More about Homeopathy
What is Homeopathy?
Generally speaking, homeopathy works on the principle that a substance which can cause a symptom in a healthy person, can cure the same symptom in a sick person (also known as the Law of Similars). This means that we can use a homeopathically prepared remedy made from coffee to cure insomnia, or a remedy made from nettles to cure an itchy skin rash, for example. The remedies act as an energetic stimulus to the individual’s natural healing ability which we call the Vital Force. This then provokes a curative response guiding the body back towards balance.
Scientific Research into Homeopathy
Homeopathy is an old art and a relatively new science. There are many good solid old fashioned clinical trials demonstrating its effectiveness, as well as some fascinating new research into the structure of water molecules showing how water changes depending on what it has been exposed to. This phenomenon known as the 'Memory of Water', and it goes some way towards explaining how highly diluted homeopathic remedies may retain information which the body then responds to. If you want to know more about scientific research into Homeopathy visit www.homeopathyresearchinstitute.org
Homeopathic Remedies can be used in a number of ways:
- to support the whole constitution (this is what people usually refer to as classical homeopathy),
- to address specific symptoms (eg a remedy for your heartburn, not for your whole constitution),
- to support any of your organs or systems that need a bit of help (eg immune system, liver weakness caused by toxicity, lung weakness in asthmatics etc),
- to address inherited tendencies (eg heart weakness that runs in the family),
- to stimulate the elimination of toxicity from the system caused by drugs or environmental factors,
- to desensitize the body to specific allergens using remedies made from that allergen, eg pollen,
- to heal physical and emotional traumas, even if the traumatic events were some time ago,
- to provide support in times of stress, helping to prevent the development of stress related illness.
Can Homeopathy be used alongside Conventional Medicine?
Homeopathy can work alongside conventional treatment or be used as an alternative to it.
As a Homeopath I will always look at your full medical history and seek to understand how the various influences and events in your life may have contributed to the development of your illness. Homeopathy is not in itself a diagnostic art however, and the NHS has a fantastic array of diagnostic tools available to it, so it is always a good idea to seek to get a medical diagnosis for your condition.
Homeopathy can be used alongside prescribed medication. If you are taking drugs for your blood pressure, there’s no reason why homeopathy shouldn’t work for your hayfever. Homeopathy can also be used to help you to stop taking prescribed drugs gradually if it is safe and desirable for you to do so (eg withdrawal from anti-depressants, HRT, steroids), bearing in mind that it is always best to do this with the support of your GP. As well as treating any side effects of medication, and supporting the organs which are affected by the drugs, the homeopathic treatment addresses the illness for which the drugs were being taken in the first place, as far as possible.
Homeopathy can also be used to maintain health throughout life and many people use it as a form of preventative healthcare, having constitutional treatment at regular intervals, or at times of change and challenge in their lives.
‘Side effects’ or ‘does it have to get worse before it gets better?’
Sometimes symptoms do indeed get worse before they get better as a result of homeopathic treatment, but this is not always the case, and if this does happen it is often very short lived. It happens because the symptoms need to intensify so as to stimulate the vital force to act. If you do experience an intensification of symptoms, just remember the expression ‘better out than in’. It is quite common to develop some form of discharge after taking a remedy such as a snotty cold, a heavy period, or increased bowel activity. If this happens, it is a good sign – it means your body is having a clearout and you should feel better for it afterwards.