Bach Flower Remedies

38 individual flower remedies make up this system of medicine which is unusual in that it is aimed at treating the emotions alone, rather than their physical manifestations.

Rescue Remedy

The most popular is the Rescue Remedy™, which is used to cope with crises and everyday emergencies . It is a mix of five remedies - Rock Rose for terror, Clematis for light-headedness, Impatiens for agitation, Cherry Plum for loss of self-control and Star of Bethlehem for shock. Dr Bach selected these five remedies because he felt there would be at least something in the mix that would help anyone going through a crisis.

Calming Stress

To take it you simply put four drops in a glass of water and sip as required - and in an emergency, if there is no water available, you can put the drops straight on the tongue or rub them on the pulse points. Common uses for Rescue Remedy™ include calming down the victims of accidents and combating pre-operation nerves. Many midwives use them to help mothers through labour.

Oral Vaccines

Dr Edward Bach was a well-known bacteriologist, pathologist and homeopath whose career took him from University College Hospital to the London Homeopathic Hospital and a successful Harley Street practice. His orthodox researches culminated in a series of oral vaccines that are still known as the seven Bach nosodes. Even though this work received great acclaim Bach himself was not satisfied. He wanted to replace the vaccines with plant material which he felt would be more effective. To this end he began experimenting in 1928 with medicines made from flowers.

Individual Treatment

Bach had always been more interested in the people suffering disease than in the diseases themselves - a fact that made him unusual at that time. His work with the flower remedies convinced him that true health could only be maintained by treating the individual personality instead of concentrating exclusively on the diseases of the body. He found that by selecting flower remedies according to the personality and emotional states of individuals he was able to resolve these imbalances, and that well-balanced people got better physically because their bodies were free to heal themselves.

By the time he died in 1936 Dr Bach had discovered the 38 remedies that were needed to treat every possible emotional state, with each individual remedy being aimed at a particular emotion or characteristic.