At times, when patients pursue health solutions from alternative medicine, it’s easy to feel isolated and alone. After all, alternative medicine by definition is not “conventional.”
But is the choice really as unusual as it may seem?
A study on the use of alternative and complementary medicine in Europe reveals that such treatments are much more widespread than many people may realize.
This study, a joint effort of the Universities of Helsinki, Tampere, and Turku and published in the Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, gathered information from nearly 40,000 participants representing 20 countries. The researchers asked about their use of traditional Asian treatments, including Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and acupressure; alternative medicine, including homeopathy and herbal remedies; manual therapies, such as massage, chiropractic, osteopathy, and reflexology; and mind-body therapies like hypnosis and spiritual healing.
In all, 25% of the participants had engaged in at least one of these therapies in the past year, with massage being the most common (12%), followed by homeopathy (6%), osteopathy (5%), and herbal remedies (5%). The patients often used these alternatives in conjunction with conventional medicine, particularly when they found conventional medicine inadequate for their conditions.
Interestingly, the prevalence of the treatments had less to do with perceived effectiveness and more with whether insurance covered them. In Germany, where insurance typically covers alternative treatments, nearly 40% of the population had tried an alternative form of treatment. Whereas in countries in which alternative medicine is not covered, the use dropped to 10%. Some countries also encourage even conventional general practitioners to train in these therapies, recognizing that they have much to offer alongside more conventional treatment options.
The bottom line is that you shouldn’t feel alone if you need to seek out additional options. Conventional medicine does not have all the tools to solve our medical issues, and more and more people are recognizing its limitations, even in the United States. However, just because a conventional doctor says there isn’t a solution to your issue doesn’t mean one doesn’t exist. It just means that if it does exist, he doesn’t know about it.
Take charge of your own health by including complementary and alternative forms of medicine whenever they seem relevant (which is most of the time). You may actually find that you prefer these practitioners and their broad mindsets to the narrow focus of conventional doctors. You’ll be surrounded by a community of people who are also committed to living as healthfully as possible. And you’re unlikely to have any negative side effects!
Yours for better health,
Frank Shallenberger, MD