Gray Areas of Licensure
Because licensing boards can’t be in every office at every moment, licensing is not a failsafe guarantee of sound medical advice. Many doctors practice alternative and complementary medicine in several forms, and while a massage therapist may be licensed to perform that act, he or she may not be the best choice for biofeedback therapy.
Keep in mind that not every complementary and alternative therapy has been vetted by medical professionals for safety and efficacy. While the boundaries between traditional medicine and alternative choices are constantly being modified, it’s best to be skeptical about most claims and treatments. Check with your traditional medical doctor before embarking on any course of treatment and gather information from several sources.
Evaluating Alternative Medicine Claims
The best evidence for whether any particular treatment works is a quality clinical evaluation done by reputable hospitals, institutions and research firms. Large, controlled sample tests are usually published in well-known medical journals after prominent medical claims evaluators review them.
These peer-reviewed studies are the best assurance of embarking on a path that has been navigated successfully. Most of the studies will be available in libraries, and many of them are found online. Care should also be taken if the studies have only been conducted on a few people, only on animals or are only done in a single study