Energy Medicine - Introduction
Energy medicine is based on the view that illness results from disturbances and imbalances in energy fields of the body. Energy and vibrational treatments are all believed to act by correcting those imbalances using specific frequencies from electromagnetic forces, including visible light and colours, sound, magnetism, flower essences, aromatherapy, homeopathy, acupuncture, hands-on healing, crystals, an so on.
With conventional medical care the desired change in the body is created either through biochemical manipulation (through drugs) or physical manipulation (such as surgery). With energy-based therapies, healing is achieved by working with related energy fields that form, and are emitted by, physical matter.
Vibrational healing and energy medicine are nothing new - they have been successfully practiced in numerous forms all over the world for thousands of years. For example, more than 2,000 years ago, Asian practitioners postulated that the flow and balance of life energies are necessary for maintaining health and described tools to restore them, and ancient Indian texts accurately describe the human energy system. The practice of acupuncture in China and is said to stem from as far back as the Stone Age, with clear evidence existing from the 1st millennium BCE. Recent examinations of Ötzi, a 5,000-year-old mummy found in the Alps, have identified over 50 tattoos on his body, some of which are located on acupuncture points that would today be used to treat ailments Ötzi suffered from. Some scientists believe that this is evidence that practices similar to acupuncture were practiced elsewhere in Eurasia during the early Bronze Age. Dorfer et al hypothesised in their article published in The Lancet journal that there might have been a medical system similar to acupuncture that was practiced in Central Europe 5,200 years ago.
>> Energy Medicine - continued
Richard Gerber, MD, in his book Vibrational Medicine, said on the subject of vibrational healing: When we speak of vibration, we are merely using another synonym for frequency. Different frequencies of energy reflect varying rates of vibration. We know that matter and energy are two different manifestations of the same primary energetic substance of which everything in the universe is composed, including our (bodies).
Albert Einstein realised that all matter equals energy (the famous E = mc2) and that "EVERYTHING IN LIFE IS A VIBRATION" - all matter, including our physical bodies, is actually solidified energy! The hypothesis that the body's major energy systems operate as electrical and electromagnetic fields now corresponds with a wide range of scientific data. In addition, there are now powerful examples from the real life that further confirm this idea that fields carry biological information. Among the most dramatic are with transplant patients who, post-surgery, begin to have thoughts, memories, dreams, tastes and personality characteristics of the organ donors.
For purposes of simplicity and clarification, it is said that Energy medicine deals with energy fields/treatment modalities of two types:
Veritable - which can be measured with modern scientific measuring devices.
Putative - which have yet to be measured (also called biofields, and sometimes also referred to 'subtle', i.e. immeasurable energies: qi force in Chinese Traditional Medicine, ki in the traditional Japanese Kampo medicine, doshas in Ayurvedic medicine, and elsewhere as prana, etheric energy, fohat, orgone, odic force, mana, and homeopathic resonance).
The veritable energies employ mechanical vibrations, such as sound therapies, and electromagnetic forces, including visible light, magnetism, monochromatic radiation (such as laser beams), and rays from other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. They involve the use of specific, measurable wavelengths and frequencies to treat patients.
In contrast, putative energy fields have defied measurement to date by reproducible methods. Therapies involving putative energy fields are based on the concept that human beings are infused with a subtle form of energy. This vital energy is believed to flow throughout the material human body, but it has not been unequivocally measured by means of conventional instrumentation. Nonetheless, therapists claim that they can work with this subtle energy, see it with their own eyes, and use it to effect changes in the physical body and influence health.
Examples of practices involving putative energy fields include those in which the therapists identify imbalances and correct a client's energy by passing his or her hands over the patient, such as Reiki, Qi gong, Healing touch etc. It has been hypothesized that the body's energy adjustment may result, in part, from the increased electromagnetic fields surrounding the hands of the healers. Other studies of putative energies suggested that energy fields from one person can overlap and interact with energy fields of other people. For example, when individuals touch, one person's electrocardiographic signal is registered in the other person's electroencephalogram (EEG) and elsewhere on the other person's body. In addition, one individual's cardiac signal can be registered in another's EEG recording when two people sit quietly opposite one another.
Putative energy therapies also include those in which the desired healing vibration is introduced into the body by outside agents, such as acupuncture, homeopathic remedies, vibrations from essential oils (aromatherapy) and flower essences.
Medical researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York have found that biomagnetic fields projecting from the hands of qigong practitioners are capable of increasing cell growth, respiration and DNA and protein synthesis. It is now known that the pulsing electromagnetic fields produced by the hands of traditional healers are of the same frequency range used to stimulate the healing of soft tissue and bone injuries through PEMF devices (Pulsed Electromagnetic Field) commonly used for the healing of bone fractures and related conditions.
>> Further reading:
Internet article giving good detailed explanation of energy medicine.
Robert O Becker, MD: Body Electric - Electromagnetism and the Foundation of Life Amazon link
Richard Gerber, MD: Vibrational Medicine link
James L. Oschman Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis link
By the same author: Energy Medicine in Therapeutics and Human Performance link
John Hicks, MD Autism One 2008 presentation
>> Energy treatments used for autism
Aromatherapy (Essential Oils)
Biofeedback - see Magnetic Field Therapies
Cranial Osteopathy and Craniosacral Therapy (NB this is not exactly 'energy' treatment, more structural manipulation) - under 'Treating the Brain' section of our website
Colour Therapies
Flower Remedies/Flower Essences
Gem Stones
Emotional Freedom Technique - EFT
Glutathione Patches
Homeopathy
Infrared Sauna - see Light Therapy
Laser Therapy - see Light Therapy
Light Therapy (including LED laser, Infrared Sauna)
Magnetic Field Therapies
Meditation/Relaxation/Prayer
Reflexology Reiki / Healing Touch
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation - see Magnetic Field Therapies
Valkion (synglet oxygen therapy - also see Light Therapy)
Sound Therapy
Join Us
DISCLAIMER This purpose of this site is to inform and educate. No information on this website should be construed as medical advice. Neither article authors, associated charities, nor individual contributors take any responsibility or liability for any decision taken by site visitors as a result information contained herein or the external links provided. If you need medical advice, please seek it from a suitably qualified practitioner.