Alternative Medicines and Therapies: Hydrotherapy

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Hydrotherapy is the use of water as a means of treating physical ailments or conditions, including pain. It is most commonly used in spas as a means of promoting relaxation and stress relief.

Spas consider water therapies (another term for hydrotherapy) to include a variety of body treatments including jets and underwater massage techniques, mineral baths, worldpool baths, hot tubs and Jacuzzis, hot Roman baths and cold plunges. With these treatments, the properties of the water are adjusted in order to obtain different effects on the body, such as the temperature and pressure of the water.

One of the more popular public forms of hydrotherapy throughout history is the Turkish bath. Turkish baths used hot water for therapeutic means, using water instead of steam like a sauna. They were most popular during the Victorian era as a means of relaxing and cleansing the body. The process begins with sitting in a warm room where the individual relaxes and begins to perspire. Then the individual moves to the hot room for awhile, splashes himself with cold water, followed by washing the whole body and then receiving a full body massage.

Hydrotherapy stimulates the circulation of the blood throughout the body. In the 1930s to 1950s hydrotherapy saw quite a bit of use as a treatment for alcoholism. It also has a history of use for rheumatic disease. Articles published as recently as June 201 report that hydrotherapy is widely used as a treatment for burn victims, typically in the form of a shower in order to avoid contamination (though full immersion treatments are still in use in some burn units across the nation).

Other than general relaxation of the body (often in tourism heavy spas), a means of relieving sore muscles in professional sports and physical therapy and for burn treatments, hydrotherapy has mostly been replaced in modern medicine by pharmaceutical treatments. It thus falls under the category of alternative medicine in most cases.

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Alternative Medicines and Therapies: Massage Therapy

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Massage therapy dates back nearly 3,000 years, used in Chinese medical practices. It is also documented as used among ancient Hindus, Persians and Egyptians and Hippocrates recommended the use of massage for circulatory problems in many of his papers.

While you won’t often find a doctor that will prescribe a massage, it is still an effective way to manage joint and muscle pain. The practice of massage therapy includes three main techniques.

Massage
Massage itself consists of a variety of techniques applying soft-tissue manipulation (through pressure and friction). The overall goal of massage is to reduce stress and revitalize the body with more energy by promoting circulation throughout the body.

Bodywork
Bodywork consists of a variety of touch therapies that result in changes to the body’s structure with the goal of comfort and pain relief in mind. There are a few bodywork techniques, including repatterning, manipulating or simply moving the body’s soft tissue.

Somatic
The term somatic means “of the body.” This massage therapy technique is the combination of body and mind to overcome pain or ailments, utilizing perspective and attitude as much as body manipulation. The term may also be used to identify a full body massage therapy approach.

According to the Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals website, there are more than 250 massage therapy techniques and variations available. The variety of ways to apply massage may include vibration, kneading, stroking, tapping, friction, rocking and pressure to various locations of the body.

Massage therapists often create a relaxing atmosphere by dimming lights, lighting aromatic candles, making the temperature of the room as comfortable as possible and playing soothing music. They also typically use massage oils, lotions or powders to reduce the amount of friction on the body during a massage therapy session.

Someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing can cause problems or worsen your physical pain or ailments. Before seeing a massage therapist, verify that she has some form of training so that you can be certain her techniques will be of great benefit to you.

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Alternative Medicines and Therapies: Polarity Therapy

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Created in the 1940s by Randolph Stone polarity therapy is an alternative medicine practice that is based in the belief that the humans produce a field of energy that flows from the universe into the body through chakras (force centers of the body).

Polarity therapists seek to restore the balance of energy in the body through touch, verbal interaction, a healthy diet and exercise. As therapists restore the original state of this invisible energy field, then the body is said to go back to its original state of complete health and wellness. People have pain and get sick because their energy field are either out of balance or being blocked in some way.

Those who practice polarity therapy believe that everyone expresses electromagnetic patterns through mental, emotional and physical experiences. These energy fields are expressed in three ways:

• Currents that are long and run north and south through the body,
• Currents that run east and west through the body, and
• Currents that start at the belly button and spiral outward through the body.

While science shows that the world is full of energy fields and currents, there is nothing to scientifically back-up the belief that the human body has an energy field that can be manipulated and adjusted. Evidence from studies is anecdotal at best in most cases, and nothing has been conclusive.

Still, polarity therapists hold that the body has a natural means of maintaining its own health and keeping the body’s energy field free of blockages or fixation will allow the body to function at optimal capacity.

If you’re interested in the alternative medicine of polarity therapy, then make sure that the polarity practitioner you see is at least registered with the American Polarity Therapy Association so that you know they are fully versed in the belief system and practices.

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Alternative Medicines and Therapies: Kampo

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Kampo is the Japanese form of Traditional Chinese Medicine, or, rather, the study and adaptation of the same. Japan was exposed to Traditional Chinese Medicine between the 1600 and 1800s, adhering to some practices like acupuncture and moxibustion, but adapting most of the practices to the Japanese culture.

The main focus of Kampo is the use of herbs as a means of treating and curing ailments, pain and disease. As a basis of comparison, the use of herbs in the United States are seen as dietary supplements – almost like another form of food. Under the alternative medical practice of Kampo, however, the Japanese view herbs in the same since that Americans view pharmaceuticals – as a means of treating and curing disease.

