Evaluating any medical claim carefully is crucial, no matter the source. With so many false or overblown claims about alternative and complementary treatments, I’m pretty skeptical. Alternative Medicine: Evaluate Claims of Treatment Success from the Mayo Clinic can help sort fact from fiction.
The section on avoiding internet misinformation is a must-read. Other topics in the article beware of health care scams and fraud, looking for solid scientific studies, evaluating providers and dietary supplements, and integrating Western medicine with complementary treatments.
Related articles from the Mayo Clinic include:
Thanks for sharing your experiences. Most people tell me they’ve had mixed experiences. I’m glad you’ve found something that helps at least a bit.
Great point, Barbara. I totally agree. Here are a couple posts about just that:
http://www.thedailyheadache.com/2005/07/critical_thinki.html
http://www.thedailyheadache.com/2007/05/medical_study.html
Acupuncture has completely stopped the uncontrollable vomiting with migraine, which is a HUGE RELIEF! However, the frequent, severe migraines continue. Still trying the acupuncture.
The massages I get loosen the “locked up” muscles I get from (or with?) migraines. But doesn’t affect the frequency or severity. In fact, if I dare get a massage during a migraine (even at the beginning), it turns into a big migraine, so I avoid that.
I do have to say that having tried most of the alternative medicines, acupuncture and massage are probably the best for headaches but don’t do much for migraines. I got botox in my forehead (A HUGE HELP!!) which seems to allow any other therapies a chance to work. My next step is to get back into yoga which I know helps with stress.
I agree that we have to evaluate treatment claims, and providers. But I have found this as necessary to do with western medicine as with alternative approaches. Clinical trials may be the best we can do, but they are still imperfect, too short-term, and often have inadvertent biases.