AIBU about alternative therapies?

[thatdamnwoman]

I have a problem with my shoulder. It's a common mechanical problem and I have physio exercises to do, but it will heal itself within a few months. I have some physio exercises and I take painkillers when it's bad.

Tonight I was out with a group and winced when putting my jacket on. Immediately several people started on at me about having acupuncture and homeopathy and buying special enzymes that help tendons and god knows what else. Everyone seems to know a chiropractor or a therapist or a herbalist who'll relieve me of a load of cash for treatments that are very unlikely to work.

I said that if all these alternative therapies really worked then surely the NHS would use them. And I asked why, when people are practising therapies that have no scientific evidence to support them, they don't do the therapy for free and then ask people to pay for results if it works.

I seem to know a lot of people, most of whom complain about being hard up, who spend hundreds of pounds each month on alternative therapies that don't seem to work judging from the fact that they seem to require perpetual treatment. AIBU?

[nocoolnamesleft]

What do they call alternative medicine that is proven to work? Medicine.

[BeBraveAndBeKind]

Actually you can get both chiropractic and acupressure treatments on the NHS. I know people who've had great success with both for shoulder and back conditions.

[thatdamnwoman]

Yes, but I doubt whether they offer acupressure for a mechanical problem like the condition I have.

[ArthurShelbysTash]

My GP practices western acupuncture and I get my treatment for migraine on the NHS.

I take a hefty amount of medication but am willing to try anything for my chronic pain. When she offered me some sessions, I accepted.

[BeBraveAndBeKind]

I said that if all these alternative therapies really worked then surely the NHS would use them. I was addressing this point. I don't know if they'll work for your specific issue but neither do you if you haven't tried them.