Available everywhere from boutiques to big box stores, alternative health products for personal use and the home have gone mainstream. Tropical-hued salt lamps, for example, are for sale in massage studios as well as at Walmart, and essential oils are on the shelves at herbal stores and Kroger, too. Here’s a sampling of five popular products that tout health benefits, with some caveats.
1. Aromatherapy & Essential Oils
Just as the aroma of apple pie might remind you of the holidays, aromatherapy is the use of your olfactory senses to invoke certain sensations. Essential oils are plant extracts used in this approach. Common side effects reported from use of the oils include headaches and skin reactions. “It is important that [people] remember to educate themselves on the power that these oils possess,” says Tricia Boor of Apothec, 412 Libbie Ave.
$5 to $50. Available at most natural health and beauty shops and other retail outlets.
2. Bio-sourced Skin Care
Read the ingredient label on many over-the-counter skin care products, and you’ll likely find that they include a long list of manmade substances and chemicals. Bio-sourced skin care is the use of plant-derived material to treat your skin concerns, according to Summer Alexander, of Apothecary Richmond. You do need to educate yourself, she says, to learn which ingredients help with a particular skin concern. “It is important to understand how products are formulated to meet skin care goals.”
$24 to $70. Apothecary Richmond products can be found at Boketto, 106 N. Vine St., or at apothecaryrichmond.com.
Salt lamp (Photo by Thinkstock)
3. Salt Lamps
The thinking here is that these pretty lamps generate negative ions, which balance out the unhealthy, positive ions all around us generated by the electronics in our environment, according to George Nuckolls, owner of Escape Massage in Mechanicsville. That, he says, helps boost mood and overall health.
“There were salt caves, and miners who worked there had a lot better health than some of their neighbors,” he says.
The minerals in Himalayan salt are thought to emit negative ions when they are heated in the lamps.
$29 to $300 for lamps. escapemassage.com, 9225 Atlee Road, No. 5103, Rutland Commons, Mechanicsville.
4. Magnetic Bracelets
This product has been touted for circulation, overall health, and for alleviating wrist pain, among other claims. Some people with arthritis wear the bracelets because they believe the magnets attract more blood to the arms and wrists. HCA Virginia Health System’s website notes that there is little scientific evidence for the use of magnets to treat medical conditions, but some recent small studies suggest that magnets may be effective under certain conditions.
$10 to $300. Available at assorted online merchants and stores including Walmart and Walgreens.
5. Cold Lasers
These devices are commonly used as an alternative means of alleviating pain and inflammation. Cold lasers are placed on the skin and a low-level laser light beam is emitted. They are used by people with carpal tunnel syndrome and torn muscles. Advocates tout their use because they do not involve taking medications and they are thought to quicken the healing process, but the downsides of cold lasers include that they don’t work immediately and also require a series of visits to a doctor. Some chiropractors include cold laser therapy in their services, as do many sports injury specialists.
$20 to $150. Local providers include Shaw Chiropractic Center, 10486 Ridgefield Parkway, 804-741-3068.
