Energy medicine refers to all those alternative medicine techniques which utilize energy fields in treatment. Energy medicine therapies may be divided into two categories, depending on the form of energy used. Veritable energy therapies rely on known forms of energy and employ mechanical vibrations and electromagnetic forces during treatment. Putative energy therapies are based on the idea that human beings themselves have subtle energy fields which must be manipulated in order to reestablish a healthy state. According to energy medicine practitioners, illness is the result of disturbances in these subtle energy fields. The most common energy therapies are:

Therapies involving veritable energy fields:

Magnet therapy: This form of therapy consists of subjecting specific parts of the body to magneto static fields produced by permanent magnets.

Therapies involving putative energy fields:

Acupuncture. The purpose of acupuncture is to restore the proper flow of energy, or qi, by stimulating specific anatomical points through a series of techniques, the most common one being the insertion of thin needles through the skin.

Qi Gong. It focuses on exercises and actions which aim to accumulate and circulate the body’s natural energy to obtain benefits.

Therapeutic touch. This form of therapy, often called distant healing, is directed at assisting the natural healing process by redirecting and rebalancing the energy fields within the body.