There are many forms of alternative and complementary medicine, and many of them are beginning to gain the recognition they deserve. Many types of alternative medicine are often misrepresented by the mainstream media and conventional medicine communities as crazy “woo-woo” nonsense that doesn’t actually work. But now, naysayers are witnessing the power of alternative therapies, like hypnosis, with their own eyes — and they’re even writing articles about it.

Recently, the Wall Street Journal published an article about hypnotherapy — and they even described it as a “medical solution.” The WSJ noted that many established hospitals have seen success in using hypnotherapy to treat patients with digestive disorders, including conditions like colitis and irritable bowel syndrome.

As Psychology Today explains, hypnotherapy is a guided form of hypnosis which allows patients to “turn their attention completely inward to find and utilize the natural resources deep within themselves that can help them make changes or regain control in certain areas of their life.” The hypnotic state is reportedly similar to that of a deep meditation.

Hypnotherapy has a wide application range and can be used in conjunction with many other therapies. For example,  hypnotherapy can easily be combined with acupuncture for pain management. As Psychology Today notes, pain management with hypnosis is growing in popularity due to its successes. But it can also be used to help resolve digestive issues, skin disorders and treat conditions like depression and anxiety.

People are becoming more aware of alternative options

The fact that the mainstream media, along with proponents of modern medicine, are starting to pick up on the benefits of alternative treatments shows that these therapies are increasing in popularity — in large part because they actually do work. Despite the fact that many of these pharmaceutical propagandists have turned their noses up at alternative medicines, natural remedies and other types of treatments are being used more often.

In 2015, a survey from the National Institutes of Health found that approximately one-third of Americans were trying a form of alternative medicine. These treatments including things like taking a fish oil or melatonin supplement, chiropractic medicine and even yoga — and for five percent of survey respondents, alternative medicine was their only form of treatment.

And as Think Progress notes, the dramatic rise in the number of people testing the alternative medicine waters just so happens to coincide with an increasing distrust in conventional medicine. Survey data has shown that Americans are growing more skeptical of doctors. Given the pharmaceutical industry’s obvious ties to the mainstream medical community (and their involvement in creating the opioid epidemic), it is truly not that surprising that Americans are losing their trust in conventional medicine.

At a recent pain management conference in Florida, doctors were actually being encouraged to change their behavior, regarding their prescribing habits and the use of alternative medicine. Dr. Abraham Rivera, chief medical officer at Physician Partners of America, contended that the use of opioids for pain management is “a road full of pitfalls.”

Rivera contended further, “There has been a resurgence, rethinking of alternative medicine. There is plenty of evidence-backed literature that defends the use of things like physical therapy, acupuncture, [massage], meditation therapy, cognitive therapy. These things can be used and there is science behind it.”

Could alternative medicine one day replace profit-driven conventional medicine? Maybe. As it stands, alternative treatments are at least giving pharma-pushers a run for their money. But as more people turn to more natural means of solving their health problems, and more evidence of efficacy is produced, it seems likely that Big Pharma will have a much harder time selling their junk drugs to the masses.

Stay up-to-date on the latest advances in real, natural medicine at AlternativeMedicine.news.

Sources for this article include:

WSJ.com

PsychologyToday.com

WLRN.org