shinyhappy68 Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 What do you think about GP's offering alternatives at their surgeries instead of pills everytime, eg. accupuncture, massage, herbalists etc. ? Would you opt for alternative treatment instead of prescription drugs if possible... Please let me know your views. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bagger Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 I would opt for alternative therapies every time. Obviously if I needed the orthodox medicine then I'd have that too but I think if some alternative therapies were on offer they'd actually cut back on the need for drugs. Reflexology is wonderful for relaxing and could help many people with the symptoms of stress and so cut down on the need for anti depressants and sedatives. I had some alternative therapies at the Cavendish Centre which offers them free to people with cancer. I was sorry I'd had to wait until a crisis before I was able to sample these wonderful treatments. They're so expensive that not many people can afford a course of treatments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 If the altnernative is backed by a sound body of evidence demonstrating that its efficacy is equal to the traditional treatment, then I'd be happy to try it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shinyhappy68 Posted October 25, 2006 Author Share Posted October 25, 2006 I agree, i think alot of money could be saved and obvious health benefits not taking pills for everything. Hopefully majority of GP's will follow suit with some of our cities finest surgeries who offer these treatments FREE! (Thanks!) Who ever deserves the praise. Instead of prescriptions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roger Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 my gps surgery already has these services on offer and i agree it has to worth a try it may not work for everybody but for those that i does its better than pills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therapyman Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 Obviously complementary medicine has an IMPORTANT part to play with regard to people's health and well-being. The GP's sometimes try to hide behind the statement that there is no EVIDENCE that some of these therapies work. Surprise, surprise, most of the EVIDENCE that they use comes from the DRUG COMPANIES that pay for trials - and there is no reason why these companies would want us to use complementrary medicines more. There is more and more "evidence" that many of these therapies work - homoeopathy, massage, hypnotherapy, McTimoney spinal therapy to mention just a few. For the patient (or the GP) there are Governing Bodies who police these therapies, including the training standards, so the GP's ought at least CONSIDER the alternatives. perhaps they might TALK to some of the practitioners in an open way. Anyway - that's my humble opinion:rant: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titian Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 I think it's about time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sultana Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 I wholeheartedly agree that there is a place for alternative treatments to work with, or instead of drugs. I also think that health centres should have their own portable x ray machines for the detection of minor bone injuries, to save trudging off to the hospital! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darbees Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 The title "alternative medicine/therapy" does tend to make some people think it is some mumbo jumbo witchcraft secret unproven method of treating illness. A properly trained GP should consider all methods of treating a condition at his disposal rather than the easy way out of just sending the patient down to the chemist with a prescription. There are a lot of older GPs who are out of touch with modern treatments and it may well be a good idea to ensure that they kept updated as a legal requirement of the job. I would prefer to deal with a newly qualified GP as I feel that in the field of prescribing medicine, up to date training is better than experience. Representatives from drug companies give GPs huge incentives to prescribe their products in the form of freebies, free gadgets, days out, conferences in exotic places for example. If it was found that there was a simple cure for cancer such as eating boiled grass the drugs companies and the industry surrounding cancer treatment wouldn't be needed. That would be a huge financial blow to them and it is therefore not in their interests to cure some conditions. They may well have found a cure already! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
therapyman Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 I think another factor is TIME. GP's have to work in a ridiculously short period of time. Many complementary therapists are independent/private, and can devote time to their clients/patients. Often, this is almost as good as the therapy! Any GP's out there prepared to admit that they actually RECOMMEND complementary therapy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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