Erin Inquires: Can you tell me how Kinoki Detox Foot Pads work or is it a hoax? It is a product that you place on your feet to remove the toxins from your body.
The Left Brain de-feets Kinoki:
I’m going with HOAX on this one, Erin.
The power of vinegar
According to their website, Kinoki Detox Foot Pads claim to draw harmful toxins through the bottom of your feet by using distilled bamboo vinegar. All you do is place the pads on the soles of your feet. As you sleep, the vinegar sucks the evil toxins from all your organs, through your blood stream, until they pass through the bottom of your foot where they are absorbed by the pad. It works on all kinds of contaminants including heavy metals, metabolic waste, microscopic parasites, mucous and even cellulite. You can tell it really works because as the pad absorbs toxins it changes color from white to gray-black.
What a load of crap!
The idea that toxins can be sucked out of your body through the soles of your feet is completely absurd. Dr. Stephen Barrett, M.D., part of the Quackwatch network, did a great job of debunking detox foot patches. He points out that skin is not a permeable membrane, so substances will not easily flow out of the body through the skin. And even if materials could pass through the skin this way, that’s not how detoxification works. True detox involves the liver and kidneys working together to filter the blood. The skin just doesn’t work that way; all it can do is emit sweat, which contains water and salt (and a little sebum).
The Beauty Brains bottom line
This entire concept is so unscientific that it boggles the mind. Yet, even Amazon.com sells detox pads like this! Let the buyer beware!
Want more Beauty Brains brilliance? Get your copy of the Beauty Brains book here.
Note: Comments on this post have been closed due to the fact that they are slowing down the system. If you would like to discuss the topic further, go to the Kinoki Foot pad discussion on our forum.
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Ooops! You left Dr Barrett’s last name off (the Quackwatch man). (Yeah, I know; my fingers are faster than my brain, too.
They are itching for a fight or a fine–if you look closely (thanks Tivo, for live-pause!) you’ll see they actually claim that the pads can remove asbestos. (Through your feet, lol.) That would be groundbreaking, to say the least. Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen.
I saw this and totally thought about The Beauty Brains first. It’d be nice if it worked, and after seeing the infomercial, I knew it wouldn’t, but I have a question. They say that the pads suck the toxins out and the black/gray/brown remnants are left on your feet and as you continue to use them less color remains. What is the “remnants” that they claim to be toxins?
Good question, Shelby. I wondered that too. But to be honest, this product is so stupid, I didn’t want to waste anymore time figuring it out. Anyone else have any thoughts?
My guess is it’s some kind of Iodine oxidation reaction. That could make the things look black.
-Right
At my chiro’s office they have a machine called an Ion Cleans, suppose to pull toxins out of the body through the feet, using negative ions. The water turns from clear to brown, black, orange, with foam. People say they feel great afterwards and do it on a regular basis. Anybody??…. reply?…..
Carolyn, unfortunately, chiropractors haven’t a much better reputation than palm readers because so many have poisoned the well. Please be sure to see chirobase.org which is also maintained by Dr Barrett, the QuackWatch man. (And the IonCleans thing you describe is as useful as the foot pads described in this post for the same reasons.)
I have never used this product or bought this product. I do not endorse this product or claim fraud. I just have my personal opinion.
People pay hundreds of dollars to be coated with mud, to sit in mud baths or to have clay rubbed on them, to have body wraps and exfoliating scrubs. People pay this money to spas and the like because they believe in the processes that detox the body and draw out impurities. So thats my rebuttal to everyone stating that the skin, (which is an organ like the liver, and does excrete impurities through something called “pores”), does not excrete impurities or toxins.
Also, metals and toxins reside quite happily within our organs and for most people they cause a lot of misery from aches and pain to chronic diseases caused by microbes and parasites that leech and thrive on these metals. Wouldn’t you want to get these out of your system if you could?
Thirdly, aaah the feet. Reflexologists know about the healing power of foot detoxification. There are areas in the foot called “crunchies” by reflexologists, basically they are palpable build ups of toxins and urea crystals (also see: gout)and when broken up they cause a rapid flush and detox causing the person to rise in body temperature, sweat and excrete toxins that can actually be smelled. There have been studies done, as Dr. Oz stated on Oprah on 1/8/07, that show that when certain points in the foot are pressed thru accupressure points, parts of the brain light up in a catscan. Western medicine can offer no correlation for this. As Dr. Oz says, Western medicine cannot account for alot of things.
