Natural healing

[LilBunnyRabbit]

Wouldn't the ultimate form of natural healing be simply to leave the body to do its stuff?

I know that this isn't exactly so, but just wondered what other people thought of defining things like using herbs as 'natural healing'. What is natural healing really, by your definition?

[Freeform]

Just letting the body get on with it without interference. When you start to take healing 'supplements' your augmenting your bodies healing abilities and that isn't natural.

In the case of what most people call natural healing, I'd think of the term 'organic' medicine (even though the general publics use of the word 'organic' is mostly out of context, sorry personal gripe ;) )

Colin

[Mike Flanagan]

Surely this is a personal definition, everyone will rightly have their own view.

If I see a shiatsu client with an acute back problem I usually do very little to address the actual problem. What I focus on is the relaxing of the surrounding tissues and the whole back (and whole body). Generally what happens is that the body will tighten up in an attempt to protect the injured part. While this affords some protection it slows down the healing process and ultimately can even prolong or worsen the problem. Relaxing the rest of the back simply makes it easier for the body to address the injured part. I'd call this pretty natural.

Mike

[LilBunnyRabbit]

Surely this is a personal definition, everyone will rightly have their own view.

Yep, and that's what I'm interested in.

[ladyhawk]

Warm relaxing shower, light easy stretching, massage and Dit Da Jow.

[wayofthedragon]

hmmm, I can agree 100% with you guys....but may I also add that for some illnessess you have to do something than just let your body do it alone. Ofcourse that would be okay for minor stuff like a cold or if something is sprained, etc....but what about something like....
hmmm....say cancer
You can't just let your body be as it battels cancer alone....I don't think......You'd die first
However, cancer can be cured with natural (not processed, but 100% natural stuff)
Like carrot juice, 100 percent from the jucier jucied by you yourself, cabbage jucie the same way, spinnach, all of those type of foods have natural cancer fighting agents in them that does heal the body. You can heal your body by the type of diet you have, or in the same way, you can bring illness on your body by the type of diet you have, or even better, you can prevent from ever even getting certain deseases based on your diet......But it's all in a natural way.
Cause see, things are here on this earth to naturally fight off certain illnesses that we get. Without side effects....
Sometime the body needs help rather than trying to do things alone.

[Saz]

I go for 'Keeping the body warm and safe while it heals itself.' If you're injured or sick, injuring yourself more will slow up the healing process.

WOTD, fruit and veg has cancer preventing agents, not cancer fighting agents. Eating 5+ fruit and veg a day is meant to ward of certain types of cancer. Personally I think that if you're going to get it, what you eat won't make much difference.

[wayofthedragon]

you may be right, but still, I know several people personaly who have been cured by changing there diet completly. It does work. But there has to be a complete change

[LilBunnyRabbit]

Who can say that magical word, placebo?

[wayofthedragon]

I can:)

have no idea what it means though:confused:

what are you trying to say ckd:confused:

[Mike Flanagan]

Originally posted by ckdstudent
Who can say that magical word, placebo?

Maybe curing cancer by changing diet is an example of the placebo effect, or maybe not. Certainly its very rare either way.

However, its easy to cite the placebo effect in order to ridicule a particular type of therapeutic intervention. Many practitioners of conventional medicine use this as a weapon to deride complementary therapies, but frequently they are doing so without the evidence of controlled studies to back up their argument. Which completely invalidates their argument, making it merely a personal opinion. Many other medical people actually turn to complementary therapies because they have seen powerful anecdotal evidence of their effects. I can count several medical practitioners amongst my clients.

On the other hand, there are conventional medical interventions which have been proven to be placebos, yet they are still prescribed.

Even in the medical profession, which one might think would be founded on reason and empirical evidence, there is much bias and misinformation based on belief and even 'faith', rather than on hard facts.

The only real indicator of the effectiveness of different therapies is the double blind controlled study.

However, even in cases where these do not pick up an effect, you will still find plenty of anecdotal evidence of individuals who buck the trend by clearly responding well to specific therapies (either conventional or complementary), which theoretically should not work.

