People Seeking Help With Health Matters Can Be Easily Misled By Marketers
January 16, 2009 by Bonnie Boots
Filed under General News
Because I'm involved in online business, I get dozens of emails a day with all sorts of offers. One I received today really made my blood boil.
It offered me a set of ebooks containing information on serious health issues ranging from cancer to heart disease. Each ebook came with a sales page that could be published on the internet to sell the book. Each ebook also came with a related email course that could be given away free to get people to sign up for a mailing list.
Because so many people turn to the internet for health and medical information, sets like this are considered "hot." And because the price was barely $30, I guarantee they'll sell out quickly… but I won't be one of the buyers.
You see, I don't know much about cancer or heart disease. I know what I read in magazines and what my doctor tells me. You probably know more about these issues than I do. There's no way I could read though those ebooks and know whether they contain current, reliable information or not.
Chance are, the people that buy this set of ebooks and sales pages won't know any more about cancer and heart disease than I do. Chances are, they won't care if the books are reliable or not. They're just looking for things to sell on the internet.
Why should you care about this? Because YOU are the target audience the sellers of these ebooks are looking for.
There are thousands of internet marketers all around the world just trolling cyberspace looking for people with health problems so they can sell them crap.
I publish Pain Health News because pain has been a huge part of my life. Because I know what it's like to be crippled with pain, I'm very particular about what I share and recommend. Because I know how vulnerable pain patients are, I have a tremendous feeling of responsibility for you, my readers.
I know, from sad experience, what it's like to be seeking pain relief and be exploited by people who look at you with dollar signs in their eyes. That's why I got so angry when I received this offer for ebooks on cancer and heart disease.
If you buy a book on gardening that contains unreliable information on marigolds, it's not going to have a huge impact on your life. But if you buy a book that has unreliable information on cancer, heart disease…or pain…it could have all sorts of negative consequences.
So here's my warning to you. When you see sales pitches for health-related items, whether that item is a book or a drug or a nutrient or an appliance, do your homework before you buy. Check out the person or company selling the item or service or drug you're interested in. Look for references. Look for reviews. Look for verification of the claims that are being made.
I know how seductive advertising can be when it offers pain relief. I say, with some embarrassment, I've bought it all. But I learned. I am now a world-class expert in using Google to track down and verify every claim made for an item I'm interested in. I don't buy so much as a bottle of aspirin without Googleing to see where it's manufactured. Here are a few tricks I've learned for tracking down reliable information.
Before you buy any product, especially online or on TV, go to Google, type in the name of that product, the plus sign and the word "review." For example, you would type in the Google search bar "kinoki + review" (without using the punctuation marks.) Then search again, typing "kinoki + study" (again, without the quote marks.) Then type in "kinoki + complaints" (again, without quotes.) Of course, you can go far deeper with your searches–and you should — when an item involves your health, but just these 3 simple searches will bring you thousands of returns filled with information you can use to decide whether or not an item is worth buying.
How do you find products to help with pain? Do you rely on TV ads? Do you look though catalogs? And how do you decide what's worthwhile? Feel free to share in the comment box below. Your participation in the conversation is most welcome!
### Bonnie Boots publishes Pain Health News to provide information, motivation and conversation to people in pain. Subscribe using the box on the top right side to receive updates.
(The poster I defaced for my post illustration was orginally titled "Cry Of The Werewolf" starring Nina Foch, a 1944 Columbia Movies release)
Hi Bonnie,
I cannot agree more. As a Sports Medicine, Athletic Director and Basketball Coach, I am always trying to find and subscribe to quality information products such as your blog, magazines and newsletters.
In the classroom, I really need to monitor the “crap” out of the students when it comes to research. I know you would believe the amount of information out there that is just not true!!
One of the problems I see is that people are looking for instant answers in an age where instant information is easy to get – good or bad.
Getting and feeling better takes time and effort. The old saying of RICE (Rest Ice Compression Elevation) is so important in so many ways. The first letter says it all “R” = Rest! Most people forget that when their bodies are in trauma and/or pain, they need to let their bodies analize the pain and recover from it. For many people conventional therapies and remedies just do not work. We need to encourage them to keep on trying to find something that will help them with their pain!
I think you are doing a great job weeding through the BS!!
Ken
Bonnie,
I don’t disagree with anything you say, but I don’t see a significant difference between the email you received – I get ~20 a week – and OTC meds, TV commercials – particularly the, “Ask your doctor,” commercials! – or even selecting a health care professional you can live with.
Bottom line, it’s my pain, and I’m the one who has to choose how to deal with it, ya know?
While I agree that there are the gullible few out there, most of the folk I know who have to deal with regular pain have become pretty sharp about it … they want more than just a bald statement before they invest their time and energy – money tends to be a poor third here, although it is important – in a product.
Hey, don’t sell us short just because we hurt. We’ve, most of us, hurt too long to grab at every straw that comes along … we want a bit of testing and proof before we bite into the apple .
Bonnie I agree it is amazing what people will do to sell and make a profit. Sometimes the best things in life are free such as a sunrise or sunset get set the heart singing. thank you for being true to yourself
One of the differences I perceive in what I see being sold at drugstores and on television and the material I was offered in the email is that drugstore/TV items usually have a significant amount of background that can be traced. I can look up manufacturers, reviews, studies and complaints.
