In many stories about natural healing methods and alternative medicine carried by the mainstream media, no matter how favorable or negative the overall story was, there is a tendency to close with the familiar “Ask your doctor…” advice. Now, I realize that this is often a form of “CYA” (Cover Your Assets), but when it comes to stories about natural healing and alternative medicine, this piece of advice is pretty ridiculous. It’s kind of like asking the owner of a Ford dealership whether you should test drive a Toyota.
Yes, by all means ask your doctor about something that, chances are, he or she knows little about. Most medical doctors get their knowledge about alternative medicine from the same sources you do – television stories, newspaper articles, etc., so they’re actually not any better informed about alternative medicine than the average person on the street. A few have developed referral relationships with alternative health care providers and/or have studied natural and alternative therapies extensively, but that is still very rare.
So what happens when you ask a doctor about something he or she knows nothing about? In most cases, doctors won’t simply admit that they are poorly-informed on the subject and instead make recommendations based on the default approach of “do no harm”. This means that the vast majority of doctors will make the “safe” recommendation and advise against trying something that the doctor knows nothing about. Now, don’t be fooled by the doctor’s air of confidence regarding his or her recommendation against an alternative treatment – doctors are well-schooled in acting confident even when clueless. If the doctor makes a recommendation and can’t give you a specific reason (one that makes logical sense to you) for his or her opinion, chances are he or she may not be that well-informed and simply doesn’t want to admit to not being all-knowing.
So should you ask your doctor about natural remedies / alternative treatments? I say yes, but do so with the realization that the doctor may not be educated on the matter. All the same, your doctor should be made aware of other treatments you may be trying or considering, particularly since there can be interactions with certain drugs and certain herbs or nutrients, for example. Usually interactions are primarily the problem of the medication rather than the herb or nutrient, but an interaction is an interaction. For example, the blood thinner Coumadin interacts dangerously with numerous other medications, herbs, nutritional supplements, and even common foods, so extreme caution needs to be taken when using this particular drug.
In addition to asking your doctor, if you are taking medication and are considering taking some type of natural remedy, it is also a good idea to talk it over with a pharmacist first, as pharmacists tend to be more knowledgeable than doctors and alternative health care providers with regards to potential drug interactions.
Besides just keeping your medical doctor informed and making sure there is no danger of treatment interactions, you don’t really need approval from a medical doctor before trying some form of alternative treatment, as long as the treatment is being performed by someone who has the proper licensing and qualifications. In most states, chiropractors, acupuncturists, massage therapists, nutritionists, naturopaths, etc., are licensed and regulated. As a part of training and getting licensed, alternative practitioners must not only show competence in his or her field, but must also demonstrate the clinical judgment to determine when treatment is contraindicacted and to refer patients for medical care when indicated.
Granted, a license to practiced some form of alternative medicine does not guarantee competency, but then neither does a medical license guarantee that your medical doctor is competent. If you have reservations about a practitioner, check for complaints about that practitioner with the state regulatory agency for that particular discipline. In some states, all health care related licenses are regulated by the state’s departmen of health or the state board of medical examiners, while in other states there is a specific board for each specfic type of licensure. Your state’s health department can usually provide assistance as to which agency you need to contact for information on a particular provider.
While there are good and bad individuals in all professions, rest assured that the vast majority of alternative practitioners are knowledgeable and qualified to provide you with the appropriate care and recommendations.
