Naturopathy is a growing area of alternative medicine in Australia, but has been a popular field in other countries, particularly Asia, for many decades. It involves herbal remedies and homeopathy and is sometimes known as natural health.

What is Naturopathy?

Naturopathy is a form of health care that concentrates on overall wellbeing and relies on natural remedies rather than manufactured pharmaceuticals. Naturopathy can benefit people with many conditions, especially chronic conditions, but should not be used as an alternative to modern medicine in where a serious medical condition, blood loss, infection or children are involved. It is important to use natural remedies only where appropriate. For example, if you have tonsillitis, you should go to your GP to seek immediate and effective treatment to stop the infection from spreading but you may wish to seek assistance from a Naturopath to reduce the risk of the infection from reoccurring.

Medicare Coverage

At the time of writing, Naturopathy services aren’t covered by Medicare. Some private medical insurance companies cover natural remedies so make sure you check any private coverage that you have in place. The most common form of natural medicine is massage and most private medical funds will cover this under their extras cover.

Many Naturopaths will also supply you with natural medicines. You need to understand that these aren’t covered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and may be more expensive than prescription medicines.