What is homeopathy?
The Homeopathic Method
Homeopathy is based on the premise that the body possesses a “vital energy” required for generating a natural healing process. Based on this premise, Hahnemann maintained that, contrary to the dominant belief of scientists, (of his era and today’s,) it is less important to know the specific cause of an illness than it is to find ways to stimulate the natural healing process inherent in a living organism.
With this in mind, homeopathy endeavours to meticulously identify all the patient’s symptoms in order to trigger or sustain the corresponding healing process. The practitioner seeks to find when and how symptoms appear, what amplifies or reduces their intensity, etc. Therefore, two patients suffering from the same illness in the traditional medical sense may have different homeopathic remedies prescribed to them because their “constitutions” differ from each other or their specific symptoms are not the same. For example, two patients may have the same “cold,” but not the same runny nose. Homeopaths now use computer databases to help them choose remedies based on the countless combinations of symptoms and constitutions of their patients.
Who can benefit from homeopathy?
Homeopathy touches all spheres of health and acts gently on people of any age.
The use of an infinitesimal quantity of active ingredients from natural substances eliminates the risk of negative side effects and addiction. It is not necessary to stop allopathic or alternative treatments as there is no incompatibility with other medicines.
There are several trends in homeopathy :
- The unicist homeopath suggests a one-time cure
- The complexist recommends a preparation composed of several remedies to be taken in several times.
- Pluralists recommend several complementary remedies, to be taken over a longer period, from a few weeks to several months.
During the consultations different elements are identified :
- The symptoms: physical, functional and psychic.
- The chronology of symptoms, from the most recent to the oldest. There is a logical follow-up to the onset of symptoms.
- The field; that means the global functions of the body, also called “diathesis”. It is the propensity that an organism has to develop this disease or that symptom.
- The etiology; the “since when”. It is in general that there is often an environment or events that have made us fragile and have these kind of symptoms or diseases.
These different elements will allow the homeopath to elaborate a complete homeopathic treatment in order to improve your health. The homeopathic approach is not a diagnostic procedure and does not replace the medical approach of your doctor. A homeopath will advise you to consult your doctor if needed. Homeopathic treatment does not replace conventional treatments, but it can be associated with it.