How Homeopathy Helps
I’ve been practicing Naturopathic and East Asian medicine for over a decade, and one tool that has been helpful again and again, is homeopathy. It’s one of my go-to treatments when the symptoms that a person is experiencing seem unusual or don’t fit the “normal” patterns, of a disease, or when patients are too sensitive to take medications or even herbs, or when a patient is on a lot of medications and I want to help them with something that will not interfere with their meds. Sometimes none of this applies but it becomes clear in the visit that a particular remedy or set of remedies matches the patient and may be very helpful. So what is homeopathy?
Classical Homeopathy
Classical homeopathy is a system that uses natural substances in small doses to treat the whole person. The individual remedy is chosen based on how closely its effects mirror all the symptoms the patient is experiencing as a whole. Homeopathy means “like treats like”, so the symptoms that the particular remedy would cause if given at high doses to a healthy person are the same ones that the remedy is able to treat when given at minuscule doses to a person with an illness.
There are thousands of different remedies and a classical homeopath wants to find the one that best matches the particular symptom picture that you, the patient have. That best match will be able to shift the pattern of disharmony that your body may be stuck in, and move you to a state of greater balance and wellbeing. Selecting that perfect or close-to-perfect match often requires that the practitioner get a very detailed health history, including the small details of how conditions present in your body physically, emotionally and mentally. A really well selected remedy can make big shifts in both chronic conditions and acute conditions. I’ve seen significant improvements in diverse issues such as migraines, anxiety, GI complaints, allergies, neurological conditions, UTIs, colds and ear infections to name a few.
Combination homeopathic remedies
These work in a slightly different way that classical single remedies. Combination remedies are dilutions of multiple minerals or herbs that work together on a specific organ system or condition. These too can be very helpful for a wide variety of conditions. I’ve often used them for supporting GI health, asthma and allergies, high blood pressure, hormonal imbalances, and kidney and liver health.
Whether it be classical homeopathy or more modern combination remedies, homeopathy can be a very helpful treatment when you need to try something new to get at difficult health issues.