So do these patches work? Would it be completely absurd to believe that a patch draws out impurities? Well think of facial “patches” or masks. No one questions them. They draw out dirt, oil and chemicals out of our noses, faces and throats. I would venture to guess that if the commercial claimed that it had the same ingredients as a Clearasil Face mask and draws out impurities in the same way no one would question it. I think most of the skeptics and cynics on this site place whole faith in western medicine and label any homeopathic, or alternative medicine as bologna.
Lets stop speculating and actually test these patches.
BRAVO, KatsKlau!!!!!!! Americans and Western medicine are always seeking the magic pill to solve ailments or problems. No doubt, some are absolutely necessary for life and death situations. However, we know of the horrifying warning labels on almost all drugs, but millions continue to consume them, thus putting more toxins into their systems and it always seems another drug is necessary to quell the side effects of the original drug and a vicious cycle of drugs begins. We should be questioning Western medicine’s easy fixes and begin to look holistically at health. First, don’t fill your body with toxins and disgusting diets which cause so many diseases. Second, detoxify your body, after all it is your temple. I go to a chiropractor, accupuncturist and both my husband and I have studied accupressure. Stop debunking Eastern philosophy healing methods and start thinking about the poisonous drugs and food you are ingesting. Massages are another therapeutic means to detoxify the body. Don’t knock it unless you’ve tried it. I have and I know without a doubt that my accupuncturist has stopped sinus-related headaches, depression and he even stopped my mother’s diabetic neuropathy foot tingling and twitching. Unbelievable that people can condemn detoxification yet don’t mind popping pill after pill without the slightest hesitation!!! I believe both Western and Eastern philosophies of medical treatment need to be given equal respect.
To KatsKlau:
Nobody is questioning the fact that in sweat you can found toxins, but is not because skin is “cleaning” the body. Every fluid in the body has toxins and can in theory take them out of the body in some degree, because all they came from the blood or from the water around de body cells (and we are talking about sweat, tears, saliva, semen, breast milk, amniotic liquid, etc. That’s the reason a pregnant women can’t take meds without a doctors advice) So the skin is not cleaning the body the same way that liver and kidney just releasing a fluid that have a really small quantity of body’s wastes. The liver, in contrast, searches in blood for those wastes and toxins and change them so don’t be toxic anymore or are easier to take out by the kidney. The kidney, even if don’t change those substances look for them like a filter and eliminate them in great concentration on the urine. The skin doesn’t do neither of those things, the sweat isn’t a mechanism to liberate toxins is and important way to control body temperature, and also clean and lubricate the skin (BTW skin happens to be our main barrier against most diseases, doing a great job isolating or body to most agent, living or inert; making claims like the one of this patches really implausible)
Lucy: Very good point about how the liver and kidneys work, and how skin DOESN’T work.
Star: You say it’s “Unbelievable that people can condemn detoxification yet don’t mind popping pill after pill without the slightest hesitation.”
Here’s the difference: pills really have an effect on the body (for better or worse.) Detoxification through foot pads (which is what we’re talking about in this post) is unscientific mumbo-jumbo. So I don’t think it’s strange at all that people would believe in science while condemning pseudo-science.
Right Brain: Remember the idea that the World was round used to be “mumbo-jumbo”! Also, in my previous post I did mention that Western medications must work together with Eastern healing practice; even my accupuncturist is extremely aware of that and will not treat certain conditions with accupuncture alone. All I was trying to point out was that I have personally experienced resolutions to medical problems as well as my mother who suffered with diabetic neuropathy. Many others (perhaps millions) would report a resolution to ailments using Eastern or alternative methods without resorting to popping another toxic drug when the same result could be accomplished without an unnecessary toxin to overwork our liver and kidneys in the first place! So, yes, pills do have an effect as does accupuncture and lymph node detoxification which I realize does not come out of the skin. Having said all that, I have never tried the foot pad method of “detoxification” because I am skeptical, but I don’t believe it should be dismissed as “mumbo-jumbo” until all the evidence is in.
To Lucy and Right Brain: Yes, the skin is the largest organ “on” our body and it is for protection; however, it can also absorb toxins or drugs, i.e., patches for HRT, smoking, motion sickness, etc. The skin can also turn out to be a deadly enemy to the body, i.e., flesh-eating bacteria, touching certain liquid or even hard material which is then transferred from the skin into the body invading other organs or causing toxicity.
Star,
You are correct that many things dismissed as “mumbo-jumbo” turned out to be true. But there is a big difference between things like the shape of the Earth and things like alternative medicine.
Things that are eventually vindicated are tested and proved to work.
Things like acupuncture, healing touch, feng shui, etc. have also been tested and proven not to work.
It’s perfectly fine to dismiss things proven not to work.
