What is Naturopathy?
I thought I would put fingers to the keyboard and answer some of the questions I am asked about natural therapies, in particular naturopathy. The term naturopathy is 100 years old, though the practice of fresh air, sunshine, exercise and clean water, that we take for granted as primary to our well being were not always recommended practices. You were more likely to die from doctoring in the middle ages particularly if blood letting was required or the more lethal mercury treatments. Time has marched on and we are in a society where we can choose the type of health care service that meets our needs. So I thought I would start with history of naturopathy, how it’s used today and some of the modalities that are embraced by naturopathy.
What is the History of Naturopathy?
Sometimes called the ‘nature cure’, but the term Naturopathy was used by the American; Benedict Lust in 1902, it was his term to describe a compilation of natural healing he thought would be the future scope of medicine. This was to encompass nutritional therapy, natural diet, herbal medicine, homeopathy, spinal manipulation, exercise therapy, hydrotherapy and stress reduction. His natural system of curing disease was to return the body to nature by regulating, diet, breathing, exercise, bathing and elimination and so raise the vitality of the patient to a proper standard of health by adhering to his 3 principles:
1. Elimination Bad Habits – alcohol, drugs, stress, over eating, sexual & social aberrations
2. Correct Habits – correct breathing, exercise, right mental attitude etc
3. New Principles of Living – proper fasting, selection of foods, hydrotherapy, sun & air baths, chiropractic, osteopathy & other forms of mechano-therapy.
The under pinning message that Lust and his followers were getting across was that fresh air, sunshine, exercise and clean water was the way to go after the previous centuries of plagues as a result of doing the exact opposite resulting in disease.
Naturopathic Medicine flourished in the U.S.A until the mid 1930’s when it started to decline as a result of two world wars where surgical intervention, technology and the medical profession who started to lobby politically for dominance in the health market, convincing politicians and the public of their apparent superiority resulting in the passing of legislation that restricted the viability of other health care systems.
The Philosophy of Naturopathy
The fundamentals and the philosophy of Naturopathy lies in the belief that educating the patient in the laws of healthy living by supporting the body’s own abilities to heal itself and using only natural and non-toxic therapies.
What is Naturopathy Today?
It’s all of the above but today’s Naturopath is a firm believer in the preventive approach to wellness rather than only treating the patient when she/he is unwell. The key to the success of Naturopathic treatments has always been the high level of involvement of the patients in their own healing. For many this is a daunting prospect but your Naturopath will explain and guide you along the path to lifelong wellness.
A naturopathic treatment involves taking a full case history of the patient, looking at what they eat and lifestyle issues. A number of tests are used to assess nutritional status, blood pressure, hormones, heavy metal toxicity and an iridology assessment. This is looking into the eyes with a special torch that helps read pattern in the iris of the eye. These patterns may help confirm a diagnosis or alert the practitioner to future or past problems.
After this a treatment plan is put in place which the patient is able to manage. This might involve taking herbal medicine, particular vitamins, homeopathics, massage, chiropractic adjustment, more or less exercise, detoxification programme, changing eating habits and so on. I believe we change our treatments as symptoms and circumstances change because we are all unique individuals with different requirements, herein lays our lifelong challenge for really good health.
Where is Naturopathy Going?
Really going places - thriving against all odds and still stigmatised by many of the medical profession on the grounds that there is not much research to validate herbal treatments etc. However, I recently sat down in a lecture hall at the University of New South Wales and spent the day with about 400 doctors all wanting to understand what their patients were on about with all this ‘natural medicine’. Many of their colleagues got up to present research papers on herbal treatments and nutritional protocols that are the cutting edge of clinical practice and I felt proud at being able to explain to the doctors round me why these therapies work.
Many Naturopaths choose to specialise in areas of therapy while others are more eclectic. The following are a brief description of more common therapies used by a naturopathic practitioner.
Nutrition
Clinical nutrition or the use of diet as a therapy is the foundation of naturopathic practice. Good nutrition is essential for the normal functioning & organ development – reproduction, growth, resistance to disease, ability to repair body after injury and optimum level of activity and concentration.
Herbal Medicine
The use of medicinal plants taken as teas, cooked in foods, eaten as salads or as herbal extracts mixed into a formula and administered by dose. A trained herbalist spends a minimum of 4 years studying all aspects of herbs from cultivation to drug/herb interaction. You can be safe in the knowledge that the training has made the administration of herbal medicine sure and effective. For many parts of the third world, herbal medicines are the only medicines available to the people nothing has changed for them for hundreds of years.
Aromatic Medicine
This is using essential oils in treatments like suppositories, pessaries, applying them in concentrations on parts of the body for acute treatments. Aromatic medicine is not a massage, but the way essential oils are used in France where it is called phytotherapy and is prescribed by doctors – this is the future of aromatherapy and we here in Australia are following France in its application.
Homeopathy
Is a system of medicine that uses dilute potentised doses of a drug or agent that when taken in higher doses, produces the same symptoms that the patient is experiencing. It works on the law of similars, ‘like cures like’. This was the same principle that Hippocrates first recognized but became known as Homeopathy by a German, Dr Samuel Hahnemann in 1789. The patient is given medicine that is administered by drop dose onto the tongue and continues to take it until the symptoms change.
Massage Therapies
Massage is often the first type of natural therapy that people try and it is a great introduction to the power of ‘healing hands’. There must be at least a dozen different types of massage therapy from the basic Swedish massage to the more exotic Thai, Hawaiian, to the robust deep tissue therapies, to the lymphatic drainage and aromatherapy treatments. People usually find a therapist that they like by trying the different types of treatments available for their complaint and settle with the therapist and the treatment that best meets their needs.
I hope this has cleared up some of the questions and perhaps provoked others. As always I am available by phone or e-mail to answer any further questions.
Posted by Administrator on Jul 27 2006 at 9:14 PM