In general it seems we are brought up in most cases to thinking that we should go down the conventional medicine path when we have a health issue, but as time moves on more and more people are thinking about and using complementary or alternatives to conventional med.
Whether this is to avoid side effects or just because they don't like taking pills is really up to the individual.
From a complimentary therapist point of view this is great to see but it is still important to know when and whats the best way to get the best out of each method as there are both advantages and disadvantages to using both conventional and alternative. You may agree or disagree with the following:
- Conventional advantage
- convenience
- for serious acute onset conditions
- life threatening conditions
- accident and serious injury
- Disadvantage
- side effects (sometimes serious)
- poor effect on long term or chronic conditions (depending on condition)
- Alternative
- few or no side effects in most instaces
- good for maintaining good health
- effective for chronic conditions
- can be prescribed according to the patient and the patients condition not just label
- Disadvantage
- not as user friendly although now with some pills tablets and granule formulation better.
- takes time
The above diagram indicates the areas where Chinese medicine mostly deals with as oppose to Western medicine at the other end of the continuum.
People in general try to manage their health by themselves until a problem becomes persistent enough for them to seek help.
Assuming there are no red flags ( indicators of a more serious condition) a person seeking help in many cases may receive what maybe considered fairly heavy duty medication for rather mild conditions. This is also a matter of degree and should be considered when seeking help. Assuming you seek a qualified complimentary or alternative medicine practitioner they should have the training and enough knowledge to know they should refer on if there is no improvement in a condition or red flags appear
- Alternative medicine works well when applied correctly
- Learn which conditions respond well with which type of treatment and what works best for you.
- Seek help early if using alternative medicine if the condition persists with treatment or worsens you have the option to move on to Western methods if required.
- Both Eastern and Western methods can work complimentary to each other and depending on the case may enhance treatment for a better outcome.
Seek advice if self medicating even with herbal medicine
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