Homeopathy
What is Homeopathy?
Homeopathy is an effective, scientifically well-founded form of treatment. It is based in the ancient Greek and Arabic medical systems and was established more than 200 years ago by a German doctor, Samuel Hahnemann.
By using homeopathic remedies, the person is stimulated to regain their balance and therefore well-being. Homeopathic medicine treats the whole person rather than the disease in isolation.
Together with Acupuncture, Chiropractic and Osteopathy, it is one of the four most widely sought-after forms of alternative treatment in the UK, and is even supported by the Royal Family!
Homeopathy is based on the Law of Similars. This states that any substance which can cause symptoms in a healthy human being, whether emotional or physical, can restore to health an individual showing similar symptoms, when they appear as symptoms of disease.
For example, coffee consumed in large doses can cause nervous sleeplessness in a healthy person. Coffee taken as a homeopathic remedy can help cure a person suffering from that type of sleeplessness.
Why choose Homeopathy?
Homeopathy is safe! Therefore it is highly recommended for pregnant women and babies.
Homeopathy is not addictive. You will never need to take any remedy on an ongoing basis – once relief is felt the intake of a remedy should be stopped.
Homeopathy integrates with conventional medicine and does not interfere with any medication a patient might be taking. In fact, homeopathic treatment can build up a person’s body strength so that the dosage of that medication may be reduced or stopped altogether over time. However, this should only be undertaken in agreement with the GP or specialist.
Why and how is Homeopathy different from orthodox medicine?
The major difference between Homeopathy and orthodox medicine is that homeopaths treat the whole person and not just the condition. This is why it is called a holistic treatment. The homeopath takes into account the mental, emotional and physical characteristics, previous medical history and family history etc., in order to obtain a complete picture of the patient. The remedy given will fit most if not all of these symptoms and stimulates the natural healing energy present in every individual to initiate and continue a curative response.
How does it work?
Homeopathic remedies work by stimulating the body’s own power to heal itself. Dis-ease is the body’s expression of an imbalance, and by stimulating its healing power the body is able to heal and regain balance.
The healing process can be compared to running a car. If you forget to turn off the lights of your car one night, the next day the battery will be flat. The only way to get the car moving again – the only cure – is to get a transfer of energy, in the form of a jump-start. Homeopathy is a bit like getting a jump-start! The energy sources are the remedies used in order that that the body can start running more smoothly again.
The purpose of homeopathic treatment is to increase your vitality, and to increase the body’s own resistance to disease, and its capacity for self-healing so that eventually only infrequent treatment is required.
What are the remedies used?
There are more than 2000 homeopathic remedies, which come from the animal, vegetable and mineral kingdoms. A sophisticated process of dilution and succussion (hitting a bottle with a solution hard against a hard but elastic object) is used to develop the healing properties inherent in these substances.
Due to this process of dilution, many homeopathic remedies are unlikely to have any material substance in them. Nevertheless, it is not the placebo effect that makes them powerful medicinal substances, but the conveyance of the information from the original substance; this is most probably due to the properties of water used for dilution.
What to expect
Unlike visiting your GP, where the consultation may only last a few minutes, prescribing the right homeopathic remedy takes a bit more time and patience.
A homeopathic consultation will take up to an hour and a half for the first consultation and about 30-45 minutes for a follow-up consultation. This is because the remedy needs to fit most of the patient’s symptoms. The process starts during the consultation when the homeopath meticulously takes down the patient’s symptoms, and continues after the patient has left, when the homeopath tries to find the best-fitting of the many remedies available. This very laborious and skilled process takes at least as long again as the time spent with the patient.
Patients will normally be asked to wait one month before a follow-up appointment, in order to allow the remedy plenty of time in which to trigger the body’s natural healing energy into starting the healing process. During this period certain changes may occur. Sometimes there is a physical reaction to taking a remedy, often in the form of a discharge, e.g. a cold. There may also be a temporary release of emotional symptoms. Sometimes old, forgotten symptoms may reappear briefly. These are all good signs, and mean that the body is dealing with any conditions that were previously suppressed or not dealt with. These symptoms are best not interfered with, as this will only prolongue the healing process.
Other treatment
Because Homeopathy is an ‘alternative’ and not a ‘complementary’ system, it is generally better to avoid other treatment at the same time. This is especially true of ‘energetic’ treatments, such as Acupuncture or Bach Flower Remedies, which are very likely to influence the action of homeopathic remedies.
This does not, of course, apply to drugs that patients have to take for very serious conditions. It is important that patients continue to maintain their relationship with your local GP or specialist.
How long will it take?
Patients often ask how long it will take before they are cured. This is impossible to predict because each individual case is different. Improvement and cure depend on how much there is to unravel and how much you as a patient are prepared to collaborate with your homeopath. Deep-seated ailments, which may have developed over years, do not usually disappear form one day to the other. However, after taking the remedy patients soon start to feel better in themselves, with energy levels rising and a more positive outlook on life.