Quote:
Originally Posted by Thor
There is a lot to the 'ritual' part, its an added powerful affect that people have when visiting naturopaths and other alternative practitioners. The example is often given of a doctor's visit, they are so busy and their time so precious that you get in and out quickly with your doctor and have to endure long waits to see them.
Now take a visit to a naturpath who will talk with you for 30 mins, an hour. Discuss a whole range of issues bothering you, give you suggestions for improving your health, some of them probably good ones.
Its not strange at all why people so often choose big placebo, and why its such a massive industry world wide.
I think the only thing skeptics would say on this is ask yourself before you try something alternative, what is the evidence backing up these claims, what are the risks, and ultimately can I afford this?
My biggest problem with the whole of alternative medicine is there is so much crap mixed in with actually useful and good therapies/alt-medicines that lose credibility by being seen at the same conference with magnetic stone therapy, crystal therapy, aura photography, etc..
People so often mistrust and hate big pharma, because they make money and are evil. Its odd to me why alt medicine isn't treated with disdain, the amount of money quackery makes is outlandish, yet so few blink an eye because they feel good about words like natural, herbal, traditional, etc..
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It's the same thing as the word Organic, these words become a marketing tool. And they'll be people trying to take advantage of these trends and be phonies.
For the most part though, my experience with Holistic healing (if that's what acupuncture and IMS falls under) has been very positive.
I'm an engineer by background and that apparently makes me immediately skeptical to everything (or so my wife tells me). I am a firm believer in doing research, but I also am a firm believer in if something works for me, I'll stick with it.
The Downtown Integrative Health Clinic on 7th Ave and 8th St has been very good to me. Their staff are extremely knowledgeable about the entire human body and I tend to learn a ton while getting my treatments.
Skeptics will always be skeptics, but if a person hasn't tried it then honestly they aren't qualified to make a judgment...IMO.