Grounding
 

I encountered "grounding" on Gaia TV last year. I tend to be skeptical about non-traditional concepts of health but I am also curious. So, I decided to just walk barefoot in my yard a few minutes each day. I haveen't done it enough to be able to report any health benefits. But, what I did notice surprised me. After a week or so, I no longer wanted to wear shoes. Barefoot just feels better. Wondering if anyone else has had any experiences with this.

Clearly not.

I know a guy who walked 60 miles barefoot, including across downtown Seattle. I'm shocked he didn't get hepatitis from stepping on a dirty needle.

Clearly you don't know me.

Back in the 60's while in San Francisco, we watched a hippie get on the bus and stamp out his cigarette with his well crusted bare foot. Not sure if he was doing it for health reasons or if he's even still alive though.

I couldn't make it past 10 seconds of New Age-y "chant" music in the video, ugh. If going barefoot makes you happy, do it. You don't need permission from pseudo-science to do it.

Guess walking around Kilauea barefoot right now might transfer lots of the Earth's healthy energy.

Ignore both the snark, and the new-age stuff. I don't find it remotely surprising that walking barefoot feels better, people were doing it for an awfully long time and shoes are constricting. They were invented for a reason, though, so I think this is a case of horses for courses - or soles for roles.

fwiw: recently had the pleasure & expense of having a tiny piece pf glass removed from my foot

btw didn't make it past the 1st 3 seconds of the music

I ignored the music. I was just wondering if anyone had had any experience with the subject. It is kind of amusing to see all the responses from the people of snark though. The beauty of BF.....commenting on stuff you have no knowledge of.

I was just discussing/debating this with a fellow skeptic who's an atheist. I'm more of a deist or agnostic, a very skeptical one.

My position is that it's difficult to disabuse people of woo -- notions of pseudoscience -- when their beliefs make them feel good. And feeling good psychologically often does translate to physical benefits.

Pleasant odors make us feel better. That doesn't mean essential oils offer any real, scientifically valid benefits.

It feels good to urinate. That doesn't mean drinking urine or washing our eyes with it translates to any physical benefits, but some folks do drink their urine and use it as eye wash or to treat skin problems.

The foot is filled with sensitive nerve endings, particularly in feet that are usually protected by shoes, socks, soft carpets, etc. Foot massages feel good. Things that feel good may translate to lower blood pressure, reduction of pain due to tension, etc. That doesn't mean that "grounding" is a thing that can be tested with any sound methodology and proved to be real.

Occasionally folk remedies and science coincide. Aspirin derives from the salicylic acid originally found in willow and poplar tree bark. It's one of our oldest and most valuable medicines. But it's not better to chew tree bark to relieve minor pain. Being a natural source doesn't make it work better, particularly when other unnecessary and potentially harmful ingredients are included, when all we actually need is the refined aspirin.

But if a person relates the thought of a tree with pleasant memories of exploring the woods, picnics, romantic encounters with lovers, etc., they may *feel* as if chewing willow bark is more effective than swallowing an aspirin, when the aspirin comes from a pill bottle in the bathroom -- a place often associated with unpleasant odors, vomiting, diarrhea, fights with siblings in a large family over who's next to use the shower, etc.

It's great when feeling good coincides with actual, measurable, repeatable health benefits. But we must be careful to avoid conflating feeling good with actually being healthy, particularly when serious symptoms are being masked.

And now I'm about to go soak in a hot bath of Epsom salts scented with eucalyptus and wintergreen. Do I really believe those scents actually enhance the effects on sore muscles? Nope. But it makes the bath more pleasant. And I have shoulder surgery in the morning and anything that makes me feel better may enhance my recovery.

How do you feel about the Placebo effect? I find it intriguing.

I suspect, in this particular case, it stems from members of this forum having heard about the "miracle" benefits of other alternative treatments, possibly even falling for a few, and then having those claims proven to be false. There's a healthy caution/skepticism about alternative treatments that claim any sort of significant medical benefits. It sounds too much like snake oil.

I have no problem with skepticism. However, discounting something out of hand is not skepticism and deriding those who are seeking to know the truth of something, when you no nothing about it, is ignorance. My MD put me on a beta blocker for high BP. It was 145/95. The meds almost killed me. A friend who is an Naturopathic Doctor suggested I dump the meds and try beet juice. WTF? But, I gave it a try. My BP is now regularly 130/80. Some research tells me that this is actually a recognized way to deal with BP. I was skeptical but not dismissive. I prefer to live my life with that attitude.

Oh?

Do you need to study astrophysics to comment on flat earth theories?

This is hardly an apples to apples comparison. Or should I say beets to beets.

I'm not at all surprised that eating or drinking vegetable juice can in some cases be more beneficial than pharmaceuticals. It's well known that BP meds have negative side effects.

Artis the Spoonman used to walk around Seattle barefooted ALL the time. His callouses were epic.

Beets me.

If you read the OP you will discover that I asked for experiences not opinions.

