Types of Holistic Medicine

The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease. ~ Thomas Alva Edison

That's what I call real farsightedness! Only a genius mind capable of leaving an enormous legacy of inventions for the benefit of the entire humanity can fathom the faraway future with such accuracy! You must have heard the terms symptomatic treatment or treatment for symptomatic relief many a time from practitioners of conventional medicine. Well, they precisely sum up the essence of conventional medicine - treatment of the symptoms or rather, treatment of the disease on the basis of the symptoms. This makes conventional medicine quite a trial-and-error matter as many illnesses may exhibit similar symptoms in their most primary stages! For instance, a headache may be triggered by migraine, viral infection or constipation and in such a case, when you administer an aspirin or any pain-killer to give relief from headache, you tend to ignore the underlying cause! The headache might disappear for sometime but what if the root cause that still remains, brewing inside the body takes on more malefic proportions?

Well, the answer comes in the form of holistic health care techniques and medicine which includes an array of alternative healing techniques that focus on curing the root cause of the ailment rather than treating the symptoms. This is either done by attacking the root cause of illness directly or by making certain adjustments within the physiological functions and regulating the bodily humors such that the body itself fights off the infection and heals itself. There are a large number and multitudes of different types of holistic medicine and alternative healing techniques that focus on correcting the root cause of an illness by manipulating various physiological functions and regulating the proportion of the body's internal enzymes and the flow of mental and biological energies to restore health and promote wellness. While some of these types are anatomy-specific healing methods, there are other holistic medicinal disciplines that deal with correcting the constitutional ills of the entire body.

Various Types of Holistic Medicine

While many of us may have some idea about acupuncture, acupressure, aromatherapy, reiki, ayurveda, yoga and reflexology, there remains a huge number of alternative and holistic healing methods and disciplines that we have never even heard of, leave alone having any idea about! While most of these are sub disciplines of the aforementioned families of holistic medicine, there are others that are independent and are healing techniques having treatment methods and curative specifics of their own. Considering this, here is a listing of a large number of heard-and-not-heard-of alternative medicine types and healing methods that heal rather than treat, cure rather than suppress.

Acupuncture Acupressure Alexander Technique Ayurveda Naturopathy Chinese/Oriental Medicine Sonopuncture Aromatherapy Reiki Reflexology Unani Medicine Homeopathy Applied Kinesiology Osteopathy Chiropractic Techniques Apitherapy Autogenic Training Bates Method Bach Flower Therapy Herbalism Fasting

Hydrotherapy Urine Therapy Light Therapy Chromotherapy Laughter Therapy Iridology Hypnotherapy Yoga Meditation Aura Healing Magnetic Healing Music Therapy Body Work Crystal Healing Orthomolecular Medicine Electromagnetic Therapy Craniosacral Therapy Pulse Diagnosis Fire Cupping Quigong/Chi Kung Shiatsu

Pranic Healing Kundalini Yoga Pilates Neuro-linguistic Programming Moxibustion Polarity Healing Radionics Sclerology Gua Sha/Coin Rubbing Plum Blossom Technique Tui Na/Zhi Na (Chinese Massage) Bikram Yoga Tantric Yoga Auriculotherapy Psychic Surgery Diet Therapies Ear Candling Collodial Silver Therapy Martial Arts and Meditation Macrobiotic Diet Balneotherapy

While the efficacy of many of these alternative healing techniques is a hot topic for much debate, the health benefits of many others such as various forms of yoga, meditation, acupuncture, acupressure, Ayurvedic medicine and aromatherapy have been proved beyond doubt! Despite the fact that the terms alternative healing and holistic medicine are met by a myriad of reactions starting from outright skepticism and hesitant suspicion to complete faith and heartfelt respect, there is no denying the fact that there is something truth in the accounts of people who claim to have benefited from these alternative healing methods. Skepticism narrows the mind and it is best to keep the mind open to possibilities. Remember, even Galileo was prosecuted for claiming that the Earth was round and it revolved around the sun - he was right and though it took humanity ages to understand and believe, it ultimately did! Just because we don't know enough about a thing doesn't mean it does not exist!