martinpetersen wrote on Sep 7th, 2012, 5:49am:Well - just a shot in the dark - have you ever considered some of the alternative ways of healing, I think of techniques which deal with how our nerves work and/or how we think: Hypnosis, acupuncture, cranio-sacral-therapy, a.o. - who knows, maybe some of theses can change the ways the sensations travel round between your body and brain?
That really is a shot in the dark. None of the disciplines you mention are scientific or evidence-based. Accupuncture? I'd be willing to stick a load of pins in you for free if I thought it would help and save you the health lecture from an unqualified, non-professional "practitioner".
I don't even know what Craniosacral therapy is, but is sounds like crap to me. The 1st line on the Wikipedia article states:
Quote:Craniosacral therapy is an alternative medicine therapy used by osteopaths, physiotherapists, massage therapists, naturopaths, and chiropractors. Craniosacral therapy was developed by Dr. John Upledger around 1983 and is based on Osteopathy in the Cranial Field (OCF), which was developed in 1899 by William Garner Sutherland.
And if it's used by osteopaths, naturopaths, chiropractors and quacks, it must be BS. It wouldn't surprise me if homeopathy found its way in there somewhere. I don't know about hypnosis, but I think it's BS too. The respectable British magician Derren Brown uses a "psychological twist" in his acts. It's all showmanship and traditiional magic, but he often uses hypnotism as part of his shows and he claims that almost everyone is just playing along. He actually does many shows debunking psychics, mediums and other psychologial trickery like this.
There's no reason to go down the alternative route. Why go for alternative, when there are proven treatments available in the standard route? The alternative route is filled with snake oil salesmen, lies, false claims and is actually quite dangerous to those with serious conditions.
When I was really ill with Crohn's, I was desperate for a cure or treatment that worked aside from standard drugs. I went down the alternative route and tried herbs, diets and lifestyles and none of it worked. I must have been taking about 10 different herbal capsules a day and I'm just glad that most of that stuff doesn't work because if it had have been filled with active ingredients, it may have done some damage. I never fell for the accupuncture or homeopathy crap, that's just ridiculous; though I think there may be some evidence accupuncture has been used successfully for headaches and migraines (but really, just take some painkillers).