What is alternative medicine?

Alternative Medicine is a term commonly defined as “every available approach to healing that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine” In general, conventional medicine is medicine practiced by medical doctors, and health professionals such as psychologists, physical therapists and registered nurses. Alternative medicine includes practices like: homeopathy, naturopathy, chiropractic, massage, and herbal medicine.

You may hear the term complementary medicine used with the term alternative medicine or CAM. Complementary medicine is used together with conventional medicine. Alternative medicine is used in place of conventional medicine. If and when an alternative medicine approach is shown to be safe and effective, it may be adopted into conventional health care and no longer considered alternative. Watch more video about alternative medicine or share your story or experience on video with icyou.