Alchemy with Lady Grey (Aromatherapy)

[Lady Grey]

Not sure whether there's much interest in this, but I thought I'd post it anyway.

Basically, I'm quite into alternative medicine, especially aromatherapy - I honestly find it useful for minor things (e.g. sprains, aches, sickness). I also find a bath with essential oils can alleviate depression/anxiety symptoms.

Wondering if there's anyone else that uses essential oils?

[comrade_general]

Only in my car.

[Lizard]

I do! I make my own cosmetics so to stop me smelling like beeswax and pure shea butter (which smells pretty horrid) I use all sorts of things. Big fan of a mix of two parts lime to one part lavender, though; it's the right combination of uplifting and relaxing.

[Lady Grey]

Only in my car.

:p

Ooh, that sounds lovely Lizard!
I love peppermint oil when I feel sick - the smell of it really helps me. Funnily enough I find too much of it sickly if I feel well xD

[Jubal]

Aromatherapy is the end of alternative medicine that I can see the point of - menthol-ish smells alleviate some of my sinus symptoms

(As opposed to *coughhomeopathycough*, which along with the misnamed spectre of "chinese traditional medicine" gives alternative remedies in general a bad name I think).

[Lady Grey]

Yeah, I like aromatherapy because it makes sense to me.

I did a short homoeopathy course a bit ago - I really didn't know what to expect, I hadn't actually heard of it before then - so I was thinking along the lines of herbalism - and it is strange. Doesn't make much sense to me either - I suppose if it works as a placebo it's not entirely bad? The course made it very clear that it was only for minor things as well (so never in place of conventional treatment when it's obviously needed.

[Jubal]

Strictly speaking homeopathy is a total placebo - which is sort of fine, the trouble with placebos of this sort being that they involve lying to your patients which is medically rather (read: very) disreputable. I feel it's bad that it's lumped in with herbal remedies, some of which actually work, whereas homeopathy by its very definition cannot be anything other than a placebo and thus usually a way to swindle people into buying extremely pricey sugar tablets.

[Clockwork]

Placebos work even if you know they're placebos (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19904-placebos-can-work-even-when-you-know-theyre-fakes.html#.VZ2AjNxVhBc). To me, if it causes a physiological effect that benefits you, take it regardless where it comes from.

[Jubal]

"The researchers told participants that it could improve symptoms through the placebo effect."

...if you don't tell people precisely what the placebo effect is/tell them it can improve symptoms, then it should be unaffected. It's only if people understand that what they're taking has no direct physiological effect then you'd expect the secondary pyschosomatic effects to disappear.

[Clockwork]

"Harvard researcher Dr. Ted Kaptchuk made this counterintuitive conclusion in a study published last week in Science Translational Medicine. Kaptchuk and colleagues found that the placebo effect greatly enhanced pain relief in migraine sufferers who had the expectation they were getting an effective drug, compared to when they took the active drug with the incorrect label “placebo.” More surprising, however, is that the patients reported significant pain relief, compared to an untreated migraine attack, even when they knew they had swallowed nothing more than a sugar pill."

(http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/the-placebo-effect-a-new-study-underscores-its-remarkable-power/article16281897/)

Yep it still works even if you know you're taking a sugar pill.

[Jubal]

Fair enough. I guess there are still questions around that though - such as whether it would work in a society where people aren't taught that pills are medicine, for example.

In any case, if people know they're taking a placebo I'm fine with that. I think that the effects attributed to homeopathy that don't exist are concerning though, as those do involve lying to people, and also homeopathic remedies are sold at quite high prices (certainly a lot more than sugar pills). It might help with things like migraines which are very psychosomatic, but then you get armadillo like this: http://www.cancure.org/12-links-page/121-homeopathy which is totally immoral and makes me really angry.

[Clockwork]

Don't get me wrong, I think homoeopathy is bullarmadillo and pricey alternative medicine is sketchy at best and fraud at worst. However, placebos are definitely worth 'taking' if they work for you. Basically, with all the misery and bullarmadillo that each person goes through, whatever makes you feel better should be enough, no matter whether it's physically supposed to actually do anything or not.

[Lizard]

I'm all for people taking things that make them feel better, and it's not my job to tell people how to spend their money, but then there's this: https://www.helios.co.uk/shop/berlin-wall

[Pentagathus]

I'm confused, are they trying to sell the berlin wall online?

[Glaurung]

That's what I assume, though the text just gives a history of the Wall, and provides no information whatever on what you might be trying to cure by ingesting bits of it. Also, you run the risk of not getting genuine Wall in your homeopathic dilution - I'm fairly sure that there is now significantly more "Wall" in existence than was ever actually constructed, as a result of the lucrative tourist trade in souvenirs.