Tell Your Doctor about the Benefits of Complementary Therapies

I recently read that most people are reluctant to tell their GPs that they are using complementary therapies.  There is a perception that GPs will not approve.  But if you find a complementary therapy helpful for your ailment, your GP would want to know.  Many doctors have not been trained to recognize the advantages of complementary therapies and perhaps they should be given the opportunity to examine them.  Many of their patients would be going to them for a quick fix and would possibly not be willing to persevere with the more holistic, but possibly slower results of complementary therapies. Complementary therapies, and I'm writing mainly with my knowledge of massage, supports your well being and should be an aid to any treatment you are receiving from your doctor.  After all, we are talking about complementary therapy. If you are under your doctor for an illness or condition it is sensible to tell him or her that you are receiving complementary therapy;  your complementary therapist would want to know about your medication and would not want the therapy to interfere with your treatment. If the complementary therapy is contra indicative to your medical treatment then you certainly would not want to continue; but so often doctors believe that you will just be wasting your money.  So be it,  if the complementary therapy helps you feel stronger and possibly leads to you needing less medication then that is a really positive result that your GP would want to know about.