About homeopathy
For two centuries, homeopathy has been successful in treating illness. Its value is well known in many countries around the world and it is one of the most common forms of medical treatment worldwide.
It was a German medical doctor, Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), who coined the term 'homeopathy'. Dr Hahnemann had given up his conventional practice as he felt that conventional medicine at the time caused the patient more harm than good. After extensive research he began practising his new form of medicine with astonishing results, and attracted a great number of followers.
The word homeopathy is derived from Greek and means 'similar suffering'. The concept of treating with similars ("like cures like") as opposed to treating with opposites ("allopathy") is over 2000 years old, as it has been formulated by the Greek physician Hippocrates. According to Hippocrates, there are two ways of treating illness, either with a medicine that acts in a way opposite to the body's reaction or with a medicine that acts in a similar way. Dr Hahnemann re-discovered the efficacy of remedies chosen due to their symptom similarity. He then worked out a complete scientific system of prescribing, producing and administering remedies to act in the most effective yet least harmful way.
A homeopath will prescribe a remedy that in its material dose will produce symptoms similar to those the patient is suffering from. For example, somebody suffering from hives (also called urticaria or nettle rash), e.g. due to an allergic reaction, may be prescribed a remedy made from stinging nettles, Urtica urens. The homeopathic remedy will stimulate the immune system to deal with the causes of the symptoms. Once these causes are addressed and removed, then the symptoms, i.e. the hives, can disappear. An allopathic prescription, on the other hand, for a case of hives would most commonly be an antihistamine. The antihistamine will remove the local swelling and itching but does nothing to address the underlying causes for these symptoms.
The homeopathic prescription is based not just on a disease name. Homeopathy is a holistic therapy, and the homeopath will take into consideration not only the presenting symptoms but also how the patient is affected by them on a mental and emotional level. Each patient is seen as an individual and patients with the same named disease will need different remedies according to the way they are affected by their illness.
Homeopathic remedies are prepared in a way that makes them absolutely non-toxic so that they don't cause harmful side effects (great for pregnancy and small babies). In a process of dilution and shaking ("succussion"), all harmful chemicals are gradually removed from the substance whilst its healing properties are enhanced. This process is called 'potentization', and the number next to the remedy name indicates how often the substance has been 'potentised': the higher the number, the more 'potent' or powerful the remedy.
The process of making a homeopathic remedy does never involve animal trials. Information about homeopathic remedies is derived from knowledge about the original substance and possibly accidental poisonings, as well as from carefully managed trials with volunteers, called "provings". The volunteers in a proving (called "provers") receive a completely harmless dose of the substance to be tested. The symptoms then experienced by provers are noted and collated. This information provides the homeopath with a basis to prescribe the substance as a remedy.
Homeopathic remedies usually come in the form of little sugar pills which have been impregnated with the potentised substance. These pills have no taste and no side-effects. You don't need to swallow them - simply suck them or let them dissolve in your mouth.
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Doctors, dentists and painkillers didn't help my tooth abscesses for a decade. Since the homeopathic treatment they aren't a problem any more.