Since we do not have a system to track success rates between these, it would be hard to say.
I have used chiropractors, homeopathy, and acupuncture and have achieved results that were unavailable from western medicine.
1. Chronic lower back pain, lasting fourteen years; started as a physical injury. Western doctors gave me pain pills; chripractor fixed it over the course of a summer. Yes, I did have to invest some time--about a dozen visits in all. Result: complete cure; it has been twelve years now that I have been completely pain and trouble free, and I expect to remain so for the rest of my life.
2. My daughter had a small growth near her lower lip. Western doctors advised surgery. A homeopathic remedy shrunk it to near-invisibility.
3. Extremely bothersome peri-menopausal symptoms. Gyneacologist enthusiastically offered hormone therapy AFTER menopause. Acupuncturist solved the problem in three visits--am now back to normal cycle with very mild or no PMS.
4. Went to the podiatrist with a hurting big toe knuckle. Podiatrist diagnosed a bone spur and recommended surgery. Since surgery would have meant no dancing for four months (unacceptable), I did some research on my own. Then I switched to larger shoes and started taking calcium daily. Result: pain completely gone; no surgery.
In each case, I tried western medicine first and sought alternative therapies when the doctors could not be bothered to do anything other than the most superficial or the most invasive treatment. ALso, my experience with western doctors is that they are eager to give you five minutes of their time and to charge you a lot of money. Alternative therapists spend a lot more time with you (30 minutes to 90 minutes per visit) and think of you as a whole person--the expense, by comparison is small, especially considering that they actually heal!
No alternative therapy has ever done me any harm. By contrast, a very aggressive antibiotic therapy (by western doctors) in the absence of any bacteria severly hurt my bladder, causing agonizing pain that lasted two years.
Moreover, Woj, the bulk of research that is done today is still largely focused on men. Women are the orphans of medicine research. If I want to get a stiffie, western medicine is there to help me; if I go into the ER complaining of chest pain, they'll send me home with an antacid. (Women's cardiac disease is grossly misdiagnosed.) Other GROSS western medicine bloopers: Thalidomide, advising women NOT to breast feed, advising women to feed their babies on a four hour schedule, ....it's really a pretty long list.
Some branches of western medicine I have no complaints about; for example, dentistry.
There is every reason to be extremely skeptical and careful about western medicine. And, by the way, acupuncture IS an empirical science, they just don't have machines that go beep.
Joanna Bujes