What is Homeopathy?


Homeopathy is a system of natural medicine developed by Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician in the early 1800s.  He discovered that the same substance that could cause a reaction in a healthy person could also be a remedy for someone suffering from similar symptoms.

That is the basic premise of homeopathy: “like cures like.”  It may seem hard to believe, yet the approach to vaccination used in Western medicine is a similar one, albeit one that is fraught with potential side effects, unlike homeopathy which is completely safe.

Homeopathy is a natural, holistic, approach to healing a person, using minute doses of specific remedies, rather than simply eliminating a particular symptom using a Band-Aid approach.  Unlike many health models, the model for homeopathy is one of individualization.  No two people are alike, so just because two people suffer from headaches, the homeopathic remedies provided for them may be completely different.

MYTHS N  FACTS

1. It is slow to act
This myth is popular, because most of the people approaching a Homoeopath after they have tried all treatments and by that time their acute complaints have become chronic. Homoeopathy is, in fact, FAST AND RAPID IN ACTION in conditions like acute infections, fever, diarrhea, etc. while in cases of chronic diseases as the disease has been there since a long time it does take time to cure but recognizable improvement starts within two to three weeks time.

 2. All medicines are same, small and white 
Homoeopathic medicines are prepared in an alcohol base. The white sugar globules or pills are only a medium or vehicle for the transport of the medicine into the body. The liquid medicine is dispensed in the sugar globules that are made from lactose.

 3. Homeopathy is only good for chronic cases
The notion that homoeopathy works well in chronic cases is true but it works equally well in acute cases too with the additional advantage that the recurrence of acute problems like that of tonsillitis, recurrent cold and coughs, frequent skin allergies is markedly reduced by the use of constitutional homoeopathic medications. Homoeopathy has excellent medicines to treat colic, diarrhoea, headache, cough, toothache, viral fevers etc.

4. Homoeopathy first aggravates the disease and then improves
It is a myth. It does not happen to all cases. But if medicine is repeated more than the need, or the potency chosen is higher than required by the patient then there is a medicinal aggravation or increase in the complaints, but these symptoms would subside on its own as soon as that medicine is withdrawn and the right potency medicine is to be administrated for getting the curative action.

 5. Dietic restrictions 
It is a myth regarding restriction in diet like onion, garlic, perfume, paan and tobacco. These medicines have been used on patients who are habituated to coffee and betel. IT ALWAYS ACTS. But yes, certain homoeopathic medicines when given, can be inactivated by certain substances so only in those medicines these restrictions are required and not in all the medicines.

6. Homeopathy and Allopathy cannot be taken together 


 In patients suffering from drug-dependant diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure, allopathic drugs cannot be suddenly withdrawn; hence, homeopathic medicines may be taken with allopathic medicines. However, allopathic medicine is often palliative or suppressive. For example, if a patient with headache takes a painkiller, his symptoms would get masked and therefore a good prescription by a homeopath could become difficult. Similarly, some medicines in Allopathy tend to suppress rather than cure while homeopathic medicines may expel toxins. In such cases, it is better to take Homeopathy alone.