Benefits of Holistic Medicine in Contemporary Society
Benefits of Holistic Medicine in Contemporary Society
Millions of people around the world are living with pain that could be
prevented with the use of alternative therapies. As a result many of
these people use harmful or ineffective drugs and surgeries in an attempt
to cure their ailments. With a steady schedule of massage therapy,
acupuncture, and healthy foods, people can lead a healthy and invigorating
life without drugs or surgery. During the time of the ancient Roman
gladiators, massage therapy was used to treat everything from headaches to
sports injures on them. Today massage therapy is widely recognized as a
sensible alternative to traditional medicine, in that it relieves pain and
soreness otherwise helped by taking pills or other medicines. Massage can
help everyone, including premature infants according to USA Weekend,
"premature infants who get regular massages in the hospital gain more
weight and leave the hospital sooner then unmassaged babies"(McNichol,22).
I firmly believe that massage therapy is one of the best preventative
measures that a person can take to avoid most medical problems involved
with aging, physical exertion, and the stress of everyday life. Some
doctors agree by saying, "If you have a massage every week, you will have
2/3 less illness"
(H. Gruenn, M.D.).
There are many different types of massage therapy including relaxing
Swedish massage for relieving stress, sports massage for treating sports
related injuries, and therapeutic massage to name a few. Relaxing Swedish
massage is one of the most effective ways to deal with that invisible
killer, stress. By applying smooth gentle stokes or other non-invasive
massage techniques, the Swedish massage practitioner can relieve the
client of the every day stresses of life that can be fatal if not dealt
with.
In sports massage, the use of more advanced massage techniques can
relieve athletes of lactic acid and other wastes that accumulate in the
muscles due to exertion. Other therapeutic massage techniques such as
Neuromuscular, Myofascal, and Lymphatic drainage can aid in the recovery
of injured clients.
Another form of alternative therapy is the ancient Chinese healing art of
acupuncture. Acupuncture was first experimented within the First Imperial
Medical College of China during the Sui Dynasty in 589 AD. "In Chinese
medicine, and therefore in acupuncture, health is determined by a persons
ability to maintain a balanced and harmonious internal environment."(Mills
pg. 8). This theory of internal harmony is expressed through the
principles of Ying and Yang and it’s five separate phases: wood, fire,
earth, metal,...