Popular Forms of Alternative Medicine Making Waves in 2020

Source: Unsplash

Medical facts are ever-changing, along with research technologies and people’s perceptions. Alternative remedies are still struggling to be recognized by mainstream medicine as beneficial. Yet some have managed to prove themselves effective. Not all behaviors of the body can be convincingly explained by science, especially the clear healing effects alternative techniques can have on it.

Let’s focus on three increasingly popular fields: cannabinoids, traditional Chinese remedies, and reiki. As we explore their known benefits and potential, the value of alternative ideas in any scientific field of study will become clear.

Reiki

The art of spiritual attunement started in the 19^th century with a Japanese Buddhist monk, Dr. Mikao Usui. The power of intent was the core of his system, which evolved from student to student to provide holistic healing for others, as well as for one’s self. Today, it comes in a number of active and passive forms that promote psychosomatic wellbeing. Relaxation, confidence, detoxification, and improved sleep are some of its benefits.

One form of this alternative healing system that’s trending today is kundalini reiki, invented in the ‘90s by the Danish Reiki Master Ole Gabrielsen. It sits somewhere between meditation and yoga, requiring more mental than physical exercise. Intent remains the driving force of the discipline, which is used to cleanse personal and external energies – rooms, animals, other people.

Medical Cannabis

What cannabinoid substances seem to help with so far are forms of anxiety and pain, from migraines to muscle spasms, for example. Nothing can really be stated for sure as clinical trials are still in their infancy. However, global and domestic support of medical uses of weed is growing. As of 2020, 33 US states are backing such programs, including New York, Washington, and the District of Columbia.

The bottom line is that cannabinoids could potentially be linked to an easing of symptoms associated with various psychological and physical ailments. With time and extensive research, even more solid scientific evidence could emerge that proves whether or not users of CBD and/or THC are actually affected by them in any way, as well as why reactions to the substances as so varied.

Traditional Chinese Remedies

Source: Needpix

Also referred to as TCR, this centuries-old form of alternative medicine is still very much alive. Western society and its medical institutions in particular are becoming more and more aware of the accuracy of some of these recipes. They originate, after all, from a discipline striving to understand every single inch of the human body, which has been evolving for at least 2,200 years.

A more recent case of Western enlightenment is that of Dr. Paul Iaizzo from the University of Minnesota. He kept a pig’s heart artificially beating for over eight hours by bathing it in chemicals mimicking bear bile, a substance beneficial to humans, according to Chinese medicine. The alternative field can also be thanked for therapies like acupuncture and various forms of massage. There’s no denying that TCR’s positive achievements are worth their popularity.

Alternative medicine has much that the modern industry could make use of, even develop into widely accepted medical treatments. Fortunately, scientific minds seem increasingly willing to explore them. It’ll be interesting to see what their findings have to say.