Bach flower preparations

What are Bach flower preparations?

Bach flower preparations are made by soaking plant material in water and exposing it to sunlight. Alternatively, the plant material can also be boiled. A small amount of the liquid is then mixed with distilled water and preserved in alcohol. There are 38 different Bach flower preparations, which differ from each other in the plant combinations used.

Bach flower preparations were developed in the 1930s by Dr. Edward Bach while he was working at the London Homeopathic Hospital. Many people regard Bach flower preparations as homeopathic products, as they are diluted in the same way as homeopathic products. However, there are differences in the principles of Bach Flower Remedies compared to homeopathic products. For example, repeated dilutions are at the heart of homeopathy, but they are not used in Bach Flower Remedies. Furthermore, the "law of homeopathy" is not applicable to Bach flower preparations. The "law of similars" states that if a substance in large quantities causes a certain disease, the same substance in small quantities can cure that disease. Dr. Bach believed that diseases are the result of "deficiencies" of the personality. He believed that a person's nature, character and emotions play a key role in the development of disease. It is not surprising that Bach Flower Remedies are often touted as being able to help with mental and emotional problems rather than directly treating physical ailments.

Bach Flower Remedies are used for emotional disorders, depression, anxiety, spiritual disorders, exhaustion, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, headaches, migraine headaches, muscle aches and stress.

How do Bach flower preparations work?

Bach flower preparations are usually so highly diluted that they contain only small or negligible amounts of ingredients. For this reason, as with homeopathic products, Bach flower preparations are not expected to have any drug-like effects, interactions or side effects.

How effective are Bach Flower Remedies?

There is not enough scientific data to make a statement about the effectiveness of Bach flower preparations for asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, headaches, migraine headaches, muscle pain, stress, exhaustion, emotional disorders, depression, anxiety or spiritual disorders. Further scientific research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of Bach flower preparations for these problems.

Safety and side effects

There are no known safety concerns. Since most Bach flower preparations contain few or no active ingredients, it can be assumed that they have neither positive effects nor undesirable side effects. However, these products are preserved by alcohol and therefore contain alcohol.

Precautions and warnings

Pregnancy and breastfeeding: Bach flower preparations are not safe and harmless for pregnant women as they contain alcohol. Alcohol can lead to malformations in unborn children and can also harm them in other ways. Bach flower preparations are also not safe for breastfeeding women, as the alcohol contained in these preparations passes into breast milk and can impair the development of breastfed children.

Interactions

At the present time there is no information on interactions of Bach flower preparations with medicines or supplements.