# Nurse recommended homeopathic remedy - wtf? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 13, 2010, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944 "2010-10-13T01:16:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/41 "2010-10-13T16:40:34Z")
[QUOTE=SenorBeef] - it’s accepted as valid treatment in the NHS [/QUOTE] It’s accepted as a placebo. The doctors and scientists want it gone, it’s the politicians that have left funding in place. [We should leave it to the comedians](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIaV8swc-fo) ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/42 "2010-10-13T17:04:00Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > > [@Doctor\_Who](#): > > > > It was probably arnica. It’s used in homeopathic stuff, but I believe the topical gels you can get have an actual usable amount in them. > > > > [Here’s a link.](http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/arnica-000222.htm) > > > > I don’t have any numbers on whether or not it’s more effective than a placebo. But I know people who swear by it for bruises and swelling. > > > > ETA: Also, by the way, just to point it out, IANAD… at least not this kind. And I’m not a homeopathy believer either, but (for whatever reason) I have heard of this stuff. > > So it’s actually an active ingredient that does good work, and it’s just coincidentally used in homeopathic medicine (in practically non-existant amounts), but she was talking about me getting the actual medicinal form? Hmm. Now I feel slightly bad about grumbling when my wife wanted to put some arnica cream—which she’d brought from Brazil—on my foot when it was swollen. The package identified it as “homeopathic,” so naturally I assumed it was just a tube of plain petroleum jelly. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/43 "2010-10-13T18:30:58Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > > [@enigmatic](#): > > > > I’m very much unhappy with the NHS homeopathy stuff too, but you do need to realise that a lot of the arguments for funding it are based on a respect for the placebo effect, and concern about what patients will end up with if they go elsewhere. > > ?? I get the placebo effect part, but almost by definition, homeopathic remedies contain no active ingredients. They’ll end up with the same tap water (maybe with a dash of brandy) anywhere, won’t they? > > I will say that lots of people who really should know better think that “homeopathy” means “natural or hebal remedy” even though they are not the same thing at all. For example, when you rub Aloe on a sunburn, you’re using a natural remedy, which is not homeopathic in nature. I would go further than that. EVERYONE I’ve ever met who “believes” in homeopathy has no idea what it really means, and thinks it’s the same thing as “natural or herbal remedy”. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/44 "2010-10-13T22:46:51Z")
I don’t understand people who pay for homeopathic medicines. Why don’t they just pour themselves a free glass of it from the sink? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/45 "2010-10-13T23:00:54Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Homeopathy believes that if you have one molecule of caffeine out of a hundred trillion of water it will work as a sleeping pill. And they actually believe the smaller the amount, the better it works. To the point where if you actually completely eliminate the active ingredient from the solution, it works best of all! Because the water remembers it, you see. I saw an argument once (anyone know where this was?) that concluded that if the homeopathic dilution and memory principles were literally true, it would mean that _all water on the planet_ already held the memory of every homeopathic treatment. ---
**Author:** ![Otara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Otara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otara)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/46 "2010-10-13T23:53:23Z")
Australia does not recognise homeopathy as a legitimate profession in the health professions. Anyone can call themselves such and there are no legal qualifications necessary to become one. Efforts were made to recognise it as a profession in order to implement ethical standards and the like, but it seems to have been decided more damage will be done by apparently legitimising it than any harm mitigated by doing so. Otara ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/47 "2010-10-14T00:42:05Z")
I’ll second the notion that even health professionals can get caught up in the hype of absurd medical treatments. One of my nursing professors was very enthusiastic about ear candles :rolleyes: Another time, when my sister and I were with my mom in the ER, a nurse told her sea salt wouldn’t raise her blood pressure no matter how much she used. When he left the room, I told her he was wrong, sea salt was salt. ---
**Author:** ![Parenchyma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Parenchyma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parenchyma)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/48 "2010-10-14T01:09:48Z")
If there ever are true homeopathic hospitals, I hope that the emergency rooms are like [this.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMGIbOGu8q0) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/49 "2010-10-14T01:26:08Z")
[QUOTE=spark240] I saw an argument once (anyone know where this was?) that concluded that if the homeopathic dilution and memory principles were literally true, it would mean that _all water on the planet_ already held the memory of every homeopathic treatment. [/QUOTE] Homeopathic treatments would also hold the “memory” of other things as well, as sardonically noted in [this poster](http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/04/best_anti-homeopathy_poster_ever.php). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/50 "2010-10-14T03:24:08Z")
About a year ago, there were news reports about how Billy Joel’s daughter Alexa tried to commit suicide. Certainly a serious event from a psychological point of view. But if you read the details, you’d have seen that what she “overdosed” on was eight Traumeel tablets, which are homeopathic. So her overdose was basically eating the equivalent of a tablespoon of sugar. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/51 "2010-10-14T03:28:25Z")
James Randi takes entire bottles of homeopathic sleeping pills at a time to demonstrate the silliness. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/52 "2010-10-14T03:32:01Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > About a year ago, there were news reports about how Billy Joel’s daughter Alexa tried to commit suicide. Certainly a serious event from a psychological point of view. > > But if you read the details, you’d have seen that what she “overdosed” on was eight Traumeel tablets, which are homeopathic. So her overdose was basically eating the equivalent of a tablespoon of sugar. If she’d really meant it, it’d be a teaspoon. ---