The fact that you believe acupuncture has helped heal you doesn’t mean that it’s true. Medical science is well aware of a placebo effect and that’s the most likely explanation for any effects noticed.
You can read a skeptical review of acupuncture over at Quackwatch.
You can also see the results of recent, controlled studies.
For example.
1. Acupuncture does not reduce nausea but people think it does.
2. Acupuncture not more effective than fake acupuncture for reducing migraines.
People believe that acupuncture is doing something when, in fact, it’s just a placebo effect.
In my mind, there is no such thing as alternative medicines or treatments. There are only things that WORK and things that DON’T WORK.
People should be open to all possibilities. But once it’s proved that something DOESN’T WORK, we need to move on and focus on things that do work.
http://www.kenrico.com/research.html
Check out the scientific research on these foot pads. People who haven’t tried them spread fear and hatred about the unknown. People who do real research and try them for themselves have a lot of good things to say about foot pad detoxification.
Peer-reviewed by whom? Each other? I notice there’s no mention of that on the site, and I can find nowhere on the web that anyone anywhere (other than Kenrico, whose own research is self-serving and therefore suspect) (and silly, since toxins can’t be drawn out of the body through the skin) is doing any reviewing of the product (other than to laugh at it because everyone knows you can’t draw toxins out of the body via the feet). The objects on this page probably claim to be “peer-reviewed,” too: http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/11/10-awesome-gadg.html
Like Lipstick Face said peer-reviewed by whom. Just see the brain waves one. The differences between the first and second pattern are the ones of someone that is awake and then of someone that is relax. Now that is more likely caused by the fact that during a EEG you are comfortably lying on bed that by this pads. If you want to prove that the pads cause this you should use kinoki ones in some people and some “fake” placebo in the other half. They don’t show that kind of result, so you can assume that they don’t do that. They just do a test to make their product look right. We can more or less do the same with the rest of their “research”.
I too am somewhat skeptical of pads that detoxify and would like to see more research on this matter from several independent labs.
However, the skin is more than a covering or protection for our bodies. It is a back up system for many of our organs.
As a nurse I cared for a patient who was in hepatic/renal failure. The skin was trying to rid the body of the poisons by secreting these toxins through the pores, it is called “uremic frost”.
This “uremic frost” was very evident because the patient was black and it looked like a white layer of frost had fallen on every inch of his skin.
We certainly wouldn’t pour chemicals directly on our internal organs yet we continue to slather, paste and paint all sorts of chemicals on our skin which is then absorbed through our blood systems to the rest of our organs.
I don’t know if these pads work or not but I wouldn’t downride the importance of our skin to take in and let out substances.
Thank-you Noahsark, the skin is an incredible organ, and these are just opinions you all have. Put a fresh piece of garlic in your shoe and walk on it for awhile, tell me you dont taste it later, or the Vicks on the feet thing. Dont knock what works for others just because of what you believe. Just a friendly reply!
My first visit to this page showed, under “Google Ads,” an advertisement for “detoxifying foot pads.” Apparently, the left foot doesn’t know what the right foot is doing.
Dear Right Brain: There is also “placebo” effect with medications. Apparently your entire brain is too toxic from Western medicines to be open to a practice that has been used for thousands of years. In fact, my accupuncturist had his wisdom teeth removed with accupuncture only. His wife, who is also an accupuncturist, administered the needles and the dentist was amazed that he didn’t even need local anesthesia or nitrous oxide. He recently developed a kidney infection and was treated at a hospital with Western medicines, so he is not a Quack and is incredibly aware that Western medicine is very valuable, but accupuncture is also valid for certain uses. I believe at least I’m open minded, especially since I no longer have to take ibuprofen everyday for sinus headaches and I actually observed my mother’s foot stop twitching with his accupunture therapy. You can’t fake cessation of diabetic neuropathy symptoms, especially in light of the fact that my mother was dying from kidney cancer. I took her to my accupunturist in hopes of helping some of her pain and anguish for which I was so grateful. No, he couldn’t cure her kidney cancer, but neither could Western medicine; however, Western medicine offered absolutely no help with her painful tingling and twitching from the diabetic neuropathy. Your “Right Brain” needs to keep your “Left Brain” a little more open! I know the article is not about accupuncture and I’m not sure I believe in the detoxifying foot pads yet, but I can certainly understand the concept so eloquently expressed by the nurse “Noahsark” above. Time will tell if these pads are “mumbo-jumbo”, but I do believe in the notion of “drawing” toxins and poisons out of the skin, i.e., leeches — remember, “They’re Baaack”!
