A Healthy Number of People Use Alternative Medicine
Do you take vitamin C or try a bit of Echinacea when you're catching a cold? If so, you, like most Americans, make use of alternative medicine.
Alternative medicine is enjoying a heyday. According to the Thomas Medstat survey, more than a third of Americans use alternative medicine regularly, which means even more people try it out at some point in their lives.
Who Is Using Alternative Medicine?
People bringing home the bacon to the tune of $100,000 plus incomes use alternative medicine most often, along with those who have post-graduate college degrees. In fact, more than half of those households garnering the $100,000 or more salaries indicated using alternative medicine at least once in the last twelve months. Though these same well-paid patients may be spending their salaries on insurance rather than medical bills. 41 percent of the survey's respondents reported that their insurance carriers covered their alternative medicine treatments.
So just what is everyone ordering up? The most popular treatments include:
- Herbal supplements
- Massage
- Chiropratic care
- Mind/body practices (yoga, meditation, etc.)
- Energy therapies
- Naturopathy
Naturally, it's those lucky individuals with the biggest bank roll who enjoy the greatest number of massages. But folks without the degrees or the fat paychecks do still turn to alternative medicine a good bit. Thirty percent of households bringing home $15,000-$24,999 made use of alternative medicine, and a full 18 percent of those without a highschool diploma.
For some, using alternative medicine can feel like cheating on their doctors. But most people (64 percent) let their doctors know if they're using an alternative therapy. And many people would agree that modern medicine met with a bit of alternative medicine provides a good balance as an approach to treatment.
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About the Author:
J.V. Staples is a writer and teacher living on the southeast coast of Ireland. He has worked as a graphic designer; teacher of English as a foreign language; university writing instructor; and editor of Salt Hill, a literary magazine. John holds an honors BA in English from the University of Georgia and a Masters in creative writing from Syracuse University.
