Some of these methods are placebo, some of these maybe aren't, but there is no scientific evidence that would support alternative medicine. But surely, some of this things are really working! I will write this as some kind of analysis and I will not take any side or judge regular medicine (biomedicine) nor alternative medicine in this post.
What is alternative medicine?
This term is used for each practice that is claimed to have healing effects, but without scientific evidence for it's effectiveness. In many cases it is contradicted by science. There are many methods which are parts of alternative medicine. Some of them have shown to be effective, but some of them are harmful and dangerous. There are new and traditional healing methods, I can not enumerate them all, but some of them are homeopathy, chiropractic, energy medicine, acupuncture, traditional Chinese medicine, faith healing...
It is very difficult to prove effectiveness of alternative medicine. In most cases, it is based on religion, tradition, superstition and supernatural. Some of these method were fake or based on wrong facts, but on the other side, you can find many cases where alternative medicine was successful.
COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE is type of alternative medicine which is used together with conventional medicine to improve it's efficacy, but that isn't proved by science (CAM - Complementary and Alternative Medicine).
INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE is combination of alternative and conventional medicine.
Some methods of alternative medicine are based on pseudoscience, which means that they claim to be scientific, but there is no any real scientific evidence for that. In China and India you can find many methods of traditional healing. There are also many types of alternative medicine based on food, religion and beliefs of an individual.
Homeopathy was established by German doctor Samuel Hahnemann in 18th century. He claimed that some substances that cause the disease in healthy people would cure same symptoms in sick people. Science claims that homeopathy is placebo based on pseudoscience. There is no any effect of homeopathy that can be proved by science. Today there are many pills referred as "homeopathics" and they are made from different types of sugar.
Naturopathic medicine is based on belies that body can heal itself with help of supernatural energies and it opposes conventional medicine.
Biofield healing claims that people can be healed by energy in our bodies and around us.
Chiropractic is treatment of mechanical disorders of musculoskeletal system, because they believe that mechanical disorder of spine affects the nervous system. It is largest alternative medical profession. It started as folk medicine of bonesetting. It can be helpful to reduce pain in the back, pain in the neck, headache... But it is not for everyone. You can not try chiropractic if you are diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis because you could get worse. And it can be dangerous if it is practiced by unskilled healer.
Acupuncture is one of traditional Chinese methods of healing. Chinese developed their traditional ways of healing based on "qi" energy, they believe that "qi" is central energy of life. Along with acupuncture, there are massages, exercises, dietary therapies, Chinese astrology, Chinese numerology... Science found that acupuncture really helps, it is successful in reducing of chronic pain and it is not considered as placebo.
Ayurvedic medicine is traditional Indian medicine. It's about balancing the body using herbs, minerals and heavy metals. Modern science proved that many Ayurvedic medicines contain toxic substances as mercury, led and arsenic.
Mind - body medicine explores connection between min, body and spirit. It includes meditations, breathing exercises, tai chi, hypnotherapy, yoga... It can be very successful in way to prevent a disease, especially yoga, which contain stretches, exercises, meditations with long history connected with Hinduism.
Herbal medicine or phytotherapy practices using of plants, animals or minerals that contain some substances which can be useful and helpful to our bodies (Omega 3, glucosamine, ginseng...). It is one of the most successful branches of alternative medicine, but still with low efficiency.
Faith healing is healing based on religion. People are convinced that prayer can heal their diseases. We have Christian practice of laying of hands. Christian science claims that healing is possible because of God's perfection. It can be also listed as placebo, because I talked to some people that were helped by laying of hands, but soon pain has returned to them.
So, what did I try?
I am diagnosed with ankylosing sponylitis, it is autoimmune disease of axial skeleton. I look normal, I won't die because of it, but quality of my life is reduced because I can't rotate my neck a bit. I just look straight ahead and that is the way I am. Pain was impossible before I stopped the progress of disease. So, I tried go to chiropractic. Man was honest and told me that he can't help me, only make it worse. I tried acupuncture and it really reduced the pain, I am very graceful for that. My mom convinced me to go on laying of hands. I am not a religious fanatic and it all looked funny to me. Charismatic priest lay his hands on people and they just crush down. I crushed down too and I fainted, others told me that I had fit of laughter. It kinda helped me but only short termed. I even started connecting it with different types of biofield healings and other religions.
Anyway, conventional medicine gave me a therapy in the biological cure called Simponi. Along with my way of life, full of moving and exercises, I managed to stop the progress of disease.
I talked to some people who claim that alternative medicine helped them a lot, but I also talked to ones who describe it as waste of time and money. Who would know? But I do believe that most of diseases can be healed by natural substances and positive attitude!