Helpings of Mince
Mar 11, 2020 14:01:12 GMT
Post by CC on Mar 11, 2020 14:01:12 GMT
If there's a medical crisis around there will inevitably be disinformation as well, some of it from well-meaning but deluded people and some from unscrupulous charlatans. There is no cure for coronavirus; the symptoms can be treated with painkillers and oxygen but the only cure is time. Like its cousin, the flu, COVID-19 comes and goes when it's ready to do so and in the overwhelming majority of cases patients will get better, naturally, within a week or so. That hasn't prevented all manner of suggested remedies appearing on the internet, including washing hands with vodka (you might as well drink it) masturbating (which won't actually do you any harm unless you do it to excess) and drinking diluted bleach (which is more likely to kill you than the virus).
Since the beginning of 2020 I have had (and continue to have) good reason to be grateful for the NHS. Many people have dedicated their time and expertise to the task of providing us with a free service which has reduced death rates from diseases that used to be fatal, including AIDS, cancer and heart & lung disease.
When we have this brilliant service at our fingertips why seek out alternatives? It's a good question. In the library today I picked up The Green Handbook which is a wee magazine for the Dumfries & Galloway area. Apart from the fact that it includes an advert for the Green Party (who really should know better than to be associated with something so silly) it has little to do with green politics or the environment at all. The booklet's purpose is, instead, to advertise woo in the D&G area, to separate the gullible from their cash and deliver it into the bank accounts of snake oil salespersons who say things like this:
In recent years there has been a lot more understanding of the connections between the "microbiome": the bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses that live on and inside the human body - and our physical and mental health.
With NO HANDS the massage therapist uses the soft, fleshy part of the forearm rather than the hands. It is underpinned by a philosophy that the best bodywork is delivered without pain to either practitioner or client. The founder, Gerry Pyres, a massage therapist and educator, has integrated core psychological communication into NO HANDS....Afterwards, clients are given space to assimilate the treatment and have reported a range of positive physical, emotional, energetic, psychological and spiritual outcomes.
Auriculotherapy is an acupuncture micro-system in which the whole body is reflected in the ear.
I use Reiki to help all kinds of animals with physical, emotional and behavioural problems, speeding up recovery from illness or injury. I communicate with animals, helping you to understand their behaviour and how they feel about you and their environment. Also photo & phone readings.
Moxa is a herbal substance made from the leaves of the mugwort, which has been used for healing for thousands of years. It is smouldered on or close to the skin and delivers a penetrating warmth which helps to improve circulation, relieve pain and inflammation, and can also help the digestion and strengthen the immune system. This is called moxibustion - a common treatment used by many acupuncturists. Ontake is an indirect form of moxibustion - a short length of bamboo is filled with moxa which is then ignited at one end. The bamboo becomes warm and is used to stimulate energy flow by tapping, pressing and rolling it along energy pathways on the skin surface. The unique feature of this treatment is that these movements are applied rhythmically, according to the natural frequency of each meridian (the body's energy channels). Japanese acupuncture practitioners have discovered that stimulating a channel at its preferred frequency produces a stronger response. So, for example, the meridians running down each side of the spine and the back of the legs would be tapped at a frequency of 112 beats/minute, whereas the meridians in the shoulder area respond best to 120 beats/min. This requires use of a metronome.
ENERGY/SPIRITUAL HEALER Gentle, powerful treatments work to shift and release tension and pain at all levels, helping bring deep relaxation and well-being, so enabling healing. Shamanic counselling also available. Present and distant healing.
It would be fair to say that some of these treatments may work to some extent via the placebo effect but proper professional clinical blindfold trials have never found that any of them are effective in any way no matter how many thousands of years they have been around. It would also be reasonable to say that most of them, apart from making you poorer, don't actually do any harm, except that sticking needles in your ears or applying burning bamboo to the skin are actually dangerous things to do. The other obvious problem with alternative medicine is that some people stop taking their effective medication in the belief that it's harmful, and turn to useless so-called remedies instead. In South Africa, at the height of the AIDS crisis, the Government stopped giving people anti-retroviral medication and insisted on treating patients with a cocktail of vitamins instead because they were in thrall to a conman who convinced them that AIDS was not caused by HIV.
