According to comprehensive healthcare providers, every person consists of spiritual, physical, social, and psychological facets. When treating someone, doctors should focus on treating the whole person, not just one distress or illness. If you treat a physical condition without addressing the other three components, optimal wellness and health cannot be achieved. As noted by holistic treatment proponents, optimal health is only achieved if a person's body, spirit, emotions, and mind are considered.
What Is Holistic Medicine?
Holistic treatment practitioners believe that a person is made of interdependent spiritual, emotional, and physical parts. One is considered healthy if all these parts are working properly. If one part is sick, all the other three parts are also affected.
So, your overall wellbeing goes beyond what is happening in your physical body. If you have stomach ulcers, for instance, it could be linked to prolonged stress. When treating this condition, the doctor must consider different aspects of your life, including your psychological and emotional wellbeing.
Approaches Used in Holistic Treatment
Unlike other doctors, holistic practitioners don't focus on one treatment approach. They look at both the symptoms and underlying causes. There is a simultaneous focus on the body and the mind.
The three most common holistic treatment approaches include the following:
Complementary and Alternative Therapies (CAM)
Instead of using mainstream therapies, holistic practitioners utilize integrative medicine to treat diseases. Some of the holistic treatment options in this category include:
Traditional Alternative Medicine: These treatments include acupuncture, Ayurveda, naturopathy, and homeopathy.
Body: This treatment uses healing by touch. Some of the healing techniques in this category include yoga, tai chi, massage, chiropractic medicine, and body movement therapies.
Diet and Herbs: The common dietary and herbal approaches include herbal medicine, nutrition, and dietary supplements.
External Energy: Some external energies from other sources are used to stimulate healing. The most common external energy therapies include Qigong, Reiki, and electromagnetic therapy.
Mind: According to holistic practitioners, there is a close connection between the body and mind. Common therapies that use the mind include hypnosis, meditation, and biofeedback.
Lifestyle Changes
In recent years, most chronic diseases, including cancer, stroke, heart diseases, diabetes, are linked to poor lifestyles. Thus, holistic treatment focuses on lifestyle changes as a way of enhancing wellness. Some of the common lifestyle changes recommended in holistic healthcare include:
- Being physically active.
- Changing sleeping patterns.
- Drinking more water.
- Managing stress.
- Adjusting eating tendencies.
Western Medications
This technique uses conventional approaches. It is used by most healthcare professionals today to treat diseases and symptoms using surgery, drugs, and radiation. In holistic treatment, allopathic medicine is used alongside lifestyle changes and CAM.
Conclusion
According to holistic treatment practitioners, every person has innate healing powers. Complete healing can only be achieved if doctors address all aspects of a patient's life. Thus, Western medications should complement lifestyle changes and alternative therapies.
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