A lot of the so-called primitive healing and medicines are actually the result of thousands of years of testing and experience and are no more primitive than the latest designer drug that is supposed to cure almost anything. The only real difference between a medicine man and a Doctor is the culture that they are from. If you BELIEVE in what your medicine man/Doctor tells you and gives you then you will very likely have good results.
The placebo effect is very real and proven. A lot of times when they test new drugs they give one group the new drug and the other group a placebo. Both groups are led to believe that they are getting the great new drug that is going to do wonderful things for you. Unfortunately, if the two groups have the same result it may not be because the new drug is ineffective, rather it is because both drugs are working because the people believe that they will. A lot of drugs that had remarkable effects on animals and then basically went flat on human testing is that animals don't have the ability to BELIEVE.
I believe that there is also a placebo effect that is based on the Medicine man/doctors BELIEF that what they give you will help you. My Granny took a double handful of pills a day and finally we got our hands on her medicine bag and made a list and took her and the list to a new doctor. Basically he took her off of everything that she was on and it was like she suddenly was a different person. MUCH sharper and not walking around like a zombie. The Only thing that she refused to give up was her "Nerve pills." We weaned her off of them by replacing them with tictac breath freshener pills and those worked just as well for her.
I have tried several alternative medicines over the years with mixed results. Especially with chronic back pains acupuncture worked as well as a Pill Rolling Doctor and didn't mess my mind up. the power of positive thinking worked even better than acupuncture and in the end, my wife cured my sciatica by yanking my leg. The problem was evidently NOT a back issue. Thank goodness that I didn't let them do surgery on my back. the problem was evidently a nerve pinched in my hip joint which was mostly worn out.
I have seen the laying on of hands work for a temporary release of pain. I have actually done it successfully myself. If you know how to do it you can relieve a lot of the symptoms of pain by working pressure points.
I read a lot about this after a tiny little massage therapist stopped the pain in my leg by basically putting pressure on the nerves and blood vessels feeding that nerve until she put it to sleep. She worked for my chiropractor and if he couldn't move things because you are so tight he let her get you and then he could realign things.
That little lady had the strongest hands that I have ever seen. I often thought when she poked her thumb two inches into my leg that I stopped the sciatic nerve pain so that she would LET ME GO!!!! She gave me a reading list and I seem to have a talent for it. I have had a lot of success with people that have chronic pain that doesn't seem to respond to drug treatment short of doping you into near unconsciousness. The worse their pain the more likely they are to respond to this sort of treatment. I think that is because they WANT it to work and if I can share my belief and offer them the comfort of being touched they will accept it better than someone with lesser pain.
I will try and watch the video later right now my download speed is the pits!