Star, leeches don’t “[draw] toxins and poisons out of the skin,” but rather blood. They do it by piercing the skin and anesthetizing the skin around the hole so you’re not aware they’re there, and then having a big ol’ party. They don’t magically draw it through the skin the way a patch sposedly draws toxins through the skin.
Back onto the topic, though, the NY Times recently wrote an amusing article about a book about the placebo effect, which is well-documented. (The article specifically mention accupuncture, BTW.) The article requires a free account to read.
So what you are saying is that none of you have actually tried the product and are just giving your opinion of what you think is going on. Lets hear from someone who has actually tried the product
mtmom,
Some things are so ridiculous and implausible that using them will provide no worthwhile evidence at all.
For example, if I told you you could remove toxins from your body just by tapping your skin with a magic wand would you need to try it out to see if it really works? Things have to have a reasonable explanation as to why they should work. The explanations given for this product merely demonstrate a lack of understanding about human physiology.
Feel free to try the products if you want. Are you also going to take blood samples before and after to determine if toxins were actually removed from your body? Are you going to test the waste water to see if there are toxins there?
In my opinion, there is no need to try a magic pad that would need to break long held & demonstrated notions of human physiology to actually work.
Star,
Why is it that when someone disagrees with you, you feel the need to personally attack them? My brain is too “toxic”? What is that supposed to mean? Am I somehow inferior to your “non-toxic” brain?
I’m open to the possibility that things work. If these detox foot patches had a reasonable explanation that they could work, I’d reserve judgment. But to me, these are no different then tapping yourself with a magic wand.
And if acupuncture wasn’t proven on numerous occasions to be no more worthwhile than a placebo effect, I would accept it as a useful treatment too.
But I’m swayed by scientific evidence. And the evidence is that neither of these treatments are worthwhile. If you could point me to some scientific evidence that proves otherwise, I’m all ears.
Mtmom: This is a bit redundant after reading what Left had to say, but here are my comments anyway:
You’re right, we haven’t tried this product and we’re NOT interested in trying it. What we ARE interested in is test data. Kinoki claims that their product removes specific toxins from your body, like parasites and heavy metals. Those contaminants are easy to detect with various biological and chemicals tests. So, if these Detox foot pads really work, it should be easy enough to demonstrate that these toxins are present in the pads after they’ve done their job. Of course, it would also be nice to see before and after blood tests as well.
Those two simple tests are all it will take to convince us that this product really works. That’s how science works – based on actual data, not just someone’s opinion after using a product.
But regardless of our difference of opinion on this topic, we do value you, and everyone else who commented, as members of the Beauty Brains community. Thanks.
Babeinthewoods: You commented about the Google ad for Kinoki on our site.
Just in case you don’t know, here’s how that works. Google ads automatically searches websites for key words, then places ads on those sites that match the content.
So if we blog about mascara, Google puts mascara ads on our site. If we blog about crazy-ass kooky Kinoki foot pads, then Google puts THOSE ads on our site.
Website authors don’t control the content of those ads, Google does. I hope that helps.
Lipstick Face: Leeches are not just in swamps!!! Sanitized ones are used by Western Medical Doctors to prevent infections and/or heal infections and clots which have formed on reattached limbs because they suck out the blood with the infection and obviously any blood clots.
Right Brain: I never said your brain was toxic. I said “your Right Brain needs to keep your Left Brain a little more open”. So, you’re Right Brain is a Wrong Brain. I’m not attacking anyone, not even you Right Brain — please stop putting your foot in your mouth. Hmmmm, speaking of detoxifying the body with foot pads, I guess you really wouldn’t do that! Please instruct your Right Brain that sometimes I’m trying to bring some levity to the subject and, at the same time, some experiences with alternative medical techniques. Sheesh, stop being so offended so easily!
Star, I never mentioned the word “swamps.” Are you testing the foot pads on your eyes?
Lipstick Face: I realize you never mentioned the word “swamps”, but your characterization of them was that they are disgusting when in fact they have been scientifically proven and doctors do use them to help heal wounds.
You seem to live by the adage, when you have nothing else to say, insert an insult. The comment “Are you testing the foot pads on your eyes?” is to say the least moronic and childish — just how old are you? Sounds like you’re full of toxic vitriolic spume — perhaps you should try the foot pads, leeches (or anything, please) to detoxify yourself.
Star, what are you smoking? All I did was to describe how leeches work. You erroneously described leeches as “drawing toxins” out via the skin, comparing them to the magical foot pads. That’s not how they work. And they’re certainly NOT disgusting. Thanks to leeches. lotsa people successfully are able to get their limbs reattached! But you jump in out of nowhere with your weird comment about swamps. (Apropos of nearly nothing, where I grew up, we had leeches in our fresh-water ponds.)
