Alternative therapies and overall health

Alternative therapy has never been a "substitute" for mainstream medical care, but a supplementary option in the overall health management system - its value lies in covering the "state adjustment" blind spots that mainstream medical care has not reached, and improving the quality of health from multiple dimensions of physiological feelings, emotional states, and social connections. However, it has a clear safety boundary and cannot be mythologized as a miracle cure for all diseases, nor does it need to be completely dismissed as an IQ tax.

A while ago, I helped a friend who works in Internet operations treat chronic migraines. She went to the hospital for a full set of examinations and found no organic disease. She felt nauseous after taking the painkillers prescribed by the doctor. In severe cases, she couldn't even go to work. Later, I suggested that she follow the doctor's instructions and prepare medicines, do shoulder and neck massage at a regular traditional Chinese medicine hospital once a week, and take 10 minutes a day to do mindful breathing. After 3 months, her headache frequency dropped from three times a week to once a month at most. The insomnia she had endured for five or six years was mostly cured, and her overall state became more than a little relaxed.

In fact, this situation is not an exception. The WHO's 2021 Global Report on Complementary Therapies mentioned that 40% of adults around the world will use at least one alternative therapy in addition to conventional medical care. Whether it is acupuncture, meditation, bone setting, or aromatherapy, the core appeal of people using it is mostly not to "treat diseases" but to make themselves "more comfortable" - this just hits the mark. The blind spot of mainstream medical care: The core of mainstream medical care is to "treat diseases", that is, to solve existing organic diseases, but overall health requires "whole person comfort." This ranges from sore shoulders and necks caused by sitting for a long time, to inability to sleep due to stress, to long-term emotional exhaustion caused by chronic diseases. These discomforts that are not as serious as "illness" are exactly where alternative therapies can play a role.

But the voices of opposition have never stopped. Many of my friends who practice evidence-based medicine frown when they mention alternative therapies. The bottom line is that most alternative therapies cannot produce large-sample double-blind controlled experimental data that meet modern medical standards. Last year, a JAMA sub-journal published a study saying that the effectiveness of aromatherapy intervention for primary dysmenorrhea was less than 2% different from that of the placebo group. To put it bluntly, psychological effects account for the majority. Not to mention the so-called "energy healing" and "quantum massage" that are so popular that they have been counterfeited countless times and are purely scams to collect IQ taxes.

The most outrageous example I have ever encountered was Aunt Zhang in the community last year. She was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. After listening to a health class that said taking anti-diabetic drugs would damage her liver, she secretly stopped metformin to do some "natural therapy". She drank fruit and vegetable juice every day without eating. Finally, she was admitted to the ICU due to ketoacidosis and almost had a serious accident. This is also the core reason why many people are opposed to alternative therapies: once the boundary is crossed and "complementary" is regarded as "replacement" and formal treatment is delayed, it will be fatal.

But what’s interesting is that now the two sides are actually slowly getting together. The pain department of a tertiary hospital near my home now routinely prescribes a combination of acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. For patients with postoperative chronic pain, the effect is better than painkillers alone and has fewer side effects. ； Many doctors in the field of psychosomatic medicine will also prescribe "mindfulness exercises" to patients with anxiety disorders. When combined with drug intervention, the recurrence rate can be reduced by about 20%. To be honest, as long as it can make patients comfortable and does not violate medical safety principles, it is not that important whether it is mainstream or alternative.

To use an inappropriate analogy, mainstream medical care is like a car 4S store. If your engine pulls a cylinder or a tire bursts, you have to go there to get it repaired. It’s useless to rely on anything else.； Alternative therapy is like cleaning the interior of your car, spraying your favorite aromatherapy, and regularly coating the car paint. You can’t just say that if the engine breaks down, you need coating to repair it, right? But if you do these little things regularly, you will indeed feel more comfortable when driving, and it can also reduce the probability of many minor problems.

I have been doing health science popularization for so long, and my biggest feeling is that health is never a "black or white" multiple-choice question. If you believe that meditation can relax, then take 10 minutes to sit for a while every day, regardless of what others say about IQ tax. ； If you feel that you really feel comfortable after massaging your shoulders and neck, then go find a regular technician to do it. Don’t stop taking the medicine prescribed by the doctor just because someone claims it can cure lumbar disc herniation. The core of overall health is never "what method to use", but "whether you are really comfortable" - as long as you keep safe boundaries and what suits you is the best.