Integrative Medicine is a medical field that uses the combination of traditional medicine and complementary therapies to help patients achieve optimal health. It is based on the belief that people can achieve optimum health by working together in a coordinated fashion to identify and address their individual needs.
Integrative medicine is based on the principle that each person is different and each of them has different individual needs that should be taken into account when providing care. It includes techniques from both traditional and complementary medicine, and it emphasizes the use of whole systems thinking in order to provide optimal health for patients.
integrative medicine has shown to be effective in treating a variety of conditions, including chronic pain, anxiety, depression, ADHD, and cancer. It can also help patients achieve better physical fitness and psychological well-being.
What is Integrative Medicine?
“Integrative medicine” is a type of medical care that focuses on integrating complementary therapies with conventional treatments. It tries to bring the best of both worlds, to deliver the highest level of care
While diagnosing and offering treatment, integrative medicine focuses on the patient as a whole and does not just consider the illness or disease. It tries to understand the primary cause of the symptoms or condition, by considering the patient’s mental state and physical. It believes in using an evidence-based approach while offering medical care and wellness.
This stream of medicine believes that a person’s physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs have a huge impact on overall health. It believes that these needs are dependent on each other and affect the overall well-being of the person. Since different aspects of a person’s life need to be addressed to achieve optimal health, integrative medicine involves offering various therapies and suggesting lifestyle changes.
An integrative medicine practitioner is not a healthcare provider who will meet you once and give medications to treat your condition. The relationship between the patient and an integrative medicine practitioner is very important. They both are equal partners and equally involved in the healing process.
By bringing together conventional healthcare practices (such as medication and psychotherapy) with complementary therapies such as acupuncture and yoga, integrative medicine strives for well-coordinated care. It aims to bring all aspects of your wellness under one roof so that you can attain optimal health and healing.
What are the benefits of integrative medicine?
By harnessing the power of integrative medicine, you can help your body to recover from ailments and fight against infections. It enables you to relax and achieve a profound sense of tranquility that, ultimately, leads towards optimal health. By implementing these techniques within your healthcare regimen; you'll become empowered with the knowledge and confidence required for making lifestyle changes that will enhance overall wellness
Some of the key benefits of Integrative Medicine are:
- A comprehensive approach
Integrative medicine refers to the use of both scientific evidence-based conventional medicine and other forms of complementary or alternative healthcare. For instance, if your physician has been unable to provide adequate relief from back pain via traditional methods, he/she may recommend acupuncture (the insertion of needles into specific points along the spine), osteopathic manipulative therapy (OMT) - which utilizes kneading techniques on muscles to relieve muscle spasms and relieve pain - as well as massage therapy or an anti-inflammatory regimen.
- Treating the whole person
Integrative medicine devotes full focus on all facets of health; biological, behavioral, psychological and environmental factors. It does not focus on just treating the illness or condition by looking at the symptoms. It takes an overall approach.
- Focus on overall health
Integrative medicine focusses on developing overall good health. It addresses immunity (for instance, gut wellness or inflammatory burden), nutritional status (providing for deficiencies in vitamins and food allergies) as well as hormone imbalances or any other abnormalities necessitating adjustments with respect to lifestyle choices such as diets and exposures to toxic material like pesticides found in foods being consumed.
- Preventive medicine
Integrative medicine emphasizes preventive care. The best approach to staying healthy is by comprehensively understanding current health status and devising proactive measures to address any medical concerns before they arise.
Who can benefit from Integrative medicine?
Integrative medicine can help people experiencing symptoms like fatigue, anxiety and pain. It also helps patients to deal with chronic conditions like cancer, fibromyalgia etc.
Some of the most common practices included as part of Integrative medicine care are acupuncture, aromatherapy, massage therapy, meditation, yoga etc.
How is Integrative Medicine different from "Alternative Medicine"?
Alternative medicine is a type of medical treatment that uses alternative therapies instead of traditional (mainstream) therapies for treating an underlying cause of illness or disease. Integrative medicine on the other hand believes that optimal health can be achieved through a proper balance of exercise, nutrition, and mental health care. It uses both traditional as well as complementary therapies to achieve these results.
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