Natural therapy is a treatment done with the proper utilization of natural elements, where any type of chemical products is avoided. If any treatment is observed in such a manner without the use of chemically produced elements, and with a ‘the body heals itself’ approach, such treatments are essentially what natural therapy is. It is a vague subject, under which all the naturally observed treatments are categorized such as: naturopathy, acupuncture, acupressure, physiotherapy, reiki and yoga therapy. 

The different types of natural therapy practices have different origins but natural therapy essentially originated in Asia. However, naturopathy was originally practiced in Germany. Having said that, are natural therapy practices is highly popular in Asia. Acupuncture started in China, and a majority of the popularity of naturopathy goes to in India. Physiotherapy began in Europe, and even though the different practices originated in different regions, they are combinedly categorized as forms of natural therapy. 

A lot of people mix up naturopathy and natural therapy, which is a common misconception. Naturopathy is a part of natural therapy, and is a treatment that makes use of the five natural elements whereas as using other different natural elements and practices for treatment is natural therapy. 

Natural therapy is most effective for the treatment of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). NCDs like heart problems, diabetes, metabolic disorders, neurogenic problems, stomach problems, and orthopedic problems are usually treated through natural therapy. It isn’t used much in the case of contagious diseases, where it generally cannot be utilized. In terms of NCDs, especially for problems and ailments spurred on by certain lifestyles it is highly effective and highly practiced. Lifestyle related problems like back and neck aches, diabetic issues which is usually caused by lifestyle choices, heart problems, gout, stomach problems are treated using natural therapy methods.

There is a single concept that is followed in natural therapy: “The Body Heals Itself”; the body functions which might have been stalled can heal themselves if we are able to get them to function again. The main idea is to reactivate the body when a problem causes it to stall or lose connection to one of its functions. Metabolic disorders like diabetes is caused when the pancreas doesn’t produce sufficient amounts of insulin or when the level of insulin produced doesn’t function properly, which makes it an internally caused problem. These internal problems are caused due to a poorly led lifestyle, and these problems are corrected through the natural therapy approaches of detoxification and activation of the body.

Natural Therapy v Western Medicine

There is quite a prevalent problem today because the first thing people tend to think of when they think of treatments is medication. That is not what treatment is. Medication is just a part of it, and among a variety of practices methods like allopathy and naturopathy are a simple part of. Practices like allopathy are effective for quick relief as well as for a few communicable diseases and in case of surgeries but lacks in terms of treatments of lifestyle related problems.
Now the main aspect of lifestyle related problems is that there is no chance of getting complete treatments through medication. For the medication prescribed for these problems, there are different side-effects and just one medicine creates four other problems. So the lifestyle problem that you are treating with medication creates a few other lifestyle related diseases! For instance, the treatment of migraine, where you intake painkillers that in turn result in gastritis problems and you get more medicine for gastritis which later creates stones. The lifestyle disease that you are taking medication for creates other diseases and it creates a chain of events without a visible solution. 

Relying on medication to treatment lifestyle related problem creates more diseases just because of the medicine itself, so to correct that the first thing to refer to for such lifestyle diseases is to shift the focus on treatments with the concept that the body heals itself. If the body is capable enough on its own to fend off diseases and the best to way to maximize it is by activating the body, then you should learn, refer to and look for natural mediums of treatment. It isn’t a slow, lagging time nowadays; people can easily find such treatments if they search on the internet. People need to start practicing and understanding the problems and the treatments but must not rely on “Google” medicine, and the medicine that is shown on the internet for the disease without proper consultation. 

There are a lot of practices that can be done without even going to the clinic like acupressure, and almost 50% of the practices of natural therapy can be easily done at home by ourselves. The five elements are usually brought into play for the treatments; which refers to drinking plenty of water, steam bath incorporating the Water element; sunbathing for an adequate amount of time incorporates the Fire/Heat element which might enough to a certain extent to lessen the cases of Vitamin D deficiencies. If you are able to spend us half an hour each day in the warm sunlight, then that will be more than enough in the long run. 

Most of the things that are included in Natural Therapy can be done personally at home itself. Much like the case with migraine, practicing a bit of acupressure can bring a certain amount of relief without having to rely on prescribed medication. Having said that, natural therapy is about 50% related to health education and not just treatments. As long as the people are not well educated about health care and issues, they won’t get any health benefits. The medical science that we know today has only made us dependent on medications while speaking of health benefits, but the people are not advised to follow personal benefitting regiments. Many doctors are prone to prescribe medicine but don’t tell the patients what they can do themselves, which is often heard here at Sushwastha. 

In the case of back pain, doctors prescribe the necessary medication but don’t teach the patients proper postures. Because the only medicines have been given, they don’t feel the pain like they used to but upon further MRIs, they learn that their problem has only gone had increased.

There is a grave problem with the health education in Nepal. People have been educated properly when it comes to health related topics, and natural therapy contributes greatly towards health education. Small remedies that can be done, that can be practiced to overcome a problem before it grows into something larger are hardly if ever advised and suggested here in Nepal. Natural therapy focuses on that aspect of healthcare and is a major part of health education. 

Here at Sushwastha, we provide a combined treatment of three: naturopathy, physiotherapy and acupuncture/acupressure. This combined treatment focuses on lifestyle related problems and aids in lifestyle modification such as gastritis, migraine, asthma, sinusitis, paralysis as well as overseeing treatments for issues that might require surgeries to lessen the chances of requiring surgery altogether.