healing with crystals

M0nica, I live on the Continent- perhaps the reason.

biba70 I think you are unduly alarmist. I do not know anyone who uses crystals and I have certainly not seen a sudden growth of shops or market stalls etc etc dealing in crystals. My sister lives in Glastonbury and while shops there deal in crystals, the number and range doesn't seem to have rocketted recently.

I can see that being on the cusp of alternate and mainstream therapies, you will have seen more of the crystal world than I have, but i have seen little or none of it.

I said 'craze' because it is becoming almost mainstream currently, and seen everywhere. There are specialised shops and market stalls all over the place, and crystal therapists too.

Nankate 'I regularly have acupuncture and have found it excellent.'

I really do not think there are any comparisons between crystal therapy and acupuncture or acupressure. (I am currently studying the second and will qualify next year) which work on very specific physical points on meridiens, which when blocked cause all sorts of problems. OH is q qualified acupuncturist, and the results are amazing.

biba70, many other industries employ child labour unfortunately, let's talk High St fashion. The 'craze' - and I don't accept this definition-for crystals is no different than others putting their faith in alternative therapies. I totally agree that for serious conditions 'conventional' medicine must be sought. Mind over matter i.e. willpower has been effective for many so you are unfairly criticising those who may have got relief through this path.

If people gain comfort and reassurance from using homeopathic products then I think that's fine. However, when it comes to serious, life threatening conditions, I have more faith in modern medicine. It's by no means perfect and scientists and medics don't have all the answers but they do have years of learning and experience. Anybody can put forward "alternative" remedies and unfortunately some of them, with only a smattering of understanding of physiology, dupe themselves into thinking they are experts and, more frighteningly, convince others of the same.

I am really concerned about this craze for crystal therapy. It is causing huge destruction of highly sensitive environments- and the crystal 'industry' (as it is what it is) employs mainly child labour. Very sad.

My ex-husband was a type 1 diabetic. A ‘specialist’ in reiki and reflexology told him that after a ‘healing session’ that he probably wouldn’t need to use as much insulin.

Complementary therapies have their place, but any treatment that undermines or claims to replace well proven medical treatments is not a good idea and could prove fatal.

I tink there is a lot of non-holistic thinking on this thread. When you are ill, no matter what the illness it affects both mind and body and both needed to be seen as a whole.

The first resort, if you have diabetes and/or heart failure. is the doctor. These are illnesses that need medical treatment and drugs, but illnesses like this affect the mind and here alternative treatments like crystals, reki, acupuncture can be of great assistance..

The Maggie Cancer Centres support those attending them if they wish to use alternative therapies. They say Complementary therapies can offer emotional as well as physical benefits and are sometimes available on the NHS. The therapies listed include homeopathy, aromatherapy and about 10 more. The Maggie Centres are held in high regard. If they can see these therapies work for some people. I think GN members should.

I appreciate that the illnesses discussed here are not cancer, but I cannot see what difference that makes

I certainly think a doctor should be consulted. I just want to say that traditional medicine can be very harmful to the human body in a way that crystal or Reiki therapy never will be. I have been quite dismayed to read some of the posts on here! I have been on psychiatric medication for many years. Within the last 2 years I have had to stop a low dose of an Anti-psychotic because it was raising my prolactin level to 7000 when a healthy level is around 500! I had been on that drug for almost 5 years with all of the distress that was causing within my system. I should have had my blood checked at regular intervals but this was not done. There was a concern that I could have been developing a pituitary tumour. In the beginning of this year another drug had to be removed because there was a concern it was responsible for causing the memory issues I was experiencing. Now I am a Reiki practitioner and I also want to train in other alternative therapies and have my own small practice. So I say keep an open mind in all things. Pass me the rose quartz please!

No offence taken Sparklefizz. I’m just grateful to you for your suggestion of Ignatia in the first place.

I regularly have acupuncture and have found it excellent.

jane, you are probably correct about that. When Greater Glasgow health board planned to close down the homeopathic hospital, there was a huge outcry and the First Minister became involved.
It resulted in a new purpose built hospital for integrative care, being built on the original site.

Paddyanne, I have heard so many success stories of people who were patients of Jan de Vries.

Marydoll In answer to your question about why does the NHS fund homeopathy if it’s not effective, I think the answer is that the NHS wants to be seen to be sensitive to local needs & demands. So that although NICE & the BMA & the Select Committee for Science & Technology may denounce Homeopathy, local Trusts can still provide it if they want to.
There was a big row in 2010 when the BMA were vociferous in the condemnation at the annual conference.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/7910948/Homeopathy-will-not-be-banned-by-NHS-despite-critical-report.html

paddyanne please read my post again. I'm not suggesting you are gullible or stupid, not in any way. And the placebo effect isn't what people think it is. Our minds and bodies work together in ways that are not understood. (To the sceptics - I don't mean that in a new age way!)

But there is no way that the homeopathic remedies work the way that homeopaths say that they do, its just not possible. But, if people want to take them, and they help them, then they should carry on.

