Belinda Lowe is the kind of patient the medical profession is scrambling to catch up to.

The 43-year-old from Westland sees her doctor regularly, exercises and eats well and wants her health care providers to be as interested in caring for her mind, body and spirit as she is. And she wants her health care to be as natural as possible.

So when Lowe decided to have surgery last fall to get her tubes tied, she was surprised and pleased when the obstetrician/gynecologist suggested that she undergo hypnosis before surgery rather than receive anesthesia to numb her body and prevent pain.

The experience, says Lowe, was like being on a tropical vacation, albeit in a doctor's office.

"It was like lying on the beach, it was so serene," says Lowe, a project manager for a telecommunications company.

Physicians like Richard Herman, the Botsford General Hospital obstetrician/gynecologist who performed Lowe's hypnosis and surgery, are part of a new wave in the movement of therapies from the fringes of health care into mainstream medical circles. Traditional health care providers are responding to patients like Lowe by offering hypnosis, acupuncture, massage, vitamins, herbal supplements, meditation, yoga and guided imagery in addition to conventional medical care.

Much of what is considered alternative or complementary medicine is aimed at preventing illness, allowing the body to heal itself naturally and caring for a person's physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs. It also encourages people to learn about their health and the options for maintaining or improving it. For Herman, learning hypnosis and incorporating it into his medical practice makes sense for him and his patients.

"People are looking for a better way," says Herman, adding that since last summer, about 20 patients have opted for hypnosis in place of anesthesia. "If there's a way we're treating people, there's a way to do it better."

Lowe says she chose hypnosis because "I would rather see what I could do holistically before pumping myself with medicines."

Even the name "alternative" -- used to describe therapies outside the scope of traditional medicine -- can be misleading now, says Mayo Clinic physician Brent Bauer. As more health care providers offer such services, it makes sense to refer to the therapies as complementary or integrative.

"This whole realm ... is part of our culture now. It's a part of how we take care of ourselves," says Bauer, who is the director of the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at the Rochester, Minn., health system and editor of "The Mayo Clinic Guide to Alternative Medicine" (Time Inc. Home Entertainment, $24.95), a new book that attempts to debunk medical myths and assess the effectiveness of common alternative treatments. "I suspect in a few more years we'll just drop all the labels and we'll just talk about good medicine."

Fueled by aging baby boomers looking to exert more control over their health care, the alternative health industry has grown into an estimated $47-billion annual business, prompting more traditional health care providers to look at some of the therapies and incorporate them into their practices.

Many hospitals -- including Botsford General Hospital, Oakwood Healthcare System, Henry Ford Health System and St. John Hospital and Medical Center in metro Detroit -- offer such services.

As more research is done to validate therapies and as patients request complementary treatments, doctors are becoming more willing to recommend that their patients try the therapies, many as a way of relieving chronic pain, says Maria Wilson, a former physical therapist who manages her husband's medical office. She is organizing the Healing Through Partnership Expo, with displays and presentations from alternative and conventional medicine perspectives. It's scheduled for Saturday at the Best Western Sterling Inn in Sterling Heights.

Wilson's husband is physician Stephen Wilson, whose St. Clair Shores practice draws patients seeking pain relief and management.

He became certified as a medical acupuncturist and began offering other complementary treatments in his practice when he noticed that many patients were not satisfied with surgery because it didn't relieve their pain. They would head to Canada or other places to receive alternative treatments.

He then opened his own practice specializing in pain management and relief using complementary and conventional medicine.

"Now I have a whole host of other things that I can choose from to treat them, and they know it's from a reputable source," says Wilson.

Carolyn Przybysz goes to Wilson because she likes the blend of treatments he offers. She has osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and myofascial pain syndrome, a condition that causes extreme muscle pain. Wilson treats her with trigger point injections in the painful areas. The injections are a mixture of Lidocaine -- a traditional anesthetic -- and a plant-based relaxant called Sarapin in place of steroids, which would be used in conventional trigger point injections.

The injections, which she has been getting every few months for the past five years, ease the pain in her back and neck almost instantly.

"It's important for me to get it from a doctor," says Przybysz, 58, of Grosse Pointe Woods. "I'm wary of a lot of things and I want to investigate the doctor and make sure that I feel comfortable before I go for any treatments."

That those who practice conventional medicine are opening up to nontraditional practices is a good thing for patients, who will be more in control of their own health care, says Bauer.

"You've got to stop smoking, be active, eat nutritiously," he says. "That's the underpinning. None of this stuff is a magic bullet. The key to all this is having a nice foundation."

As more doctors and health care providers become interested in complementary medicine, there will be more research to determine the effectiveness of treatments, Bauer says, which will benefit patients.

While many complementary treatments such as massage, acupuncture, and some herbal supplements have been shown to work, others have not undergone sufficient research and could be dangerous. Some herbs, vitamins, minerals and other supplements are unregulated, so their effectiveness is untested.

The key, Bauer says, is that patients discuss therapies with their doctors and learn about the treatments that are billed as alternative or complementary.

For now, many insurance companies won't pay for services that are considered alternative or complementary. Some insurance policies, like certain Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, will cover or reimburse for the treatment if it is prescribed by a doctor.

"As the demand increases, you'll see more reimbursement for more things," says Carolyn Brown, a registered nurse and coordinator of the Complementary Therapies Program at Oakwood hospital, where massages for cancer patients are free.

The Oakwood program recently expanded from serving only cancer patients to offering stress and pain relief therapies such as massage, meditation techniques, guided imagery and acupuncture to anyone.

"It's kind of nice to have it in a hospital setting. ... You see the results of the incredible stress that being sick places on people," says Brown. "You have to find a way to help relieve some of the stress."