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Allopathic medicine relegates a complete medical system, modality, therapy or treatment to the alternative medicine list for any one of many reasons. The three main reasons are:

Has not yet been scientifically tested, or due to its nature cannot be tested.

Has been tested and found to be not efficacious and/or even harmful.

Has been tested, found to be effective but is not useful in allopathic medicine.

What Are Complete Medical Systems? Which Ones Are Considered Alternative Medicine?

Complete medical systems are more than just modalities or therapies. A complete medical system is capable of handling all aspects of health issues within reason. Though considered inferior to allopathic medicine, this is usually due to lack of scientific support and/or its basic philosophy. This is not to say that a medical profession outside of allopathic medicine is ineffective or even inferior. Allopathic medicine has had vast quantities of funding enabling its colossal success. Allopathic medicine, itself, is not a perfect system. All of the complete medical systems here are holistic where allopathic medicine is biomedical only. All medical entities outside of allopathic medicine are considered complementary or alternative medicine.

The complete medical systems are:

Acupuncture Ayurveda Homeopathy Native American Healing Practices Naturopathic Medicine Tibetan Medicine Traditional Chinese Medicine

The Four Most Prominent Complete Medical Systems Discussed

Five of the complete medical systems are rooted in prehistoric ages. Other than legend, nothing is known about their origins. Despite their historic longevity, allopathic medicine considers them alternative medicine. Homeopathy and naturopathy originate in modern times. These complete systems are considered alternative medicine except naturopathic medicine, considered complimentary. All are holistic health systems.

Ayurveda – The Science of Life – An Alternative Medicine

Stretching back 5,000 years back and already quite developed, Ayurveda is truly the Mother of Modern Medicine. Treatment involves extensive focus on the patient’s individual needs and considers all aspects of his being, making Ayurveda holistic. Treatment begins with an extensive interview and the resulting therapies aim to bringing the body back into balance and remove toxins. This complete medical system focuses on the prevention of ill-health by clean living and giving the body what it needs according to its type.

Traditional Chinese Medicine – Opposing Forces – An Alternative Medicine

Chinese culture includes the science of opposites – the Yin-Yang and is reflected in its holistic health care. Whilst acupuncture is considered a complete medical system in itself, it is integrated into TCM. This medical system has been in use since the annals of prehistory as well and acupuncture has been known since. For the most part, this complete medical system has remained unchanged for many years.

Homeopathy – An Alternative Medicine

In the late 1700s, allopathic medicine was disorganized and administering treatments more dangerous than the ailments they were supposed to cure or relieve. Samuel Hahnemann, a German physicist became disillusioned with medicine and formulated a more exact medical science using the law of similars. This law involves highly diluted substance formulated to produce like symptoms used to aid the body in healing. This complete medical system still holds a prominent place in the medical world and is holistic. Allopathic medicine has its own law of similars which it adheres to – vaccinations, measles, chicken-pox, flu shots, etc.

Naturopathy – A Complementary Medicine

Truly holistic, naturopathy utilizes a number alternative health modalities under one roof, from Chinese medicine to Yoga. This entity owes its status to employing the use of all these modalities. It even resorts to some procedures from allopathic medicine such as light surgery. Other than this, naturopathy resorts to therapies free of side effects. It focuses on supporting the body’s natural healing processes. Some believe naturopathy belongs on the alternative medicine list rather than complementary.