We’ve Seen the Evidence: Healing Benefits of Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Have you ever explored a holistic approach to your health? Or, have you ever asked, “What are the benefits of complementary and alternative medicine, and how are they different from more conventional treatment?”

Many non-conventional forms of practice — often called holistic, complementary, alternative, or some combination — aren’t formally defined. But I’d like to share with you how I interpret them in my integrative medicine practice… and how some of these practical and productive approaches might benefit you.

A Word on Traditional Medicine

Allopathic medicine is the traditional Western “find it, fix it” model of medicine — the way to go in urgent or emergent situations. If you break a bone in a serious fall, your first stop for treatment won’t be an herbalist. It’ll be the emergency room or an orthopedist.

In such scenarios, we need and appreciate allopathic treatment, which essentially restores balance to the injured area. Here, a non-traditional approach could be harmful.

But as the bone recovers from its trauma, you may also find healing energy in complementary medicine — a natural or holistic approach that complements your traditional care.

This is where an integrative medicine physician’s advice can be invaluable.

Integrative Medicine Finds the Benefits of Complementary and Alternative Medicine

To help you achieve optimal health and well-being, integrative medicine offers alternative approaches as a middle ground.

In support of your standard medical treatment, your integrative medicine physician may suggest reasonable, rational dietary and lifestyle changes or recommend evidence-based complementary approaches like massage therapy, acupuncture, or a particular botanical.

Complementary modalities often have a strong evidence base supporting them, or at least a long history of use and experience with the approach. While they often have less formal scientific data behind them than conventional modalities, our confidence in their potential is based on decades — often centuries — of positive outcomes.

In conventional medicine, most treatment is locked into that linear “find it, fix it” model. It often relies on a “one size fits all” mindset that doesn’t respect each patient’s individual nature.

For instance, if a doctor rattles off a cookie-cutter approach to your nutrition, stop listening. No two people are exactly alike, so an optimally healthy diet looks different for each of us, especially when considering our family traditions.

When you become more active in your health and well-being, you’re free to consider common-sense alternatives to traditional medicine: natural approaches that engage your unique healing capacity in a way that’s most comfortable for you.

In integrative medicine, we honor your uniqueness. We’re not in the business of giving you orders; we’re in the position to present you with options to consider and hopefully to choose to act on. And we present these offers in ways intended to both meet your value system and be medically appropriate.

For example, many standard medical practices don’t take the time to emphasize these critical factors that impact your physical and emotional health and well-being:

• Exercise and moving your body
• Managing stress
• Getting adequate sleep
• Nurturing relationships

In my practice of integrative medicine, I look at those factors and also carefully consider your:

• Values, traditions, and perspective on life
• Personal nature and behavior
• Family ties and other important relationships
• Medications, as well as vitamins, supplements, or herbs you take, with an eye toward avoiding or at least minimizing potential interactions
• Living arrangements, including where you live and with whom
• Sleep patterns
• Sources of stress and how you manage them

Once I have a holistic understanding of who you are, I tailor recommendations that uniquely value you.

For example, if you’ve tried unsuccessfully to lower high blood pressure with diet and exercise, I look for other approaches that align with your lifestyle and preferences when appropriate and recommend medication when it is clearly indicated. Often this approach results in an optimal outcome.

Complementary or alternative recommendations might include:

• Therapeutic massage
• Acupuncture
• Appropriate use of vitamins, supplements, and herbs
• Yoga therapy
• Tai chi
• Meditation
• Guided imagery

Common Questions

Here are some questions I hear from patients curious about the benefits of complementary and alternative therapies:

Are these therapies truly backed by good medical evidence?

One reason that medical doctors may not recommend complementary and alternative medical practices — and why insurance companies don’t often cover them — is because sometimes they may not be aware of the latest research suggesting benefits in specific circumstances.

Today’s traditional medical practitioners often struggle to stay current with changes in their own fields. When evidence supporting therapies like meditation, hypnosis, or acupuncture appears in peer-reviewed journals, they often flip past it without taking time to read and assess new findings.

Of course, more research into complementary and alternative therapies — how useful they are in specific settings or when combined with certain medications — is important. But we needn’t postpone using those already backed by credible, reliable sources.

For example, many published studies suggest that acupuncture may be effective in helping to relieve uncomplicated neck and back pain. Many patients are interested in exploring this approach when offered by experts in the community. We know the experts and refer to them as appropriate. One need not wait five or more years for the next randomized controlled acupuncture trial to experience the therapy in appropriate circumstances.

Are some alternative therapies unsafe?

Many patients with a medical issue may meet with a traditional care doctor, then browse the Internet or a bookstore, only to find themselves in a dilemma. Do they follow the doctor’s suggestions, try a “natural” approach they just unearthed, or both?

This is another way integrative medicine physicians add value: We know “natural” doesn’t necessarily mean “safe.”

We tread with justifiable caution when we see “natural” solutions that rely primarily on marketing hype. We like our patients to be cognizant of the many approaches and products wrongly promoted with little or no objective evidence of their safety or effectiveness.

An integrative medicine physician safely pairs the best of conventional medicine with select diet and lifestyle practices and appropriate complementary therapies in a reasonable way that doesn’t overwhelm you. And, with your approval, we share our suggestions with your other doctors to keep your entire medical team on the same page.

Do non-traditional therapies cost a lot?

Some of these approaches can put a dent in your budget and, more often than not, aren’t covered by insurance. But there are ways to defray costs.

For example, among their many benefits, one-on-one sessions with an acupuncturist can improve sleep, manage stress, reduce pain, or decrease the side effects of menopause. However, if you find personalized acupuncture cost-prohibitive, you may get the same benefit from group acupuncture. Some community practitioners offer group acupuncture at about one-third the cost of individual attention.

Your integrative practice physician can suggest cost-conscious ways to get the care you need.

Future Benefits of Complementary and Alternative Medicine

I’m confident we’ll see many evidence-based treatment alternatives — appropriate massage therapy, acupuncture, nutritional interventions, mind/body therapies, etc. — be considered part of conventional medical practice with time and more research.

I hope we honor the traditions behind those therapies and that when we adopt them, we stay open to the possibility that they tap into our own innate powers of healing.

If you’re interested in the benefits of complementary and alternative medicine, work with an integrative or functional medicine physician or a pharmacist trained in a full range of traditional and non-traditional approaches to ensure the advice you hear is both science- and experience-based.

At Signature Healthcare, I’m happy to have these conversations with you. I want to help you take greater control over your health and feel comfortable, safe, and confident when considering complementary and alternative therapies. So, let’s discuss!