Alternative Medicine Snake Oil

There's one thing that really upsets me about alternative medicine, and it's the snake oil salesmen. You know, the ones selling crap but telling everyone what miracles it works?

The latest scam was silver nitrate that really irritated me. No wait, it's called silver colloidal. It's basically silver suspended in water. Drink it and you'll amazingly be healthier! It's anti bacterial, has healing properties, why in the old days everyone used it on cuts instead of antibiotics! Everyone was healthier then.

My mom even fell for it. Bought a bottle of it. I started researching it and found out that silver on wounds actually does work, it really is healing. But only topical! Not if you drink the stuff! The theory that silver can heal from the inside out is just not true. The only thing it does is turn your skin permanently grey-blue. Like a half dead smurf.

I went to the local organic store looking for some herbal medicine and I saw the colloidal silver for sale. I couldn't believe it. Didn't they know about that stuff? I asked the sales lady if she knew about the silver colloidal. She took it to mean that I was interested in buying it. She must have went on for 5 minutes about how wonderful it is, has so many amazing properties, there's scientific research backing it up, etc. Here is this sales lady just regurgitating the promotional material that came with the bottle. She probably had no idea that all those claims were true, if you use it topically but not if you drink it! But drinking it is exactly what the bottle is for.

Just because it's mass produced, and looks like a real product, does not mean that it is indeed doing what it claims. Or that it's safe. Many people are quite shocked to find out that nutritional supplements, herbs, vitamins are not regulated. No one at all enforces the manufacturers. If they say it's 100% something, you just have to take their word for it. There has been no tests to prove it.

All this time I thought it was regulated, but nope. Not one bit. We Americans think we lead the world, and everyone else isn't living as good as we do. But there is some major waking up that America has to do. Many countries in Europe even have regulated herbal medicines and supplements for years. They're actually prescribed as medicine too. Why does America stick it's head in the ground and ignore making sure the vitamins/supplements that we put into our bodies are not hurting us?

It's nothing but corporate greed.

Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine

There are over 50 Acupuncture Schools in the United States. Acupuncture laws differ from state to state, therefore, each acupuncture school entails its own philosophy and instruction outline. Acupuncture School education and training is approximately 3,000 credit hours. Because there are varying therories of Acupuncture, some schools teach the 5-Element style of acupuncture as opposed to the more familiar TCM style. While some acupuncture schools have mandatory herbal curriculum, other acupuncture schools list this course-study as an option.

The main purpose of attending an acupuncture school is to be educated and trained to be healers in the art, to learn the science and philosophy of acupuncture, and to be instructed in herbal and Oriental medicine. Attaining a professional license as an acupuncturist is rewarding in many ways. One not only learns to heal others but also learns to heal himself - spiritually, mentally and physically.

Fundamentally, all aspects of traditional Oriental medicine are introduced in the first year of academic instruction. This includes acupuncture, herbal medicine, anatomy, body therapy, biosciences and Tai Chi. This prepares the aspiring acupuncturist for clinical apprenticehsip. During the second year at an acupuncture school, classroom experience teaches in-depth philosophy of acupuncture practice, Oriental medicine and advance needling techniques.

Apprenticeship begins with licensed acupuncturists in a clinical setting. During the third year of acupuncture school training, students begin practicing on their own patients as interns. Acupuncture school classroom instruction is mainly comprised of clinical case discussions; thus, deepening acupuncture therapy understanding. If you'd like to learn more about acupuncture schools, please visit the link below or click on the directory button at the top of the Holistic Junction homepage for more targeted search by category and state.