Homœopathy Awareness by Sue Smith

What Is homeopathy?

The word ‘homœopathy’ is derived from the Greek 'homœos,' meaning similar, and 'pathos,' meaning suffering or disease. This name reflects its fundamental principle: like cures like. In other words, homœopathy cures dis-ease of all kinds with minute amounts of substances that would produce those same symptoms if given to a healthy person in its original form.

Many people compare this idea to vaccinating against certain illnesses, but there are essential differences: vaccinations include not only massive doses of the specific, toxic substance that they are meant to be counteracting, but also the injection contains other chemical nasties such as formaldehyde, aluminium and mercury. Further, one big vaccination dose fits all, age, weight, height etc notwithstanding. So no wonder many people suffer after their holiday travel vaccines and others feel considerably worse for maybe months after their flu jab.

Conversely, homœopathy is a way of considering and gently healing the whole person in both physical and emotional terms, rather than just masking one or several symptoms. In other words, it is the individual who forms the focus of homœopathic treatment, not their ailments.

Homœopathy has been used extensively and safely for centuries. It was developed to its present form over 200 years ago by a physician, Samuel Hahnemann and his wife Melanie, based upon this similarity healing principle that the ancient Romans and Greeks originally used. Today, people from all walks of life and age groups use and endorse homœopathy, most notably perhaps the British royal family, David Beckham and Tina Turner.

How Homeopathy Works

Primarily, homœopathy’s healing process enables the body to stimulate its own energy to promote a return to good health and well-being, so that we are actually making use of our own innate healing powers. Any symptoms of illness are seen as a sign that something is out of kilter in what can be called our life force and homœopathic medicines act by prompting our own body to correct this imbalance. Also, homœopathy is frequently used on a constitutional basis to maintain our general physical and emotional good health, so you don’t have to be ‘sick’ to benefit.

Homœopathic remedies are usually derived from all manner of animal, vegetable, or mineral sources. The original substance is then subjected to successive dilutions and vigorous shaking up between each one. This procedure brings out the curative properties inherent in that substance ~ in other words, its energy. It’s this energy that resonates with whatever symptoms you may be experiencing and thus promotes cure.

The degree of dilution is referred to as the ‘potency’ of the remedy. The more a substance is diluted, the higher its potency. The more dilute the medicine, the stronger the effect of its essence ~ and it is that which has given rise to homœopathy’s controversy in conventional medical circles. For the physicists amongst you, substances are diluted to beyond Avagadro’s number. Controversy aside, this explains firstly, why there’s no physical trace of the original substance left and secondly, why it’s completely safe for everybody.

A homœopathic practitioner matches the potency of the remedy to the energy of the patient and uses a range of different potencies to treat the various levels of dis-ease or discomfort. Acute or everyday ailments, such as coughs, colds, sprains, earaches, hangovers and so on are usually treated at the 6C or 30C potency and a range of remedies in these potencies are readily and cheaply available in many chemists and health shops. Potencies and remedies that have a deeper and wider sphere of action are obtained via consultation with a properly qualified homœopath.

Homœopathic remedies themselves are available in different preparations: small tablets or pellets; liquids and tinctures; granules etc. The base is either milk sugar or sucrose or for liquid preparations water and/or alcohol are used. Currently there are over 2,000 substances whose special physical and mental effects have been recorded. Examples are charcoal, salt, snake poison, gold, the marigold flower, coffee and sometimes potentised versions of drugs themselves may be used to help with their side effects (eg HRT). Or for instance, for somebody with cold sores, we may use the herpes simplex virus itself in homœopathic potency along with other deeper acting remedies to suit the individual and address the original cause of the complaint.

Why Should I Use Homeopathy?

People are attracted to homœopathy because it treats the whole person as an individual, rather than being about trying to get rid of a lot of symptoms and ignoring their cause. Many choose homœopathic treatment as a safe alternative to potentially harmful ‘chemical’ drugs, although the remedies are effective either alongside or instead of conventional medicines. It is non-habit forming, non-invasive, has no unpleasant side effects when properly prescribed and the remedies themselves are easy and pleasant to take. Furthermore it is completely safe for babies, pregnant mothers and the elderly.

Homœopathy works especially well with all types of ailments that don’t respond well to ordinary medicine. It is very effective in emotional states like grief, anxiety and depression as well as being great for ailments as diverse as migraine, respiratory and skin allergies, rheumatism, digestive and menstrual problems, sports injuries and strains, eating disorders and bronchitis. In fact, virtually any physical or emotional, long-standing or short-term ailment will respond to treatment.

Because we are all individuals, different people react in different ways to the same symptom. Although a clinical diagnosis can sometimes be useful, the mere name of an ailment is not enough because homœopathy treats each person as a unique individual, as a whole being and on all levels. Very often people have ‘layers’ of symptoms and previous illnesses or vaccinations as well as unresolved emotional trauma can trigger off health problems later on in life. Furthermore, we are all born with different susceptibilities to various types of conditions.

Those homœopathic remedies available ‘over the counter’ provide a good introduction to the way homœopathy works with us. Mixtures of remedies and tissue salts with labels like ‘Allergy Ease’, ‘Sprain Relief’, ‘Teething’ and so on are widely available and can also prove effective. However, these will only provide temporary relief. Homœopaths consider all a person’s symptoms (both ‘good’ and ‘bad’) as well as how they experience them in order to build up a complete picture of their client or patient. Treatment will then lead to a complete, permanent state of health and well-being. Be sure to consult a registered practitioner in your area, or some practitioners will conduct telephone or email consultations.

For more information or for a qualified homeopath based in the East Midlands area [UK], please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Copyright 2007 Sue Smith BA(Hons), LCHE MARH Licensed Homoeopathic Practitioner
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