Homeopathy

Homeopathy

Homeopathy (how·mee·o·puh·thee)

Homeopathy is a natural form of medicine used by over 200 million people worldwide to treat both acute and chronic conditions. It is based on the principle of ‘like cures like’. In other words, a substance taken in small amounts will cure the same symptoms it causes if taken in large amounts.

The holistic nature of homeopathy means each person is treated as a unique individual and their body, mind, spirit, and emotions are all considered in the management and prevention of disease. Taking all these factors into account a homeopath will select the most appropriate medicine based on the individual’s specific symptoms and personal level of health to stimulate their own healing ability.

Homeopathy is founded on two principles that have occurred regularly throughout the history of medicine, both in the eastern and western worlds.

The first principle of ‘like cures like’ can be looked at in several ways. One way is to assume that the body knows what it is doing and that symptoms are the body’s way of taking action to overcome illness. This healing response is automatic in living organisms; we term it the vital response. The similar medicine acts as a stimulus to the natural vital response, giving it the information it needs to complete its healing work. Since the initial action of the vital response plus the medicine is to increase the strength of the symptoms, this is our first indication of internal healing taking place, of diseases being cured from within – pushed outwards along the established routes of past and present symptoms.

It is recognized by the World Health Organisation as the second largest therapeutic system in use in the world.

Homeopathy is a medical system that was developed in Germany more than 200 years ago. It’s based on two unconventional theories:

• “Law of minimum dose”—the notion that the lower the dose of the medication, the greater its effectiveness. Many homeopathic products are so diluted that no molecules of the original substance remain
• Homeopathic theories are based on fixed principles of the Laws of Nature
• Homeopathy is both an art and a science
• Homeopathy treats the person as a whole, not just the disease
• Homeopathy produces no toxic side effects and brings about a rapid recovery
• The English Royal Family has been under homeopathic care since 1830 and there has always been a Royal Homeopathic Doctor

Homeopathic products come from plants (such as red onion, arnica [mountain herb], poison ivy, belladonna [deadly nightshade], and stinging nettle), minerals (such as white arsenic), or animals (such as crushed whole bees). Homeopathic products are often made as sugar pellets to be placed under the tongue; they may also be in other forms, such as ointments, gels, drops, creams, and tablets. Treatments are “individualized” or tailored to each person — it’s common for different people with the same condition to receive different treatments.