It's hard to avoid the electrical fields of wifi, high voltage power lines, TV, unhealthy environments, etc. By far most of us live in towns, cities and suburbia. Bioelectricity is a know factor, and there are lots of studies and discoveries that are ignored because they don't quite fit the current standard, or are up against all kinds of interests in othere areas. We know forests, green lawns, parks, trees, gardens, flower beds are healthy, joyful and very important for peoples health. In the city we often have to seek it actively. Luckily nature offer various ways of grounding and working with the less physical energy system of the body. The body can do a lot if you work with it and not up against it. I think it's important to realise people that people in the alternative camp are working on something they believe in, a discovery they have made they are pursuing, they are trying to let others in on. It's often not very advanced theoretically, maybe the view point is narrowed down a bit, but the more we know and the more it's worked on the better it gets. I know there are a lot to be found in for example Chinese traditional medicine that can give the mind a view point of understanding in relation to established science and medicine. It's always like that. Another thing; say something, regadless of subject or context; before to long you can be sure there is someone with an oposite view of things. It's like bouncing a ball.

It's a thing, no question about it. Many scientific studies show the placebo effect is real. Ditto the reverse -- stress making physical pain worse.

In some cases that's a good thing. If a patient is open to suggestion they may be able to cope with severe and/or chronic pain with lower doses of opiates.

But in scientific studies the placebo effect usually measures in the low single digits. And it may not be a reliable replacement for medications with proven capabilities. There are also ethical problems associated with prescribing a placebo, rather than merely experimenting with the placebo effect. Some studies suggest that patients who believe they are being given a placebo may develop a peculiar resistance to real medications when they have doubts about whether they're receiving real medicine or placebo. If they lose trust in prescribers, they may suffer side effects from overdosing or complications from mixing incompatible medications, or taking woo remedies -- homeopathic, naturopathic, etc., stuff that's a placebo at best and potentially harmful at worst.

A more ethical approach would be hypnotism, meditation, prayer (a form of meditation), "mindfulness" (whatever that means -- seems to depend on which variation of Buddhism the individual subscribes to), anything that reduces stress.

I have chronic pain and try to keep my use of opiates to a bare minimum. Even after my shoulder was broken and completely dislocated two weeks ago I've used less than half of the 10 day supply of prescription pain meds and muscle relaxers. Some days I didn't use it at all. But the pain has been excruciating the past two days. I used 2/3 of the prescribed daily dosage. I've never needed a full prescribed daily dosaged.

I suspect the worsened pain yesterday and today were somewhat related to greater stress. I was scheduled for surgery yesterday and the closer I got to the scheduled time the more my shoulder ached, which radiated to my back and neck. And I couldn't take anything at all -- not even ibuprofen or Tylenol. Not even a sip of water or chew gum. By the time I got into the OR I was in agony and relieved when the anesthesiologist walked in. I figured I'd be conked out peacefully in a few minutes and wake up with a repaired shoulder. Almost immediately the pain dissipated somewhat, from a 10 to an 8.

Then I discovered I'm not a candidate for surgery anytime soon because I have an airway obstruction and tumor on my thyroid. Almost immediately my pain escalated to 11 on a scale of 10, and stayed that way all night and this morning. I finally took the full dosage of pain meds and the pain eased up to a 6 or 7 level by this afternoon. My blood pressure was elevated and I took a BP med on an as-needed PRN basis, which seems to help reduce headache pain as well.

I'm pretty sure that was a combination of real physical pain and stress from the anticipation of surgery, followed by the letdown of realizing it would be months before I can have the shoulder repaired, and I'm looking at a new and potentially more serious health issue.

So, yup, I'm as susceptible to the placebo effect as anyone (or reverse placebo effect with enhanced stress), although I also believe I can consciously moderate the pain and need for meds somewhat by listening to pleasant music, audiobooks or radio programs. I'm a big fan of old style radio theater and will queue up a bunch via the internet archives on my player, or listen to some favorite podcasts until I fall asleep.

That's why I don't dismiss the efficacy of getting the mind and emotions involved in the wellness game. Even if we're aware of the manipulations of the mind and emotions, it can still work.

Back in the day I was involved in local politics in Mansfield, CT where the Univ. of CT is located. I was on the Town Council for 13 years. The man in this video (Irv Kirsch) was one of my supporters and showed up at my house for dinners and strategy sessions. A very nice guy. Imagine my surprise when years later he showed up talking about the Placebo Effect on 60 Minutes.

I live in Australia. 'Everyone' goes barefoot here. :D

However, I grew up in Canada. In Canada people tend not to go barefoot very often ... largely because of the weather. In a class I attended as part of one of my degrees, I learned how to teach physical education to children. One of the things the instructor mentioned was that Canadians tend to have rather weak, inflexible feet because Canadians wear heavy boots much of the year. She advocated letting children run around barefoot as much as possible to build up strength in their feet. I don't know if what she said was true or not ... didn't matter to me.

Then I moved to Australia and discovered that a lot of people walk around barefoot here or with flip flops at most. But they don't call it "grounding" or anything like that ... it's just what people do ... and what I started doing more of as well.



The only possible "health benefit" I may have noticed is that when I walk on sand, in the cold, salty water of the ocean, the arthritis in my feet seems to feel a bit better.


But a question ... when you get home after work at night, do you wear shoes in the house?

Most of the time I don't wear shoes in the house. If I come in and know I'm going out again I keep my shoes on.

So then you're used to going barefoot ... it's nothing new for you.

If the weather is even remotely warm, I go barefoot from the moment I get to the door of my house and it has to get quite chilly before I'll put on socks.

Even at work, much of the year I'm wearing bare feet in sandals, and usually at some point during the day the sandals come off.

If it weren't for winter, rocks and jack jumpers, I'd probably be barefoot most of the time. But that's just because I have a lot of trouble finding comfortable shoes.