Alternative Therapies? Why Not?
Has anybody else noticed the increasing frequency of negative reports and news releases about alternative health
therapies and modalities? Is it just me, or are certain groups feeling threatened, and need to lash out? Most people, if they disagree with something, just shrug their shoulders and move on. If you don’t like a particular dentist, you don’t say that dentistry is bad – you find one you like. If you get a bad hairdresser, you don’t put billboards beside the highway saying that hairdressing is bad.
Actually, having your hair done can cause a stroke. Did you know that having your head back in the basin when your hair is washed is not a healthy position? But is that plastered all over the media? No! Because the incidence is so small it is not statistically significant. Just like the incidence of chiropractic adjustments (performed by properly qualified and licensed persons not people who have completed a weekend course in “manipulation” and calling themselves chiropractors!) causing strokes. The incidence is incredibly small. So why are the media screaming about the dangers of Chiropractic and other forms of “alternative” health care?
Where is the outrage about iatrogenic deaths? “Causes of iatrogenesis include medical error, negligence, and the
adverse effects or interactions of prescription drugs. In the United States, from 120,000 to 225,000 deaths per year may be attributed in some part to iatrogenesis.” Source: Wikipedia [link here]. Do you know why the cost for malpractice insurance for a medical doctor is significantly higher than for a Doctor of Chiropractic? Because the likelihood for a malpractice claim is so much lower for a Chiropractor. It’s safer! In fact, my premiums went down by 10% last year! And insurance companies know the facts about claims.
Who is benefiting by denigrating alternative medicine? Is it simply to prevent freedom of choice, or is there another agenda? I don’t know. But there’s a lot of food for thought here.
References: [link here], [link here], [link here], [link here], [link here], [link here]. And there are plenty more!
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Reader Comments
I’ve tried Chinese medicine a couple of times, but it hasn’t had any positive effect thus far. I’m still open to different ways of medication tho. (Apart from acupuncture, needles scare the hell out of me.)
As for your comment on why I didn’t go to a GP, it’s because there aren’t any GPs in China. You want to see a doctor? You go to hospital!
Chinaren´s last blog ..Fever
It is so true that one must really do their research theses days when going to any physician or therapist. In my work I have run into more women that have been overcharged and kept in sessions for nothing more than the so-called-therapists job security. It is baffling how many people are profiting from others demises.
Your thought on Chiropractic care is also scary…I have had the same Chiropractor for 15 years and when I do have to go to another because he is on holidays…it is horrible. So many of them have no clue what they are doing which makes it very clear that they are not actually professionals.
Awesome awareness post as always
Hi Dorothy. Yes we get used to the style and techniques of our current practitioner. It takes me ages to get used to a new Chiropractor, because they are all so individual. And always ensure that you are seeing a therapist who is qualified and also who is a member of their professional association. Here, that would be the Australian Chiropractors’ Association. That ensures they are in good standing.
I think that some of the alternative therapies are wonderful and at least they offer hope. I once purchased a book called hand reflexology. At the time I had the most awful neck pain and nothing would get rid of it. The book advised massaging an area near the thumb. I must admit I thought it hadn’t a hope of working but after only a few times of trying it out my neck felt 50% better and by the time I had done it for a few weeks it was cured.
All of the therapies are trial and error but unless they are harmful then I would say they are well worth a trial – it’s surprising and wonderful when one of them work, especially when everything else has failed.
Polly´s last blog ..Cuckoo
Just stopping in to say hello to you two wonderful peeps. I hope all is well. I have been really wrapped up with church and my class I am taking there. Wow, I feel like I have no time and when I do I am swimming in the pool if weather permits for therapy.
God bless,
Jodi
Jodi´s last blog ..I Got Your Mama
No, I haven’t noticed an increase although I am aware of varying degrees of disdain and outright dismissal of alternative therapies. I also remember a quote that describes what you’re saying:
“Attack is the best form of defense”
I’ve had the rare (though noteworthy)experience when someone who’s asked me what it is I ‘do’ has said, after listening (?) to my response, “I don’t understand that”. On those occasions, I have asked them: Do you wish to understand it?
The response has always been a much more interested, respectful and embarrassed “Oh, yes”.
But getting back to iatrogenic causes of death or defect…I could cite enough examples among my own family and friends which have caused me to think…
“Now if this medical disaster had been the result of so-called ‘alternative’ practices, wouldn’t the entire profession be tarred with the single brush?”.
Whereas in the case of so-called ‘traditional’ medical practice, the doctor alone, gets a bad rap, if at all she/he does.
What I do find especially unacceptable is that often, while the cause of the symptom/disease is unknown or inconclusive, it does not seem to prevent doctors from prescribing medications/procedures anyway, some of which can be extreme. And always, WITHOUT guarantee. In other words, they have a license for ‘trial and error’! I don’t think there are too many professions where such a license is available and so highly respected…
Lucy Lopez´s last blog ..Planting seeds of happiness and financial independance and providing them with the right conditions