In fact, herbal remedies are regulated throughout the nation. While there are several manufacturers of Kampo medicines throughout the nation, each of them produce the exact same combination of herbs for each medicine, adhering to strict regulations set forth by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Additionally, the national health plan in Japan provides every citizen with access to herbal medicines under the Kampo practice, with currently near 150 Kampo medicines approved by the Ministry of Health for reimbursement. A nationwide survey conducted in 2000 showed that 72 percent of registered Japanese physicians prescribed Kampo medications to their patients.

Among some of the herbal remedies used is the Agaricus blazei mushroom, predominate among cancer patients, which is also the most popular per a 2001 report stating that nearly 500,000 people were or had used the medicine.

The practices of Kampo are fairly unknown to the western world, since they have only come to light in recent years. Those who do practice Kampo in the United States are likely to be acupuncturists, practitioners of Chinese medicine and others utilizing alternative medicines. Currently, Honso USA, Inc. is the only U.S. manufacturer of Kampo herbal medications.

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Home Remedies “Wives” Tales as Alternative Medicine

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Have you ever had the hiccups and received unsolicited wives’ tale remedies from everyone around you on how to get rid of them? Something to the effect of “stand on your head for 30 seconds or drink a glass of water while holding your breath and plugging your nose are some of the many shout-outs heard between your body’s painful and obnoxious gulps of air.

Home remedies, more commonly called wives’ tales, have been used as an alternative to medicine for minor ailments for decades. What works for one person, may not work for another, so the remedies often change with time and among family traditions.

Consider these possible alternative solutions the next time you have a little problem:

Put lemon juice, lime juice or sour milk on a wart to get rid of it.
Make a paste of baking soda and water to take the pain out of stings and the itch out of bites.
Eat peanut butter to cure a headache.
Gargle warm salt water to relieve the pain of a sore throat.
Round the corners of your toenails when you cut them to prevent ingrown toenails.
To completely remove a tick, cover it in petroleum jelly to suffocate it and then pull it out.

What about all the things you were told not to do as a child because it might have ill effects on your body. Some of them might be true and some might simply be a means of making you listen. Consider the following:

Don’t slouch in the chair or you’ll be come a hunchback.
Reading in low light can ruin your eyes.
Sucking your thumb can give you buck teeth.
If you swallow a piece of gum, it takes seven years to digest it.

While none of these wives’ tales are necessarily right or wrong, you should be careful what you put on your body and what you consume as an alternative cure to an ailment. If in doubt, it’s better to consult your doctor or, in the case of hiccups, wait it out.

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Chinese medicine, SF style

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Chinese and eastern medicine in general has routinely been shunned in the western world. Yet in the last several decades a new movement has proved to be larger and more broad based than the skeptics could ever have imagined. This return to knowledge lost or ridiculed before has had far reaching effects especially so in the world of medicine. One of the leaders in the teaching of traditional medicine is the American college of traditional Chinese medicine in San Francisco, CA. Since opening its doors in 1980 the American college of traditional Chinese medicine has been a leader in the teaching of traditional Chinese medicine in the United States and beyond. Its reverence to the typical traditional practice while also catering to the modern student cannot be beat. This incorporation of the old and new has lead to its resounding success and continuing excellence. In the world of Chinese medicine there are many ways of thinking any schools out there that can appeal to you.

The college offers two different degrees. The Master of Science in Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Doctorate of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Both of which are highly regarded in the field of holistic and Chinese medicine around the world. In the latter stages of their studies, students partake in giving care to the community through the community clinics run by the university. This allows the students to hone their skills while also providing needed health and wellness care to the local community which may not be able to afford it at typical centers of traditional Chinese medicine.

If you are seriously considering a degree in alternative medicine then there is no finer institution than the American college of traditional Chinese medicine . An added bonus of the programs available is that you are based in San Francisco, one of the liveliest and intriguing cities in the United States. San Francisco has always been a mecca for alternative thinkers and also has always had a large Chinese population which makes it an ideal place for the teaching of the practice this side of China.

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The Way of Chinese Medicine

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Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM comes with a history of over 3000 years. It tries to diagnose the human ailments with a Taoistic understanding of the universe and the nature of alternative Health Medicine. Its unique method of diagnosis and treatment is very different from Western medicine. Its foundation of treatment is based on diagnosing and differentiating syndromes. The body of literature encompasses a vast array of folk medical practices based on mysticism.

It believes that the body’s vital energy,chi, circulates through networks called meridians. The energy running through these pathways reaches each and every organ in the body and determines healthy functioning of each organ. When chi is interrupted or is not in balance, the body falls sick. It treats the zangfu organs, which is believed to be the core of the human body. and the Chi, which is believed to be the carrier of information and any imbalance is manifested through the jingluo system.

Traditional Chinese medicine treats and diagnoses an ill or diseased human body on the basis of the yin-yang theory as weel as the idea of the five elements. These theories are based on the belief that there is a connection between the laws of nature and the physiological and physiological changes in human body. It studies the phenomena of nature’s laws and its effect and relationship with the human body.

Chinese medicine is also referred to as Oriental Medicine, and involves ancient practices like acupuncture, Qigong exercises and use of various herbs to heal and restore balance in the human body. Though these therapies appear to be very different form each other, they all share the common belief and assumptions of the nature of human body and its relationship with the universe.

Acupuncture treats the body by stimulating certain external body parts while qigong exercises regulate and maintain smooth flow of Chi or energy through the channels or meridians in the body. The herbal medicines, on the other hand, keep the internal organs of the human body in a good functioning order. Many scientists describe the different methods of treatments in Chinese Medicine as Information Therapy.

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