Medicine was always located in drugs or surgery. It relied on an independent and complementary parallel system known as Alternative Medicine. However, the two, until recently, were not destined to meet.
Medicine grew out of a system of clinical tests, surveys, scans, medical records, experiments, and data. These went through rigorous approval tests before authorized boards. The system boasted the rights of methodology, license, discipline, and effectiveness. Alternative medicine was located in natural wellness systems, based on a non-invasive and drug-free technique. Mastery and skill in the practice arose from ancient classical texts or new scientific discoveries with manual manipulation. The popular traditions of acupuncture, shiatsu, ayurveda, yoga and aromatherapy, homeopathy fell under this broad general category of ancient practices and traditions.
Alternative medicine was under technical license and statute from the World Health Organization that demystified ancient systems and folklore. The standardization of acupuncture points in acupuncture practice across all countries, boards, colleges, and practitioners became clear and uniform in the technical description. There were energetic secret practices that were supplemented by healing martial arts such as chi gong, tai-chi, ki aikido, and others, which were not on the list. The fact that the healing arts were essentially energetic meant that the skills acquired by the practitioner were related to the development and cultivation of an inner energetic space.
The World Health Organization addressed issues of nomenclature and technical description in some of the preferred ancient scripture-based therapies. Indian head massage is an example of a popular science based on marma point classification and Ayurvedic massage techniques, arranged for international qualification for practice. This science is well described by the technical lists of competencies of the National Occupational Standards for applied use. Other new systems based on public demand have emerged that are complementary practices to medicine. These include popular manual therapies such as sports massage, lymphatic drainage massage, myofascial release, trigger point therapy, neuromuscular therapy, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, structural integration, among many more. The formalization of these sciences has taken place in clinical and scientific practice. Competent advisory boards and regulators of all nations have sanctioned some of these disciplines as pure or integrated alternative medicine, and have seen the industry manifest itself in a parallel but complementary field.
The formalization of alternative medicine grew in importance as modern modalities and technologies took root in ancient systems. Low-level laser and light therapies became an option for acupuncture where needles were not suitable. Full-body biofeedback machines like Medilab’s Beautytech have been based on galvanic induction and biological modulation of acupuncture points via acupuncture meridians and lymphatic pathways.
Innovation in alternative medicine is based on a formal understanding of the natural process that has greatly benefited humans for many centuries.
Low-level laser was able to change the phenomenon of acupuncture to the next level with the discovery of the genetic potential of blood acupuncture with laser irradiation of blood through the vein. Add-on treatments with chlorophyll and light sensitizers support the reversal of tissue death as in the case of a malignancy. The advantage of modern scientific discovery in alternative medicine is that treatment protocols have complete controls and results, and human mystical energetic practice is on the sidelines of therapy.
The UK Crown encouraged physicians to embrace the alternative medicine industry and endorse its practices for better wellness support. This was resisted at first, and suspicion continued between the two streams. However, practitioners themselves have absorbed medical acupuncture into their practice through licensed seminars in recent times and have grown in awareness of the therapeutic value of standardized systems.
As the vectors of industry grow in ecosystems, the sciences and preferences seem to merge. Disparities are minor and disciplines find consensus. Future prospects look promising and the recovery is underway.