Homeopathy

Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine created by a German physician named Samuel Hahnemann. At the end of the eighteenth century he came up with the idea of homeopathy with the founding principle of like cures like, believing that the cures of the era did more harm than good. Common treatments of the era were leeching, blood draining and the like which often times were as dangerous as the disease. Due to Samuel's work and successful treatment with patients, homeopathy grew in popularity.

Further review of his methods from the current day lead credence that homeopathic treatment is nothing more than a placebo. His success was more a result of people recovering from their illnesses and not being killed by the cures of the age. Clinical trials and studies performed to test the validity of homeopathy found that homeopathy did not have any noticeable effect. Any benefit is purely the placebo effect. Some clinical trials have shown marginal success though reviewing procedures used during the trials revealed ineffective controls and other deficiencies that indicate the studies were flawed and unreliable.

Whether homeopathy works or not, the principles are fascinating. Samuel found in a book that Peruvian tree bark could treat Malaria and it generated the same symptoms as Malaria. He used the idea that "like cures like" or that a natural substance that causes the same symptoms in a healthy person as exhibited by the sick person is the cure. His next step was to dilute the substance as oftentimes it could be toxic in high doses.

The reason why scientists are skeptic of homeopathy is due to the treatment often being diluted to such an extent that no trace of the original substance remains. A third key principle was that there is only one remedy that cures all the symptoms. They treat the patient as a whole. The symptoms are a manifestation of the body's strength fighting the disease and should not be suppressed like traditional Western medicine does. These original ideas of Samuel Hahnemann are still practiced today.

Herbology and Herbal Remedies

Insomnia is not a disease but a symptom and there are a lot of ways to cure your insomnia without taking medicines that can leave you with long term side effects. However the most important tool to beat insomnia is a powerful mindset because anxiety is the biggest enemy of yours while fighting against insomnia. Understanding your insomnia is what you have to do but not knowing that you have insomnia. You should realize that you have a medical condition and try to find out the possible causes for it before taking up any treatment including home remedies.

If you have night shifts or habit of sleeping late, chances are high that you will get affected by insomnia at least in a very minor level. Stimulants like caffeine and nicotine leave even normal people sleepless so you should stay away from these things before seeking any insomnia herbal remedies. Insomnia herbal remedy will be usually very simple treatment techniques with natural resources that you can easily purchase. Be realistic when you go for any treatment because it may take some time to see the actual results of your treatment.

Some of the insomnia herbal remedies include

• Chamomile - The history of chamomile dates back to ancient Egyptian era and this herb is well known for its relaxing characteristics. Chamomile helps a person to get rid of itching and other allergic feelings which provide a person with insomnia a more relaxed mindset. This herb also has sedative properties which will help someone with insomnia to get better sleep.

• Kava Kava - Most of us are familiar with Kava Kava because it's widely used as herbal tea in several medication centers. Kava Kava has a lot of relaxing abilities including providing a person with relaxed mindset and relief from muscle aches. Kava Kava can be used as a very effective herbal remedy for insomnia.

• Valerian - Similar to Kava Kava, this herb helps a person to have a relaxed mindset by smoothening the patient's nervous system. Valerian is well known for helping people to come out of their anxiety but before taking any dosage of valerian, consult an expert.

• Aromatherapy - Insomnia is more of a psychological issue and a peaceful mind is the most important thing that can help you to get rid of it. This is why most of the natural treatment methods for insomnia focus on relaxation techniques and meditation. Aromatherapy can help a person to relax fast and will provide relief from joint and muscle pain. Undergoing aromatherapy can leave you with a mindset for adequate sleep.

Guided imagery

When was the last time you produced your own mental movie? I'm talking about daydreaming. Sometimes your dreams are about your ideal life. Other times your daydreams are the stuff of Stephen King novels. How about those scenes you rehearse in which you say the perfect words at the perfect moment, those words that eluded you that very afternoon?

With your daydreams you form images in your mind. You have your cast of characters in which you are the star, usually the hero. At times you're the hero in a Robin Hood sort of way knowing the perfect way to exact revenge. Guided imagery is like daydreaming. You have scenery, characters, dialogue and a plot. The difference is that you are not making it up on the spot. Someone is guiding you through the movie.

Guided imagery by-passes your conscious mind and moves you into the depths of yourself, where the purposes of healing, you release wounds of the past. You can even "re-write" your history with a structured guided imagery particularly developed for that purpose.

