Iridology - Hoax or Science

Alternative medicine can be a very controversial subject. It includes a broad range of fields such as iridology, reflexology, acupuncture, and kinesiology. In this article I will be concentrating on iridology and how I have personally benefited from it.

After being a very active person without any health problems, I started experiencing severe headaches and feeling fatigued. I went to several doctors only to be told that everything was "normal". In the meantime, the headaches and fatigue kept getting worse. I started developing visual disturbances as well as concentration problems. I got to the point that just dialing a phone number was a challenge. Balancing the checkbook was a three to four hour event due to not being able to concentrate. My husband started dividing the money and putting it in separate envelopes. He would write on each envelope what it was for - deposit, laundry, groceries, and so forth. The fatigue was so profound that with every step I took I felt as if life was going out of my body. In the meantime, I was going to different doctors only to receive the same response. Most doctors would say that I was depressed and would prescribe depression medication. From my reading I knew that depressed individuals lack the motivation to do things. That was not my case - I wanted to do things. I wanted to be the active person that I remembered being in the past , but did not even have the energy to get out of bed on many occasions. Any depression I had was the result of not being understood by the medical profession. This went on for about a year and a half.

One day I was watching The Montel Williams Show and he was interviewing panelists who had had health problems and had turned to alternative medicine for relief. This gave me hope - maybe I could still find relief some how! At the same time some new friends we had made told my husband and I that they had been helped by a very experienced iridologist. Feeling that I had nothing to lose, I called to make an appointment. I was very skeptical about it; even while sitting in the waiting room I remember thinking, "I am not going to let her brainwash me." However, my feelings soon changed as she proceeded to examine me. Without me telling her my symptoms, she told "me" exactly what I had been experiencing. I could not believe it! One thing that impressed me was the fact that the last doctor I had seen suspected that I had gallstones but the ultrasound did not detect them. The iridologist was able to detect the gallstones and gave me instructions on how to pass them, which I did. Other conditions were chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, very toxic blood and colon, and magnesium deficiency among other things. Only two to three weeks after my appointment, I was feeling energetic once again and was able to start exercising. I was able to read again and actually understood what I was reading.

It has been over ten years since my first visit to an iridologist; we moved from the area and have seen other iridologists locally. From my experience, I can say that not all iridologists have the same level of expertise. The first person I saw was an M.D. and practiced iridology as well. However, many iridologists I have seen since then have learned the practice through a MLM Company to sell the company's products. I am not saying that they can not be helpful - in many instances they are more knowledgeable in some areas than traditional doctors - but if they err in a diagnosis, we can not assume that they are "all" the same thus labeling iridology as a "hoax". In my opinion and from my own personal experience, iridology is a science. If it were not for iridology, I would probably still be laying in bed taking all sorts of depression and pain medications.

I am very passionate about this subject because I know that what I went through with conventional doctors is a story that is repeated over and over again. People suffer needlessly. You are made to feel as if you're crazy and everything is in your head. This is not to say that depression is not a "real", physiological problem, but when doctors want to diagnose everything they don't understand as "depression", that's when you have to take your health into your own hands. I believe that we all have the intelligence necessary to do our own research and decide what is best for us. I did, and because of that I can have a normal, productive life once again. So, is iridology hoax or science? That is a personal conclusion but results don't lie.