Lipstick Face, I don’t smoke cigarettes, weed or stay in burning buildings to die of smoke inhalation. I am a vegetarian and try as hard as I can to put as few toxins into my body as is reasonably possible. I believe my body is my temple and treated correctly it will hopefully be healthier. Once again — your inane tatic — insert insult! That being said, hooray, we do agree on leeches and I have never indicated that I believe in the detoxifying foot pads — only that it must be proven. I don’t believe they can work, but I also keep an open mind simply because many Eastern philosophical ideas are now being looked at and used again — some with success and some without — just as in Western medical practices.
Oddly enough, on the subject of leeches, I am an actress and I was in a spoof melodramatic play entitled “Attack of the Killer Mutant Leeches” — just thought that’s kind of ironic.
I use the footpads. I prefer the Sole brand. They make my feet and legs feel lighter the next morning. I’m also noticing that I don’t mind walking as much as I used to. I’m going to keep using the footpads because my legs don’t feel heavy anymore like they did before I started using these pads.
No one has adequately explained why the color changes…IF the pads were suppose to be put on in a certain order then, obviously, each pad could have a different chemical composition which would cause a color change reinforcing the idea of cleansing. However, any pad can be used in any order AND it doesn’t have to be on your feet. I think people are too hasty to jump to conclusions based upon their own perspectives… western medicine has a LOT to learn and quackery is EVERYWHERE.
Without having a sample of the pads and access to an analytical lab, it’s difficult to say exactly what chemical reaction they are using. But there are lots of things it could be. What I wonder of all the true believers out there, what are the specific “toxins” that are being pulled out of your body? If indeed that is happening you could simply run the waste water through a GC or mass spec and see if the chemical is in there.
Incidentally, so called Western and Eastern medicine is just marketing BS. There is only things that work and things that don’t. If things like acupuncture or homeopathy actually worked, western medicine would recommend using them. They’ve been proven not to work so we reject them.
Why do insist on knocking acupuncture and eastern practices???? they do work for some people, just not you!
There’s no proof that acupuncture works beyond a placebo effect. If you had some research that shows otherwise, I’d be happy to review it. But in science, you have to prove something works. When all of the data suggests otherwise, I feel confident in saying something doesn’t work.
If it makes you feel better, feel free to partake in acupuncture. But that doesn’t mean it actually works.
Ok, I will have to disagree with the brains in this one, even if I usually agree with them. I think we are erroneously mixing things. These pads, (that don’t have any logical reason to work and only get a bunch of poor designed studies to prove otherwise) and acupuncture are different things. Acupuncture as been study importantly for pain relief, even against fake one (Am J Med 2008 Jan;121(1):79.e1-7 Acupuncture versus sham acupuncture for chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain). And even have shown some use in treatment of chemotherapy induced nausea.
Now, the exact mechanism, long term effectiveness and why some effects seam to be point specific and others not is still under study. But definitely is something that the medical society is taking time to analyze, find out its usefulness and definitely have not dismissed. The western medicine actually recommends some well proved oriental activities. For example, Tai Chi have prove to reduce the risk of fall in elderly people, and also as a really low risk of injury if well done so is recommend in this population. An the evidence around yoga is enough to recommend it like a adjuvant in people that is in medical treatment for depression (but is not recommend for solo treatment, I clarify); of course that better studies have to be designed to prove it conclusively. (J Affect Disord 2005 Dec;89(1-3):13-24 Yoga for depression: the research evidence.)
Now, having that clear; is not like the “western scientists” (If even something like that exist) automatic thinks the entire alternative doesn’t work. Noting less true, lots of drugs where originally an herbal tee. Is just that we need some degree of proof to accept that something is real, and if not provided we search for it. Pubmed, Medline, Cochraine are full of papers that verse about alternative therapies and how effective they are in controlled trials. And the better, when they are tested the dangers of these therapies also appears. Some positions of yoga showed to be dangerous in some extend so are not recommend. We can hardly know that without the studies. (N Engl J Med 344:898, March 22, 2001). So the Western and Eastern medicines are not in war, they are in some point been melted into each other. We are just doing the test.
The real argument seems to be that sometimes we tend to believe things without real proof. The Brains are trying to form some scientific thinking in the reader and that implies some degree of distrust. Is about not accept things without some degree of data to support it. I mean they are cosmetic and health related products, I don’t see the necessity to believe in them with blind faith.
