Alternative Therapies or Complementary Medicine
Alternative Therapies or Complementary Medicine are terms for treatments and practices not typically used in conventional Western medicine. Conventional medicine refers to the standard care that a patient receives from medical doctors (MD), doctors of osteopathy (DO) and other health professionals such as nurses, psychologists and physical therapists. A practitioner of alternative therapies or complementary medicine may use herbs, acupuncture, chiropractic medicine, yoga, biofeedback, hypnosis, or homeopathy to treat a patient outside of standard care.