Interested to see that you changed your diet as well as taking the pillules. That must have had an effect?

36 years ago or more I had a stomach ulcer,my GP prescribed whatever the drug that was recommended for it ,when it wasn't helping he upped the dose ...and agan and again.Then he changed me to a new "wonder drug" Zantac....it didn't work and we had the same routine ,up the dose ,for almost a year .

It was so bad my husband had to call the GP at 3am when I was writhing on the floor in tears .Gp came out and advised ..you've guessed it ...doubling the dose.
I called a homeopath that morning,he sat and talked to me about symtoms and how they were affecting my life and what had caused the ulcer in the first place.Prescribed two types of pillules and told me the pain would "go through the roof" for the first week and then start to ease off.When it was starting I could take a shot of brandy in milk to help,I even bought a bottle in preparation.I never needed it,the pain wasn't worse than I'd had and by week 3 it was almost gone

.It took 7 weeks and I have never had any issues with it since .I'm not gullible nor stupid ...it worked and it wasn't [a placebo effect.
I used Mr De Vries many years later for a quite serious issue when my GP told me a colostomy might be the only answer for my Ulcerative colitis .I changed my diet as advised took the pillules and when I had my last visit to the surgeon he was astounded that the condition had disappeared .He asked for details of Mr De Vries and said he would be contacting him .I've had no issues with my bowel since .We have used another homeopath as well and always had great results sadly both are now dead

Nankate having tried both Reiki and crystal healing I felt absolutely nothing the lady giving me the crystal healing said can you feel the heat as I pass my hands over your body I felt nothing I wasn’t closed I really wanted to feel something I wanted to prove the sceptics wrong but I couldn’t The same happened with me with hypnotism it was an NHS doctor who was trained and offered it to me I was so happy and so sure it was the answer but after three or four sessions he disappointedly told me he couldn’t hypnotise me I just stayed in the here and now, hearing all the sounds around me and thinking when is it going to start !!! I m a lost cause

My daughter in law bought me a back massage at a charity event, but I couldn't use it, due to the fractures in my back.
The therapist suggested a Reiki session instead.
I was really sceptical, but decided I had nothing to lose.

I had been in agony for months and during the session I started to feel a warmth spreading down my back, with the pain easing damatically.
I was converted! It was amazing and the relief lasted for weeks.

There's no point in saying "homeopathy doesn't work" to a person who is adamant that it solved their problem or made them feel better. Because if it did make you feel better, then it had an effect, by definition.

The placebo effect doesn't mean the recipient is imagining things, it means that the interaction between mind and body is more complicated than we think. That deserves research, not whether sugar pills have a pharmaceutical effect.

My homeopathy friend tried the "be open minded" approach with me. My response is, don't be so open minded that your brain falls out. Sugar pills don't have a medical effect, but if they get you through the day, then go for it. Just don't pretend it's medicine.

I have never tried crystals or homeopathy but acupuncture helped me a lot at one point. I would never use complementary medicine exclusively but along side conventional care you have nothing to lose and it may help.

Sorry NanKate I was meaning to imply that you were open enough to try the Reiki. x

This is the thing, NanKate, many people knock alternative therapies when they have never been open-minded enough to try them. Having an illness like M.E. for many years and being absolutely desperate for the first 2 years when I could not get out of bed and conventional medicine could do nothing to help me, most of the members of our local M.E. Self Help Group were trying alternative therapies because, after all, what else did we have? So in desperation I tried many things and learnt a lot.

Homeopathy, acupuncture, kinesiology, Reiki, EFT and several others all helped me tremendously, and I was finally able to get out of bed. I am not cured and have had 2 lots of cancer along the way, plus other illnesses, but alternative therapies helped me cope with that too, although I didn't turn down the surgery and radiotherapy obviously!

There is a place for all types of treatment to work alongside each other in my view.

PS So Lucky I am a supporter too.

Another poster on GN Kindly suggested Ignatia for a friend of mine with depression. He took it and felt markedly better. A result. ?

I remember years ago a friend trained in Reiki which I thought it was pretty useless, but she asked if she could try it out on me. I lay down and she hovered her hand over my body and to my great surprise I felt a bolt of energy pass through my body. There was no one more surprised thar me.

Just remember to also have the diabetes and the heart condition checked out by your GP.

I'm another homeopathy supporter. I've read all the trials which have shown that it doesn't work /is just a placebo but placebos don't work on children and animals!
I believe in seeing what's in front of you. For instance, camomilla magically calmed my children's colic when they were babies and just recently I realised that my newly adopted rescue cat was depressed, tried some ignatia and hey presto, complete turnaround.
I used to live in Oxfordshire where I knew a farmer who used homeopathic medicine on his cows. How would the cows know that they were taking a placebo?
Healing is bigger than popping an ibuprofen and understanding of the subtleties of the body changes all the time. There are accepted practices now which were once ridiculed.
I'm not sure about crystals but GN probably isn't the place to ask for help!