There is no clear cut answer for this question. Apart from conventional modern medicine there are 100s of therapeutic options people used for centuries. Still there are many such natural or alternative or complementary or holistic therapies used worldwide like acupuncture, acupressure, aromatherapy, reiki, ayurveda, naturopathy, ayurveda, homeopathy, reflexology, siddha, Unani etc. The effectiveness varies from person to person.
First thing is if you have a very serious illness it is always better to try the modern mainstream alopathy treatment first because that is the one more advanced and acts very fast. If your symptom is too serious like a bone fracture or difficult to breath or a cardiac issue then immediately consult a registered allopathic practitioner because holistic therapies act very slowly only and not that much advanced like modern medicine.
Also if you illness is due to an external invasion of pathogens like virus or bacteria and your simptom is very severe like very high temperature or difficult to breath etc then better to go to an allopathic hospital.
When you have enough time and your symptom is not severe or if modern medicine is not working for you then consider holistic therapies. Problem with modern medicine is they treat your symptoms only. They don’t look at the root cause. You will get immediate relief but many times the real cause may remain and the illness may reappear after some time.
In alternative or holistic medicines they treat the root cause of the illness but most of such therapies work very slowly, so it will take some time to get cured but it will be permanent. Also there won’t be much side effects like modern medicine drugs.
As per the holistic approach perfect health is our basic nature. If everything is balanced in our system – emotional, physical, mental and spiritual – we will be in perfect health. So illness happens when some unbalance occurs. Also most such therapies believe that our body has all powers to cure any such imbalances in our system. We just need extra stimulation from outside to arouse that inside power. That is how sometimes even prayer cures diseases.
Now a major problem in our society is lifestyle diseases like diabetes, heart diseases, asthma, obesity, depression etc. A lifestyle disease happens when we abuse our body. It is our own mistake. So we can cure many of such diseases in the initial stages if we take immediate corrective actions. Normally these issues come due to lack of physical exercise, too much mental stress, bad eating habits etc. To a great extend these can be reversed it you take necessary actions. When your own body turns against you then something is seriously wrong with your habits and daily routines. So carefully observe what your body is trying to tell you and take necessary actions accordingly. Most of the such diseases can be corrected in this way. Disease itself means something not ease with the body. In initial stages most of the dis-eases can be corrected if you take immediate actions.
So in summary we cannot fully avoid the mainstream modern treatment because they have the most sophisticated system and more advanced treatment methods. But if the symptoms are not severe and if you get enough time before it become worse then try some home remedies or alternative treatment options. Advantage with holistic healing approaches are not much side effects and it provide permanent cure too. Disadvantages are mostly it take more time to heal compared to allopathic treatment. Also for serious and critical illness we cannot take a chance. So depends on the seriousness of the disease decide which treatment method to choose.