acupuncture
It sounds unlikely, but this mat of painful spikes can help you sleep
Have trouble sleeping? This bed of nails can help. OK, it’s not quite a bed of nails, but don’t be…
Why debates with alternative health gurus so often turn ugly
‘They would say that, wouldn’t they?’ This bon mot has been attributed, not entirely correctly, to Mandy Rice-Davies giving witness…
Fakery on a massive scale means we can’t trust studies from China
Imagine a therapy that supposedly cures most ailments and for which almost 100 per cent of all the published studies…
Dubious health claims thrive online. Here’s how to avoid them
The media have long had a keen interest in alternative medicine and report regularly on the subject. But all too…
Real doctors are ‘holistic’. Alternative practitioners are anything but
One of the most common claims of alternative practitioners is that they take a holistic approach to healthcare. It is…
From diazepam to diagnosis: how I finally found an answer to chronic pain
Seven years ago I was trapped in a very deep black hole. I was in constant pain, had stopped working…
Acupuncture ‘helps women fall pregnant’: the Sun has got this badly wrong
Does acupuncture help women get pregnant? According to a recent article in the Sun online, the answer to this question…
Why that study about alternative therapies relieving pain is worthless
The press release by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was unashamedly positive: A review of evidence from clinical trials…
Lose your strain in Spain
Our Spa Inspector checks out the SHA Wellness Clinic in Altea, Alicante
Say no to the needle: why acupuncture just isn’t worth trying
It’s Acupuncture Awareness Week! According to the British Acupuncture Council, this event ‘aims to help better inform people about the…
Acupuncture: how its supporters move the goalposts
I’ve always been suspicious of acupuncture. I had it once, and although the needles didn’t bother me the garbage being…