The often-bogus ebooks being sold on the internet have no background. Often even the ownership of the web site or sales page is disguised. And this material is marketed in a significantly different way than drugstore/TV items, usually by people joining forums and blogs so they can chat about “I found this wonderful book!” and send people off to what’s actually their sales page. When people hear TV commercials, they know they are being “sold to.” They’re much more likely to let their guard down when they think they’re chatting with friends.
People who’ve hurt for a long time do usually become less gullible. I did, with time. But my experience has been that people who have just been injured or just been diagnosed with any painful disease WILL jump at straws. Especially when you have doctor after doctor telling you “It’s all in your head,” as so many of us do, you can quickly be pushed to jump at straws.
Then, too, there’s the effect of pain medications, which can cloud the judgment. I was over-medicated for 2 years and made some very disastrous choices during that time. All this is why I so strongly encourage people to do these simple Google searches before buying anything-
Name of products + reviews
Name of products + studies
Name of product + complaints
Yes, I agree, the search for the instant answer is such a problem. I was chatting on a forum Wednesday where a young lady was frantic, asking how she could quickly heal the two ribs she’d broken the day before–because she wanted to go to a party this weekend! Where do people get such ideas? I guess from all the TV advertising that says “Take this for fast-fast-FAST relief!”
Ken, your mention of giving the body time to rest and heal made me remember a time I was sent to a sports medicine center for therapy. I was the only woman being treated there at the time. One day a therapist said to me, “There are men all over the country who’d give their right hand to be in the same room with the guys you’re in therapy with!” I asked him why, and he said “These are some of the most famous sports stars in the world!” I asked him why these famous men came in and out of therapy in a couple of weeks, while I was there month after month. He said “If you were losing millions of dollars every week you didn’t work, they’d find a way to get you out of here just as fast. They pump these guys up with steroids and all sorts of things. But don’t envy them. Most of them will be crippled by the time they’re forty.” Sadly, I re-met one of those famous men ten years later. We were both working on a charity event. He told me he was so crippled with pain he sometimes considered suicide. Team owners pushed and pushed him to heal fast and get back to work, and as a young man he had no way of knowing the awful price he would pay.
Bonnie Thank you for the search tips.
Steve:
I love that story. I will be sure to share it with the kids I teach and coach. Thank you.
I also have a quick story that I can share about drugs in sport.
I actually did a presentation about “The Future of Sports” and I concentrated on drugs as the main topic. As I researched, I found forums upon forums upon web pages that appalled me. On every forum I found, there were actually people begging to try anything!!!
This resulted in me finding websites that actually compared fakes to the real thing when it came to drugs (visual comparisons, never mind the ingredients). The sites also referenced masking agents and pain killers that can help deal with the pain of taking the performance enhancing drugs. UNBELIEVABLE!!
Needless to say, I toned it down (a little) for my students and presented them with videos of professional athletes suffering serious injuries during a game. They were escorted back to their change rooms and brought back out in minutes with “miraculous tape jobs/recoveries”. There is only one answer – DRUGS!!
Healing takes time!
Hi Bonnie,
I fully agree with your findings that the sharks out there will try anything to sell including making use of a “HOT NICHE” with which to sell there wares. In fact through my own pain & discomfort & experiences I initially turned to the internet to find help & roducts, that may help me. After seeing all the advertisements I began seeing if I too could make money online & I remember one of my mentors suggesting that this pain & health thing would be a great introduction to selling to people online. Well, although new to the ways of internet marketing, I was troubled by this & although I could see his point, I just could not in all honesty set myself up as an “expert” in Pain or Health Issues without the appropriate knowledge & sell to people I have never met & have no idea of what I am selling or what consequences that may have.
Previously my background is in a heavily regulated Industry (Financial Services) & I find this kind of selling not only potentially dangerous but JUST PLAIN WRONG.
Thanks again Bonnie for bringing this to everyones attention.
Kevin
Hi Bonnie,
Most of my life I have worked graveyard – driving around town. I listen to talk radio. And the resulting alternative medicine shows.
As a result I have found ONE product that I love using on my hands and knees “Dr. Janet’s Dual Action Transdermal Glucosamine Cream with EMU Oil… For me it actually works as advertised.
I cannot use anything with menthol or anytype of pepper.
Thanks
Debra
Thanks for the information, Debra. That’s an important distinction, that this product does not contain menthol or pepper, as so many topical pain relief ointments do.
I’m always happy to include personal reports of anything that gives anyone pain relief, but readers, keep in mind, you have to do your own homework and decide if a product is right for you. I have no personal experience with this product. After Googleing “Dr, Janet’s..etc” I found the formula, advertised as offering quick topical relief to inflamed joints and sore muscles, contains these ingrediants:
Ingredients
Purified Water, Natural Glycerine, Stearalkonium,
Chloride, Glucosamine Sulfate, Cetyl Alcohol, Emu Oil,
Vitamin E, Pregnenolone, MSM, Citric Acid, Silver
Citrate, Boswellia, Bromelain, Rosemary Extract,
and Green Tea Extract.
Please note that Pregnenolone is a steroid hormone. Hormones are vastly powerful. Be sure to check with your doctor before using anything that contains hormones. Only a chemist or doctor can determine how medications you may be taking would interact with a hormone, even a hormone advertised as coming from natural sources.