Alternative Medicine

[PArms]

I have been exposed to some alternative medicine recently and was wondering if anyone here had experiences with: Jin Shin Jyutsu, Magnets, Essential Oils, Muscle Testing?

[Yvhuce]

Generally speaking, "alternative medicines" are BS... There may be something to some herbal remedies, as some plants do have beneficial properties, but these should always be checked with one's doctor before using them, as they can also be harmful to some people (especially those with severe plant allergies). If it sounds hokey, it probly is. Use common sense, established scientific facts, and Occam's Razor. Also, avoid miracle cures, as those're just BS drummed up to make people pay for false hope. Most results tend to be because of the placebo effect.

The first one sounds japanese, so I have no clue and little interest in it. You should check with your doctor before ever actually trying something. And if it sounds hokey and promises miracle cure-style results, avoid it.

The human body is not magnetic and isn't affected by any form of magnets that could be used on it, short of an electromagnet attached directly to a power plant (which could theoretically pull the iron out of your blood and kill you). I have experience with this, in that my grandparents were suckered into buying some gold-plated magnets (neodymium if I remember correctly) when I was suffering from PHN. They did jack squat, but did make for nice fridge magnets until my other grandparents hired someone to clean the house while I was away for a week and those folks made off with them (as well as a collector's edition pocket knife I had squirreled away). The magnets in MRI machines are more powerful than any you could buy, sort of perhaps some of the industrial magnets that have been featured in Mythbusters (and those you could seriously hurt yourself with if you get between them and whatever they're trying to stick to). Unless you've got shrapnel, pens, implants, or some other form of excess metal in your body, then magnets won't even effect you (and then, it would be negatively). Avoid magnets and similar devices (like the Q-Ray), as they have been scientifiaclly debunked.

Don't know about essential oils. Check with your doctor.

Define "muscle testing". This is a vague term, which could simply be a form of biofeedback or a workout. Or it could refer to some nonsense... Again, check with your doctor.

[underwhere]

I don't always believe in "established medicine". There have been plenty of things which indigenous tribes (all over the world) have known about for years but which are not "scientifically proven". One can ask an interesting question about why there has been rather little effort to scientifically prove these highly established (within their culture) methodologies. I think the answer is not hard to find if you go looking. Just imagine what a big pharmaceutical company would have happen to them if their synthetic prescription drug has the same effect as an all natural product. The truth is that this is probably already the case, but several somebodies are financially vested in making it difficult for you to find out about it. Check out this book for a good accounting of one person's explorations. I'm sure this is not the only such book, but I have not yet read others, and this book made a significant impression on me when I read it more than 10 years ago, enough so that I still remember it now.

That being said, I would still urge extreme caution to anybody wishing to "go the natural route" alone. There are a wide number of "all natural products" which can be very harmful for you if your overall health and current drug usage is not taken into account. For example, several all natural products have been shown to cause very severe side effects when taken with certain prescription drugs. As a general rule, consult your doctor and/or pharmacist before mixing and matching natural products with prescriptions.

Also of note is that just because something says "all natural" does not mean it is good for you. Horse shit is a perfectly natural product, but I, for one, would not want to eat it. Similarly, poison ivy is all natural, but something I try very hard to avoid.

Just be cautious and careful, and a little common sense can go a long way.

[PArms]

Jin Shin Jyutsu is eastern. It uses the hands to heal naturally with your body's energy. Of course, it won't just set a broken bone or anything like that, but you can use it to keep the body harmonized so that healing occurs much more rapidly than without. It is being used successfully in Morristown Hospital in New Jersey. This is something that can't hurt you if it doesn't work. There are no drugs to take, piercing from needles, etc. At best, if the healing properties aren't a real entity, it will relax you like a massage.

Magnets (I believe they use neodymium) work by attracting your blood, because of its iron, to that spot. It brings with it more oxygen to rebuild cells and generally heal that area quickly. I was injured on my foot, and where a very large bruise would have been, a magnet was placed. Instead of a giant black and blue mark, there was a ring of coloration around a magnet sized normal skin tone.

Essential oils are certainly nothing new to this world. Their use is even documented in the bible. Frankincense, Myrrh, Spikenard. Yes these can be dangerous because they are highly concentrated parts of plants. They are comprised of many different chemicals that can be scientifically explored. They have many uses that make them part of some modern medicines. They are antifungal, antibacterial, anticancerous, antispetic, etc.

As for Muscle testing, this, http://www.goodhealthinfo.net/herbalists/muscle_testing.htm, is a good description. Basically, you ask your body something and it will answer based on your muscle strength. This is something that cannot harm you unless you take the response as gospel if you ask something dangerous.

[sarah_ab]

In regards to 'magnets' a quick search of medline data base using the key words magnet and healing...

: Eplasty. 2008 Jul 25;8:e40. Links

The effect of magnetic fields on wound healing: experimental study and review of the literature.Henry SL, Concannon MJ, Yee GJ.

Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Missouri Hospital & Clinics, Columbia, MO.

