Alternative Therapies or Complementary Medicine are terms for treatments and practices not typically used in conventional Western medicine.  Conventional medicine refers to the standard care that a patient receives from medical doctors (MD), doctors of osteopathy (DO) and other health professionals such as nurses, psychologists and physical therapists.  A practitioner of alternative therapies or complementary medicine may use herbs, acupuncture, chiropractic medicine, yoga, biofeedback, hypnosis, or homeopathy to treat a patient outside of standard care.