When you talk about medicine, treatments, and therapy, it often seems like everyone has a medical degree because they always know how to treat whatever ailment you’re experiencing. It also doesn’t help that there is so much information on the internet. Regardless of where they got their knowledge, there are some treatments, mostly alternative, that many people swear by. With more and more people hopping on board the alternative medicine train, there are some types of treatments and therapies that have been called top tier for various conditions. Here’s a list of some of these treatments.

1. Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is a type of holistic healing treatment that uses various plant extracts to heal and promote the well-being of the body, but many people have questioned whether it works or not. Well, it really depends on who you talk to. According to science, there is no evidence to support the effectiveness of essential oils’ healing properties, although there is some proof that it helps to relieve stress and some sleep issues. Believers would tell you that it does in fact work and they can list more ailments that it can be used to treat than not.

2. Ghost Peppers

Have you ever heard that some peppers help with joint pain and arthritis? Well, there are many people who believe it does despite very little evidence supporting this claim. Ghost peppers, like many others, contain a substance called capsaicin which is responsible for the burning sensation you feel after eating one. While it may, key word being may, help with weight loss and inflammation, it can also help to relieve pain, but the mechanism is not completely understood. Some have proposed that this is due to its ability to stimulate pain receptors, while others think that the burning associated with capsaicin distracts you from the pain that you are experiencing.

3. Green Tea Extract

It is well known that green tea has numerous health benefits. For one, it is an antioxidant, and it also contains flavonoids that can help to increase heart health. It has also been said that green tea, more specifically, its extract, will help in losing weight. It is thought that the extract increases the number of calories burned through thermogenesis. These effects, however, have been called minimal. If your plan is to drink more to see better results, be careful as green tea extract is toxic in high doses and can cause some serious liver damage.

4. Acupuncture

In some parts of the world, acupuncture is not only accepted as one of forms of traditional medicine, but in some places, it is one of the first types of treatment that is sought after when ailments arise. Although it is mostly known for treating pain, it has also been used to treat respiratory and digestive disorders. Over the last decade, it has gained popularity in the West, but many people debate its efficacy. Another reason why people are not too keen on the practice is that it includes hundreds of small needles. 

5. CBD Oil

These days it’s almost impossible to read an article about alternative medicine without coming across CBD oil and that’s all because of how popular its source, Maryjane, has become in the medical community. Marketed as having qualities that help with sleep, anxiety, inflammation, epilepsy and pain, some people are having difficulty determining if it actually has those benefits, even though members of the medical community have acknowledged some of its effects.