A-Z of Therapies

Acupuncture
6 January 2010
Acupuncture as a profession is over 5,000 years old, but recently it has become the most widely used alternative therapy by western health care practitioners, and may be more appropriately called Traditional Chinese Medicine... Read more »

Alexander Technique
21 January 2010
The Alexander Technique is a very simple and practical method of improving ease and freedom of movement, balance and co-ordination... Read more »

Aromatherapy
5 February 2010
Aromatherapy is the use of essential oils as a 'holistic' treatment, balancing the physical, mental and emotional dimensions of every individual person treated. Essential Oils are extracted from different parts of flowers, fruits, barks, roots and... Read more »

Art Therapy
8 February 2010
At times people find themselves overwhelmed by their emotions and have difficulty dealing with their situation. Art therapy is a form of psychotherapy that offers an opportunity for emotional expression and healing in a supportive environment... Read more »

Behavioural Medicine
9 February 2010
Behavioural Medicine is the broad interdisciplinary area of scientific research and clinical practice that deals with the interaction of behavioural and biomedical science knowledge and techniques relevant to health and illness. These techniques are... Read more »

Biofeedback
19 February 2010
Biofeedback is an outstanding way to change behaviour that directly creates physical symptoms such as pain and tension. Biofeedback - as a 'mind over matter' form of therapy - is a system of education and treatment (based on monitoring biological s... Read more »

Bowen Therapy
16 February 2010
Bowen Therapy is a simple but effective body balancing system. Through gentle moves on soft tissue at a series of key points on the body, it stimulates energy flow that releases tension, strains and blockages, empowering the body's own resources to... Read more »

Chiropractic
18 February 2010
Chiropractic is a philosophy, science and art; a system of adjusting the vertebrae of the spinal column by hand for the correction of the cause of disease. The examination of the spine to evaluate structure and function is what makes chiropractic dif... Read more »

Clinical Ecology/Environmental Medicine
2 March 2010
The specialty in medicine in which doctors assist patients in uncovering the cause and effect relationship between their environment and their ill-health, and help them learn to avoid those inciting factors, is called Environmental Medicine. The theo... Read more »

Counselling/Psychotherapy
9 March 2010
Psychotherapy looks at the whole human being and the many complex factors that have contributed to making every person unique. It is a learning process of discovery. This process helps people to better understand the experiences in their life, the... Read more »

Electrotherapy (TENS & NMS)
11 March 2010
Electrotherapy (TENS & NMS) is the use of electrical stimulation of the peripheral nervous system to override pain messages or evoke muscle contractions. This modern, non invasive, cost effective, drug-free system is widely recognised as an e... Read more »

Exercise
3 March 2010
Exercise is a critical component in both overcoming and preventing back problems, and today we know that when back pain strikes, activity beats rest as a treatment. Many people suffering from back pain lack adequate levels of flexibility, strength... Read more »

Feldenkrais
13 April 2010
The Feldenkrais Method teaches, through gentle, non-invasive movement, how we can improve our capabilities to function in our daily lives. This is achieved by the adaptability of our nervous system. Feldenkrais frees the body, not by stretching exerc... Read more »

Heat & Cold
9 April 2010
Many people have found that hot and cold treatments help relieve their back pain. Heat and cold can be applied several times throughout the day but for periods no greater than 20 minutes at a time. The general rule is to use ice for the first 48 hour... Read more »

Herbal/Botanical Medicine
8 April 2010
Herbal/Botanical Medicine is the use of herbs for disease prevention, as adjunctive therapies and a primary intervention treatment for specific conditions. Herb plants produce and contain a variety of chemical substances that act upon the body. The p... Read more »

Homoeopathy
6 May 2010
Homoeopathy is an alternative system of medicine that was founded in the early 19th century by a German physician. It's a system of medical therapy that concentrates on care of the whole person by methods that are gentle and sympathetic to the body's... Read more »

Hyberbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT)
20 April 2010
Hyberbaric Oxygen Therapy is a medical treatment that enhances the body's natural healing process by inhalation of 100% oxygen in a total body chamber where atmospheric pressure is increased and controlled. Under normal circumstances oxygen is transp... Read more »

