Real Things That Look Like Hogwash (or Magic)

Yesterday I was reminded of something that looked like pseudo-scientific nonsense (or magic), but was real.



Years ago, my wife was suffering from spells of dizziness which made her nauseous and caused her to lose her balance. She went to the Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist. The physician assistant examined her then said something like, "Oh boy, I've been looking forward to trying this."



He had my wife sit then quickly lay down and turn her head. The process continued with him guiding her to turn he head other ways, wait a minute, sit up, lay down, etc.



It looked like the PA was doing silly chiropractic-like manipulations.



But it worked like magic. :-)



My wife was almost instantly cured of her symptoms.



The procedure is called the Epley Maneuver (http://ift.tt/1CVeUNO). It is used to treat a condition caused by crystals in the inner ear which cause the dizziness.



Basically, the manipulations move the crystals into an area where they no longer cause problems.



I'm interested in learning of other real things that look like "woo" or magic.



-- Roger