A Better Alternative: Vibrational remedies

This week Liz Barnard investigates vibrational remedies for equine use. Might we have finally found an alternative modality that’s a little too “woo-woo” for our columnist?

From Liz:

Hopefully I am not flogging a dead horse with all these variations of alternative remedies.  I would leave off, but the deeper I go into these, the more interesting it becomes.  While they seem similar at first there are distinct difference between homeopathic remedies, Bach Flower remedies and vibrational remedies.

For today I wanted to write about Bach Flower Remedies – I have talked with several people (who seem sane) that swear by it.  Unfortunately I was not able to obtain any to try.  I feel if I’m going to form an opinion about this I really should try it first.  The only shop in town that carries the Bach Flower Remedies was out of stock, with more due in this week.  Therefore, next week you can look forward to my impressions of the Bach Flower Rescue Remedy.

Since I didn’t have adequate experience with what I thought I was going to write about, I had to think about what other alternative therapies I did have experience with.  Then I remembered using Vibrational Remedies.  It was several years ago on a client’s horse.  Actually, if I recall correctly, we tried this on two of their horses.

A veterinarian chiropractor who I have oodles of respect for recommended trying this to attempt to help some more subtle issues going on with the horses.  I tend to be open to alternative ideas. I don’t feel we, us humans, have got everything all figured out just yet.  It may just be possible we haven’t figured out all the ways to measure things to prove what is and is not real.  That being said, if there isn’t scientific proof of effectiveness it raises a few questions for me.  But, I remain willing to try different things, because you never know – one of them just might be wonderfully effective.

According to one website where you can order the remedies, these work with the aura.  Another website claims that these work because everything that exists as matter also exists as energy.  elementalsliving.com goes on to explain:

“As a good conductor of electricity, pure distilled water is the ideal medium for holding electronically charged vibrations. Thus, vibrational remedies contain the energy imprint of the natural components they represent. For example, a Vibrational Remedy for a vitamin holds in pure distilled water, the vibration or electronic signature of the vitamin.”

That site continues by sharing how vibrational remedies work on the homeopathic principles of “like cures like.”  Therefore if a remedy has a vibrational signature that is the same as whatever ails you it “will result in canceling out the signatures and thereby resolve and balance the energies of the body.”

Here’s what the process was.  We collected a saliva sample (moisten a cotton ball in the horse’s mouth) and sent it off with a $100 donation to a person who would read the sample for the underlying issues the horse had.  They would then recommend the appropriate course of remedies.  A picture from as recently as the previous five or ten years would have worked as well for the reading.  Also any significant history was included, such as diseases, injuries, surgeries, current symptoms and any diagnoses.

We did not get remedies from the person doing the readings; those came from a different source.  Each vial ran about $10.  It seems that both horses needed roughly 10 different remedies for the first month, dropping a few for the second month then reducing down to about three for the third month.  I think after that they were done.  At this point I do not recall what remedies were recommended.  I do know we followed the recommended protocol.

Administration was similar to homeopathy.  So many drops three times a day, everyday.  The difference is you go for several months with these remedies, whereas I understand homeopathic remedies are used until an improvement is noticed.  At that time the horses were at the training stable, I was there most of my day, plus the owner of the horses and some other help made it possible to get the dosing done correctly.  Basically we did as much as was possible to follow the suggested protocol of treatment.

What’s in the vials of these remedies?  Vibrational remedies: Distilled water and energy.  If you are like the sports medicine veterinarian I was using at the time you may toss out a few lewd comments now.  It was funny at the time.  I thought so anyhow, since we were at least half-way through the course of treatment when the comments were made and hadn’t noticed any changes.  The hundreds of dollars my client had spent had to be good for something.  Why not for a laugh?

Are your eyebrows hiking up there?  Are you wondering if this is just a bunch of hokum?  Are you completely convinced this is a load of hokum?  Let me explain why I didn’t just squash the whole idea right off the bat.  First, at that time I was but a lowly horse trainer, and college educated or not, my grasp on quantum mechanics was not real solid.  So when someone starts telling me that distilled water can keep a vibrational energy from a source that will help heal some affliction, I did not question it thoroughly. Instead I relied on others for their take on it.  As I said I trusted and respected the person who recommended this course of action.  The horse’s owners were willing to try it.  Truly, I think we were all open to, certainly hoping for, a magical cure all.

Last week’s article about homeopathy brought up an interesting point for me.  In all the reading I had come across homeopathy was reported to be safe with no side effects, however in the comments last week there was one person who reported pretty grody side-effects when using homeopathy for their dog.  So what about safety for these vibrational remedies?  From www.healerswhoshare.com,

“In addition to being more effective than most any form of healing, the remedies are safe. By making the remedies only with vibrations, there is no substance that can harm you. The vibrations are so specific that if you take the wrong remedy, you can’t be hurt. The wrong remedy would be as impactful as being in the path of a radio wave (like you are every day).”

On that same site they go on to share how a woman wound up with and took a remedy she didn’t need, yet it caused no ill effects.  Since it was not a remedy she needed, it did not help her either.

For what it’s worth, I did Google “scientific proof of vibrational remedies” and came up with several rational, logical articles explaining why it doesn’t work.  Any solid studies with replicable science behind them were not forthcoming.

Did the Vibrational Remedies cure the horses we used it on?  Not that I could tell.  Maybe we were supposed to have another energy reading done from a saliva sample.  Maybe those days when we didn’t have the doses spaced quite as evenly as we should have made a difference.  Maybe…?

My bottom line is I would not spend the money on this unless I had exhausted all other options.  I’m inclined to believe them when they say no ill effects will come about from taking the remedies — after all, it is distilled water with energy.  If it didn’t bother me to spend the money — or if it made me feel like I was having some impact on an otherwise hopeless case, then I’d give it another shot.   What I’m getting at is that even though this didn’t seem to have any effect on the health of the horses I used it on, sometimes in an effort to be good horse mommies we need to do something.  Anything, to give us some semblance of influence on the outcome.  My opinion is that Vibrational Remedies seem to be something that the worst side effect is a drain on your pocket book.

About Liz:  Like many here, I was always a horse-crazy kid.  After receiving my Bachelors of Science in Equine Science, I started training horses.  At some point it occurred to me that there were ways to make a living that were easier on my body.  So I changed careers and became a Licensed Massage Therapist and Equinology Equine Body Worker.  I love what I do.  Growing up riding in the Pacific Northwest I was spoiled with indoor arenas.  Now living in the high desert of Northern Nevada where covered arenas are as sparse as the trees, I find I’m a fair weather rider.  When I do ride, I dabble with Reined Cow Horses.  For more info, please visit my website www.lizbarnard.massagetherapy.com.