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Delaware Today Health and Wellness: Alternative medicine, Jodi Hutchison, Barbara Donelan of Rehoboth Beach, Dr. Steve Berlin, medical director of Integrative Health at Beebe Hospital, Dr. Seth Torregiani of Agada Center, Newark

Alternative treatments complement conventional medicine.

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When battling a chronic physical condition or disease, alternative medicine is often seen as a last resort. The average person tends to exhaust all treatment options offered by conventional medicine before he or she explores alternative treatments.

But why wait? Practices such as acupuncture, reflexology, homeopathy and Ayurveda are traditional medicines— the first line of defense—to much of the world. Eighty percent of the populations in Asian and African countries depend on traditional medicine for primary healthcare, according to officials at the World Health Organization.

Jodi Hutchinson of Wilmington sees the value of, and is well-versed in, both conventional and alternative medicine. As a member of Christiana Care’s cardiac surgical team for 18 years, she worked alongside some of Delaware’s top doctors as a physician’s assistant. When she quit her job to travel through Southeast Asia, she studied with monks and lamas to learn ancient healing techniques.

Now, as an integrative health consultant, Hutchinson brings Eastern and Western medicine together for what she calls “refined healing.” She’s one of a growing number of Delaware practitioners of complementary and alternative medicine (or integrative medicine) who provide services in addition to—not in place of—conventional medicine.

At the Vein Clinic in Newark, for example, Hutchinson can use relaxation techniques with patients rather than sedation, before they undergo surgical procedures for chronic venous deficiency.

“Western medicine offers the best scientific technology and we need that to fix things,” says Hutchinson. “True healing occurs at the subtlest level … the prana (prah’nah, Sanskrit), the qi (Chee, Chinese).” Complementary and alternative medicine modalities such as acupuncture, reflexology and Ayurveda work to clear blockages to the flow of prana or qi —the vital life force that’s centered in the brain and flows along 14 meridians—or energy channels—through the body.

Page 2: Acupuncture