Integrative Medicine: An Overview
Integrative medicine treats the whole person – mind, body and soul – and looks to understand the underlying causes of a person's symptoms or conditions, while also treating said causes or conditions. Integrative medicine support the body’s natural ability to heal by integrating conventional medicine approaches, such as medication and surgery, with complementary therapies, such as acupuncture, massage therapy and reiki. This integration of both care approaches work to achieve optimal health and healing within an individual.
Integrative Medicine Benefits
Integrative medicine helps to reduce stress and promote a state of relaxation that leads to better health. Many people can benefit from integrative medicine – those with long-lasting (chronic) or complex conditions as well as people that have no underlying health conditions. Integrative medicine can help you find relief for many health and medical conditions, including:
- Autoimmune diseases
- Acute and chronic pain
- Breathing disorders
- Cancer and cancer-related side effects
- Chronic fatigue
- Cold/flu symptoms
- Digestive disorders
- Headaches and migraines
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- Infertility
- Menopausal symptoms
- Menstrual issues
- Mental and emotional health issues such as anxiety
- Obesity
- Sleep issues
Examples of Common Practices
- Acupuncture may be used with certain drugs to help lessen cancer pain or nausea and vomiting.
- Exercise including resistance training and yoga can help improve glucose metabolism, help keep a healthy body weight, and lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.
- Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD) Massage, a treatment modality to move excess lymphatic fluid from one’s tissue to the lymph nodes, can be used to treat Lymphedema, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia and more.
- Massage Therapy can help reduce stress by lowering heart rate and reducing blood pressure. It can also deepen sleep, ease muscle and joint pain and boost immunity.
- Meditation can reduce negative emotions and stress, control anxiety and promote emotional health.
- Nutritional Counseling can help you learn ways to incorporate a healthier diet to increase energy, improve sleep quality, strengthen your immune system, boost mood, increase concentration, and reduce symptoms of disease.
- Reiki resolves emotional distress by allowing healing energy to flow freely throughout the body, which results in relaxation and reduced pain, stress and anxiety.
Did You Know?
It has been found that integrative medicine strategies are currently being used by nearly two in five adults aged 50 – 80 to prevent or treat a health concern, and 91% who have used integrative strategies have found them beneficial for helping with:
- Acute injuries
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Diabetes
- Digestive Issues
- High Blood Pressure
- Insomnia
- Obesity
- Pain
- Relaxation
- stress management
Integrative Health at ECHN
ECHN has a multitude of integrative medicine offerings at Manchester Memorial Hospital, the Diabetes Wellness Center and the Women’s Center for Wellness to help your whole self feel better. Members from our community have utilized these services and have seen valuable changes in their everyday life.
If you are interested in integrative servives at ECHN, insurance may cover you and we also accept payment for services from a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) or Health Savings Account (HAS). We hope you can incorporate integrative medicine in your life to help you feel your best!
Learn More >
Patient Experience
Integrative Medicine patient Marie shares her experience below:
“I have had acupuncture appointments twice a month since May 2022 and I have recently started getting massages. My primary reason for incorporating acupuncture in my life was to help with joint pain and inflammation. At my first meeting, I asked Dr. Diana Zitserman when I should see improvement and she was very honest by stating that if I don’t see any improvement by a certain amount of visits then to consider ceasing treatment. I liked her honesty and upfront clear expectation. Lucky for me, acupuncture has helped and improved my lab results and a reduction in my inflammation.
I have only done massage at ECHN’s Women’s Center once so far but I have been trying to go once a month and incorporate that in my normal self-care routine. Both services have helped with my overall wellness and self care.
I would highly recommend integrative services, as it can help with many issues. Dr. Diana Zitserman is compassionate, knowledgeable and works to individualize a plan best suited for the symptoms you are experiencing. She explains everything very well. I believe these services can help anyone for a variety of reasons such as improving sleep, anxiety, pain, inflammation and more."
Resources
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/21683-integrative-medicine
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/complementary-alternative-medicine/about/pac-20393581