Hydrotherapy
4 May 2010
Hydrotherapy is the therapeutic use of water, either internally or externally, for healing and rehabilitation treatments. There are many ways to use water for healing, including steam baths, hot and cold soaks, poultices, wraps, compresses and full a... Read more »

Injection Therapy
22 April 2010
Direct injection of medication into the back may be recommended by a physician for those patients whose conservative treatments have not worked. Injection therapy includes local anaesthetics, saline, steroids, dextrose, sclerosants, and more complica... Read more »

Integrative Medicine
7 May 2010
Integrative Medicine is a multi-disciplinary approach to healthcare. It is based on a partnership between patient and health provider, where the best of conventional, complementary and alternative medicine practices can be explored, in a whole person... Read more »

Kinesiology
26 May 2010
Kinesiology is the study of body movement, especially how our muscles move in relation to the whole body. This encompasses holistic health disciplines that use gentle muscle testing to monitor information about a person's well being with the purpose... Read more »

Laser Therapy
12 May 2010
The Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) has been in use for more than 20 years. The term LASER is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Light has been shown to have a strong therapeutic effect and specific wavelengths can... Read more »

Magnetic Therapy
10 May 2010
Magnetic Therapy is based on the effects of magnetic fields on the human body. We are an electromagnetic organism with electricity flowing through the nerves in our body just as electricity flows through a wire. When a magnet is applied to an area of... Read more »

Massage Therapy
25 March 2010
Massage Therapy is the hands-on manipulation of muscle and other soft tissue of the body to prevent and alleviate pain, muscle spasm and stress, and promote health and wellness. Many research studies confirm that massage therapy provides physical, me... Read more »

Meditation
14 May 2010
Meditation is a simple way to balance a person's physical, emotional and mental state. Meditation is consciously directing your attention to alter your state of consciousness. Meditation has traditionally been used for spiritual growth or becoming mo... Read more »

Megavitamin Therapy (Orthomolecular medicine)
18 August 2010
The word 'Orthomolecular' was coined by Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling to describe an approach to medicine that uses natural occurring substances normally present in the body. It is possible that the provision of vitamins, amino acids, trace elemen... Read more »

Motorised Flexion Distraction Therapy (M-FDT)
28 April 2009
Motorised Flexion Distraction Therapy is a chiropractic technique that provides flexion and traction to specific areas of the spine to aid in the re-creation of lost movement, the decompression and realignment of the spine. Patients undertake a serie... Read more »

Musculoskeletal medicine
14 July 2010
Musculoskeletal medicine is the branch of medicine that addresses pain in the muscles, bones, ligaments and joints. It involves the non-surgical treatment of varied conditions like back pain, neck pain, (both acute and chronic), trigger points, sciat... Read more »

Myotherapy
24 June 2010
Myotherapy is a medical term that simply means muscle therapy, 'myo' means muscle, just as 'osteo' means bone and 'neuro' means nerve. There are different forms of myotherapy available, including SLM (Steve Lockhart's Myotherapy - Australia) and... Read more »

Naturopathy
26 July 2010
Naturopathic medicine, sometimes called "naturopathy," is as old as healing itself and as new as the latest discoveries in biochemical sciences. Although the term naturopathy was first used at the turn of the 20th century, the basic... Read more »

Nesfield's Treatment (percutaneous neurotomy)
6 September 2010
The procedure was first developed in 1918 by an English surgeon, Mr Vincent Nesfield. He treated soldiers returning from the First World War with a condition he called 'trench back'. Today a growing number of Australian medical practitioners offer... Read more »

Neural Therapy
28 May 2010
Neural Therapy describes a form of treatment using the body's autonomic nervous system (ANS). It is a healing technique developed in Germany that involves the injection of local anaesthetics into carefully selected points of the body to remove short... Read more »

Neurology
28 June 2010
Neurology is the field of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases or injury to the brain, spine or peripheral nerves. Neurosurgeons are more than just brain surgeons. They provide either surgical or non-surgical management of... Read more »

Occupational Therapy
30 June 2010
Occupational Therapy is a health and rehabilitation profession designed to help people regain and build skills that are important for independent and productive living. Occupational Therapists (OT's) are trained in the structure and function of the... Read more »

