I used to be a little leery of alternative medicine, mostly turned off by products that carried outrageous claims with an even more unbelievable price tag. But in the last several years, alternative medicine has been getting more serious attention, and while there are plenty of people out there willing to trade you your hard earned cash for their useless product, there's also a lot of solid science that says some alternative treatments really work. CNN recently highlighted five of them:

• acupuncture
• calcium, magnesium, and B6 to treat PMS
• using St. John's Wort for mild depression
• treating pain and anxiety with guided imagery
• glucosamine for joint pain

Health experts recommend making sure any product has labeling from the USP or NSF International, that practitioners are trained and licensed, and that you turn your back on crazy claims or promises of quick fixes.