Archive for the 'Alternative Treatment' Category

Music therapy can reduce psychological stress among pregnant women, according to research published in a special complementary and alternative medicine issue of the UK-based Journal of Clinical Nursing.

Researchers from the College of Nursing at Kaohsiung Medical University, Taiwan, randomly assigned 116 pregnant women to a music group and 120 to a control group.

“The music group showed significant reductions in stress, anxiety and depression after just two weeks, using three established measurement scales” says Professor Chung-Hey Chen, who is now based at the National Cheng Kung University.

“In comparison, the control group showed a much smaller reduction in stress, while their anxiety and depression scores showed little or no improvement.

“Women in the music group also expressed preferences for the type of music they listened to, with lullabies, nature and crystal sounds proving more popular than classical music.”

The women who took part in the study had an average age of 30 years, were between 18 to 34 weeks’ pregnant and expected to have uncomplicated vaginal deliveries. All but five of the 241 women, who were recruited from the antenatal clinic at a medical centre in southern Taiwan, completed the pre and post-test assessments.

Because they are hyper-sensitive to vibrations, dolphins are touted by alternative healers as excellent therapists.

Essentially a swim in a tank with dolphins, dolphin therapy is believed to significantly impact on the physical, emotional, social and cognitive behavior of children especially.

Typically, the therapy occurs in dolphinariums and marine parks as a part of a guided program.

Children who undergo dolphin therapy engage in one-on-one sessions of individualized activities with a therapist, who monitors the child’s physical, emotional, social and cognitive response to the dolphins’ interactions.

Indications for dolphin therapy:

While adults can undergo dolphin therapy, children from the age of two years are the most responsive. The most important thing to look for when choosing a therapist is strong experience with small children.

Your child should also be able to experience being in water without being afraid. Make sure that your child wears a safety vest at all the times.

Dolphin therapy is based on:

The theory behind dolphin therapy is based on two philosophies. The first is that the unconditional support and love offered by the dolphin can greatly benefit children and mentally ill patients in various ways.

For centuries, bee pollen, bee venom and honey have been used for treating various conditions like chronic pain and other skin conditions.

The venom acts as a natural anti-inflammatory for chronic pain.

Usually, bee venom is a complex composition of enzymes, amino acids and proteins.

This is a colorless liquid with sweet taste and soluble in water and insoluble in alcohol.

Bee venom also contains mineral substances, formic acid, volatile organic acid, ortho-phosphoric acid, and hydrochloric acid.

Some antibiotics, an enzyme called as phospholipase A and also two amino acids high in cystine and sulphur methionine are also present in bee venom.

Sulphur is the most important component in inducing the release of cortisol from the adrenal glands and also in protecting your body against infections.

Working of bee venom therapy:

The therapist applies bee venom on specific points on the surface of your body. First you will be tested for the sensitivity of bee venom, in this you will be injected a minute dose of bee venom.

Conditions that can be treated with bee venom therapy:

Bee venom therapy is mainly used for arthritis and multiple sclerosis. The venom can be applied directly on your body or with the help of intramuscular injections.

Cathiodermie is a type of therapy that is totally intended for your skin.

This therapy uses high-frequency and low voltage electric currents to cleanse and rejuvenate the outer layers of your skin.

This therapy is usually performed on your face, the neck, the areas around your eyes, and sometimes the back and breast.

This technique is ideal for both men and women of all skin types. This technique uses galvanic and high frequency electrotherapy to regenerate, rehydrate and deeply cleanse the tissues by giving the good complexion and healthy glow that can last for several weeks.

There are various types of cathiodermie techniques. They include:

Super cathiodermie: This type of treatment is a luxurious three-in-one treatment, which is especially designed for combating the aging problems of your face, neck and eyes.

Eye cathiodermie: This therapy helps in minimizing the shadows, wrinkles and fine lines around the eye area.

Neck cathiodermie: This relaxing treatment uses nourishing ampoules and a mask that help in relieving tension while firming, refining and smoothing the skin’s texture around the neck area.