I have nothing against hippies at all. I'm a hippie myself in lots of ways; I am a believer in love & peace and kindness to all beasts and I've got an impressive beard but I don't believe in magic and I certainly don't accept that giving reiki to cats is going to stop them from vomiting all over my rug, or that someone being spiritual over my photograph in Dumfries while I sit in my chair 80 miles away is going to do me any good at all. None of the writers or advertisers in The Green Handbook tell us how much they charge for treatment so let's check one of them via their website. We'll go for NO HANDS because that's the one advertised on the back cover. NO HANDS is a registered trademark so if you are used to shouting those words while riding your bike downhill now is a good time to stop it unless you want to pay for the privilege.
D&G has three NO HANDS practitioners, Tigger McGregor in Kirkcudbright, Karen Shaw in Newton Stewart and Tara Buckel in Annan. I used to live in Annan so I'll have a swatch at her website and see what comes up:
Tara looks like a nice person and she certainly has nice red hair. She seems to be the sole operator of The Treatment Room in Annan and offers a range of treatments. Fair play to her; she lists her prices on the site, and, remembering that the NHS in Scotland is free to everyone who uses it, here they are:
THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE £50 per session, £120 for three
REFLEXOLOGY £50 per session, £120 for three
HOT STONE MASSAGE £55 per session £135 for three
AROMATHERAPY MASSAGE £55 per session, £135 for three
ACCESS BARS £50 per session, £120 for three
FACIAL REJUVENATION MASSAGE £50 per session, £120 for three
HOLISTIC FACIAL MASSAGE £50 per session, £120 for three
PREGNANCY MASSAGE £50 per session, £120 for three
Disappointingly, there's no price given for NO HANDS and Tara is definitely using her hands in all the photographs. All clients in these pictures are attractive young women who would seem to be quite unlikely to be suffering from any major stresses when compared to anyone else.
In case you are wondering, Access bars are...
...32 points on your head that I gently touch with my fingertips to allow unwelcome thoughts, beliefs and emotions to be dispersed. This is clothed, energy-based treatment suitable for all ages. If you have noticed your mindset is stuck on repeating the same painful or negative thought patterns that no longer serve you, then maybe it's time to try something new.
It's kind of a way of pressing the delete button on all the stuff you need to let go of.
For £50 that sounds marvellous, although I like the way Tara says that "maybe" it's time to try something new. The £50 or £120 for three sessions of fingertip touching will certainly improve her mental health even if it does nothing for your own. If you'd like to try, and to ask about NO HANDS while you're about it, you can call her on
01461 202029.
Since the beginning of 2020 I have had (and continue to have) good reason to be grateful for the NHS. Many people have dedicated their time and expertise to the task of providing us with a free service which has reduced death rates from diseases that used to be fatal, including AIDS, cancer and heart & lung disease.
When we have this brilliant service at our fingertips why seek out alternatives? It's a good question. In the library today I picked up The Green Handbook which is a wee magazine for the Dumfries & Galloway area. Apart from the fact that it includes an advert for the Green Party (who really should know better than to be associated with something so silly) it has little to do with green politics or the environment at all. The booklet's purpose is, instead, to advertise woo in the D&G area, to separate the gullible from their cash and deliver it into the bank accounts of snake oil salespersons who say things like this:
In recent years there has been a lot more understanding of the connections between the "microbiome": the bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses that live on and inside the human body - and our physical and mental health.
With NO HANDS the massage therapist uses the soft, fleshy part of the forearm rather than the hands. It is underpinned by a philosophy that the best bodywork is delivered without pain to either practitioner or client. The founder, Gerry Pyres, a massage therapist and educator, has integrated core psychological communication into NO HANDS....Afterwards, clients are given space to assimilate the treatment and have reported a range of positive physical, emotional, energetic, psychological and spiritual outcomes.
Auriculotherapy is an acupuncture micro-system in which the whole body is reflected in the ear.
I use Reiki to help all kinds of animals with physical, emotional and behavioural problems, speeding up recovery from illness or injury. I communicate with animals, helping you to understand their behaviour and how they feel about you and their environment. Also photo & phone readings.
