The world can never explain the ancient tradition and alternative medical treatment strategies. There are countless diseases that cannot be treated with modern medicine. People often go to witchdoctors for therapy. However, it is not recommended to go to such witchcraft practitioners as they often are using tricks to hustle the person for money or other illegal immodest activities. Certain other therapeutic treatments will surprise you. These treatments have certain things that seem unhealthy, unethical and even nauseating. However, these treatments even if bizarre have been very successful for treating certain diseases that were previously untreatable. If you are looking for information on such bizarre treatment therapy then you can have a look on the following list of ten most bizarre treatments challenging modern medicine.
1. Sweat therapy
It sounds tremendously bizarre if you get to know that it is a group therapy. It is a kind of psychotherapy-based counseling where the users are exposed to heat and their social interaction is studied. The therapy is very old and has cultural ties. Even most of the eastern countries have heat spa or sweat parlors for group interaction. The Sauna therapy of Finland, Russia, American Indian Sweat lodge event and The Sifutu of Africa are based on similar concept. It has been proposed by many practitioners to have tremendous mental and physical sense attribute. However, no major research has validated the practice.
2. Mud eating
Mud eating is long practice. Hundreds of species of animal eat mud. It helps in their digestion and provides necessary nutrients. However, people had never thought eating mud could be helpful. The NASA has come up with a unique form of treatment, where they use a special clay terramin found in California to make medicines to tackle bone depletion in Zero gravity space issues. The Mud counters the effect of zero gravity. It is a very potent medicine developed by Dr. Benjamin Ershoff of California Polytechnic Institute. However, the validation and substitution with calcium doses is still under investigation.
3. Electrocution
Electroconvulsive therapy or electroshock is a commonly practiced psychiatric treatment. The process included artificial induction of seizures via supply of high voltage of current to the brain for therapeutic effect. Sometimes, the patient is given anesthesia while other times it is done with patient in awakened condition. The practice was first introduced in 1930. The process got widespread publicity with documented benefits making it a common practice throughout the world. The theory is to interfere with the erratic electrical supply in brain with a massive electric shock to jolt the neurons to come back to normal alignment. The practice is very controversial. It is even banned in many countries while others use it as the last option.
4. Bloodletting
It is a bizarre practice that includes excessive bleeding out from certain parts of the body. The blood is often withdrawn to prevent illness and diseases. The procedure was practiced for many centuries. However, there is no scientific backing for this practice except in a specific condition. It is useful in treating porphyria, where the red blood cells are produced in higher quantities. The practice included cutting of skin and adding a suction glass vessel to collect the blood. Nowadays, proper sterilized syringes are used for the same process.
5. Dousing
It is very common practice. When someone is suffering from very high fever or sun stroke, then dousing with cold water can be extremely beneficial. In normal condition, the body develops a shock based fever that is beneficial for fighting the bacterial infection. It is similar to diving in cold water. The dousing process is more successful than the normal cold bath or sponging. Therefore, the process is practiced in many households. However, there is no data supporting the dousing therapy.
6. Urine therapy
The therapy is old but is well documented. The human urine has been used for medicinal and cosmetic treatment. The drinking and massaging the urine is very common among many traditional people. However, there is no scientific evidence supporting the same. Some scientists have proposed that drinking urine may promote good bowel movement due to the laxative action of urea present in the urine. There are thousands of documented benefit but none of them has scientific backings.
7. Live fish eating
The process includes eating live fish with some Ayurvedic medicine. The process is very popular in southern part of India for treatment of Asthma. In this treatment process, a person is told to gulp down a live slippery fish down his throat. The fish movement creates a spasm in the lungs and windpipe that has beneficial effect in treating lungs and breathing disorder. The treatment has no scientific backing but it is getting very popular due to more number of satisfied patients.
8. Leech therapy
This is a very popular treatment in alternative medicine. They are extensively used in microsurgery to reduce blood coagulation in tiny blood vessels and simultaneously removing the excessive blood to reduce the venous blood pressure. It is often treated in case of critical operation in eyelids and ear. However, it often results in prolonged bleeding that is not desirable. There are certain mechanical means to mimic the process using infusion of heparin and suction of blood but it is still not in commercial practice.
9. Helminthic therapy
The Helminthic therapy is used for treating autoimmune diseases and other immunogenic disorders. The parasites and their eggs are infused in the body to treat many diseases including asthma. The worms are ingested via oral routes. The process has been documented to have tremendous use but most of the time it results in serious side effects. The process do not have scientific acceptance but the cure has a scientific backing.
10. Fecal bacteriotherapy
The process is the most bizarre where a person suffering from inflammatory bowel syndrome is given enema with liquid of another healthy person’s fecal juice. It sounds extremely nauseating but the fact supporting the treatment is that the healthy person do not have inflammatory chemical in his fecal juice. The healthy bacteria present in the poops counters the inflammatory infections. The process is found to be very effective.