Holistic medicine is a form of healing that inquires the whole body: mind, body, soul, and emotions. According to holistic medicine philosophy, anyone can achieve optimal health by gaining proper balance in life. Practitioners believe that if one part of the person is not working properly, all other parts will be affected. This means that your whole is imbalanced, which can negatively affect your overall health. Practitioners also strive to meet the patient with grace, kindness, and acceptance because they believe love is life’s most powerful healer.
There are many different forms of treatments from conventional medications to therapy. Most doctors use medicinal herbs to help cure sickness. Holistic medicine doctors focus more on raising awareness of diseases, promoting health, and preventing illnesses rather than only focusing on just the symptoms. They relieve symptoms, modify contributing factors, and enhances the patient’s life system to improve future illnesses.
Here is one example of the practice of holistic medicine: one has frequent migraines, so they choose to go see a holistic doctor. Instead of prescribing medications to quickly get rid of the headaches, they would dig deeper into the problem. The doctor would look at all potential factors that may be causing recurrent migraines – such as diet, exercise, lack of sleep, stress, personal problems, anything that may be a trigger for migraines. The treatment may involve lifestyle modifications to help the migraines from recurring. The focus is more on psychotherapy and physical ways to increase the overall health of the patient. Acupuncture, massage therapy, naturopathy, and homeopathy are healthier and alternative ways to deal with pain than just popping pills for a quick fix. One must have patience to understand holistic medicine.