Reflect on your experience with the alternative therapy that you tried. For example: What therapy did you participate in? What did you hope to get out of this therapy? Were your overall results positive or negative? Would you recommend this therapy to others?
Alternative therapies refer to any medical treatments that are not traditional medicine techniques. Alternative therapies could either be used alongside conventional medicine or instead of it. The term is often used interchangeably with “complementary medicine.” In medical spaces, the practice is referred to as Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM).
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) does make a distinction between complementary and alternative medicine. According to them, when it’s used alongside traditional medicine, it’s complementary, but if it’s used in place of conventional medicine, then it’s considered alternative. However, most people are likely to use these therapies alongside traditional medicine.1
When a licensed healthcare provider uses both alternative therapies and conventional medicine, then it’s called integrative medicine. A doctor or healthcare provider who uses integrative medicine uses all therapeutic methods to ensure their patients are healthy.
In this article, you’ll learn about the most popular forms of alternative therapies and how they are practiced.
There are many types of alternative therapies. Over the years, many of these therapies have shifted into conventional medicine. Alternative therapies can be classified into many categories. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health classifies complementary and alternative therapies into:1
Most forms of alternative therapies fall under one of those categories. Some of the most widely practiced are discussed below.