What is the difference and connection between alternative medicine and holistic health

Alternative therapy is a general term for a type of intervention that is different from mainstream conventional medical care, while holistic health is a health cognitive framework that views people as a full-dimensional whole. The connection between the two is that proven alternative therapies are often one of the practical tools when implementing the concept of holistic health.

Many people are easily confused when they first come into contact with these two concepts, and are even led astray by the merchants' propaganda. They think that having an essential oil massage or drinking herbal tea is a way to practice overall health. In fact, it is far from the truth. To use a very popular analogy, overall health is like a full-scale livable renovation of your old house. From stable walls, smooth water supply and drainage, ventilation and lighting, to living habits and soft furnishings, everything must be considered. The ultimate goal is to make the entire house comfortable to live in and less likely to break down. ； Alternative therapy is more like a certain type of niche tool or environmentally friendly material that you can choose during the renovation process. You can use it or not. It itself cannot be equivalent to the entire renovation project.

I once met a young girl who works in the Internet industry. She had shoulder and neck pain after working overtime for a long time and could not lift her arms. The X-ray showed no organic disease. Western medicine prescribed anti-inflammatory painkillers. She was afraid of hurting her stomach, so she turned around and went for acupuncture twice a week, which was also combined with bone-setting. At this time, she used alternative therapies. The pain was relieved after more than half a month of treatment, but the pain returned again in the middle of the night after working overtime. Later, she found a health manager to make overall adjustments. Not only did she adjust acupuncture to be done only when she felt uncomfortable, she also changed her habit of standing up and moving after sitting for a long time, and changed her desk to a liftable one. Yes, I take flexion classes two nights a week, and I even ask my boss to move non-urgent work to the next morning to reduce staying up late. This is when I really practice the idea of ​​holistic health, and acupuncture is just a tool to relieve acute symptoms.

There are a lot of controversies between the two in the industry. Practitioners with a background in evidence-based medicine are especially wary of propaganda linking the two. After all, there have been many cases of diabetic patients and hypertensive patients who stopped antihypertensive drugs and went for so-called "holistic natural therapy" by relying only on moxibustion and drinking fruit and vegetable juices. In the end, they were sent to the emergency room with ketoacidosis and blood pressure soaring to 180. Many unscrupulous businesses just change the concept and package a single alternative therapy as overall health, advocating that it can replace conventional treatment. This is an absolute pitfall that must be avoided. However, many practitioners who have been engaged in chronic disease management for a long time will feel that many proven alternative therapies are actually very consistent with the underlying logic of overall health. For example, the syndrome differentiation and treatment of traditional Chinese medicine and the focus on the impact of emotions on the body in aromatherapy are not meant to treat headaches, head and feet, and can just supplement conventional medical care. Sometimes we only focus on the shortcomings of the indicators. For example, after chemotherapy, patients are nauseated and vomiting and cannot eat. They still feel uncomfortable using conventional antiemetics. Try acupressure and lemon essential oil sniffing. Many people report that it can alleviate a lot. At this time, incorporating alternative therapies into the overall health plan can actually help patients improve their quality of life.

In fact, it is not difficult to understand these two concepts clearly. The key is not to regard means as goals. If you have a clear disease, you must first follow the doctor's advice and receive standardized treatment. If you want to adjust your overall condition and avoid getting sick, slowly adjust it from the dimensions of diet, exercise, emotion, and work and rest. When necessary, you can use regular alternative therapies as a supplement. Don't regard a certain alternative therapy as the whole of health, and you will not go astray.