Why Consumers Turn to Alternative Medicine

In June of 2009, the Journal of Consumer Research published a study  that asks in layman’s terms why consumers choose to use alternative medicine. Based on surveys done in the US, China, and India, the authors found that consumers prefer alternative medicine when they are uncertain about the cause of an illness because holistic medicine tolerates uncertainty better than western medicine. Most alternative modalities favor a holistic approach, view the mind and body as a whole system, and rely on inductive tools and methods for treatment. The study also found that survey respondents preferred holistic approaches because they tend to focus on underlying sources of the problems rather than symptom alleviation, which is the focus of western medicine.

In another study reported in the June 2008 Journal of General Internal Medicine, primary care physicians who see the bulk of patients with chronic pain are frustrated by the limited options of western medicine (opioid drugs, physical therapy, or surgery), and the overwhelming numbers of alternative therapies which are only now being researched more empirically. This makes it difficult for them to know what treatment will work for a given patient. The researchers also say that these physicians have not been well trained in pain management.

Reading these studies brought to mind a client we have worked with who had surgery to treat a dangerous narrowing of his cervical vertebrae that could have impinged on his spinal cord causing paralysis. He had been in constant pain for nearly a year since the surgery. In working with him with the SCENAR, it was pretty clear that the muscles of his upper back were in severe spasm, likely from trying to adjust to relating in a new way to the four fused vertebrae in his neck. He related that he had developed significant pain in his mid back as well that radiated around to the sides. When he talked to his neurologist about it, he was told that it was his heart and he was sent to a cardiologist who after running numerous tests said that his heart was fine. The neurologist had nothing further to offer about the intractible pain the client was suffering. It was after that experience that he decided to try something alternative. The SCENAR identified the area in distress and the treatment greatly reduced his pain there as well as in his upper back. The SCENAR  assists the body to gently relax spasming muscles so they can return to their normal positions, thus relieving pain. The experience of this client exemplifies why consumers turn to alternative medicine.

1 Comment

• 

  By Ty Lucido, November 13, 2010 @ 12:03 am

  I really enjoyed your page! Thanks for writing it! Is there a way to subscribe via email?

Other Links to this Post

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Leave a comment