In my opinion, these pads work? Certainly they can’t take toxins out of body because that’s not possible (if been, do you thing that fabulous technology will be in food pads instead of bed sheets for dialysis patients?) Can make people feel better or relaxed? Could be, if they make the feet comfortable and less sore lots of people would feel better (At less I know I will) It’s a bad product? Not necessary, both the claim of the toxin is definitely bogus.
PS: Sorry in advance, I really tried to make this post as clear as possible. But my English needs LOTS of work. Thanks for your effort.
Lucy,
I think we disagree much less than you suggest. In fact, I agree with everything you said above except for your conclusion about acupuncture.
The study you referenced demonstrated that “real” acupuncture did not work any better than “sham” acupuncture. However, both real & sham acupuncture worked better than no treatment. Since the fake acupuncture works just as well as the real thing, then the most obvious conclusion is that acupuncture works via a placebo effect.
Lucy, thank you so much for your ELOQUENT remarks regarding accupuncture and the foot pads. Believe me, you don’t have a problem with English in terms of getting your point across clearly and concisely! As stated in my earlier comments, accupunture has amazed “Western” medicine-educated doctors; i.e., my accupunturist having his wisdom teeth extracted via accupunture alone. I also know that some major surgeries (although I can’t quote the Journal articles) performed via accupuncture alone which have amazed them and caused them to become interested in accupuncture mechanisms. Additionally, seeing my depressed, disbelieving and dying mother getting relief from her diabetic neuropathy with accupuncture was a joy for me. It brought me to tears to see her get some modicum of relief from her discomfort. I was in the room, I observed it, I saw the energy “float” (much like a mirage effect on the road on a very hot day) between the accupunture needles and the accupunturist’s hands which can be accomplished by many years of study in Asia with masters of accupuncture and with the added mastery of Tai Chi derived energy. Western medicine was unable to stop this torturous feeling. It’s not mysterious — we all contain vast amounts of energy and energy is full of heat; it’s about the ability to channel it and correct placement of the needles to adjust the energy meridians within the body. Accupuncture does not work for all ailments as any ethical accupuncturists will adamantly proclaim. The ethical ones will insist on seeing a Western-based medical doctor also or only in many cases. The red light should go off for anyone if an accupuncturist claims they can “cure” all diseases with accupuncture alone.
Beauty Brains: I was a “disbeliever” when my husband (who is a master in Tai Chi) convinced me to go to my accupuncturist to see if it would work on my chronic sinus cluster headaches because I was really afraid of taking ibuprofen everyday. I was a non-believer, but after feeling the pain disappear, my sinuses clearing and a large amount of drainage (which can only be physiological) go down my throat, I walked out a believer. He also put me in a state of such relaxation that it almost put me under (like general anesthesia). He asked me if I wanted to go into a deeper state of anesthesia, but being a little scared and surprised by what was happening, I was happy with my level of relaxation declined. The next day, because of the endorphins he was able to release, I was filled with such a euphoric state of well being it was truly incredible. Beauty Brains, I don’t know if you’ve ever tried accupuncture, but the next time you get a headache, backache or whatever, I urge you to just TRY going to an true, studied accupuncturist (even as a disbeliever) and if you ailment is not because of a “Brain” tumor or some other condition requiring Western help, I’d be willing to believe you will be delighted with the results without having to pop a pill for instant gratification. In fact, I challenge anyone (especially disbelievers) to go to an accupunturist who is not a “quack-u-puncturist” just for the experience and to prove or not prove your results.
As for the foot pads, I have clearly stated I’m a disbeliever until it can be proven — like most of the responders to this article.
Star,
The recommendation that people should try acupuncture and prove to themselves whether it works is not one I would make. While it’s true some people will experience relief due to the placebo effect, this will not prove whether acupuncture actually works or not. People are terrible judges at determining what works or not and are prone to making connections where there is none. We see it all the time on this blog. Someone has a condition, they try a product, the condition goes away, ergo the product must have worked.
Unfortunately, there are only 3 things that can happen when you have a condition you want changed.
1. It gets better.
2. It gets worse.
3. It doesn’t change.
This is true whether you use a product, pop a pill, get acupuncture or do nothing at all. To prove that your treatment was responsible for the final effect and not something else (for example nature taking its course) you have to pass a double blind clinical study. Acupuncture has not been able to pass this litmus test and according to the best studies thus far, is nothing more than a placebo effect.
But if it makes people feel better, they should get it done.
