As people search for healthcare options that are natural and affordable, many are turning to alternative medicines and home remedies. Others, however, are dissatisfied with aspects of institutional medicine but are wary of “folk remedies.”
For those people, there is a middle ground. You may also be interested in going to a holistic medicine practitioner for a second opinion, as they are often more willing to try to treat certain conditions or to treat them in a different way.
Whether you’ve heard of holistic medicine or not, keep reading for a crash course: Holistic Medicine 101.
What is Holistic Medicine?
Holistic medicine is most often practiced by a licensed doctor, setting it apart from most “alternative medicines.” However, holistic medicine does include elements that most people would consider alternative or traditional.
What to Expect from a Holistic Medicine Practitioner
Where most doctors treat symptoms or illnesses, practitioners of holistic medicine try to treat the individual. This means that if you go to a practitioner of holistic medicine for, say, a stomach ache, you may find that they proceed in ways that you might find arbitrary, or even alarming.
This is largely because holistic medicine is focused on treating “the whole person” – body, mind, and spirit. As a result, practitioners of holistic medicine are more likely than other doctors to suggest things like meditation or even prayer.
While holistic medicine practitioners aren’t clergy and won’t judge you on your religious background or practices, they may ask you about it.
The questions that you may get from a holistic medicine practitioner isn’t the only difference that you are likely to notice. The tests that holistic medicine practitioners tend to use are also different from what you may be used to, but these can also vary based on the practitioner.
Finally, the “prescriptions” that holistic medicine practitioners write are different from those favored by other healthcare providers. For one thing, holistic medicine practitioners are more likely to recommend lifestyle changes or herbal remedies that don’t require prescriptions.
Also, just like any doctor, holistic medicine practitioners may refer you to other doctors or specialists for some conditions.
While the cost of visiting a holistic medicine, practitioner varies based on the practitioner, the setting that they work in, and other factors like your insurance, you will probably find that their recommendations and prescriptions are more affordable.
How to Prepare for Your First Visit
If you are getting ready to go to a holistic medicine practitioner for the first time, you might want to prepare yourself a little differently than you would for a visit with your regular doctor.
You’ll want to be able to answer questions about your work, hobbies, diet, sleep, and hygiene habits. As mentioned above, you may also be asked if you have any spirituality – though this is not limited to formalized religion. You may also be asked about your feelings – are you generally happy, depressed, anxious, apathetic, &c.
You may find your first visit to a holistic medicine practitioner to be unusual, or even uncomfortable. However, you may also find the care that you receive to be more comprehensive. Just remember that while they may operate a little differently from the doctors that you are used to, they are healthcare providers and deserve your trust and respect.
While you may be more comfortable with a “regular doctor,” at least at first, you will probably find that you are more comfortable with the tests and prescriptions that you get from a holistic medicine practitioner.
You should also keep this attitude when you see other doctors be sure to tell all of the healthcare providers that you see about everything that you are taking, from antibiotics to aspirin to herbal supplements, as these treatments may interact with one another.
