Trick or Treatment—The Undeniable Facts about Alternative Medicine (Electronic book text)

The little research that exists fails to demonstrate that craniosacral therapy is effective in treating any condition. Moreover, therapists struggle to give consistent diagnoses for the same patient, probably because they are attempting to detect a non-existent phenomenon. Mothers bringing their children to a therapist are sometimes impressed by the positive reaction. This is likely to be a relaxation response caused by the gentle touch and calming manner of the therapist, but these effects are usually shortlived. There are no conceivable risks, but if severely ill children are treated with craniosacral therapy instead of an effective treatment, the approach becomes life threatening.

Conclusion

There is no convincing evidence to demonstrate that craniosacral therapy is effective for any condition. Prolonged treatment series are expensive and unnecessary.

Crystal Therapy

The use of crystals such as quartz or other gemstones, for the purpose of ‘energy healing’.

Background

Crystal therapists claim that crystals can move, absorb, focus and diffuse healing ‘energy’ or ‘vibrations’ within the body of a patient. This, in turn, is said to enhance the self-healing ability of the patient. Illness allegedly occurs when the individual is misaligned with the ‘divine energy’ that is ‘the foundation of all creation’. The approach is not in accordance with our understanding of physics, physiology or any other field of science. Crystal therapy therefore lacks scientific plausibilty.

A treatment session typically involves the fully clothed patient lying down. The therapist then intuitively identifies problem areas such as blockages of energy flow and places crystals over them to restore flow or re-establish balance. One treatment typically lasts for 30–60 minutes.

Crystal therapy is normally used by patients as an addition to conventional treatments. It is employed in the treatment of virtually all medical conditions, for improving the quality of health in individuals or for disease prevention. Therapists sometimes use crystal wands as part of aura therapy in order to cleanse a patient’s aura.

Patients who believe in crystal therapy will often buy their own crystals and carry them about their person in order to treat minor conditions. Although healing crystals can be relatively cheap, healing crystal jewellery sometimes costs several hundred pounds.

What is the evidence?

There is no evidence that crystal therapy is effective for any condition. The positive effects experienced by some patients are almost certainly due to expectation, relaxation or both.

Similarly, there is no evidence that the carrying or wearing of crystals is effective for any condition. If used as an alternative to life-saving treatments, crystal therapy would be life threatening, but there are no conceivable direct risks in this approach.

Conclusion

Crystal therapy is based on irrational, mystical concepts. There is no evidence that it is effective for any medical condition.

Cupping

A treatment that emerged independently in several cultures. A stimulus is applied to certain points of the body surface by attaching cups that generate suction.

Background

Cupping is an ancient treatment that has been practised in places such as China, Vietnam, the Balkans, Russia, Mexico and Iran. Essentially, the air in a glass cup is heated over a flame and the cup is then swiftly placed on the skin. As the air in the cup cools down, a vacuum develops which creates suction. This is visible as the skin and its underlying soft tissue are partly sucked into the cup. Sometimes the skin is lacerated beforehand, and the suction then draws blood from the cutaneous microcirculation. This form of cupping was popular in connection with blood letting in Europe.

In traditional Chinese medicine, cupping can be used as one of several ways of stimulating acupuncture points. Hence, Chinese cupping has the same underlying philosophy as acupuncture.

Cupping is used to treat a variety of conditions, such as musculoskeletal problems, asthma or eczema. Some practitioners even claim to treat conditions such as infertility, influenza and anaemia. Usually it is employed in combination with other therapies. The actual treatment lasts about 20 minutes and repeat sessions are usually advised. Cupping is practised by a range of alternative practitioners including naturopaths, acupuncturists and chiropractors.

What is the evidence?