Beauty Brains: I know without a doubt it stopped the diabetic neuropathy in my mother’s legs. I know my accupuncturist had his wisdom teeth removed via accupuncture ONLY and I know major surgeries have been performed via accupuncture alone. This is not placebo effect. No, unfortunately, accupuncture did not cure my Mother’s kidney cancer and she died within four months of diagnosis. Her Western medical doctors were amazed that her diabetic neuropathy had quelled so much and could not possibly be a placebo effect, especially given her state of mind and her monstrous attack from cancer on her body because I asked them if it was a placebo effect. I disagree that accupuncture has not been able to pass the “litmus” test. It has worked for thousands of people for certain ailments and some insurances are even paying for it, just as they do chiropractors (which you also believe is quackery), but I know has cured my back problems along with wearing foot orthotics to keep my flat arches supported so I don’t pronate my knees, thereby causing misalignment all the way up to my spine. Insurance companies wouldn’t spend a penny on anything that didn’t have legitimate use and was only experimental and/or didn’t have proven results. I used to work at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and managed millions of dollars worth of research grants for doctors for double-blinded studies, but these also have failure rates and placebo effects. Sometimes experimental procedures are used with great success and even cures. Have you ever seen the movie “Lorenzo’s Oil”? The mother, played by Susan Sarandon, refused to accept her son’s fate and she and her husband set out to find a cure on their own when Western Medicine had written their son off. She and her husband found the answer and even though this was not a double-blind study done in a research environment, it led to the treatment of their son’s horrendous disease. Sometimes the simplest answer can lead to an expansion of ideas which can improve health care either using Western or Eastern or both together to heal. Again, I urge you to take your own “litmus test” and go to an accupuncturist for the experience so you can be a better judge of it’s effectiveness and perhaps even learn to spell it correctly.
Yes, I saw Lorenzo’s Oil. It was a good movie.
I could give you explanations for your proof about acupuncture working but I doubt you’d find it convincing. You’ve already decided you believe in it and won’t accept the possibility that it is a sham. We’ll just have to agree to disagree. As a scientist, I firmly believe that everything I think I know I could be mistaken about.
That is why I wouldn’t say something like “I know for certain it is not the placebo effect.” I doubt all things. Some things have more proof for them than others but that proof could be wrong too. If there was proof (not anecdotal stories) that it worked then I would be less skeptical. But personal experience only provides more anecdotal evidence. That’s not proof.
Perhaps your spell checker is broken.
According to Dictionary.com acupuncture does not have a double ‘c’.
Thanks again for your comments. They are appreciated even if we disagree.
Beauty Brains: “Lorenzo’s Oil” was not just a movie — it was and is a true story (dramatized, yes), but nonetheless, true.
You are correct about “acupuncture” having only one “c” — my bad.
Here’s a “non-anecdotal” description from “Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary” about acupuncture: “Technique for treating certain painful conditions and for producing regional anesthesia by passing long thin needles through the skin to specific point. The free ends of the needles are twirled or in some cases used to conduct a weak electric current. Anesthesia sufficient to permit abdominal, thoracic, and head and neck surgery has been produced by the use of acupuncture alone. The patient is fully conscious during the surgery. Acupuncture as a method of medical investigation (but not for anesthesia) has been known in Far East for centuries but received little attention in Western cultures until the early 1970s”. As I’m sure you are aware, “Taber’s” is considered a “Bible” to medical student and doctors and has been continually published and updated since 1940. Therefore, my experiences are not anecdotal — there is proof that it works. I believe you should try an acupuncturist to unblock your skeptical right and left brain meridians. I believe you would be less skeptical if you would try it. You can be skeptical about UFO’s, but to be skeptical about something you can try and judge for yourself is just plain stubborn — or maybe you’re afraid of needles. Look, I’ve tried it and I know what the outcomes have been, it’s quoted in “Taber’s” and I know that more and more research is being done because it has helped so many people stop smoking, stop depression, stop pain, stop diabetic neuropathy tingling and twitching — I could go on. These may seem anecdotal to you, but Western Medicine is realizing the values this centuries old Eastern method may hold. It has been the stubborn attitude (much like yours) of Western medicine (and probably pharmaceutical companies) to investigate it, but it has been because of the “anecdotal” stories from patients and proof of patients’ symptoms subsiding or ending which doctors have reported and thus, has led to the new investigations, which has caused insurance companies to pay for it (just like chiropractic treatments) which were also once thought to be a sham. Surely, you must have some curiosity to see what happens; then you can either remain a skeptic or perhaps become a little more open and knowledgeable if you experience the same delightful results which so many people have enjoyed. I would love for you to just give it a try — I’ll even pay for it (if your insurance doesn’t)! GO FOR IT!!!
