Alternative medicines are many different medical systems practiced by trained professionals all over the United States and around the world that have their roots in the traditional medicines of the ancient world. Some of these medicines are continuations of ancient medical traditions like acupuncture and traditional Chinese and Indian herbal medicines, others are newer medical systems developed based on the same principles of these ancient systems of medicine like homeopathy, cell therapy, and magnetic field therapy.
All alternative medicines are based on a more holistic understanding of the human being than understood by conventional modern medicine. Conventional medicine thinks of the human being as being primarily a physical body that thinks, while alternative medicines start from the viewpoint that the human being is more than just a body — as body, mind, and spirit. Conventional medicines look for causes to ailments on the physical level alone. In contrast, alternative medicine looks for causes on all levels of the human being. Alternative medicine looks deeper into the human being to look for causes, and this, according to its proponents, is what is its greatest strength. All alternative medicines try to reach into the whole human being using a number of keys and methods to cure inner distortions that cause physical ailments.