Often the first remedy people learn about from Dr Bach’s system of medicine is the Rescue Remedy. It is a combination of five different Bach remedies, each chosen to support us in a crisis or when we feel under great pressure and are not able immediately to consider how we feel on an individual level. The mix contains Star of Bethlehem (for feelings of shock), Rock Rose (for feelings of terror), Cherry Plum (for when we feel fearful of letting go, of losing control,) Impatiens (for feelings of being under time pressure, urgency, hurry) and Clematis (for feeling almost unreal, spaced out or needing to focus on anything except a painful reality). By combining these remedies, Dr Bach chose to offer us a simple remedy to take safely whenever we are under emotional pressure. Sometimes we need Rescue Remedy when we are feeling in need of being rescued, perhaps after a shock, an accident, hearing bad news, or before a stress, like a visit to the dentist, an examination, a driving test – even wedding nerves. Preserved in alcohol, the remedy is safe to take either orally or topically. The option to apply the remedy topically avoids the intake of alcohol if driving or for use with babies.
As the only combination of remedies proposed by Dr Bach, this is more popular than any other individual remedy. It is available in a dropper bottle, a spray or in pastilles and you can buy these from the shop.
Dr Bach’s companion and supporter Nora Weeks also developed the Rescue Cream, which contains the five remedies in Rescue Remedy and also Crab Apple, which helps when we feel a sense of self dislike. From her experience of working with Dr Bach, Nora had observed he would often add Crab Apple to a rescue cream for people with skin eruptions. We can use Rescue Cream any time our skin needs rescuing – on cuts, grazes, pimples, burns – and it will also help us emotionally.