zarbock). However, most of these users are high-income Caucasian Americans with a college education who are between the ages of 25 and 49 and use alternative medicine to cure headaches, insomnia, anxiety, and other everyday symptoms (Farrell). Between 1997 and 1998, the use of alternative medicine increased, but still only 40% of Americans had used at least one of the main sixteen types of these techniques (Zarbock). Alternative medicines are an interesting and effective form of treatment, and many people have never even considered them. Though they lack the notability of conventional medicines, the use of alternative medicine techniques, such as massage therapy, emotional freedom technique (EFT), and meditation, can help to relieve the body of the effects of stress brought on by everyday life.
Did you know that more than three-fourths of all doctor’s visits are for complaints about stress-related problems? Stress plays a gargantuan part in our daily lives. It can be brought on by huge, life-altering changes, or even minor ones, like a schedule change. It can also contribute to heart problems, diabetes, asthma, arthritis, and other conditions (“The Effects of Stress on the Body”). Stress can also cause mental conditions such as anxiety, eating disorders, substance abuse, and depression. There are four main types of stress: Eustress, the thrilling adrenaline that helps us stay alive and pushes us to work harder; Acute Stress, the brief and uncomfortable stress for life, family, or work; Episodic Acute Stress, when stress seems to dictate the life of a person and even characterize them; and Chronic Stress, the inescapable stress that comes from a large, consequential decision (Scott). These situations can be caused by major life changes, daily hassles and the demands of a job and family, the environment, family/relationship problems, work, and social issues. Some self-generated causes can be negative personality traits like perfectionism and unexpressed anger (Belmonte). One way to thwart the symptoms of stress is to learn a technique that can help to subdue the stress. Some examples are meditation, yoga, deep breathing exercises, journaling, positive imagery, and other alternative healing methods. Another way is just simply to live a healthy lifestyle (“Stress and Health”). This way, your energy level and wellness will be taken care of and you will not have to worry. Though stress is often an uncomfortable and bothersome effect of life, these reactions used to assist our ancestors in survival. When we are faced with a challenging situation, our body undergoes a transformation that enhances our durability. The heart rate increases and blood flows more quickly to the larger muscles so that we are able to run more rapidly and fight with more vigor. To prevent blood loss, the blood vessels constrict beneath the skin. Our pupils dilate to give us better sight. We even get more energy and a quicker reaction time when our blood sugar goes up. However the actions in the body that are not needed to survive a fight are nearly turned off. Digestion and reproduction procedures lose speed, immunities are nulled, and hormones for growth are powered down (Belmonte). These are all part of the fight-or-flight response (Scott). In the days of cavemen, this reaction was needed to survive the extremes, such as being attacked by a saber tooth tiger. So if stress is a part of life, then why are some people going insane with stress while others just experience temporary blips of stressfulness? Well, the more often you are stressed, the harder it is for your body to get out of stress mode. Instead of calming down after a stressful situation, the effects just remain with you. So people who are constantly burdened with due dates and family matters are often on edge (Belmonte). Stress can be dealt with using alternative medicines. Many of the alternative techniques release chemicals and hormones into the body and make you calm, relaxed, and much more comfortable. In fact, these mind-body-soul methods are frequently more effective than conventional means.
Rather than just popping pills and letting overworked doctors figure out the problem, many people are looking to alternative medicine for relief from their physical pain, along with their mental and emotion grief. Actually, many people are switching to alternative and complementary medicines because conventional medicines can have extreme side effects that have killed one hundred thousand and severely hurt over two million Americans each year; not to mention that many of these conventional medicines do not ever take effect (Farrell). Also, some patients will change their source of medical attention because they feel like they are not being satisfied. People do this even to their own expense. Although ordinary medicines are highly tested and scientifically proven to work the majority of the time, only about 20% of worldwide healthcare that is performed would be recognized as standard medication (Zarbock). Why is this much of the world’s population engrossed with these alternative forms of medicine? Alternative medicines are all natural. They involve either herbal ingredients or simply interaction with oneself or others. For instance, meditation helps to relieve pain because it helps the patient to face his or her pain. Rather than avoiding it, they can learn to control or subdue their suffering (Kay). Also, acupuncture, the insertion of needles into the skin to loosen nerves, has been shown to release pain-killing chemicals into the body (“Types of Alternative Medicine”).
