The Single Most Frustrating Thing About (Most) Alternative Medicine

I recently read a case study written by a fellow naturopath that extolled the virtues of natural medicine. As the editor of a national naturopathic medicine publication, he used the story of a pregnant woman with nausea to illustrate the unique power of our medicine.

However, when I read it, I recognized the case as a perfect illustration of how frustrating alternative medicine can be.

The physician who wrote the article is a chiropractor and naturopath whose practice is nearly 100% muskulo-skeletal issues. He said that he nearly always refers patients out for other issues, but this case was a woman who requested that he treat her pregnancy-related nausea.

This physician tried, in a series of appointments: ginger root, rasberry tea, pre-natal vitamins, a blood-type diet, acupuncture, acupressure, and spinal manipulation. None of these treatments worked, but the patient persevered.

Finally, the physician reached further in to his toolbox and prescribed a homeopathic remedy that cured her on the spot. The physician noted, “we are so fortunate as naturopathic physicians to be trained in many modalities. … This case reminded me that [we can treat on a much more personalized level] when we are equipped with so many different tools.”

This case can certainly be hailed as a success, since the patient was healed and no harm was done by the initial treatments that didn’t work. But I can’t help but feel badly for the woman for having to go through so much trial and error to get results. I mean, it probably cost a significant amount of money to keep returning to this physician for his next guess.

This is exactly the kind of situation that frustrated me when I practiced naturopathic medicine. How did I know what would work for a patient? (I didn’t.) And just like this physician, I didn’t think that there was any way to know, either. I could try and learn from each patient and apply that knowledge to the next one with similar symptoms, but each patient was so unique that what cured one person might have no effect on the next.

Meanwhile, patients are forced to try treatment after treatment, doctor after doctor in search of a solution that works.

What’s the answer? How do we figure out what each patient’s individual needs are? I thought I could find out by doing all sorts of fancy lab tests, but it turns out that the answer was sitting right in front of me the whole time.

When I use the BodyTalk System to consult the innate intelligence of each patient, the treatment becomes more precise and powerful than I ever thought possible. Healing happens right in front of me, every day, and I’m doing little more than harnessing the healing tools that the patient walked through the door with.

Two years ago, I would have wholeheartedly agreed this case of nausea was a great success. But now that I know better, I see it as another sign of how far alternative medicine needs to go.

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