Alternative Therapies

I am open to any therapies that deviate from the scientific approach, as long as they are not harmful

Even placebo effect helps

I like to see a clear medical rationale to any alternative therapy I use. This means I am happy with osteopathy and acupuncture, but not homeopathy.

I've had great results from Homeopathy my baby on was treated with it by our GP who had trained in homeopathy too.Baby was very prem and had been treaated with a lot of drugs for 10 weeks.Gp though a different approach was needed and baby reacted well to the treatment .
I also saw the late Jan de Vries for treatment for a stomach ulcer which he cured...I had suffered extreme pain for years and the GP's had kept increasing the doses of the drugs ,which just made it worse .Within a couple of weeks my ulcer was gone and it didn't come back
It worked for me ...even if it was the placebo affect ..it worked .My baby didn't know what he was given and it worked for him too,he's 35 years old now and has been very healthy since his first few months

I was experiencing issues with my shoulders and visited a qualified and registered McTimoney Chiropractor. I was fully clothed during the whole treatment, except for shoes. She analysed my posture and then gently tapped various joints in my body. I was very sceptical and after I left the building, I walked up the road and felt like Mary Poppins! I had to look down at my feet as I honestly thought I was floating on air. This is also very good for dogs and horses too. If you are thinking of having any type of holistic therapy you must check they are qualified and registered.

After having strong painkillers and steroid injections for a long term frozen shoulder without any relief, my GP suggested I try acupuncture. Being frightened of needles I was very apprehensive but braved it for around 3 weeks, didn't feel a thing. Within the three weeks the long term pain subsided and went, never to return. I'd really recommend it as an alternative treatment (so would my GP).

I had acupuncture at my physio ‘ sessions which greatly helped my arthritis pain . It was so effective that I was given sets of needles so that I could do it myself in between twice weekly therapy . All done on the NHS.

I am extremely skeptical about anything that involves crystals or a hands off approach or anyone that talks about auras. Most other stuff I am happy to try.

I've had a problem with my right hip for the past 12 years. An excellent physio gave me exercises which addressed the discomfort very well. However in certain circumstances it can feel as though it is about to dislocate. This has been getting worse in the past year. The excellent physio had tragically died far too young and his replacement wrongly diagnosed my carpel tunnel syndrome - my own correct diagnosis) - as 'a problem with my neck' thereby costing the NHS a fortune in air travel, a full body MRI scan, several X-rays of my neck, and a great deal of anxiety all during Lockdown. Consequently, I opted to attend an osteopath who happens to specialise in the treatment of women. She has been excellent. After only 2 sessions, my hip feels much more stable than it has done for years. The discomfort remains manageable with the previous physio's exercises so hopefully I won't be costing the NHS too much for a good while yet....

I love them all
Haven’t seen a regular GP for years

M0nica

I like to see a clear medical rationale to any alternative therapy I use. This means I am happy with osteopathy and acupuncture, but not homeopathy.

I was very sceptical about homeopathy, however, my old dog was suffering with severe arthritis which the vet was unable to help with. He suggested I tried a homeopathy remedy which I did, the result was amazing, it was like getting my old dog bsck for a few more years. Incidentally she was a lab doberman cross and she lived well past her 16th birthday.

Love homeopathy. DS1 was born by forceps (remember those?😢), but I had been taking arnica. Not a trace on his head. Ditto for postnatal depression, I was given Sepia by my GP. Magic!
I’m willing to try a lot of things as long as they are not too woo woo…

I love homeopathy too, my horse was treated only with homeopathy and that is all I use for myself

Whilst people feel that Crystal Healing and Reiki are a bit way out, I would add that they both helped me a lot when I was very stressed as a carer. The therapist taught me how to relax and visualise which has helped me ever since relaxing and getting to sleep when my mind is in overdrive. These therapies are not a fix all but they are useful tools to use when you are stressed out and don't want to turn to drink or pills. Like anything, everything in moderation.

I met a "healer" who helped people without any mystique or manipulation. or mumbo jumbo. I saw him just running his hand within a few inches of someone's back .The man passed out for a few minutes and when he came round, his back pain had gone. I don't know if it was permanent.
I has sinusitis and he held my face with thumbs on my cheeks and he just talked and then said "I can feel it draining away." The sinusitis disappeared and had never returned in over 40
years. I wish I had been able to keep in touch with him as it seems to me that some people have healing hands

I love 'em all! They're gentle, non-invasive and with no side effects. I think we have a lot to learn from ancient wisdom.