However, in the mad rush of consumers to have their stress-related problems solved, people have neglected the proper research that should go into alternative medicine before one decides to engage in this form of treatment. For example, if you had skin sensitivity or a contagious skin disease, then you probably should not get a massage to treat your illnesses. These patients are often uninformed. Many do not know much about alternative medicine. Physicians who practice alternative techniques try to inform their patients that alternative medicine is not a replacement for conventional medications (Farrell). The two are usually used together. However, if a patient has a case that can be easily treated by just using an alternative procedure, then it would be better to do so than to get them a drug with potentially harmful side effects. People considering alternative treatments should research the alternative physicians in their area; having an experienced and trained professional working to help you is very important. When one goes to get an alternative treatment, the physician will often allot a broad amount of time to conversing with his or her patient so that the physician can learn as much as possible to discern which course of action is best for the patient’s specific problems or lifestyle. The use of alternative medicine involves much more personal interaction than conventional treatments. That is one reason why you should research your physician before letting them so fully into your life (Farrell).
Though nearly all of them are very effective, some alternative techniques are better known than others. The most popular form is most definitely acupuncture. The Merck Manuals: Online Medical Library defines acupuncture as this: “Acupuncture involves stimulating specific points on the body, usually by inserting very fine needles into the skin and underlying tissues.” The Chinese believed that this would unblock the areas of energy flow and balance the body’s ying and yang (“Types of Alternative Medicine”). Acupuncture can help to treat depression, ADHD, and osteoarthritis and postoperative dental pain (Farrell).
Another well-known type of alternative medicine is massage. Massaging dates back to the Greeks. Hypocrites is even quoted to have said, “The physician must be experienced in many things, but assuredly in rubbing” (“Ebscohost”). Massage involves manipulating the body’s tissues such as muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin, connective tissue, lymphatic muscles, and many others to release knots and encourage relaxation (Cannon). There are over eighty different massage techniques, ranging from soft, gentle Swedish massages, used for relaxation, to the intense deep tissue massages, used to lessen extreme muscle tension (Rea). Massage therapy is good for anxiety, pain, labor pain, infant growth, diabetic children, soreness from sports, alcohol withdrawal, immune system boosts, cancer treatment fatigue, and self-esteem (“Massage”). There are three main variations of massage: Swedish, Deep Tissue, and Trigger Point. A Swedish massage is the most basic massage. It consists of smooth, nice strokes and relaxation and is good for improving circulation. Deep Tissue massages general target the muscles that are deeper under the skin and are often used to relieve sports related pain. Lastly, just as the name implies, a Trigger Point massage targets certain areas where the body is extra tense. The therapist may use elbows or knuckles to knead the knots out of patients’ muscles (“Which Massage is Best for You?”).
A lesser known alternative medicine is emotional freedom technique or EFT. EFT, a relatively new discovery, was created by Gary Craig. It combines Eastern medicine’s acupuncture and Western medicine’s psychotherapy. When the two are combined, EFT can be even more effective than visiting a therapist. Emotional freedom technique clears out emotional debris in all aspects of life. It peels away layers of emotion, using charka and tapping, to reach the true root of a feeling. EFT uses repetition of phrases to help convince the user that feeling a certain emotion is okay. While repeating these phrases you apply pressure to meridians, areas of energy flow, to open the flow (Cannon). EFT is useful for getting rid of phobias, dealing with post-traumatic stress syndrome, ridding the mind of negative emotions, freeing oneself from food cravings, reducing health concerns, and achieving goals (Mecola).
A similar but better known alternative technique is meditation. Meditation is a form of mental discipline in which the performer reaches a deeper state of relaxation and awareness. Often, meditators will repeat a mantra or a calming phrase that helps them sink into spiritual awareness (Cannon). The two types of meditation are concentrative and mindful. Concentrative meditation involves focusing on an image or a sound, and mindful meditation is simply focusing on each thought, image, and idea that passes through your mind (Curtis). Kay Sharon, writer of “How Meditation Releases and Relieves Pain” on Health.com, says, “The idea is if you can calm and focus your mind and your body you may be able to control your pain and the degree to which you feel it.” Meditation is used to treat many mental and physical issues, such as addictions, stress or depression, high blood pressure, hot flashes for menopausal women, and pain (Curtis).
With the use of all of these wonderful alternative medicines, a person can treat many mental and physical problems. Though they have a lower percentage of effectiveness than the scientifically tested, side-effect infested drugs of today, techniques like massage, meditation, acupuncture can lessen many different types of pain, relieve stress, and renew a mental and emotional connection with a spiritual corner of the brain. Through human interaction and mind-body-spirit treatments, one can live his or her life feeling renewed, energized, and stress-free.
