The first step is to find out all you can about the different therapies to see which may be best for your particular problem and personal preferences.
Advice can be sought from your GP, local complementary medicine centre, informatio resources or practitioners themselves. Asking friends or colleagues can also be useful.
If you want to take an active role in your health care and make significant changes to your lifestyle and diet, holistic approaches such as Ayurvedic medicine may be appropriate.
If you simply want a straightforward treatment for a physical ailment such as a bad back, therapies such as osteopathy or the Alexander technique may be appropriate, although even these therapies also take into account the wider picture of stress, lifestyle and emotional and psychological factors.
Often, initial contact with a complementary therapy for purely pragmatic reasons, such as pain relief, can lead a person to explore their general health within this wider context.
In selecting a particular therapy or practitioner always trust your own judgement and instincts. If you don't feel comfortable with a particular treatment or individual practitioner, walk away.

Among popular complementary therapies are acupuncture, osteopathy, chiropractic, homeopathy and herbal medicine.
Other therapies include aromatherapy and massage.
Some therapies are part of complete medical systems from other cultures, such as traditional Chinese medicine, Tibetan medicine and Ayurvedic medicine from India.
Surveys have suggested that around one in three people in the UK has tried at least one form of complementary therapy, and that one in ten GPs is actively involved in complementary medicine.
Complementary medicine is used in the treatment and prevention of a wide range of ailments, as well as for pain management and general health promotion. Some people use it for chronic ailments such as arthritis and migraine.

If you've been trying to start a family without success, making some simple lifestyle changes may increase your chance of conception and help to ensure a healthy pregnancy. However, there are some factors, such as age, ovulation problems, sperm disorders and damaged fallopian tubes, that you can't change.
Changes you can make
Eat well: if you're a woman, a nutritious, balanced diet will help improve your general health and wellbeing, and ensure your body is able to nourish a baby. If you're a man, healthy eating is also important for sperm production.
Choose a varied diet containing fresh fruit and vegetables, bread, potatoes, rice and other cereals (wholegrain, where possible), low-fat milk and dairy products, lean meat, fish and other sources of protein.
Watch your weight: being overweight or very underweight can disrupt your periods and hinder conception. A woman with a body mass index (BMI) of more than 29 or less than 19 may find it more difficult to conceive.

Five a day
Scientific studies have shown that people who eat a lot of fruit and vegetables may have a lower risk of getting illnesses, such as heart disease and some cancers. For this reason, health authorities recommend that you eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day - and it doesn't matter whether they're fresh, tinned, frozen, cooked, juiced or dried.
How much is a portion?
One piece of medium-sized fruit - eg, an apple, peach, banana or orange
One slice of large fruit, such as melon, mango or pineapple
One handful of grapes or two handfuls of cherries or berry fruits
One tablespoon of dried fruit
A glass (roughly 100ml) of fruit or vegetable juice
A small tin (roughly 200g) of fruit
A side salad
A serving (roughly 100g) of vegetables - eg, frozen or mushy peas, boiled carrots or stir-fried broccoli

The vegetables served in a portion of vegetable curry, lasagne, stir-fry or casserole
So how does this advice translate to real life? How do you make sure that you get your five portions a day? Here's some ideas:
Glass of pink grapefruit juice for breakfast = 1 portion
Small pack of dried apricots for mid-morning snack, instead of a chocolate bar or bag of crisps = 1 portion
Side salad with lunch = 1 portion
Sugar snap peas and asparagus, served with main meal = 1 portion
Strawberries with dessert = 1 portion

One of the best ways to become a better lover is to talk to your partner and find out what they like.
Before you have sex, agree that you want to find out more about what your partner likes. If you've normally made love in silence, they may feel too inhibited to respond if they're not forewarned.
Next time you're caressing your partner, ask for feedback. Think about what you're doing and what information you need. For example: "Would you prefer me to touch harder or softer?" "Do you prefer long or short strokes?"
Agree on a scaling system, so you can ask how much something turns them on. For example, zero can equal nice and ten can equal orgasm.
If you or your partner finds it difficult to describe what you'd like, try the hand-over-hand technique. When you want to show them what to do, put their hand over yours or put your hand on top of theirs and guide them.