NAET for allergy testing?
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| Thu, 02-01-2007 - 8:20pm |
Has anyone tried this? Our chiropractor recently began testing Taran using NAET. Taran holds a vial containing a possible allergen and his muscle strength is tested. The chiropractor pushes on his arm and if he can't resist, it indicates that he may be allergic to the substance in the vial. This is followed by some type of accupressure and accupunture (the office we go to uses electrodes instead of needles.) Then he has to avoid the allergen for 25 hours.
In 3 visits he has been tested for around 10-12 substances and tested positive for calcium and a mineral mix. The calcium avoidance wasn't too bad for him. It was only dietary and we found plenty of other things he could eat for the next day. The mineral mix was a pain. He was supposed to avoid touching any metal and drinking or washing with tap water. Of course it was next to impossible for him to avoid metal at school. He will be retested tomorrow and if he tests positive again, we'll repeat the same procedure. If he doesn't test positive, then his allergy is supposed to be gone.
I must admit I'm fairly skeptical of the whole thing. But, it's relatively non-invasive and most of the criticism I've come across is that it's hard to prove the science behind it. Anyone else have experience with this?
Misty

I may be stepping on some toes here...but I feel I have to share my 2 cents.
I can't believe they're still doing this type of stuff! I had a chiro. try this on me about 20 years ago. Only, for me it wasn't specifically for allergens. She used the "arm thing" to take me on a time travel to fix the hip I'd dislocated. Then she used accupressure to fix the problem. She also stuck her fingers in my mouth to improve my grades in Chemistry and Algebra II. Needless to say, it didn't work. In fact, it was just a way to get us to continue returning for more visits, that my mother paid for out of pocket, since insurance didn't cover chiro. visits. (This was all about the same time that Melaluca products were going to cure our entire family of everything that ailed us.) I ended up going to a D.O. who actually "popped" my hip back into place. Now THAT helped.
I'm sorry, but I'm married to a Physical Therapist who is very critical of his own profession because of the way many PT's abuse "treatment options" by using methods/modalities which have not been scientifically proven, in order to increase billing- and thereby, increase profit margins. This kind of thing really bothers him because in his opinion, these "doctors" are preying on people's desires to help heal themselves or their loved ones, and these so-called professionals are abusing the trust that comes from simply having the title of "doctor".
Is this vial capped or open? If it's capped, then why not just show your son a picture of the substance and see if his muscles react? Same difference. My husband is deathly allergic to cat dander...but exposure to this allergen in no way affects his muscle strength. It affects his breathing, which may eventually make him feel weak, but the dander in and of itself does not affect his strength.
I'm sorry if this post is offensive to anybody, but my mother and I were taken advantage of by a chiro. years ago, and hearing this kind of stuff makes me angry.
Amy
____Edit____
Please note: I, in no way, think that allergies and their related problems aren't real. In fact, I know they're incredibly real, and make life miserable. My problem is with this method of testing for and "curing" of allergies.
Edited 2/1/2007 9:10 pm ET by manec93
I prefer methodology that has scientific backing. Since there are few actual studies about NAET, I wanted to hear some anecdotal reports about kids who might be similar to my son.
I'm sorry that you have had bad experiences with chiropractors. The ones I go to have helped me with my own health issues so I thought I would give another one of their techniques a try.
I haven't tried it but would if there was anyone near us who does NAET I'd try it. I've heard lots of positives from parents on the autism-mercury yahoo list and the enzymesandautism yahoo list. I hope it works out well for you guys. Keep us posted.
Samantha
Edited 2/2/2007 9:24 am ET by mamahh
Please don't misunderstand, I didn't say that I had problems with all chiropractors. In fact, I think that many/most are wonderful and truly do help their clients. In fact, I've personally had good experiences with chiropractic treatment.
Also, I don't feel that the "preying on patients" is isolated to just chiropractors. I've found this true with some dentists, pyschologists and even PT's, OT's and SLP's. Unfortunately there are many "medical professionals" who care more about the all mighty dollar than they do about the care of their patients. And I can't help but feel that any treatment that seems too good to be true, probably is.
Amy
Personally I think it sounds goofy, but my sister and a good friend have both tried it and felt strongly like they benefitted from it. Since neither of those people are people who are usually taken in by wacko things, even tho' I don't understand how it could possibly work, perhaps it has the ability to provide some benefit, at least to some people.