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Homeopathy is a system of healing that has been
with us since the mid 1700's. It was invented by a physician named Samuel
Hahnemann. Hahnemann had become disillusioned by the practice of medicine in his
time and the toxicity of the treatments that were being used (sound familiar?).
He was a medical historian; and through his reading, he stumbled onto an old way
of treating in which the treatment involved supporting the symptom rather than
trying to suppress it. His first case was a woman who was suffering from
relapsing fevers and he used Peruvian bark to treat her because he knew this
bark could cause such fevers. Her fever resolved, but she succumbed to toxicity
from the bark itself As a result of this experience, Hahnemann began to dilute
the bark tincture and found that it continued to have the benefit in treatment
without causing toxicity. He found this to be true at dilutions that were
infinitesimally small. This is what began the study of homeopathy. Homeopathy
was in its heyday at the turn of the twentieth century. Most large universities
(including the University of Michigan) that had medical schools also had
homeopathic medical schools. The advent of antibiotics resulted in the loss of
this popularity. When compared side by side, antibiotics are more effective in
curing an acute pneumonia than are homeopathies. As a result of this, funding
for homeopathic schools dried up and the practice nearly died out in the U.S. In
the last 20 years, homeopathy has regained popularity as people begin to realize
that modem medicine is not particularly effective in dealing with chronic
problems. Medications merely suppress symptoms, without necessarily addressing
the underlying issue, and therefore have long term side effects.
Homeopathy is based on the principal of like cures
like. The homeopathic practitioner chooses a remedy to treat symptoms that would
normally be caused by that remedy at full strength. By doing this, the remedy
acts to stimulate the body's own systems to cure the problem. Choosing a
homeopathic remedy involves taking a history that goes beyond the symptom at
hand. Your symptom may be a cough, but selecting a remedy out of the many that
treat coughs may have more to do with your fears or sleep patterns than the
cough itself Because of this, it is essential that you let your homeopathic
practitioner know all of the symptoms you may have, not simply the main one. We
tend to "sugar coat" things when it comes to our symptoms and leave out
insignificant details. To the homeopathic practitioner, it is these details that
can be the most helpful. The "holy grail" of homeopathy is to find a remedy that
exactly describes the patient including the current, acute symptoms.
Homeopathy can be used for acute symptoms (i.e.
headaches, cough, fevers, abdominal pain, etc.), but it has its greatest benefit
when used for chronic conditions. Issues we may have had from birth,
inheritance, old traumas or incompletely healed illnesses, or emotional
stressors are a few examples of what can be addressed using homeopathy.
Homeopathic can work on people of all ages but are particularly effective on
children. Many childhood illnesses, health issues, and fears can be improved
through the use of homeopathy.
Homeopathic remedies come in a number of forms.
For the most part, they will either be in a pellet tablet form or in a
liquid/drop form. They are placed on or under the tongue and allowed to absorb
there. It is essential that the mouth be clear of any food, mint, garlic,
coffee, or any other strong odor. The best time to take a homeopathic is on an
empty stomach. Homeopathies, by themselves, do not have side effects. Any
symptoms that might develop as a result of the homeopathic treatment is part of
the healing process and should be brought to the attention of your practitioner.
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