Wonderful overlooked fact about Obamacare--it will curtail mandatory alternative medicine coverage!

[MadHound]

9. Yet there are people who find real relief in both of those,

Myself included.

An example, thirty plus years ago I had trashed my knees growing up, playing sports, being active, having the occasional accident on them. It had gotten to the point where if I were rising from a sitting position, I would have to balance on the one leg that wasn't hurting as much while I slowly extended the knee on the other leg, generally over a period of five minutes. My knees were in bad, bad shape.

Now then, I consulted the doctor, an expert in the field, and I had the option of either living with the pain, which would increase, or he could filet my knees open(this was in the days before arthroscopic surgery) and repair the damage which would have cost me both lots of time and lots of money.

Luckily I knew somebody who patiently talked me into seeing an acupuncturist. Over a period of six weeks, with acupuncture treatments, my knees healed to the point where they were relatively pain free and fully functional, and are to this very day. Yes, I still get knee pains at certain turns of the weather, but I don't experience the everyday excruciating pain that I did when I was twenty.

This isn't some placebo effect, this is real healing. I've had my knees checked out since then to see if the damage was repaired, and yes, it was.

You may scoff at this, but frankly Asian medicine was effectively using acupuncture to heal patients back when Western medicine was still prescribing bloodletting as a means of treatment(a treatment during which many patients died). Hell, today Western medicine still prescribes drugs for various illnesses whose side effects are death. Really, seriously, death? So much for that Hippocratic oath there.

There have been clinical studies that have found acupuncture to be a legit form of healing, and it is practiced around the world. The biggest reason that Western medical "experts" still reject it is because unlike surgeries, drugs and doctor visits for years on end, acupuncture isn't a big medical money maker. It does the job and you move on.

But hey, keep putting your faith completely in Western medicine, the same medical training that has brought us anti-biotic resistant drugs, massive medical malpractice, drugs like thalidomide and so much more that has negatively impacted the health of people. Keep overpaying for practices that kill you.

Do I think that acupuncture and other alternative medicines are the be all and end all of healing, no. But neither do I believe that Western medicine is the be all and end all. I think a more balanced approach is needed, and doctors need to stop relying on corporations that sell and tell them what to prescribe, sell and tell them what procedure is appropriate. We need to stop being so Western-centric, and recognize that there are other medical traditions that are just as effective.