Bust cathiodermie: This treatment helps to revitalize and tone your support tissues of the breasts thus resulting in a firmer and more youthful appearance.

If you have pain and have been frustrated by the lack of results from traditional approaches, then myotherapy can offer you the best solution. Myotherapy is a systemic approach for pain relief that allows you in caring for your body.

This method is mainly used for relaxing the muscle spasms, improve circulation and alleviate from pain. In order to diffuse the trigger points, pressure is applied to the muscles for few minutes by means of fingers, elbows and knuckles.

Success rate of this technique mainly depends on the use of particular corrective movements for the free muscles. This procedure is somewhat similar to acupressure.

The main difference between these two methods is that in myotherapy manipulation of muscles take place, but acupressure is based on nerve and energy meridians.

Myotherapy works by eliminating the trigger points. The treatment with myotherapy mainly focuses on detecting and deactivating the trigger points or knots in your muscular system, which are mainly caused by birth, accidents, sports, occupation or any other disease.

The correct healing and preservation of the trigger points removes painful or nagging referral pain and soreness in the other areas of your body.

Visualization therapy mainly involves focusing your mind on what you like to happen and believing that these images are real to your body.

Visualization therapy is very precise and detailed. You can imagine how something smells, feels, sounds and tastes.

Your imagination need to appear so genuine that it can keep your mind into the thoughts that it is a truth. Most of the clinics in US use this therapy to help you to control the pain associated with any ailments or diseases.

When compared to adults, children can easily learn visualization. It is supposed that this is because children have not crossed into the black and white absolutes of adults.

Numerous cases were proved that visualization therapy helped people to fight against various illnesses and to lead normal lives. Most of the complementary health care centers use traditional therapy along with visualization to help you to lessen the activity and reduce further spread of a seizure.

Benefits of visualization therapy:

• This therapy greatly helps in coping with various activities that you have become very much addictive. It completely changes the way that you think. You will no longer observe yourself in terms of drink or drug use.

Generally, thalassotherapy is the word came from Greek Word Sea. This therapy refers to variety of treatments that use seawater and seaweed.

Each treatment is mainly intended for toning, moisturizing and revitalizing your body and skin and in most of the cases it improves your circulation.

Some other ocean and marine derivatives used in thalassotherapy include mud, sand and algae. All these are cleaned and purified before using.

This therapy consists of array of packages like, underwater shower, mud baths, aromatherapy, hydro-massage, mud, seaweed, and algae wraps.

All these treatments help to return your body to a condition of tranquility for a mermaid.

Benefits of thalassotherapy:

Various types of thalassotherapy offer different benefits. They include:

• Muscle toning
• Cleansing your skin
• Deep relaxation
• Decreases the growth of cellulite
• Boosts your immune system
• Improves your sleep quality
• Weight loss aided by improved metabolism
• Relief from the symptoms of psoriasis, eczema, back pain, muscular pain and also stress
• Improves cardiovascular functioning

Also, thalassotherapy helps for people who are suffering with the diseases like:

• Respiratory illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis, etc
• Circulatory disorders such as arteriosclerosis, hypertension, etc

Alexander technique lessons in combination with an exercise program offer long-term effective treatment for chronic back pain, according to a study published on the British Medical Journal website.

Back pain causes more disability than almost any other condition in Western societies, but very few effective long-term treatments are available to patients.

Previous research shows that the Alexander technique and massage may help relieve back pain in the short-term, but little is known about the long-term outcomes.

A team of researchers from the University of Southampton and the University of Bristol compared the effectiveness of massage, exercise and the Alexander technique for the relief of back pain over one year.

Professor Little and colleagues recruited 579 patients with chronic or recurrent back pain from 64 general practices in the south and west of England.

Patients were randomized to receive normal care, massage, six Alexander technique lessons, or 24 Alexander technique lessons. Half of the patients from each of the groups were also prescribed an exercise programme (brisk walking for 30 minutes per day five times a week).

Patients were sent disability questionnaires at three months and one year to record which activities were limited by their back pain. For example, walking more slowly than usual or getting out of the house often.