Have you tried acupuncture?

[Deleted]

Well I was adviced to try it by my chiropractor,

Why are you going to chiropractor? they are not qualified, or regulated and the idea of "spinal realignment" is dubious, and based on no actual evidence, at best chiropracty helps with lower back pain, an unidentified condiition wihch most likely woudl be solved with gentle movement anyway. Any forceful manipulation of the spine carries very real dangers of injury and even paralysis, and a 2012 study recommended that chiropracty not be allowed on the neck area at all, as the risk of death outweighs any of the alleged benefits.

There is no basis for it, you dont need any special qualifications, and its down right dangerous. Woudl you let a total stranger mess around with your spine? because thats what you are doing by believing in chiropracty.

[Catta]

Admit it, you just want to stick me over and over like some crazed mad scientist. All your caged "participants" are gone now and you're feeling the need to experiment.

Yeah, it's an irrational fear, but one I've had since I was a little kid. Sometimes I even pass out and wake up not breathing in a pool of sweat and tears. It's a pretty bad phobia at this point. I think "I need that!" is a pretty rational reaction though. I think a lot of people have that thought cross their mind, they're just able to rationalize that they'll make plenty more and there's nothing to worry about.

Eh, you can always just look away. If the nurse is good you wont feel it. If she is really good she will pinch you first while you look away and then do it when you look at it.

[Sayl]

I would rather have it seen as a possible way of treating people without giving them pain medication that frequently causes unease. People keep saying it is placebo as well but other than that i think that the fact that an actual chemical pain relief happens is worth noting and worth exploring.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record: the best way to prevent that is to stop trying to associate it with acupuncture.

[Catta]

At the risk of sounding like a broken record: the best way to prevent that is to stop trying to associate it with acupuncture.

What should we call it then? Therapeutic pin cushioning?

[Deleted]

Placebo, nothing more.

You do realize there is lots of studys that suggest that regular medicine, many drugs and so on, are also mostly placebo right?
So why is "real medeicine placebo" better then "alternative medicine placebo"?

[Catta]

You do realize there is lots of studys that suggest that regular medicine, many drugs and so on, are also mostly placebo right?
So why is "real medeicine placebo" better then "alternative medicine placebo"?

If real drugs are "mostly" placebo a real drug is still present. Thats what you go for - not the placebo effect. That you have sugarpills for.

[Deleted]

If real drugs are "mostly" placebo a real drug is still present. Thats what you go for - not the placebo effect. That you have sugarpills for.

There are quite a few studies that show that the drugs sold today are also placebo, so the question is still valid.
Why is "real" medicine placebo better then "alternative" placebo?

If it works it works, or?

[Annapolis]

There are quite a few studies that show that the drugs sold today are also placebo, so the question is still valid.
Why is "real" medicine placebo better then "alternative" placebo?

If it works it works, or?

What studies show that the drugs used today are mostly placebo?

[Catta]

There are quite a few studies that show that the drugs sold today are also placebo, so the question is still valid.
Why is "real" medicine placebo better then "alternative" placebo?

If it works it works, or?

Can you show me a "drug" sold as a placebo?

[Spectral]

You do realize there is lots of studys that suggest that regular medicine, many drugs and so on, are also mostly placebo right?

Well, no, there aren't. Things that are approved drugs have to be validated as both safe and more effective than a placebo.

[Catta]

*rolls eyes*

You are going to love that "placebo" when penicillin saves your life.

I didn't know that when I take an opiate for surgery that it was only tricking my body to thinking I'm not feeling the pain! Hmm, that buzz must just be a trick!

You will enjoy this placebo laughing gas. Count backwards from 100. If you feel any pain from say a knife don't be alarmed, its all in your head.

[Beazy]

I tried it many years ago and it did nothing but make me itch like crazy for a good 45 min. and I couldnt scratch my back because metal barbs were sticking out of it. Meh, to each his own I guess.

---------- Post added 2013-01-28 at 04:57 PM ----------

Can you show me a "drug" sold as a placebo?

https://www.google.com/search?q=horn...KIqx0QGqzIGQCQ

[Deleted]

*rolls eyes*

You are going to love that "placebo" when penicillin saves your life.

I didn't know that when I take an opiate for surgery that it was only tricking my body to thinking I'm not feeling the pain! Hmm, that buzz must just be a trick!

People have done surgery with acupuncture as painremover so apperntly you dont need opiate if you dont want to.
And people have gotten opiate and still felt the pain, so i does not wotk for everyone it seems.

[Sayl]

What should we call it then? Therapeutic pin cushioning?

No idea. Medical nomenclature is hardly my forte. If we were talking about astronomical naming conventions I could hazard a guess.

[Simulacrum]

You do realize there is lots of studys that suggest that regular medicine, many drugs and so on, are also mostly placebo right?

Actual medicine is tested against placebos, and the best current alternatives, to make sure that they're not only better than the placebo, but that they're better than the alternative as well (otherwise, why make it? ... patents aside).

There's a lot of bad science out there, though, so it's not unimaginable that a pill that has been lebeled as better than a placebo will absolutely certainly be, because it is possible to manipulate your results in very subtle ways to get around that. Seems very unlikely, though. Probably, any drugs you get that suck at what they do do so because of shitty, retarded drug laws.

[Stir]

People have done surgery with acupuncture as painremover so apperntly you dont need opiate if you dont want to.
And people have gotten opiate and still felt the pain, so i does not wotk for everyone it seems.

I am most definitely not buying this without credible sources and research papers.
Also: Some people can simply be not bothered by pain, or made believe to not be bothered by pain. Think of Fakir, for instance. Or Tim Cridland.
Still; hypnosis doesn't seem to be enough from what I've heard...

[Frozen Death Knight]

There may be something to the idea of stimulating your body's nerves to cause a positive reaction by using needles for instance, but so far I have not heard of any proper scientific research to it, so whatever benefits it might have, it still is pseudo-science. I am however open to it being pretty likely that it could be useful for people, considering how nerves function.

[Catta]

There may be something to the idea of stimulating your body's nerves to cause a positive reaction by using needles for instance, but so far I have not heard of any proper scientific research to it, so whatever benefits it might have, it still is pseudo-science. I am however open to it being pretty likely that it could be useful for people, considering how nerves function.

No the idea is that you change the flow of chi.

In reality you are stimulating nerves to get a pain relieving reaction.

[Deleted]

Then stick to the physio, and tell them to stop fobbing you off with the quackery.

Trust me I would, if it didn't mean insurance company holding my retirement funds. Actually told my representative at the company to go get themselves crushed under a digger and go try if playing a pincushion would help them in their chronic neuralpain.
That being said, I'm not as sceptic of the practice as you, I don't doubt that some people might get help from that and I don't call every acupuncturist a quack.

[Chiquihuite]

I suspect that there are a lot of scammers out there who take advantage of peoples' lack of understanding and the "placebo effect", but there is legitimate science behind it and those practitioners who actually understand the science are able to achieve impressive results. My wife and several of my friends can attest to that.