Moxa is a herbal substance made from the leaves of the mugwort, which has been used for healing for thousands of years. It is smouldered on or close to the skin and delivers a penetrating warmth which helps to improve circulation, relieve pain and inflammation, and can also help the digestion and strengthen the immune system. This is called moxibustion - a common treatment used by many acupuncturists. Ontake is an indirect form of moxibustion - a short length of bamboo is filled with moxa which is then ignited at one end. The bamboo becomes warm and is used to stimulate energy flow by tapping, pressing and rolling it along energy pathways on the skin surface. The unique feature of this treatment is that these movements are applied rhythmically, according to the natural frequency of each meridian (the body's energy channels). Japanese acupuncture practitioners have discovered that stimulating a channel at its preferred frequency produces a stronger response. So, for example, the meridians running down each side of the spine and the back of the legs would be tapped at a frequency of 112 beats/minute, whereas the meridians in the shoulder area respond best to 120 beats/min. This requires use of a metronome.
ENERGY/SPIRITUAL HEALER Gentle, powerful treatments work to shift and release tension and pain at all levels, helping bring deep relaxation and well-being, so enabling healing. Shamanic counselling also available. Present and distant healing.
It would be fair to say that some of these treatments may work to some extent via the placebo effect but proper professional clinical blindfold trials have never found that any of them are effective in any way no matter how many thousands of years they have been around. It would also be reasonable to say that most of them, apart from making you poorer, don't actually do any harm, except that sticking needles in your ears or applying burning bamboo to the skin are actually dangerous things to do. The other obvious problem with alternative medicine is that some people stop taking their effective medication in the belief that it's harmful, and turn to useless so-called remedies instead. In South Africa, at the height of the AIDS crisis, the Government stopped giving people anti-retroviral medication and insisted on treating patients with a cocktail of vitamins instead because they were in thrall to a conman who convinced them that AIDS was not caused by HIV.
I have nothing against hippies at all. I'm a hippie myself in lots of ways; I am a believer in love & peace and kindness to all beasts and I've got an impressive beard but I don't believe in magic and I certainly don't accept that giving reiki to cats is going to stop them from vomiting all over my rug, or that someone being spiritual over my photograph in Dumfries while I sit in my chair 80 miles away is going to do me any good at all. None of the writers or advertisers in The Green Handbook tell us how much they charge for treatment so let's check one of them via their website. We'll go for NO HANDS because that's the one advertised on the back cover. NO HANDS is a registered trademark so if you are used to shouting those words while riding your bike downhill now is a good time to stop it unless you want to pay for the privilege.
D&G has three NO HANDS practitioners, Tigger McGregor in Kirkcudbright, Karen Shaw in Newton Stewart and Tara Buckel in Annan. I used to live in Annan so I'll have a swatch at her website and see what comes up:
Tara looks like a nice person and she certainly has nice red hair. She seems to be the sole operator of The Treatment Room in Annan and offers a range of treatments. Fair play to her; she lists her prices on the site, and, remembering that the NHS in Scotland is free to everyone who uses it, here they are:
THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE £50 per session, £120 for three
REFLEXOLOGY £50 per session, £120 for three
HOT STONE MASSAGE £55 per session £135 for three
AROMATHERAPY MASSAGE £55 per session, £135 for three
ACCESS BARS £50 per session, £120 for three
FACIAL REJUVENATION MASSAGE £50 per session, £120 for three
HOLISTIC FACIAL MASSAGE £50 per session, £120 for three
PREGNANCY MASSAGE £50 per session, £120 for three
Disappointingly, there's no price given for NO HANDS and Tara is definitely using her hands in all the photographs. All clients in these pictures are attractive young women who would seem to be quite unlikely to be suffering from any major stresses when compared to anyone else.
In case you are wondering, Access bars are...
...32 points on your head that I gently touch with my fingertips to allow unwelcome thoughts, beliefs and emotions to be dispersed. This is clothed, energy-based treatment suitable for all ages. If you have noticed your mindset is stuck on repeating the same painful or negative thought patterns that no longer serve you, then maybe it's time to try something new.
It's kind of a way of pressing the delete button on all the stuff you need to let go of.
For £50 that sounds marvellous, although I like the way Tara says that "maybe" it's time to try something new. The £50 or £120 for three sessions of fingertip touching will certainly improve her mental health even if it does nothing for your own. If you'd like to try, and to ask about NO HANDS while you're about it, you can call her on
01461 202029.