Asklemmy

Osteopaths (who have a Doctorate of Osteopathy and are often referred to as DOs) go to medical school and receive training that's almost exactly the same as an MD.

I was not familiar with this term and had to look it up. From my brief search, it also seems like snake oil, and I don't know why someone would not go to a real physical therapist instead.

DO are real doctors. Rarer than MDs because there are less schools but totally real docs. My Mom with 30 years nursing experience says their training is basically identical, but DOs are generally nicer.

It depends on the country. Everywhere but the US, I believe, osteopaths are witch doctors on the same level as chiropractors. In the US, they were originally like that, but their professional organization basically pushed it into being a real medical degree.

Now they go to the same length schooling as MD's, and take the same exams as far as I know.

The core of the whole discipline, osteopathy, is a pseudoscience, though. While they are usually competent doctors they still have that core of pseudoscience. They like to market themselves as more "holistic", but that's usually a good dogwhistle term to let you know information not supported by science is going to follow. They bring up that they are the same as MDs, but with additional training in osteopathy, but that can't be true because the schooling is the same length, so to fit in the pseudoscience, they get less science.

The real reason why we have DO's is that we don't have capacity in our country to educate enough MDs, so we have this weird parallel system.

The thing is, placebos can actually be pretty effective. Hell, they're effective even if you know they're a placebo. And the more elaborate and similar to what you think would be involved in curing you, the more effective. So people going to chiropractors might actually be getting real results even if the things they're doing are junk.

I’ve had loads of advice like that for IBS, but no amount of FODMAP or probiotics actually makes a difference, because my IBS is stress-triggered. My doctor helped by advising me to avoid stressful situations, which is hard when you move to another country.

This was basically my experience but with tinnitus.

It's a symptom of a larger problem but if there is no clear correlation then you're kind of on your own

"Only rice" is an elimination diet for allergies that I should have tried decades ago, but dumbass mainstream medicine never recommended.

I found out there are slow allergies mediated by immunoglobulin G that you can't detect while eating, so I did a blood test. Found some strong positives (milks, eggs), and then through elimination found out false negatives that I also can't eat (peanut, soy), and, thanks to the doctor whom I went out of my way to see about IgG, some that are typically harmful to those with IBS that I also need to avoid (gluten, sunflower oil, rapeseed oil). Supplemental protective agents Aloe barbadensis, xyloglucan, and butyrate also help. Getting really healthy now - no more IBS if I don't eat mistakes.

The mainstream doctors say that's all nonsense and that I'm a hypochondriac who perceives having gotten better for no reason.

My previous successful departure from the mainstream was making my gallbladder go from "full of stones" to "empty except a thin layer of sediment on the bottom" as seen by ultrasound. Now that there's proof, the doctors can't dismiss that. https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-good-diet-considerations-for-Gallstone-sufferers/answers/107344862

Be careful with vitamin D though. That is one of the very very few vitamins that you can actually take too much of because it's fat soluble, not water soluble, so excessive vitamin D will build up in your fat cells rather than just getting peed out. It's called vitamin D toxicity (VDT) and it can have some unpleasant neurological effects among other things.

So it's probably a good idea to get your levels checked anyways just to make sure you're taking the right amount if you need it.