"Woo Wars" - What is "Woo"?

[MineralMan]

84. The only reason the alternative health care industry

survives is the fact that most human ailments are self-limited and heal on their own. Other health issues are not self-limited, though, and prompt and proper treatment may be lifesaving.

Sadly, alternative practitioners are generally not well-educated and trained enough to recognize the difference. And that's where the real harm occurs in many cases. If you go, for example, to an alternative practitioner with a sore throat, stuffed up nose, which may or may not be accompanied by a fever and cough, you can take that practitioner's advice, and your cold or flu will be gone in a few days, just the same as if you went to a doctor, or did nothing at all.

However, if, instead of a self-limiting viral illness, you actually had contracted pneumonia caused by one of the bacteria that can cause that, you might die if you didn't consult an M.D. If you wait until your condition is well advanced, you might die anyhow. And no amount of alternative health care can treat a serious bacterial infection.

This is why it's important to seek real medical care for serious stuff. We all recognize the symptoms of a cold, and most of us have had the flu, so we recognize those symptoms, too. We can just treat the symptoms, maybe stay home for a couple of days, and then recover, whether we seek medical care or not.

The same is true for most musculo-skeletal pain. Generally, a nasty back pain will go away with some rest and time. In fact, the pain keeps us from engaging the activities that make it worse. You can go to a chiropractor, who will do a manipulation, or to an MD, who will probably prescribe some pain medication and heat. Your back pain will go away in a few days or a week, either way. You can stay home and see nobody, and the same thing will happen in most cases. If the back pain does not go away, then it's important to get a proper diagnosis, since there are many causes of back pain that can be serious, including bone cancer, broken vertebrae, and other causes. The chiropractor will still just try to do adjustments and manipulations. The MD will probably refer you to an orthopedic physician, though, who has extensive training in such problems. Diagnostic tests, which might include an MRI will be done to find the reason for the pain, so that effective treatment can be provided. The chiropractor, though, has exhausted his armamentarium, and can do nothing more for you.

Western Medicine is full of specialties and diagnostic tools, along with a wide range of treatment possibilities. They don't always work, and some illnesses result in death. But, the successes are many, and most people receive care that results in a return to health, even when the problems are severe. Mistakes are made, too by physicians, but they, too are the exception, not the rule.

The alternative practitioner has only a basic set of possibilities. Sometimes what they do is either effective or not harmful and the person recovers from whatever is wrong with them. In most cases, the person would recover anyhow. But as individuals, most of us are not capable of diagnosing ourselves, so we don't know for sure whether we have a minor, self-limiting illness or problem. So, if we're smart, we visit our physician when we have something we don't recognize. In most cases, we'll be fine. If we choose to go to an alternative practitioner, though, we might not be fine, if our illness isn't one of those minor self-limiting things. Then, we might die for lack of proper treatment.

Playing the odds is fine in games of chance. For healthcare, playing the odds is playing with fire.