I once worked with a man I'll call Vince, who painfully told me of when he discovered his father was not trust worthy. Vince was about 6 years old. His father had taken him to the beach for a long promised adventure in the ocean. His father had Vince climb onto the float. They went into water well over the child's head.

Vince, now in his 30s, remembered his father calming his fears by promising that if anything happened, Dad would be there to take care of him. The trusting child was having a wonderful time floating on the water. Suddenly his father upended the float. The 6 year old, who could barely swim, flailed about in the water while his father laughed. Just when Vince was most terrified that he would drown, his father, still laughing, reached out and "saved" him.

Essential Oils

More and more people are concerned about the safety and side-effects of prescription drugs and medications. And with the health care debacle going-on in the United States Congress, and the high cost of health care generally, people are searching out alternative forms of healing. One type of alternative medicine that is gaining popularity is aromatherapy. Aromatherapy is simply the healing of ailments naturally by using the body's own, natural healing abilities triggered by the smell of certain chemical compounds contained in essential oils from plant.

Essential oils are the essence of a plant, distilled down and concentrated. The essence can be extracted from the leave, flowers, or even the whole plant and turned into an oil. These oils are then used as a treatment for various ailments. The oils can be used directly by application on the skin, can be mixed with carrier oils and turned into lotions, creams, or massage oils, can be taken internally, or can be used with a diffuser to spread the aroma of the plant into a room.

Some common essential oils used for healing are:

Lavender Oil: This is made from the flowers of the plant and is known to have a calming effect. This is a good choice for someone who has trouble relaxing or suffers from insomnia. A few drops of lavender oil placed on a pillow at night can help calm the nerves and make sleeping easier.

Lemon Essential Oil: This is made from the leaves or flowers of the lemon tree. Lemon is known for it's cleansing properties and when used as on the skin it can help with oily skin which in turn helps control acne. It can also be used to help relieve headaches.

Ylang Ylang Essential Oil: This fragrant oil has been used for centuries as an aphrodisiac to help cure impotence and frigidity. Used in a diffuser in the bedroom, it can spark the romantic fires.

Chiropractic

D.D. Palmer founded chiropractic, a medical discipline, in 1890s. According to this medical science, the health of a person to a large extent depends on his nervous system, especially the spine. This medical science believes in healing through manipulations of body structures, especially the spine against use of drugs and surgery.

Since a small problem in spine can disrupt coordination between the body parts and brain, it is important to treat spine for the proper functioning of body. Therefore, an expert in chiropractic manually tries to fix joints and soft tissues to cure the patients.

Chiropractic is useful in cases of backache, neck pain, sports injuries, injuries caused due to accidents, migraine, and sciatica.

The Treatment

In chiropractic process, the doctor first examines the patient to find out the root cause of problem. The patient may be required to undergo some laboratory tests and X-ray. Doctor would ask him questions related to his medical history and lifestyle. Reflex hammers may be used to check reflexes. Once the doctor completes the diagnosis process, he will prepare a treatment plan.

There are two types of chiropractors - straight and mixers. Straight believes that innate intelligence, the ability of body to heal itself and Spinal adjustment are the best ways to treat health problems while Mixers use other healing method, like massage and acupuncture, along with chiropractic for treatment.

Depending upon the philosophy of chiropractor, the course of treatment is decided.

A human spinal column consists of thirty-one movable bones. Several nerves emanate from spinal column and any immobility or irritation of bones can cause the malfunctioning of body organs. A chiropractor would fix the problem through the following techniques.

Spinal Manipulation

This is the key method of treatment in chiropractic. In this method, the affected part of spine is manually manipulated to stimulate it and increase its mobility. The chiropractor may use different hand movements for this purpose. Sometimes, they also use different tools, like spring loaded tool, for spine adjustment and alignment. Electric stimulation techniques may be used in some cases.

Application Of Heat And Ice

The chiropractors may use hot and cold packs to reduce pain due to spasms and inflammation respectively. Heat is used to improve flow of oxygen to the affected area and expedite the process of removal of toxins while cold packs are used to reduce inflammation and hence reduce pain.

Fitness Program

Depending on the health problem, the chiropractor may design a fitness program, which may consist of different types of exercises for improving strength, flexibility, and muscular endurance. Attention is also paid to the emotional health of patient.

