Special Treatments

When a pain killer or dose of peneciline doesn’t work there is always the route of alternative medicine. In the Western world this might involve some acupuncture, but in other parts of the world crazy cures are rife. From bee stings to having a turtle bite you in the face. Nothing is crazy enough if it works. The fun stops, however, when parts of endangered species such as rhinos and tigers, get used because it is believed they can cure anything from baldness to erection problems to aids.

Consumers enjoy mud therapy at a nursing home in Anshan, east China's Liaoning province August 21, 2006. The mineral mud is believed to be able to alleviate pain from rheumatoid arthritis, sequela of traumatisms and peripheral nervous system diseases. Picture taken August 21, 2006. REUTERS/China Daily

 A Chinese man receives treatment with bee venom for rhinitis, an inflammation of the nasal membranes, at a clinic in the Duqu Town of Xi'an, West China's Shaanxi province, April 4, 2006. The doctor of the clinic Li Qixing uses bee venom released into the patient's body when the bee stings, to cure diseases such as rheumatism, arthritis and rhinitis. Picture taken April 4, 2006. REUTERS/China Daily

Garra rufa obtusas, also known as doctor fish swim near the feet of visitors at Hakone Kowakien in a hot spring resort, west of Tokyo April 17, 2006. A resort hotel opened Dr Fish bath that contains 1,000 West Asian fish. The Garra rufa fish used in this spa is known as Doctor Fish since it feeds on the dead skin from the feet of visitors and is believed by some to cure skin diseases. REUTERS/Toshiyuki Aizawa

 A man holds a terrapin, whose touch believed to cure rheumatism and other bodily ailments, as he prepares to treat the face of a villager in Kandal province, 20km (12 miles) west of Phnom Penh, May 24, 2006. Belief in the supernatural healing powers of animals such as turtles, cows and snakes is a relatively common phenomenon in Cambodia. Picture taken May 24, 2006. REUTERS/Chor Sokutnhea

 

 A woman receives traditional Chinese medical treatment with dead scorpions on her face at a hospital in Jinan, capital of eastern China's Shandong province June 12, 2006. CHINA OUT REUTERS/Stringer

 

 A woman receives traditional Chinese medical treatment with a walnut on her eye and ignited dry moxa leaves in her ear at a hospital in Jinan, capital of eastern China's Shandong province June 12, 2006. CHINA OUT REUTERS/Stringer (CHINA)

 

 Visitors cover their bodies with black mud at a tourist resort in Daying County of Suning, south-western China's Sichuan province, May 2, 2007. The mineral-rich black mud is believed to be good for the skin, local media reported. Picture taken May 2, 2007. REUTERS/China Daily

 Jiang Musheng, a 66-year-old resident, eats a live tree frog at a village in Shangrao, in eastern China's Jiangxi province in this May 21, 2007 picture. Jiang suffered from frequent abdominal pains and coughing 20 years ago, until an old man called Yang Dingcai suggested tree frogs as a remedy, the Beijing News said on Tuesday. Picture taken May 21, 2007. REUTERS/China Daily

 

 Haj Mohamed el-Minyawi allows one of his bees to sting a patient suffering from ear problems in Cairo July 14, 2007. Minyawi believes that the bee stings have special properties, that when used on different parts of the body can cure ailments like kidney problems, appendicitis and even cancer. Minyami has opened his home to public and treats people from all over Cairo. REUTERS/Nasser Nuri

 A patient undergoes cupping treatment at Huangzhiguo Traditional Chinese Massage and Acupuncture Clinic in Shanghai August 8, 2007. Cupping is a treatment that claims to take the heat out of the body, by using cups that are heated before being placed on the body of the patient. Huangzhiguo Traditional Chinese Massage and Acupuncture Clinic is the largest private clinic on Chinese traditional massage and acupuncture in Shanghai. REUTERS/Nir Elias

 A man covered with mud sits in a medicinal mud pond at the Lagoon of Miracles in Chilca January 20, 2008. The 'Lagoon of Miracles,' with its distinct greenish colour along with the mud ponds that surround it, is said to cure everything from acne to rheumatism. REUTERS/Enrique Castro-Mendivil

A man is administered a live fish as a medicine during a camp in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad June 9, 2007. Every year in June, Bathini Goud Brothers, a family in Hyderabad, draws thousands for administering the fish medicine which they claim miraculously cures asthma. REUTERS/Krishnendu Halder

 A man prepares to swallow a live fish that has been dipped in homemade medicine during a camp in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad June 9, 2010. Every year in June, the Bathini Goud brothers from Hyderabad draw thousands to their camp to take part in the administering of the fish medicine, which they believe cures them of asthma and respiratory problems. REUTERS/Krishnendu Halder

 

 A patient receives a traditional Chinese medical treatment with needles and ignited dry moxa leaves on her face to cure facial paralysis, at a hospital in Jinan, Shandong province August 5, 2010. REUTERS/Stringer