**Author:** ![LunaticFringette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/fbc32d/32.png) [@LunaticFringette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LunaticFringette)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/53 "2010-10-14T05:22:16Z")
OP title says “nurse recommended” while your post says “usually for that they’ll tell you to get”. The latter suggests he/she was explaining the usual treatment prescribed by the MD, PA, ARNP or other professional licensed to prescribe. The former amounts to prescribing which is illegal according to most states’ Nurse Practice Acts. While I agree that there’s a fair share of stupid in nursing, I’m offended by the stupidity assigned to ‘nurses’ when those ‘nurses’ are, in fact, medical assistants or certified nurse aides, and not Registered Nurses, or when their statements are misrepresented. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/54 "2010-10-14T05:48:21Z")
First of all, I’ve known a lot of nurses. They are as likely to be wackos as anybody, which is to say, quite likely. The same with medical doctors. An MD degree doesn’t preclude the possibility that someone will come up with some new and untried method that they think works for something, and in fact, sometimes it does work, and sometimes it doesn’t. I had ear candles recommended to me _by a doctor_, who also indicated that for my problem, lit cigarettes might be just as effective. Seriously! (Um, no. It did not work. My problem was ear difficulties when coming down from altitude, including flying on airplanes.) The thing about people who pay for homeopathic or any other treatment is, they _believe it will work_, and because they believe it, a significant portion of the time, it will work. Or they will think it worked. Which is just as good. I envy these people. I don’t believe in anything, and nothing works, except Advil, which I take for everything. (Luckily I have infrequent and nonserious problems.) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/55 "2010-10-14T05:48:36Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > If she’d really meant it, it’d be a teaspoon. Maybe her suicide attempt was actually a homeopathic means of achieving immortality. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/56 "2010-10-14T05:52:48Z")
> [@LunaticFringette](#): > > OP title says “nurse recommended” while your post says “usually for that they’ll tell you to get”. The latter suggests he/she was explaining the usual treatment prescribed by the MD, PA, ARNP or other professional licensed to prescribe. The former amounts to prescribing which is illegal according to most states’ Nurse Practice Acts. > While I agree that there’s a fair share of stupid in nursing, I’m offended by the stupidity assigned to ‘nurses’ when those ‘nurses’ are, in fact, medical assistants or certified nurse aides, and not Registered Nurses, or when their statements are misrepresented. First, an OP is only a few words, so you go for conciseness. You have the OP in which to describe the incident in more detail, which I did. So this is nitpicking at best. Second, she had a name tag which read “registered nurse”. ---
**Author:** ![falcotron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3ab097/32.png) [@falcotron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/falcotron)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/57 "2010-10-14T10:11:35Z")
[quote=“spark240, post:45, topic:556944”] > [@SenorBeef](#): > > I saw an argument once (anyone know where this was?) that concluded that if the homeopathic dilution and memory principles were literally true, it would mean that _all water on the planet_ already held the memory of every homeopathic treatment. Even better, every homeopathic treatment that hasn’t been discovered yet is also in your tap water, so it should even be able to cure things nobody’s figured out yet. Even betterer, homeopathic treatments that not only haven’t been discovered but don’t even exist are present–and present at ∞X dilution. Hard to beat impossible cures at infinite strength. ---
**Author:** ![LunaticFringette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/fbc32d/32.png) [@LunaticFringette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LunaticFringette)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/58 "2010-10-14T11:04:57Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > > [@LunaticFringette](#): > > > > OP title says “nurse recommended” while your post says “usually for that they’ll tell you to get”. The latter suggests he/she was explaining the usual treatment prescribed by the MD, PA, ARNP or other professional licensed to prescribe. The former amounts to prescribing which is illegal according to most states’ Nurse Practice Acts. > > While I agree that there’s a fair share of stupid in nursing, I’m offended by the stupidity assigned to ‘nurses’ when those ‘nurses’ are, in fact, medical assistants or certified nurse aides, and not Registered Nurses, or when their statements are misrepresented. > > First, an OP is only a few words, so you go for conciseness. You have the OP in which to describe the incident in more detail, which I did. So this is nitpicking at best. > > Second, she had a name tag which read “registered nurse”. Being concise is no excuse for inaccuracy. It’s not nitpicking when it’s clarification of that inaccuracy which has legal implications. Thank you for the clarification regarding her nametag. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/59 "2010-10-14T11:13:17Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > James Randi takes entire bottles of homeopathic sleeping pills at a time to demonstrate the silliness. Well duh - taking an incredibly low dose like a whole bottle-full isn’t going to prove anything. If he wanted to make a point he should try taking an excessively _high_ dose. Maybe drop a pill in Lake Superior and then sip a thimblefull of the lake water? BTW, my dentist prescribed me a little bottle of 30c “arnica” homeopathic sugar pills to “reduce swelling” after an implant operation. Kind of shook my faith in his professionalism. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944/60 "2010-10-14T11:48:35Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > > [@LunaticFringette](#): > > > > OP title says “nurse recommended” while your post says “usually for that they’ll tell you to get”. The latter suggests he/she was explaining the usual treatment prescribed by the MD, PA, ARNP or other professional licensed to prescribe. The former amounts to prescribing which is illegal according to most states’ Nurse Practice Acts. > > While I agree that there’s a fair share of stupid in nursing, I’m offended by the stupidity assigned to ‘nurses’ when those ‘nurses’ are, in fact, medical assistants or certified nurse aides, and not Registered Nurses, or when their statements are misrepresented. > > First, an OP is only a few words, so you go for conciseness. You have the OP in which to describe the incident in more detail, which I did. So this is nitpicking at best. > > Second, she had a name tag which read “registered nurse”. Are you sure you’re remembering that correctly? I’ve never seen a nurse’s name tag that said anything beyond “RN” or added initials describing further education. It would be a rare clinic that would pay an RN to do an MA’s or CNA’s work. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nurse-recommended-homeopathic-remedy-wtf/556944.md?page=4)