Diet

Most chiropractors focus on the overall wellness of patients. Therefore, sometimes they suggest a diet plan aimed at improving the strength and immunity of the body. They may also prescribe nutritional supplements.

Chelation Therapy

Though little-known, chelation therapy is a considerably used therapy, especially when it comes to removing toxic metals from human bodies. The human body can become a house of various unwanted metallic substances, such as mercury, lead, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, barium, nickel and so many others. When that happens, there are definitely various side-effects observed in the body. These metals can reach proportions that are quite harmful to the person's wellbeing. The therapy of chelation attempts to remove all such hazardous metals from the body of the person.

Why Is Chelation Therapy Needed?

Skeptics feel that the proportion of metals in the human body can never reach drastic levels. However, that is quite untrue. We have always been surrounded by a lot of harmful elements, and that has only increased in present times. Metals come into our body through the products that we use-cosmetics, shampoos, paints in the homes, foods that we eat, medicines and so on-and there is nothing we can do about it. These substances are present in everyone's bodies and over time they begin showing their drastic effects.

By chelation, this can be averted. The therapy aims to remove these metals by introducing other chemicals into the body, which can chelate (bond) with these metals and then remove them through excretory routes. Such compounds are known as chelating agents. There are a lot of chelating agents that are commonly used, and some of them are specific for the removal of particular metals.

Chelating Agents

A list of common chelating agents is given below:-

1. Ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (commonly known as EDTA, used mostly for people with heart ailments)

2. Ethylene glycol tetraacetic acid (EGTA)

3. Diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA)

4. Alpha lipoic acid

5. Dimercapto-propane sulfonate (DMPS)

The most commonly used chelating agent is EDTA. This substance is provided to the patient in the form of a drip over a period of a few days. EDTA bonds with the unwanted metals that are present within the body and effectively removes them. EDTA is commonly used in people with cardiovascular problems, because it is considered to be quite safe.

Chelation and Weight Management

Chelation therapy is bestowed with several benefits apart from its main purpose of curing people from excessive metal deposition in their bodies. Some chelating agents have been found effective in removing cholesterol as well. So, this method could be an answer for people who are trying to manage their weight.

The method remains the same-a suitable chelating agent is administered as a drip over a number of sessions. The therapy begins taking effect after a few sessions when the cholesterol starts getting removed, and the health benefits are experienced.

Bio-Feedback

Biofeedback is a form of treatment wherein patients are trained to enrich their health by the use of their own bodies signals. Both physical therapists and psychologists use this technique, the first to treat stroke victims and the second to help anxious and tense people to relax. Other specialists also use Biofeedback to help patients manage pain. It was in the late 1960s that the word "biofeedback" was coined.

Most of us have used biofeedback without knowing that we are doing so. For example when a thermometer or a scale tells you that you have fever or that you have gained weight, you take action accordingly to reduce the fever and your weight. These two devices "feed back" information for you to act upon. In the same way, practitioners of biofeedback use sophisticated instruments to detect a person's bodily functions and use the information so gained to gauge and direct a line of treatment.

The biofeedback instrument is something like a sixth sense for a person. It allows them to "hear" or "see" an activity, for example, the electrical signals generated by muscle activity. These electrical signals are transformed into a form that the patient can either see or hear like a flashing bulb or a beeping sound when the muscle grows tense. The patient then tries to slow down the flashing or the beeping. The patient is taught to adjust himself so that the muscles relax. The therapist acts as a trainer and guides the patient as to how to improve his performance.

Today biofeedback is used to treat a long list of conditions that include

• A variety of pain conditions that include tension headaches, headaches and migraine,
• Digestive system disorders,
• High and low blood pressure,
• Raynaud's 's disease (a blood circulation abnormality that causes extremely cold hands)
• Paralysis and such other disorders and
• Epilepsy.

Specialists who provide training in this field include psychiatrists, psychologists, physical therapists, internists, dentists and nurses. Some form of relaxation exercise is taught to the patients and to identify those triggers that set off their symptoms. Guidance as to how to cope or avoid stressful events, changing their habits, gaining self-control are also taught. They are made to understand that feelings, thoughts and behavior deeply influence physical health.

If you feel that a biofeedback training might be of benefit to you, you should discuss it with your healthcare professional or your physician. They may conduct tests to determine whether your condition can be cured using conventional therapy. Some neurological tests may also be carried out. No responsible practitioner of biofeedback will treat you for hypertension, headaches or other conditions without doing a complete set of tests.