Enerchi Health - A Complete Guide to Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Are you considering complementary or alternative medicine but are overwhelmed with the conflicting information available on CAM? You might find that when you ask your physician he or she is of little help when it comes to providing advice on a particular CAM therapy. Choosing the right CAM is a difficult task and only you can make it. With the growing interest in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), there seems to be more and more complementary and alternative medicine practices than ever before. The search through the maze of CAM information to find a reliable, trustworthy practitioner can be time consuming. There are no easy solutions to your mission and the reality is, you may have to see a few different practitioners or experiment with a few different practices before you stumble upon one that works for you. Please Note: We do not recommend that you abandon a proven conventional medical treatment for CAM but it is important to know what your options are. A practitioner promises a miraculous cure for cancer or any other chronic illness conventional medicine has little success in treating. To date there is no known CAM cure for cancer, diabetes, heart disease etc. If a practitioner tells you that all of your symptoms are cause by a simple condition such as candida dysbiosis. The practitioner or business sells one specific product line. The practitioner pressures you to purchase their supplements or products. It is a good idea to take a day to consider the recommendations of the practitioner and then after some thought, go back and purchase the products or search around for better deals. Keep in mind though, that you may not be able to purchase the same supplement anywhere else.
Before You Commit to a Practitioner Do Your Research! Know what your diagnosis is. Consult a variety of sources and be aware of both your conventional and CAM options. Do as much research on as many CAM practices for your medical condition that you can. The Internet can be an excellent resource for information but there are also a lot of sites preying on desperate customers. You need to check many resources and try to find some consistencies in the information or research that backs up proposed claims. Make a list of questions along the way and copy articles to bring in to share with your health practitioner. Enerchi Health.com has selected what we believe to be the best resources on CAM. Check out our selection of links, books, articles, practitioners and support groups. Ask your friends or family for recommendations. This is a good place to start but not fool proof. People are anxious to talk about their amazing recoveries but often you don’t hear of the cases where people spent a lot of money with no results. Everyone responds differently to differently treatments. Remember what works for one, may not work for another. Miracle cures are far and few between. Find out how long the practitioner or therapy has been around for. There are new age CAM practices evolving constantly. You might assume if the practice or practitioner has been around for 5 – 10 years there might be some benefit to it. Treatments offering little help do not tend to survive longer than 5 – 10 years. Try to make some minor adjustments on your own first. You might want to try limiting your consumption of white sugar and white flour and increasing your fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Drink 6 – 8 glasses of water a day, limit your alcohol, coffee and fat intake. Try to exercise 3 – 4 times/week, take time to relax and smell the roses and appreciate all the things you do have. You may be surprised at how good you start to feel without the added expense.
Questions to Ask Yourself Before Considering CAM Are you willing to commit to the costs required to see benefits in the treatment? Generally speaking, more than one visit/week over an extended period of time is required by most CAM therapies to be beneficial. The benefits of complementary or alternative medicine may not be noticed for some time. Most CAM treatments are not covered by insurance companies and therefore can become quite costly. If CAM treatments become a financial burden and cause you worry and stress, the treatments may be counterproductive. Are you prepared to make some nutritional and lifestyle changes? Many times, visits to a naturopath or herbalist requires some major changes from the North American diet as well as some lifestyle changes. Keep in mind that making some major changes in your life can be healing in itself. Did you get a good feeling from the initial phone call to the office? Sometimes just a phone call will help you determine if you want to follow through on booking an appointment. Were they interested in seeing you and were they helpful on the phone? Sometimes your intuition is your best guide. Do they have a busy practice? If there is a waiting list to get in to see practitioner, you can assume they have had some successes with their clients. Keep in mind, this is not always the case because there are a number of great CAM practitioners just starting out and willing to take the extra time with you. While you are waiting in the waiting room, you may want to strike up a conversation with other clients to find out their experience with the practitioner. Do you like swallowing a lot of supplements? Visits to Naturopaths or Herbalists often require the purchase and commitment of taking a variety of nutritional and herbal supplements.
What are the qualifications of the practitioner? Due to the lack of regulation of CAM practices, it is difficult to determine which practices are valid. Credentials, and experience vary greatly and there is little consistency amongst the practitioners. What Educational institution did the practitioner receive their training from and did they attend the school or did they take the training by correspondence? They may have little clinical experience with correspondence education. You can verify their education background by going to our training centers and determining what courses and materials they had to cover. How many years has the practitioner been in business? Practitioners that are not that effective do not tend to survive for long. What is the story of the practitioner and how did they become interested in the type of practice? This helps you determine if they have a genuine interest in the practice or they saw it as a money making opportunity. Does the practitioner have a particular specialty or interest in a particular medical condition? Has the practitioner seen many others with the same condition and what have been the results? What diagnostics testing is required and what are the costs? Some of this testing can become quite costly. Find out if these tests are optional. Many times you will be treated the same whether you’ve just had an interview or had the diagnostic testing. None of these diagnostic tests have been proven consistently accurate so approach with caution as well as with an open mind. What is the proposed treatment options? Discuss the treatment plan in detail so you know what commitment is expected of you financially and in time. You will want to know the costs of the treatment, and how long before you begin to see results of the treatment. How often do you need to see the practitioner? Follow up visits are cheaper but the cost will start to add up over time. Are there any risks or negative effects of the treatment? Determine is there are any adverse reactions with food, medications, and alcohol. Just because it’s natural does not necessarily mean it is safe. Does the practitioner market one particular brand of supplements or do you have the option of purchasing the supplement elsewhere? Sometimes the products are available elsewhere a little cheaper. Does the practitioner recommend any literature or resources so you can do your own research? Copyright ©2001 EnerChi Health Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.	The Last Word.... Don’t be afraid to get second or third opinions before you commit to a complementary or alternative program If you hear of a practitioner or practice a few times in your travels then that might be the therapy to try first. If one practice or practitioner did not work for you, don’t give up hope. Many times you have to try on a few shoes before you find the one that fits. Trust your intuition, it might be your best bet yet! As the saying goes…..If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is!