Orthopaedics
27 August 2010
Orthopaedics is the medical specialty concerned with diseases, injuries and conditions of the musculoskeletal system in both children and adults. This system includes your bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles and nerves. Orthopaedists (orthop... Read more »

Osteopathy
29 July 2010
Osteopathy is a 'whole body' system of health care, based on unique biomechanical principles, which uses a wide range of techniques to treat musculo-skeletal problem. It also plays a role in the management of a number of other conditions, including... Read more »

Pharmacotherapy (pain relief - drug therapy)
17 March 2010
In Australia, there are certain medications available to be purchased without a doctor's prescriptions, or "over the counter." These include:Paracetamol - Works purely as an analgesic (pain killer) and is safe in recommended dosages... Read more »

Physiotherapy or Physical Therapy
19 August 2010
Physiotherapy or Physical Therapy is a healthcare profession concerned with the assessment, maintenance and restoration of the physical function and performance of the body. Working in conjunction with physicians, physiotherapists can apply their ski... Read more »

Pilates
22 June 2010
The Pilates Method, developed in the 1920s by athlete and physical therapy pioneer, Joseph H Pilates, is an exercise system focused on improving flexibility and strength for the whole body (without building bulk), as well as enhancing recovery from i... Read more »

Prolotherapy
17 September 2010
Prolotherapy is a natural non-surgical method of assisting the body to heal injured tendons and ligaments. "Prolo" is short for proliferation, because the treatment causes the proliferation (growth, formation) of new tissue in areas where i... Read more »

Qi Gong
24 June 2010
Qi Gong aims to cleanse or purify the flow of qi (the essential life force of Chinese medicine) along the meridians, which are the body's focal points and channels through which its qi energy flows. Qi Gong utilises posture, movement, breathing,... Read more »

Reflexology
18 October 2010
Reflexology originally known as zone therapy, is an ancient natural healing art based on the principle that there are zones and reflex areas in the feet, hands and outer ear, which correspond to every part of the body. Through application of pressure... Read more »

Reiki
6 September 2010
Reiki is an ancient, natural healing art and science of channeling universal life energy to promote spiritual, mental, emotional and physical well-being. Healing energy is transmitted through the hands and is available to any person interested in dis... Read more »

Rheumatology
22 July 2010
Rheumatology is the medical specialty concerned with the assessment and treatment of musculoskeletal and inflammatory disorders. Rheumatologists are specially trained to find the cause of swelling and pain. It's advisable to seek early diagnosis so... Read more »

Rolfing
14 September 2010
Rolfing, or structural integration, is an original and scientifically endorsed system of soft tissue manipulation and movement education that organises the whole body in relation to gravity. It works on connective tissue, including muscles, tendons... Read more »

Shiatsu
29 March 2010
Shiatsu is a gentle but powerful holistic Japanese form of bodywork designed to heal and promote health by influencing and improving the state of natural energy in the body. Literally translated it means 'finger pressure'. Shiatsu is a combination... Read more »

Surgery
2 September 2010
People who have tried conservative methods without success and continue to have ongoing disability may be candidates for surgery. The most common procedures are: Laminectomy is performed on the lower back or neck to relieve pressure on one... Read more »

Tai Chi
26 August 2010
Tai Chi is a gentle form of martial art. This slow-intensity form of exercise is a complete holistic therapy and art, bringing balance and health to the body and mind. Tai Chi is performed slowly, evenly and thoughtfully, with an emphasis on continui... Read more »

Traction
23 March 2010
The basic theory of traction is that it stretches the vertebrae and surrounding muscles in order to provide relief and to return the spine to its original form. There are several types of traction, ranging from stretching patients on a bed manually,... Read more »

Water Exercise
4 October 2010
Water exercise is one of the best low-impact activities that improves our fitness and overall well-being. The faster you move, and the harder you push and pull, the more resistance the water provides - resulting in a gentle, but effective workout... Read more »

Yoga
12 May 2010
Practiced for more than 5,000 years, yoga (meaning 'union') is one of the oldest forms of healing therapy. Yoga today, practiced in the West, focuses on the physical postures, breathing exercises and meditation. Yoga works on the interdependence of... Read more »