We still have much to learn about the human mind and body. The world is not as black and white as you might like to think. In reality there are many shades of grey.

Mike

[LilBunnyRabbit]

Just because its a placebo doesn't mean it doesn't work.

In fact they recently did a study into a particular type of knee surgery. Some people were given the surgery, others were given a fake surgery where they were given the anaesthetic, taken into the theatre, and the surgeons went through all the steps they would go through (including cutting the skin) without actually performing any of the 'essential' parts of the surgery.

Those without the surgery recovered faster than those who actually had it.

It was done as a double blind controlled study.

[Mike Flanagan]

Originally posted by ckdstudent
Just because its a placebo doesn't mean it doesn't work.


Of course. That's what my first line was getting at. It has been demonstrated many times that placebos can and do work, hence the term 'placebo effect'. Hence the necessity for including the use of placebos when setting up clinical trials of new therapies.


In fact they recently did a study into a particular type of knee surgery. Some people were given the surgery, others were given a fake surgery where they were given the anaesthetic, taken into the theatre, and the surgeons went through all the steps they would go through (including cutting the skin) without actually performing any of the 'essential' parts of the surgery.

Those without the surgery recovered faster than those who actually had it.

It was done as a double blind controlled study.

I would expect the people who hadn't had the surgery to recover faster, they haven't had foreign objects jiggling around inside their joints. The real question is which group had the greatest improvement of knee function in the long term? Which is, I presume, what you were actually referring to.

There are many examples of modern medical interventions that have been highly acclaimed but then shown to be no more, or even less, effective than placebos.

I was offered an arthroscopy once. That's where they stick an optic fibre into your knee to have a look around. If they find any offending bits of cartilage they can fire a laser down the optic fibre and burn away the offending cartilage. I've met and spoken to several people who've had arthroscopies - I politely declined.

[ladyhawk]

The human mind has amazing healing powers.

[LilBunnyRabbit]

I would expect the people who hadn't had the surgery to recover faster, they haven't had foreign objects jiggling around inside their joints. The real question is which group had the greatest improvement of knee function in the long term? Which is, I presume, what you were actually referring to.

The recovery was from the original condition, not the surgery. The actual recovery rate was the same (fairly high) but of course those without the surgery didn't have any recovery time from the surgery.

[Greyghost]

hot shower....a beer.....my wife...


in that order.(mostly)

[Knight_Errant]

alternative medicine is a hell of a way to psyche yourself up, I'll give it that. But there are also things in it that actually work e.g. herbalism, some forms of reflexology, that sort of thing. You just gotta use your noggin- if it sounds like ******** don't do it.

[Spike]

hot shower....a beer.....my wife...


in that order.(mostly)


what about at the same time? ;)

[aikiMac]

You get a paper cut or you skin your knee, it heals. Why?

Whatever promotes that healing without adverse side effects is "natural healing," and the things that do that are plants and manipulations of the body. This world was made for us, and we were made to live in it. Everything we need for health is growing in the ground somewhere. Ex. of "natural healing" remedies include echinacea, brown rice, vitamin C, all those herbs in Chinese apothcary shops, chiropractic care, accupuncture, massage. The human body is truly remarkable and awe-inspiring. It will heal itself if you give it what it needs. There are probably a dozen "natural healing" cures for the common cold sore throats and influenza, and there are at least 3 cures for cancer.

[zen_tiger_claw]

eastern remedies are an excellent method of natural healing. (speaking from experience)

[Cal_JJ]

I have always had a bit of a problem with the term "natural healing" it suggests un-natural healing exists & I don't beleave that that is possible... healed is healed.

I prefer "Traditional Methods vs Industrial Methods," and they both have their place.

[aikiMac]

Originally posted by zen_tiger_claw
eastern remedies are an excellent method of natural healing. (speaking from experience)
I concur, though I would add chiropractic care also. They are far superior to American medical doctors for everything except surgery.

[shunyadragon]

Even some animals are know to eat certain things and use muds to promote healing and as a preventive meassure.