 A doctor ignites dry moxa leaves in a patient's ear during a traditional Chinese medical treatment for curing brain atrophy, at a hospital in Jinan, Shandong province August 5, 2010. REUTERS/Stringer 

 A patient receives a traditional Chinese medical treatment to cure cervical spondylosis at a hospital in Hefei, Anhui province November 15, 2010. Cervical spondylosis is a condition where the cervical spine made of vertebraes and discs degenerate. REUTERS/Stringer

 Mohmmed Emad, 41, lies buried neck-deep in the sand in the El Dakrror mountain area at Siwa Oasis, 700 km northwest of Cairo and 55 km to the Libyan border, August 12, 2008. The people in Siwa believe that being buried in the sand during the hottest time of the day is a therapeutic treatment which can cure rheumatism, joint pain and sexual impotency. REUTERS/Nasser Nuri

 A Palestinian Hujama therapist (L) treats a patient (C) suffering from backache at his clinic in Khan Younis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip June 15, 2009. Hujama is traditional Islamic treatment method that involves creating a vacuum on the skin by placing inverted cups on parts of the body and drawing blood from an incision on the skin. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

 A hearing impaired Palestinian boy receives treatment with bee venom at a clinic in Gaza City July 8, 2009. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

 

 Garra rufa obtusas, also known as doctor fish, swim around the face of a man as he relaxes in a hot spa pool in Kangal, 105 kilometers (65 miles) south of the central Anatolian city of Sivas August 9, 2009. The treatment is believed to heal Psoriasis, a chronic skin disease which affects the joints and skins. Garra rufa obtusa, also known as doctor fish which live in mineral-rich hot spa pools, is used in the treatment as they nibble away the diseased skin. The mineral-rich water is then believed to aid in the healing process of the lesions. People suffering from psoriasis travel to Kangal to stay at the spa for 21 days and visit the fish pools twice daily for four-hour treatment sessions. Picture taken August 9, 2009. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

 A villager pours water over the carcass of a dead calf, which villagers believe to be a magic cow born with crocodile skin, during its funeral at Trang Per village in Pusat province, 190km (120 km) northwest of Phnom Penh August 20, 2009. The villagers believe that drinking water poured over the calf can cure rheumatism and other bodily ailments. Belief in the supernatural healing powers of animals such as cows, snakes and turtles is a relatively common phenomenon in Cambodia, where over a third of the population lives on under $1 a day and few can afford modern medicines. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

 Cambodia villagers collect the urine of a cow believed to have healing powers in Kompot province, about 100 km (62 miles) south of the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh, on September 26, 2002. Belief in the supernatural healing powers of animals such as cows, snakes and turtles is relatively common in Cambodia, where more than third of the population lives on less than $1 a day and few can afford modern medicines. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

 Russian woman takes leech treatment in a laboratory in Moscow, February 1, 2001. The International Leech Centre raises leeches for use in treatments dating from ancient Egypt for a wide variety of ailments, including blood disorders and immunity problems. AS/FMS

 An asthma patient swallows a life fish as part of his treatment in Bombay June 8. The tiny river fish's mouth is stuffed with herbal medicine before it is forced live down the throat of asthmatics in a ritual that some Indians believe provides a sure shot cure for the disease. The combination of herbs used in the procedure is a secret that is tightly guarded by an Indian family which claims to have known it for 150 years. SK/DL/CLH/

 Kazuhiro Aoki, puts his face in an aquarium as Garra rufa, a fish used for skin treatment, nibbles his skin at the Beautyworld Japan trade fair in Tokyo May 20, 2008. Over 600 exhibitors took part in Japan's largest beauty trade fair which ends May 21. REUTERS/Yuriko Nakao

 A man is made to swallow a live fish as a form of medicine during a camp in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad June 8, 2008. Every year in June, the Bathini Goud brothers from Hyderabad draw thousands to their camp to take part in the administering of the fish medicine, which they believe cures them of asthma and respiratory problems. REUTERS/Krishnendu Halder

 Students perform Rubber Neti, an ancient yogic technique, in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh May 21, 2009. Many Indians believe that Rubber Neti controls the common cold, cough and asthma and keeps the nasal passages clean. REUTERS/Ajay Verma

 A resident receives horn cupping treatment on his back on a street in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region July 13 2008. Cupping is an alternative form of pain therapy that has been part of Chinese medicine for over 2,500 years, local media reported. REUTERS/Stringer

 Nine-year-old Muhammad Ponari (L), a boy whom locals believe possesses healing powers, dips his magic stone into a bottle of water, during a mass healing event in Jombang, East Java province February 11, 2009. About two months ago, Ponari caught a stone which fell from the sky, shortly after lightning struck the area he was playing in, according to Ponari's uncle, Mulyono. Believing that this stone contained magical healing powers, thousands have sought Ponari's help by drinking water which he dips the stone in. Picture taken February 11, 2009. REUTERS/Sigit Pamungkas