I think some of the above posts prove exactly why these types of products sell. :/
Star, acupuncture did absolutely nothing to stop my migraines, nor to make me stop smoking. (This was before I read the studies that it’s useless for both.) There’s *my* litmus test! My anecdotal evidence proves that acupuncture is worthless.
(My insurance paid for neither, which galled me at the time, but in retrospect, I’m glad everyone else’s premiums didn’t go up because my insurance company was paying for something proven not to work.)
Mike, so long as fools and their money are easily parted, evil scammers will continue to think up new ways to part fools from their money. After people catch on that the foot pads are useless (or more likely, after the FTC fines them out of business), there’ll be something stupider even more appalling (and more expensive!) to take their place.
I have been curious about these pads and think they might be all the bunk . . . until I talked to an old man who told me that when he was a kid in Scotland, they used to administer sulfer and molasses when you were ailing. He said that if you took it before bed and wore socks, that in the morning all this white powder was in your socks and you shook them out. It was a type of body effluent that was exctreted through the feet as a result of this concoction. He said that nobody thought a thing of it . . . that it was the body’s way of ridding poisons. If this is true and I have no reason to doubt a 93 year old Scottsman . . then the soles of the feet can indeed be an elimination point.
Sterling, I’m trying to look that one up but I’m coming up dry, but I’m thinking the man’s remembering wrong, because molasses contains a lot of sulfur, so it seems redundant to add the two. Moreover, sulfur in large quantities isn’t safe to human beans (not to mention the smell’ll scare away your bed mate!). I think your 93-year-old bud isn’t remembering the recipe correctly, and he’s passing along an old wives’ tale besides.
For a great explanation about foot pads and other detoxification nonsense, listen to or read this recent episode of Skeptoid. I’m not sure his description of why the pads change color is absolutely correct but it is a good theory.
Star, thanks for the offer but I’ll pass. I realize how simply people are tricked and fooled. Anyway, I have no aches and pains that I would need relieved through acupuncture.
Appealing to a textbook authority is not convincing to me. It’s actually a classic logical fallacy. Show me multiple, recent peer reviewed articles and I’ll be convinced. Explain why in the studies I previously sited that “real” acupuncture is no better than “sham” acupuncture. In science, you have to explain ALL the problems with your data. You can’t just ignore them and focus on the things that prove your case.
Lucy: I’m sorry you have migraines and that acupuncture didn’t work for you. I have stated in numerous posts that acupuncture does not help all ailments and a true, studied certified acupuncturists will let you know when you should seek help with your medical doctor for certain types of pain relievers and will not treat you — that’s when you know he’s true and ethical. However, your migraines could possibly be from your smoking — cyanide, just one of the many toxins and carcinogens in cigarettes cannot be good for migraines or any other part of your body. Let’s put it this way — if you knew a room you were about to enter was filled with cyanide, would you enter?
Beauty Brains: WOW, you Brains are really locked up reagrding acupunture. I am a huge skeptic also, but after the urgings of my husband, I tried it and was amazed that it relieved my daily sinus headaches (no, Lucy, I don’t smoke). Yes, it’s true that people are easily tricked and fooled, but to continue to bash a centuries-old proven (in some cases) therapy without even experiencing it for yourself while calling yourself an authority, well, that is what’s foolish.
Regarding “Taber’s” description of acupuncture, tell your Western-based medical doctor what you think about “Taber’s” and he’ll laugh you out of his office. “Taber’s” would not go to the trouble to state the definition nor state cases regarding major surgeries done with acupuncture alone. I guess all doctors should burn “Taber’s Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary” since they are “classic logical fallacy” according to you even though doctors use it as an incredible source for a wealth of knowledge about medical ailments, procedures, disease processes, etc. It keeps being republished since 1940; I think doctors would have stopped buying it if it was just a fairy tale. It is one of the required textbooks for medical students for reference. I guess that means medical schools are all shams, too. A book publisher would stop publishing a book if it wasn’t being bought and used and I know that every doctor I’ve been to uses it — even my acupuncturist!
I’ll get you the data — I have access to the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School library, not to mention that I know many of the researchers and professors, so I can have access to any and all data on acupuncture (both pros and cons). I have never said I ignore any failures of acupuncture, just as I don’t ignore failures of Western medicine. We can’t ignore the deaths caused by Western medical therapy and focus on just the people who were helped either. Please understand, I respect both practices, but they both have their limitations.
I have tried the patches and they WORK!! I suffer with arthritis and sinus conditions, both of which are improving. For all of you who immediately shot down the possibility that these pads could work, did any of you try them? If not, how could you have perceived yourself qualified to speak about it?
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