Naturopathy defined
Naturopathy defined
Naturopathy Defined
"An eclectic system of healthcare, which promotes the body's self-healing mechanism."
The word Naturopathy stems from the 19th Century European "Nature Cures" using treatments incorporating water, air, light, massage and diet. The early Naturopaths were also called the hygiene school of practitioners, advocating moderation in eating and drinking and cleanliness of living. Often fasting was used as treatment.
The advent of the antibiotic and drug era and the introduction of hospital-based medicine at the turn of the 20th Century saw a decline in all natural therapeutic practice.
However, Naturopathy, along with what is now called Complementary and Alternative Medicine, experienced resurgence in the latter half of last century. The Naturopath undergoes many years of training not just in one modality but in a range of therapeutics as well as a year of anatomy, physiology and pathology in order to be able to put the jig saw pieces of illness together, rather like a forensic scientist.
An eclectic practitioner is defined as one who freely uses various treatments to restore health in the patient, according to the patient's needs. The practitioner may use the specialised disciplines of homeopathy, herbalism, diet and nutrition, chinese herbal medicine and so on in addition to a variety of physical therapies.
The guiding principles of naturopathic medicine are:
(1) Work with the Healing Power of Nature...Trust the body's inherent ability to heal itself when the obstacles to cure are removed. "Vis Medicatrix Naturae"
(2) Identify and Treat the Cause...Address the underlying causes of illness rather than just treating symptoms.
(3) First Do No Harm...Use the most natural, least toxic and least invasive therapies first.
(4) Doctor as Teacher:...Educate people in the art of self-care and the steps to achieving optimal health.
(5) Treat the Whole Person...Address the physical condition but also the spectrum of factors that influence our health.
(6) Prevention...Encourage health promotion and disease prevention.
Naturopathic cleansing techniques
This may include the use of herbs in the form of bowel capsules in order to cleanse the bowel and restore peristaltic action of the muscle in the bowel. If laxatives have been relied upon for many years then it can take time to re educate the gut and restore healthy gut flora.
Natural clay mixes may also be part of the standard tool kit for again addressing toxicity of the gut. Aloe Vera drinking Gel is another very useful and effective product, of great benefit for calming down an irritated gut lining and giving gentle cleansing.
Herbal tictures are also utilised in order to calm and sooth or rebuild tissue.Once cleansing has been successful then good bacteria generally has to be re introduced into the good using probiotics, a blend of various positive bacteria that colonise the gut and allow for efficient digestion and hygiene of the system.
Liver and gall bladder flushes may also be needed in order to address bowel health. Gallstones can cause untold issues not only in the gut but also throughout the body as a whole. One example may be severe neck pain or lumbar pain. This may also be due to bone deficiency and nerve damage but with gallstones within the system they are an irritating factor and need to be removed. The removal of them is very easy and pain free and has been used for over a hundred years with many natural physicians throughout the world.