Acupuncture..

The removal of blood can help a handful of conditions (does your H have hemochromatosis?). But the practice of bloodletting traditionally refers to the removal of blood to 'balance the humours' and it is overwhelmingly harmful to the vast majority of people. That didn't stop it being used again and again, by people seeking to promote their own brand of nonsense. George Washington had 4 litres of blood removed before he died (he had a sore throat).

So I went last night had had a consultation etc. I was made to do lots of stretching exercises and talked about my posture etc

I had acupuncture as well, and it was fine, no pain just a warm tingly sensation. I've also had strapping put on my shoulder as he said that I'm allowing my shoulders to droop into an unnatural position. The strapping is kind of holding them up in the right place...

He does have hemochromatosis. Ah, I know it's not the same thing. I'm just wondering if it's still classed as a type of bloodletting?

A lot of horror stories are due to doctors/nurses incompetence or indifference.

That doesn't mean that we should take it as a norm. I trust the NHS blindly, think it has a great network of professionals and was always treated right, but like any line of work, of course is not perfect. So is the same about acupuncturists. That's why I stressed before to look for people who know what they are doing and are proven so.

Good luck! Hope your migraine and back problems are a thing of the past soon!

Let us know how it goes

xx

I find it morally wrong personally. A friend of mine tore a ligament in her foot and one of her facebook friends recommended she try "energy healing" instead of physiotherapy. If my friend was an idiot and went along with it, she could have spent £150 per session (she told me this is how much it costs per session after her friend sent her the details) for someone to wave their hands around her foot, instead of having a treatment which is scientifically proven to be beneficial. Even if it eased the pain temporarily through the placebo effect, it could have caused herself a lot more damage in the long run, as well as the financial loss.

I would consider acupunture for my own health problems if it was free (or very cheap) with a "oh well, if it works it works even if it's a placebo" attitude, but I wouldn't do it instead of conventional treatments which unfortunately a lot of people do, and that's where it gets dangerous.

Ok hands up I was naive to the risks.

Peanut for me the difference between energy healing and acupuncture is that your doctor wouldn't refer you for the former. I would assume if a doctor recommended acupuncture to me that they would think it would help me. At that stage I would then probably do my own research anyway.

Personally I know acupuncture wouldn't be for me but I think I could see how the placebo effect might work on people who feel they've exhausted all other medical routes

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Indeed it is. However issues arise because people aren't well informed and believe that acupuncture, homeopathy etc will cure their ailments and they then stop conventional medicine because of it. For something like a sprained ankle not so much of an issue, but for something like cancer? The consequences are huge.

Plus Princes Charles is a massive advocate of homoeopathic "medicine" which is another good reason to avoid it.