Homeopathy, also known as Homeopathic
Medicine, is an alternative form of medicine which was discovered and developed
by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann in 1796 in Germany.
Homeopathy is based on two theories
“like cures like” - the idea that a disease can be cured by a substance that
would produce similar symptoms in a healthy individual,
and “the law of minimum dose” - where
the lower dose of a remedy might be more
effective.
Homeopathic remedies are derived from
plants, animals and minerals. For
example
Arnica (mountain herb), poison ivy,
stinging nettles, bees, to name a few.
These
substances are diluted several times in
liquid to create a remedy of the desired
potency.
There was a study done in 2007 by the
National Health Interview Survey and it was estimated that over 3 million
adults and almost one million children had used homeopathy the previous
year.
There are hundreds of homeopathic
remedies in various potencies.
In order to choose the “right” remedy
the Doctor of Homeopathic Medicine will first do a thorough intake which
consists of listing all the symptoms which could be physical, emotional, caused
by environment, unusual aspects shown, and so on.
Once all are gathered, the practitioner may
just need to cross reference the symptoms with a remedy in the Homeopathic
Materia Medica. However, in most cases a
repertory (which is the index of symptoms associated with all remedies) will
have to be consulted.
This is time
consuming but will allow for a better
picture to be formed. Once the search
has been
narrowed to a few remedies, the
practitioner will study these remedies to choose the
one which best matches the individual.
I have a Doctorate in Homeopathic
medicine and in my practice I use
homeopathic remedies for trauma, challenging cases, emotional imbalances, and
with children.