Background
Conventional detoxification has its established place in medicine, e.g. for eliminating poisons that have been ingested or injected. The term is also used for weaning addicts off drugs or alcohol. In alternative medicine, however, detox has been hijacked and has acquired a slightly different meaning. It is suggested that either the waste products of our normal metabolism accumulate in our body and make us ill, or that too much indulgence in unhealthy food and drink generates toxins which can only be eliminated by a wide range of alternative treatments.
Detox is often recommended after periods of over‑indulgence, e.g. after the Christmas holiday. It is incessantly promoted by magazines and certain celebrities. In alternative medicine, detox can mean anything from a course of self‑administered treatments to a week in the luxury of a health spa. The former, for example, might consist of a mixture of herbal and other supplements or several days of dieting, which costs just a few pounds. The latter, however, can cost a few hundred pounds.
What is the evidence?
The conventional form of detoxification can be life‑saving. In alternative medicine, however, detox is a scam. Supporters of alternative detox have never demonstrated that their therapies are able to reduce levels of toxins. This would be very easy to achieve, e.g. by taking blood samples and measuring blood levels of certain toxins. In any case, the human body is well equipped with highly efficient organs (liver, kidney, skin) to eliminate ‘toxins’ due to over‑indulgence. Drinking plenty of water, gentle exercise, resting and eating sensibly would rapidly normalize the body after a period of over‑indulgence. An expensive detox is not required to achieve this aim.
Conclusion
Detox, as used in alternative medicine, is based on ill‑conceived ideas about human physiology, metabolism, toxicology, etc. There is no evidence that it does any good and some treatments, such as chelation or colonic irrigation (see separate entries in this Rapid Guide), can be harmful. The only substance that is being removed from a patient is usually money.
Ear Candles
Thin, hollow structures of wax are inserted into the ear and subsequently ignited. This generates mild suction and is supposed to stimulate energy points.
Background
Allegedly, ear candles were used in China, Egypt, Tibet, by the Hopi Indians in America, and even in Atlantis!
Ear‑candling entails placing a hollow candle into the ear of the patient and lighting the far end of the candle, which then burns slowly over about 15 minutes. Thereafter, the candle is extinguished and the content of the near end of the candle is usually displayed for inspection. Many therapists inform their patients that the remnant left behind at the end of treatment is ear wax, suggesting that it has been drawn out of the ear through the ‘chimney effect’ produced by the burning candle.
Ear‑candling is used for the removal of ear wax and for the treatment of hay fever, headaches, sinusitis, rhinitis, colds, influenza and tinnitus. It is even claimed candling can lead to ‘sharpening of mental functioning, vision, hearing, smell, taste and colour sensation’.
What is the evidence?
There is no shortage of anecdotes published to promote the use of ear candles. However, a series of experiments concluded that ear candles do not eliminate any substance from the ear.
A study conducted in 1996 by Spokane Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinic in America showed that a burning candle does not produce any negative pressure at all, and that the deposit is, in fact, candle wax. Indeed, the same group of researchers also demonstrated that instead of removing ear wax, ear candles leave a deposit of wax in volunteers who, prior to the experiment, had no ear wax.
There is no evidence that candling is effective in the treatment of any of the other conditions mentioned above.
Ear candles are not free of risks: burns, occlusion of the ear canal and perforations of the eardrum are on record. There are also cases of house fires resulting from candling sessions.
Conclusion
Ear candles are based on the absurd idea that this method removes ear wax or toxins from the body; it is not supported by evidence.
Feldenkrais Method
A technique aimed at body and mind integration, based on the notion that correcting poor habits of movement will improve health.
Background
Moshe Feldenkrais (1904–1984) was a physicist and electro‑engineer who suffered badly from chronic knee pain. No treatment he tried helped and he thus decided to develop his own cure.
The Feldenkrais method is based on the belief that body and spirit form a fundamental whole. The founder declared, ‘I believe that the unity of mind and body is an objective reality. They are not just parts somehow related to each other, but an inseparable whole while functioning.’ Feldenkrais published his first book outlining his philosophy in 1949–Body and Mature Behavior: A Study of Anxiety, Sex, Gravitation and Learning.
The therapy is carried out in two steps: during the ‘functional integration’ phase, the practitioner uses touch to demonstrate to the patient techniques that improve breathing and body movement. During the subsequent ‘awareness through movement’ phase, the practitioner teaches the patient to correct so‑called false movements.
The aim is to improve everyday functions. According to Feldenkrais, behaviour is not innate, but is merely acquired. False behaviour, he thought, was ‘a groove into which a person sinks never to leave unless some physical force makes him do so’. His treatment, he was convinced, provides that force.
The therapy consists of a series of sessions usually carried out in small groups. Once the lessons are learned, the patient has to practise continuously at home. The conditions treated include musculoskeletal problems, multiple sclerosis and psychosomatic problems.
What is the evidence?
Only about half a dozen rigorous clinical trials are currently available. Their results are far from uniform. Some, but not all, results suggest that the Feldenkrais method is useful for multiple sclerosis patients. For other conditions, the evidence is even less convincing. There are no conceivable serious risks.
Conclusion
The Feldenkrais method is not well researched, and there is currently no compelling evidence that it is effective for any condition.
Feng Shui
The Chinese art of placing objects in accordance with the theory of yin and yang in order to optimize the flow of life energy, which, in turn, is thought to influence health and wellbeing.
Background
Chinese medicine assumes that all health is governed by the flow of energy (Ch’i) and the balance of yin and yang within the body, but these concepts can also be applied to the things that surround us. Feng shui consultants give advice on the position of objects in an office or home. They may, for instance, place a screen in a certain position to make sure that the energy is travelling in the right direction, or they might advise their clients to reposition their beds so that they can benefit from the right energy flow while sleeping.
Feng shui is not biologically plausible, because its basic tenets make no sense in the context of modern science. The benefit some people experience after following the advice of feng shui consultants could be due to expectation and has no physiological basis, nor is it likely to last.