Age Old and New Age Medicine

Some alternative therapies were once the only therapies people knew. Ancient cultures have used herbal therapies, midwives have used them, Native American Cultures have used them. Acupuncture has been used in China for thousands of years. Today's alternative therapies were once the mainstream therapies, then so called modern medicine stepped in and pushed the old ways into the dark. Before modern medicine women were the main caregivers, men were the originators of modern medicine. Mid-wives and wise-women were pushed out of the picture. The witch-hunt craze pushed the natural healers underground into darkness. Just recently America has started coming out of the darkness about alternative medicine. The free time of the 60's and the New Age movement of the 90's is bringing alternative medicine into full light.

Most alternative therapies have been around longer than modern medicine, but people, mainly medical doctors, argue about their usefulness and whether or not they have a place in medicine. Alternative medicine includes a very wide range of therapies, some that prove to be helpful and some that prove to be useless. Some of the most popular therapies are: acupuncture, massage therapy, aromatherapy, herbal medicine, homeopathic medicine, chiropractic medicine, and ayurvedic medicine. "Alternative medicine encompasses a baffling variety of remedies- from ancient healing systems like acupuncture and ayurveda, to new age crystal treatments. Few have been scrutinized in scientific studies- a task that takes time and money." (1)