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Chiropractic Care in Toronto
What is Complementary or Alternative Medicine?
Complementary or Alternative medicine in Toronto is the practice of health care modalities which are intended to have a healing effect. It is often a based wholly or entirely on conventional medicine and is backed and approved through scientific means. While the treatments can be distinct, they can also complement conventional medicine treatments, and work together with standard medical practices to bridge the gap and treat the body as a whole.
The most popular forms of alternative medicine in Toronto include:
- Chiropractic care
- Stress Management
- Naturopathy
- Holistic Nutrition and diet therapy
- Western and Eastern Acupuncture
- Laser Therapy
- Massage Therapy
- Shockwave therapy.
Alternative and complementary medical practices are common in all cultures, where it is referred to as indigenous medicine or traditional medicine. The origin and use of these practices date back to hundreds or thousands of years ago, with each culture having a unique story. Modern complementary medicine involves working together with various health care professionals with different expertise, to come up with the best solutions and outcomes for the patient.
Alternative Medicine Definition:
“Any of a range of medical therapies that are not regarded as orthodox by the medical profession, such as herbalism, homeopathy, and acupuncture.” – Wikipedia
Presently, there are well over 100 alternative medicine practices in use all over the world. Each country or culture has its traditional system of health care. For instance, the English have herbs, Japanese practice Shiatsu, Heilpraxis originated in Germany, Indians have Ayurveda, French use magnetic healing and the Chinese have acupuncture. It is a norm for a single region to have more than one popular alternative medicine.
As we embrace the wisdom of other cultures, along with advancements made in the medical industry more and more alternative forms of medicine emerge to help us effectively treat and manage a variety of aliments.
Advantages of Alternative Medicine
The age-old natural therapies that characterize this medical practice are beneficial to the human body in a number of ways. While some of them can cure a disease completely, others tend to relieve dependence on drugs for a properly functioning body.
1. Maintenance of structural balance
Practices such as Yoga, tai chi, Osteopathy, reflexology and meditation involve many physical exercises. Since exercises primarily manipulate and stimulate the structural balance of the body, these forms of holistic treatments are responsible for improving body functions. These practices are essential for spiritual, mental, emotional and physical benefits.
2. Improves your thinking capability
Exercising the mind is an essential aspect of everyday life, and alternative medicine is one of the ways to train your mind. Meditation is the best-known form of relaxing the mind as well as broadening thinking capabilities. It allows your mind to think without distractions and visualize objects, hence form good thinking patterns.
3. Relaxes body muscles
Body muscle development is influenced by the foods consumed. Herbal teas help relieve, stimulate and provide a healing effect to the body. Notably, ginger tea is essential in curing nausea and healing the body naturally. Manual therapies help to relieve muscle aches and tension.
4. Develops strong and healthy bones
Chiropractic care is responsible for manipulating the body structures and help develop strong muscles, bones, and joints. It relieves headaches, spine, and lower back pain, as well as other areas of pain and tightness in the body. A chiropractor will identify the pressure points on the body before using this treatment method to ease the pain.
5. Mental and physical relaxation
Massage therapy is a form of alternative treatment that focuses on manipulating the body tissues for physical and mental relaxation. The procedure is simple is done at our clinic by a registered massage therapist. Massage therapy uses natural oils that are essential in softening the skin and relaxing the muscles.
6. Control body functions
Many people have embarked on alternative medicine as a way of controlling body functions –a treatment that it performs effectively. Electromagnetic therapy is one of the most used therapies in controlling body activities such as the brain functions and blood pressure.
7. Pain reliever
One of the main reasons patients seek us out for help is to relieve pain in the body. This treatment option comes in handy in situations where medications have not worked, or one does simply not want to take medication for their pain. According to a study conducted in recent years, individuals who use alternative medicine for chronic pain treatments have recorded significant improvements.
8. Alternative medicine for cancer
Cancer cells spread rapidly in the body tissues. Alternative forms of treatment can help reduce the rate of spread of this deadly disease. In some instances, alternative medicine is used alongside conventional medicine to increase the survival rates of cancer patients. A good example is a chemotherapy session, where acupuncture is used to help control side effects experienced by cancer patients.
With each passing day, complementary and alternative medicine continues making its mark on the global medicine scene. Diseases that were once thought impossible to cure without drugs are being treated through non-invasive means. This makes it the best and inexpensive treatment for such diseases.
Other Types of Alternative Medicine
Alternative and complementary medicine therapies fall into five major categories.
1. Mind-Body Interventions
In the mind-body intervention, patients are subjected to one or several techniques designed to enhance the way the mind affects bodily systems and functions. Although most mind-body intervention techniques like mental healing, prayer and meditation are considered as alternative medicine, others such as cognitive-behavioural therapy and patient support groups have been adopted in conventional medicine.
2. Energy Therapies
Energy-based therapies exist as either, biofield therapies, which are meant to affect energy fields that supposedly surround and penetrate the body, or bioelectric-based therapies that implement electromagnetic fields such as alternating current, direct current fields, or pulsated fields in an eccentric manner.
3. Biologically Based Therapies
Biological therapies make use of naturally occurring substances such as herbs, vitamins, and foods. Although natural products are used, this method is not scientifically proven. For example, it is claimed that shark cartilage can be used to treat cancer.
4. Manipulative and Body-based Methods
Manipulative methods are usually conducted by physically moving one or more parts of the body. Prevalent body-based methods include massage, chiropractic, and osteopathic manipulation.
5. Alternative Medical Systems
This category of alternative medicine includes Ayurveda, acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, naturopathy, and homeopathy.
Acupuncture was until recently a curious subject of scrutiny. Presently, many people are considering it as the most effective treatment for body pain. In fact, health insurance companies have moved to provide coverage for acupuncture.
Alternative medicine courses
In Canada, the education for this branch of medical science is quite extensive and intensive. Our practitioners have completed at least 7 years of post secondary education, Throughout their training they have learned evidence-based and collaborative care for a variety of health issues and concerns.
Jun Ichino is a a Registered Massage Therapist who graduated from the Canadian College...
Yulexi graduated in English Literature from the University of Havana in 2001. Yulexi is...
Dr. Matthew Serrick is an evidence-based therapeutic practitioner who originates from the East Coast of...
