Exams were hell, should have revised my crystals and magic water.....
A Handy Guide to Woo and Assorted Superstitions
by cofty 20 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Hortensia
Well, I have to say a little about reflexology and Rolfing. Of course, the claims they make for reflexology are unscientific and unbelievable, but the massage itself is quite nice and it does relax your foot muscles, make your feet feel better. As for Rolfing, Rolfers have moved on past Ida Rolf. What's wrong with Rolfing isn't the technique itself -- that's actually a very effective massage technique specifically for releasing tension/scar tissue in connective tissue. I did it for years, just calling it connective tissue massage. It's the exagerrated claims these folks make that are bullshit. Also, and you Rolfers out there -- I don't care if you don't like this, Rolfing is the type of massage that causes most injuries. I have met many aggressive Rolfers who think that they know best, that pain is good for you, and that if you have "armoring," you need to have it removed. They give the massage technique a bad name and do unnecessary damage.
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cofty
Thanks for that balance Hortensia.
I'm also curiouis about acupuncture. It seems to be approved by many doctors but the explanation about energy systems sounds like nonsense. I wonder if it as any positive effect for some other reason or is placebo?
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Comatose
I thought the needles in acupuncture hit nerves and that was why it had some real tangible effects? But I just thought that, I can't back it up.
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JeffT
What's interesting about acupuncture is that it seems to work for somethings (pain management, addiction treatment for example). What isn't known is how it works. Placebo effect would explain a lot but not everything. Interference with nerve signals or release of neurotransmitters could explain how it works in pain control. Here's a link to an NIH abstract of an article about it.
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cofty
Thanks.
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Julia Orwell
Hey Shiatsu massage helps with muscle tension so it's not quackery. Maybe some of it is, but any kind of massage is nice for the muscles. And chiropractic straightened out my wonky back and stopped the pain. So while all the crap they go on with is bunk, the fixing of the pain is real.
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Jeffro
What about oneiromancy (dream divination)??
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LisaRose
No one knows how acupuncture works, but it does work. I have had it done, it's not a cure all by any means, but it works. The first time, obviously I was nervous about getting dozens of needles stuck into me, but as soon as they went in I felt completely relaxed, I could have fallen asleep. It doesn't really hurt, the needles are very tiny. It it used extensively in China, even as a substitute for anesthesia. Not everything that has not been explained by modern science is woo, although I agree most of it is.
My current favorite scam is Kangan water (alkaline water). The process of turning water alkaline is not a scam, it can be done, and the resulting water can be an effective cleaner. But it does not cure disease or have any special health properties. The machines cost upwards of 6k, and are sold by MLM I believe.
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Hortensia
I've read a bunch of the research done on acupuncture. Some of it is laughable. For instance, some of the studies I read separate people into three groups -- a control group with no treatment, a group that gets "real" acupuncture on "real" acupuncture points, and a group that gets "sham" acupuncture on "sham" points.
That starts with an unproven assumption -- that acupuncture points exist, have identifiable properties and can be mapped. And an assumption that if the acupuncturiest doesn't exactly needle the correct spot there will be no effect.
And yet, people claim good results from acupuncture. More reliable are studies that have groups of people with similar symptoms, such as back pain, divided into groups that get massage, acupuncture for another group, chiropractic for another group. Even there you have problems removing bias -- how do you make sure the technician does the same thing the same way identically for each person? And the results are pretty subjective, often before and after questionnaires about pain level.