What is complementary medicine?

Additional medicine is a number of different ideologies and products in healthcare, which are usually not included in the realm of conventional medicine. Additional medicine is a combination of these alternative therapies and natural products with conventional medicines such as prescription and surgery medicines. This can be done to treat the disease or injury or maintain health. Additional medicine is usually used as a supplement to conventional medicine to support and increase its benefits. Therefore, complementary medicine is not intended as primary treatment of disease or physical damage, but rather as a means of providing other therapeutic properties and further release of the discomfort of illness and disease.

Conventional medicine is defined as what individuals with medical title, such as a doctor (M.D.), doctor osteopathy (D.O.), registered nurse (r.n.), doctor of psychiatry or psychology and doctor physical therapy (d.p.t.). Practite complementary medicine includes but are not limited to chiropractics, akuPunkturists, herbalists, homeopaths, Ayurvedic practitioners, massage therapists, hypnotherapists, aroma therapists and yoga instructors. The third school of treatment known as integrative medicine combines conventional medicine with complementary therapies that proved safe and effective. Practical complementary medicine can also be considered as a practicing alternative medicine in which alternative therapies are used as a primary treatment of disease or injury rather than a supplement to conventional medicine.

An example of complementary medicine as a supplement to conventional medicine would be a prescription for antidepressant drugs with a recommendation for yoga or massage therapy to alleviate physical symptoms associated with depression. Another example would be the USA nicotine spots along with hypnotherapy for effective smoking cessation. Another would be the use of medical marijuana patient with cancer to alleviate leadLooking effects of chemotherapy and radiation. Examples of alternative medicine would be chiropractic treatment instead of back or acupuncture surgery and herbs instead of prescription drugs to treat migraine headaches.

The

study conducted by the National Center for Additional and Alternative Medicine estimates that 38 percent of adults in the United States use complementary medicine. According to the same study are the most common complementary therapies of acupuncture, chiropractic manipulation, dietary therapy, energy healing therapy, homeopathic treatment, hypnosis, massage, yoga, movement therapies, naturopathy, yoga and traditional healers. The most common conditions treated with complementary drugs are back pain, neck pain and pain. The most popular natural accessories and herbal products are techninations, ginseng, ginkgo, garlic fish oil or omega-3, glucosamine and flaxseed.