I'm pretty new to homeopathy so I have plenty of questions. But the question that I want to address I'm not positive is even related to homeopathy.

Basically, it's this. My wife's family is very much into alternative medicine. And one of the techniques that they have been encouraged to use involves holding medicine or food next to their breastbone and asking their "body" whether or not it needs the substance and if so, how much it needs. This action requires the use of another person who "test" the person in question by trying to pull apart his/her fingers. If they can, it indicates a "no" response from the person's body, if they can not, then it's yes.

Honestly this smacks of quakery to me. Why not as a ouigi board or a magic 8 ball? But I'm wondering if this is a common practice and I am open to being shown otherwise. If this is a common and accepted practice, I would like some more information on why people believe this works. If not, then please help me affirm my scepticism.

Thanks.

This is NOT Homeopathy..and I have had it tried on me....a load of TRIPE! Honestly.

Any Homeopath, in my humble opinion, who resorts to this sort of 'selection of medicine/remedy' is LAZY, stupid, and plain silly.

It is 'stuff' like this - that gives Alternative medicine a laughable name. I do not subscribe to this - nor do a lot of others who frequent here.

BTW - the person who used this 'technique' on me really believed in it...but when she pulled my arms (to see which one was longer in response to the flower-remedies that were laying on my chest) I could feel her pulling on one arm more than the other. I told her this -and she very quickly did it again....it just smacks of quackery to me. It is not to say that the person executing this 'technique' doesn't believe in it - but they have been conned...and have chosen to believe it.

Everyone always tries to find a quick and easy path to knowledge...and this, my friend, is ****. It is what is known as "TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE" and that is the truth!

Lisa

Certain modes of testing the strength of response of muscles are part of conventional medicine. For example, disrupted health can weaken muscles, and therapy for this may involve what is called kinesiology --"the study of muscles and muscular movement." Such kinesiology is also used in rehabilitative therapy for stroke victims. Most people would understand such treatment.

The THEORY behind what you describe is that electrons, like a current, travel from the
medicine or food to a body part strengthening it or weakening it.

It is a very unrealiable means of testing because it is affected by so many factors.
An examiner who is experienced in manual muscle testing can easily make a subject's muscle appear weak or strong at his discretion by simply changing the test very slightly.
A philosophic attitude can be so strong that an operator's prejudice interferes with obtaining accurate information in the testing process.
The patient may concentrate and the response is strong, and then when they are distracted their respones become weak. The patient may be tired and an inaccurate result is obtained.

Homeopathy on the other hand is scientific:

- There are laws and principles according to which disease or illness arises in a person.
- There are laws and principles governing cure and these are followed in homeopathy to promote healing.

Yes it does smell like a rat. I have heard of a machine that can measure the electrical response of exactly the same phenomenom. It is called a "Vega Tester". Naturopaths sometimes have and use them. The only one that I have knowledge of is being operated by a herbalist. She even will test homeopathic remedies with a client this way. The only feedback I have is that she gets good results and has people travelling hundreds of miles to see her. It is a very expensive machine that requires lots of training, but of course she charges a lot for the testing. I only post this here as a question was asked and I have heard of such a thing. I have no first hand knowledge and also remain quite sceptical of this device. It does sound to good to be true. That usually indicates that it is false.

Want to hear something even more....OUT THERE??
I saw a video tape once of a 'doctor' who prescribed doseages using body responses too.
First he would use the muscle tests to find the mineral, vitamin, herb....or whatever for the person. Then he would pump the person's arm up and down to determine how much of each substance the person required.
Supposedly when the person's muscles would resist the movement, the proper doseage was met.
Most people walked out of this seminar with 3,4,5 different things they needed to take, often a couple times a day. Of course the 'doctor' was also selling these potions, vitamins, etc.

$$$ $ $ $ $ $$$

Advice here....might as well flip a coin or two. If you have any left over that is.

Zmyst

ditto on Zmyst's post, except that I didn't see the video....I WAS THE PATIENT!!!

I worked at a holistic health center and a chiropractor there used kinesiology to determine what was wrong and what herb, remedy, dosage, etc. would fix it.

I was the proud owner of lots of expensive garbage that didn't fix a thing.

On top of this, this "doctor" told my then boyfriend that he had a tumor on his pituitary gland based on this muscle testing and gave him potentially toxic doses of vitamin A. I made him get a CAT scan just to make sure because he scared us so much. NO TUMOR!!

Oh, and I was pregnant according to this guy no less than every other month. Can't tell you how many pregnancy tests I took...

And we both worked there, so we trusted all this nonsense. Came to find out, years later, that this "chiropractor" wasn't one at all, kept failing his boards. No wonder an adjustment he gave me knocked my coccyx out of joint and I couldn't sit down properly for weeks!!

Apparently, this muscle tester is still lurking somewhere in my state, taking money and harming innocent people. Never did pass those boards....

!!! !!AN ABSURD RIPOFF!!!so !!Im speechless!! LindaM.

Our family homeopath uses a "Vega Tester" to fine-tune remedy selection when faced with having to choose amongst a few likely remedies. In our experience, it didn't really seem to help.

Is using this instrument common with most homeopaths? How necessary is it?

RF

Vega testing and arm testing have nothing to do with homeopathy. I would have nothing to do with anyone claiming they were.

Agree with all the growls.
Thumbs down for Vega.