Can Qigong cause side effects?
In general, absolutely not. Side effects would be an exception for a very small minority of people. Some people claim that Energy Medicine practices like Qigong can cause side effects. We’ve had an OMD (Oriental Medical Doctor) tell us that the only people who could possibly experience this would be people who already had psychological disorders before practicing Qigong. And even with these people the chance of a problem is incredibly remote. Others point out that there are some more advanced practices that can potentially lead to problems, such as obscure male sexual abstinence practices. For more information on the side effects issue, there is an excellent section on it in A Criticism of Qigong with Pseudoscience Method by the Qigong Institute’s Director of Research, Kevin Chen, available on the QI website in the Scientific Papers section. If you have any questions or concerns at all about this, seek qualified medical advice. There are psychologists trained in Qigong. You can watch a
