What differs between alternative therapy and traditional medicine?
There is no question that the advancement in specialised modern medicine has enabled our Doctors to save lives in ways that were not possible before.
Our modern medicine views conditions, diseases and illnesses as a distinct entity from the person who carries it. This does of course have its drawbacks as there is very little care and support post treatment which has a direct impact on the patient.
There is often no way around the use of very strong medicines / drugs when one has to have an operation, cancer treatment or has a serious illness. The problem with this is that once we have been prescribed the medicine or had our operation there is little care afterwards.
A key difference between modern and alternative medicine is that most forms of alternative medicine emphasise whole-body care. Practitioners of alternative medicine address not just the physical body and symptoms but also the patient’s emotional and spiritual health, which is one of the main reasons for the rise in demand for alternative therapies.
Who uses alternative therapies?
A big percentage of people who use alternative therapies have a holistic philosophy to health whereby body, mind and spirit are related, and therefore all need to be taken into account during a treatment. There is a definite shift happening in cultural paradigms, particularly when recognising the importance of spiritual factors in health.
People who have had transformational life experiences also account for a big percentage of those who use alternative health care as well as those with declining general health and with specific health problems such as back problems, chronic pain and anxiety.
How did I come across alternative therapies?
In October 2017, at the age of 25, I was diagnosed with a brain tumour and have witnessed first-hand the immense benefits of modern medicine - It saved my life. When my husband asked my consultant what would happen if I chose not to have to have the operation, he replied I wouldn’t be walking by Christmas.
My body was put under the most immense stress, not only through having to endure two brain operations but also having to process and digest extremely strong medicines over a long period of time.
All of the side effects came about, as is to be expected after being pumped full of steroids, codeine and co-codamol for months and I became almost unrecognisable.
It was only after 6 months of ‘recovery’ that it became clear that I was fighting a losing battle.
It felt like no amount of rest was ever going to help me get back to normal.
My body was unable to tap into its self-healing process because everything was blocked – be it through trauma or enegitical barriers that I had been created throughout my body.
For all intents and purposes I was ‘healed’ as far as my consultant team was concerned, but the inner parts of my normal body functioning and psychological self were far from what they used to be.
I became quite depressed, which is a common side effect of sudden shock and undergoing such life-threatening surgery.
Had I been warned that this was a likely possibility as well as been made aware of the plethora of alternative therapies available to me, I could have avoided the antidepressants - extra drugs which my body could have done without - and my entire situation would have been very different.
As it is often the way in life, it is usually when you are desperate that you open yourself up to trying anything to feel better, and that is how I had my first experience of alternative therapy and it was without a doubt what kick started my deep recovery. It helped manage the side effects of the medication and enabled me to properly heal both my body and my soul – it gave me hope.
Prior to my first appointment, I suffered with terrible headaches as my upper body had become so tensed from fear of hurting my head, I was very anxious, was struggling with post-traumatic stress and my digestion system just did not function properly. Food cravings from the steroids were unmanageable and I was permanently exhausted. As you can imagine it was less than ideal.
In the weeks that followed my first treatment gentle shifts started happening – bits of my organism were beginning to work differently and things began to feel far more normal and natural, and before I knew it, I was back to my old self again.
From that moment onwards, I returned to see my practitioner twice a year, and after any big shifts in my life – like having an emergency C-section with my first baby. My new awareness of the benefits of preventative care encouraging me to seek extra help in these pivotal times to remain balanced.
I am a firm believer that modern medicine and alternative therapies should complement each other as both have helped me beyond words.
Comments