Some alternative therapies, including traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Ayurveda, have antique origins in East or South Asia and are entirely alternative medical systems; others, such as homeopathy and chiropractic, have origins in Europe or the United States and emerged in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Nogle alternative behandlingssystemer, herunder traditionel kinesisk medicin (TCM) og Ayurveda, har sit udspring i antikken i Øst- eller Sydasien og består udelukkende af alternative medicinske systemer; andre, såsom homøopati og kiropraktik har deres udspring i Europa eller USA og kom frem i det 18. eller 19. århundrede.