Objective: Magnets are purported to aid wound healing despite a paucity of scientific evidence. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of static magnetic fields on cutaneous wound healing in an animal model. The literature was reviewed to explore the historical and scientific basis of magnet therapy and to define its current role in the evidence-based practice of plastic surgery. Methods: Standardized wounds were created on the backs of 33 Sprague-Dawley rats, which were divided into 3 groups with either a 23 gauss magnet (group 1), a sham magnet (group 2), or nothing (group 3) positioned over the wound. The rate of wound closure by secondary intention was compared between the groups. Literature review was conducted through searches of PubMed and Ovid databases for articles pertinent to magnets and wound healing. Results: Wounds in the magnet group healed in an average of 15.3 days, significantly faster than those in either the sham group (20.9 days, P = .006) or control group (20.3 days, P < .0001). There was no statistically significant difference between the sham and control groups (P = .45). Conclusions: An externally applied, low-power, static magnetic field increases the rate of secondary healing.

also

: Br J Community Nurs. 2006 Mar;11(3):S26, S28-30.Links

Static magnets prevent leg ulcer recurrence: savings for the NHS?Eccles N.

The Chiron Clinic, Harley Street Practice, London, UK. info@chironclinic.com

The objectives of this survey were to examine the effectiveness of a static magnet device--4UlcerCare--in preventing recurrence of leg ulcers after healing. Two hundred and eighty-nine randomly selected purchasers of 4UlcerCare were telephoned and asked to complete a short questionnaire. Our focus was on the 211 respondents who had ulcers that had already healed. The average age of subjects was 70.6 years and sex distribution was 55% female to 45% male. Mean duration of leg ulcers before using 4UlcerCare was 4.4 years. Sixty-five per cent of those surveyed had had ulcer recurrence before using 4UlcerCare, with a mean of 2.41 episodes of ulceration. This was close to the expected recurrence rate in the population of 67%. Using 4UlcerCare daily, these respondents' ulcers had healed within an average of 3.57 months. The survey took place an average of 19.94 months after healing. The manufacturers advise wearing 4UlcerCare daily post-healing, and of those respondents that had, none had suffered any recurrence. Extrapolating these results across the health economy, an estimate has been made of a potential pound153.7 million per year saving on leg ulcer care to the NHS.

and again this one from 8 years ago

Altern Ther Health Med. 2001 Sep-Oct;7(5):54-64, 66-9.Links

Low-amplitude, extremely low frequency magnetic fields for the treatment of osteoarthritic knees: a double-blind clinical study.Jacobson JI, Gorman R, Yamanashi WS, Saxena BB, Clayton L.

Institute of Theoretical Physics and Advanced Studies for Biophysical Research, Perspectivism Foundation, 2006 Mainsail Cir, Jupiter, FL 33477-1418, USA. drjjacobson@aol.com

CONTEXT: Noninvasive magnetotherapeutic approaches to bone healing have been successful in past clinical studies. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness of low-amplitude, extremely low frequency magnetic fields on patients with knee pain due to osteoarthritis. DESIGN: Placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind clinical study. SETTING: 4 outpatient clinics. PARTICIPANTS: 176 patients were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups, the placebo group (magnet off) or the active group (magnet on). INTERVENTION: 6-minute exposure to each magnetic field signal using 8 exposure sessions for each treatment session, the number of treatment sessions totaling 8 during a 2-week period, yielded patients being exposed to uniform magnetic fields for 48 minutes per treatment session 8 times in 2 weeks. The magnetic fields used in this study were generated by a Jacobson Resonator, which consists of two 18-inch diameter (46-cm diameter) coils connected in series, in turn connected to a function generator via an attenuator to obtain the specific amplitude and frequency. The range of magnetic field amplitudes used was from 2.74 x 10(-7) to 3.4 x 10(-8) G, with corresponding frequencies of 7.7 to 0.976 Hz. OUTCOME MEASURES: Each subject rated his or her pain level from 1 (minimal) to 10 (maximal) before and after each treatment and 2 weeks after treatment. Subjects also recorded their pain intensity in a diary while outside the treatment environment for 2 weeks after the last treatment session (session 8) twice daily: upon awakening (within 15 minutes) and upon retiring (just before going to bed at night). RESULTS: Reduction in pain after a treatment session was significantly (P < .001) greater in the magnet-on group (46%) compared to the magnet-off group (8%). CONCLUSION: Low-amplitude, extremely low frequency magnetic fields are safe and effective for treating patients with chronic knee pain due to osteoarthritis.

i could go on there were about 50 articles just in hte past 10 years... but alas, not everyone does their research before they respond claiming something is BS..I think you are confusing alternative medicine with 'miracle cures' and tv scams. Not all 'alternative treatment methods' are just tv scams and many come from cultures that have used them effectively ohhh for about 2000 years or longer.... and remember when what we now call the medical field first emerged, chemicals and tablets, it was pretty radical and alternative for its time.

I have a neurological condition and have found that many 'non conventional' treatment methods are quite effective in helping to control my symptoms and reccurances...