Have psoriasis and wish you knew of a better treatment option for your skin? With hope, you will be able to eventually try Indigo naturalis. In a study published in the Archives of Dermatology, 42 participants applied Indigo naturalis, a dark blue plant used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, ointment to certain parts of their bodies to see its effects on psoriasis plaques. Psoriasis is a chronic skin condition, where the skin thickens and is punctuated with red and scaly patches. Since there is no cure, those with psoriasis can only hope for remission or some product that will mitigate the irritation. Those involved in the study were monitored for 12 weeks, where Indigo naturalis was said to have "significant reductions in the sum of scaling, erythema [irritation] and induration [hardening]...." Overall, there was an 81% improvement rate, and 25 participants found their psoriasis to be entirely cleared up. Therefore, it was concluded that "topical indigo naturalis ointment was a novel, safe, and effective therapy for plaque-type psoriasis." Even though more studies will need to be conducted, this could be a big win for psoriasis sufferers.

In a survey performed by the U.S. government, more than 23,000 adults were surveyed to ascertain what their use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is, including nonconventional medicine named as "herbal supplements, meditation, chiropractic treatment and acupuncture." In 2007, 38% of the participants said they used CAM, which didn't differ much from the same survey that was conducted in 2002, where 36% of adults said they used it. The use of alternative therapies went up the most drastically with meditation, massage therapy and yoga. The majority of CAM users also sought it out for their musculoskeletal issues, i.e., arthritis and back and neck pain. This survey also was able to get an idea of how many children are being exposed to CAM. It was found that parents were five times more likely to give their children CAM, such as "echinacea, fish oil/omega 3/DHA, combination herb pill, flaxseed oil or pills, and prebiotics or probiotics (foods containing supplements)," if they themselves used them. Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council, says, "People are using these products to enhance wellness. The dietary supplement increase reflects consumer trends toward improving and increasing their sense of wellness and their own self-empowerment with respect to their health." I couldn't have said it better!

Suffering from musculoskeletal pain? Trying to find financially conservative ways to treat your pain? Try physical therapy. According to a study conducted by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), physical therapy was more effective than standard care from a general practitioner when it came to musculosketal pain, i.e., neck and back pain. In the medical journal Spine, patients who received physical therapy and exercise were said to experience significant amounts of relief, where additional medications and treatment weren't necessary. Lead researcher and APTA spokesmen Michael Walker says, "This study, demonstrating the efficacy of physical therapy for a condition as widespread as neck pain, is particularly relevant in today's challenging economic environment." Physical therapy treats disorders of the musculoskeletal system by restoring affected body parts, from disabilities, accidents and surgeries, to its full function.

Think acupuncture can only be performed with needles. Think again. In a study performed in Sweden, researchers conducted four tests to see how acupuncture, standard medical treatments and acupuncture without needles affected four control groups who were suffering from nausea. At the end of the study, it was found that 67% of acupuncture participants had their symptoms improve, while only 37% of standard medical participants had improvements. What is particularly interesting about this study, though, is that there was no difference between the two acupuncture groups at all: the effectiveness of traditional acupuncture treatment, with needles, and those who received "simulated acupuncture" ("acupuncture ... with a telescopic, blunt placebo needle that merely touches the skin") reported the same level of nausea relief, implying that the needle use in traditional acupuncture isn't as integral to acupuncture as once thought. Therefore, researchers are theorizing whether the positive effects of acupuncture have more to do with "increased care" [and the] "extra time for rest and relaxation," rather than the placement and precise manipulation of the needles. This study is quite intriguing in that it begs the question about what exactly is it about acupuncture that is so effective. According to the World Health Organization, acupuncture has been proven to treat sprains, headaches, dental pain, stroke, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, biliary colic and hay fever, among many other diseases and conditions. If this documented success isn't dependent upon the needles, then what exactly is it dependent upon? With hope, time will tell.