I'm a wee bit uncomfortable with what "alternative" therapy amounts to. If it's "instead of" a treatment advised by a qualified medical professional, I think it could be dangerous. If it's "in addition too", and a medical professional has given it the all clear, then no harm is done. Where minor, non life-threatening illnesses/infirmities are concerned, a homeopathic approach may well be worth a try even before resorting to medical advice.. particularly so these days, with the NHS under such strain, but at the other end of the spectrum, I sadly recall the case of a dear friend of mine who, a number of years ago now, was diagnosed with cervical cancer and refused all surgery/radiotherapy/chemotherapy because she had been persuaded that limiting herself to a diet of grapes, oatmeal and some "granules" (unknown content) that she had obtained from a Homeopath, this could lead to a cure, or at worst give her more time. Sadly, she lasted about 4 months. Whether or not conventional medicine might have saved her, or if not, extended her life, we'll never know. So I'm not saying that Homeopathy is all bad, or is never appropriate, just that we should acknowledge that it has its limitations.

Long story but the ‘miracle’ comes at the end so bear with me.
Ive had back problems on and off for 40 years and ruptured a disc during lockdown. A chiropractor prescribed exercises over zoom and the pain subsided in a few weeks. After lockdown I carried on seeing the chiropractor face to face.
A year later the back pain started creeping back in and was gradually getting worse. The chiropractor said the ruptured disc had healed and this new pain was being created by my brain and nervous system !?! I asked for a private MRI scan on my lower back which showed ‘slight’ disc bulges, arthritis of spine and inflammation etc. The chiro said that’s good news as there’s nothing that you wouldn’t expect to find in a person of my age - great.
By this time I was desperate, tried lots of different things and read a lot of books on back pain - then came across a book called The Way Out by Alan Gordon. After practicing the techniques the pain started to subside after two weeks and was completely gone a few weeks later. It’s never returned.
I can’t say I was a great believer in the mind/body approach but it certainly worked for me.
I still see the chiro every two months and do the back strengthening exercises.

I had a boil on my face which was part of a tooth infection. I made a bread poultice and put it on my face overnight. It burst and that was a great relief. An old remedy that worked.

A lot of what we call alternative therapies are century old treatments that have like acqupuncture been in use on other continents for as long as western medicine has been practised or longer.

All western medicine was homoepathic in the early Middle ages, some of it worked, some of it did not, but once medicine became a university subject doctors of medicine started pooh-poohing it.

Slightly unfairly, as most of the treatment they could offer had no better success rate than that practised by the proverbial old wife or wise-woman.

In my experience many things that conventional medicine or surgery cannot deal with very successfully do respond to one or other alternative therapy - you just have to find the right one for you ailment.

The old rhyme sums it up fairly precisely, except for the last line:

"For every evil under the sun,
There is a cure, or there is none.
If there's a cure, then run and find it,
If there is none, then never mind it!"

Some of the evils under the sun, are too painful to just be ignored!

boheminan

After having strong painkillers and steroid injections for a long term frozen shoulder without any relief, my GP suggested I try acupuncture. Being frightened of needles I was very apprehensive but braved it for around 3 weeks, didn't feel a thing. Within the three weeks the long term pain subsided and went, never to return. I'd really recommend it as an alternative treatment (so would my GP).

I had acupuncture for a kidney problem and plantar fasciitis.
Cured!

After unsuccessful, Nhs, physiotherapy and steroid injections, I tried shiatsu to relieve the pain and mobility of both my shoulders. Zen Shiatsu has reduced the pain and mobility within five sessions, I now sleep better too

I had acupuncture on my ankle and heel for many months and it made absolutely no difference. Eventually I was referred to the musculoskeletal team at my hospital who told me that I had wasted my money (hundreds of pounds for many sessions) and gave me exercises to do which made a massive difference. Next time will go straight to the experts. Unfortunately waiting times for appointments take so long (in my case almost 7 months) that people will try other things which may or may not benefit them.

Many years ago I was burned out and could hardly walk to the end of the road. I did acupuncture every week for a while and my energy slowly but surely came back. When I had my first hip replacement I suffered really badly with nausea. The acupuncturist came to the house and gave me a treatment and the nausea disappeared almost immediately. In both instances it was money well spent for me. I don't think it works quite so well for muscularskeleto things , more for internal workings of the body. People get good results for fatigue, IBS, lack of appetite etc.
I've tried lots of other things too but I would say it was the most effective with tangible results.

When I was training to be an aromatherapist, the best advice that the teacher gave us was body brushing. She explained that the fluid that surrounds your bones calcifies and turns to a chalky substance as we get older, but dry body brushing keeps it more like an oily substance. For the last 27 years I have done this every day and now in my seventies, I don't have any aches and pains or take any medication. The correct way to do it is to brush up the legs, around the knee caps, up the arms and up either side of the spine. It must be a firm long handled bristle brush. It has really worked for me!