Alternative medicine is used to describe practices that are employed in place of conventional medical treatments. Alternative medicine includes practices that incorporate spiritual, metaphysical, or religious underpinnings; non-European medical traditions, or newly developed approaches to healing. There are many different types of healing that are grouped under this umbrella term, such as homeopathic medicine, aromatherapy, massage therapy, and acupuncture, and many have enjoyed widespread acceptance in mainstream Western society. In has been due in part to increasing global awareness that the rest of the world has become familiar with other medical traditions such as traditional Indian and Chinese medicine.
These integrative medicine techniques are designed to provide patients with an alternative range of treatments for conditions such as chronic fatigue, chronic pain, fibromyalgia, carpal tunnel syndrome and other ailments for which mainstream medicine may offer comparatively few choices. Alternative medicine can even provide lesser known, but equally effective, remedies for common maladies like canker sores, sinus problems, and even bad breath. Other benefits include the fact that alternative treatments are generally less costly that traditional medicine and do not carry the same risk of dangerous side effects and potential for addiction.