Homeopathy is a form of medicine which was discovered and developed by a doctor in Europe named Samuel Hahnemann starting in about the year 1800.
This doctor was experimenting with quinine, a treatment for malaria. He took quinine and found that in him, who did not have malaria, quinine caused fevers. He thought this result to be very interesting because malaria is a disease of fevers. He restated what other medical philosphers had hinted at before, a law, "like cures like." In other words, something which causes a symptom in a healthy person, can knock that same symptom out of someone sick with that symptom. This concept is totally opposite to the concepts of western medicine, which is called "allopathic medicine." In allopathic medicine, we generally take medication to treat something inside our body. The medicine we take is different from the disease we are trying to treat.
Dr. Hahnemann took his research further. He diluted and shook and diluted and shook the quinine. He was hoping to get rid of the bad parts of the quinine and preserve the good parts. He found that not only did he get rid of the bad parts but the resulting dilutions were actually more powerful than the original quinine. In fact, he diluted and shook the quinine so much that nothing was left of the original material. Yet, the mixture was still more powerful.
Dr. Hahnemann and others after him investigated other compounds found in nature. He found what symptoms these other compounds and natural materials might produce in healthy people. These investigations were called "provings." Then he would know which natural substances to use when he was treating a sick person. He would match the symptoms of the sick person to the symptoms he knew the natural substances could produce in healthy people. He treated many disorders this way.
No one in regular medical circles believed him, but some people learned his methods and developed his insights and knowledge further.
One of the main people was Dr. James Kent, in the United States. Although relatively little homeopathy is practiced now, homeopathy was very strong at one time in the US. Homeopathic physicians were drafted on both sides in the civil war. Such major medical schools as the University of Michigan were homeopathic medical schools. However, when antibiotics came out, academic medicine organized to eliminate homeopathic medical schools. In the United States, all such schools closed or became traditional medical schools and very little homeopathy was taught.
Treating Medical Conditions Using Homeopathy
In modern medicine, we use medicines to treat illnesses. In homeopathic medicine, we use "remedies" to treat illnesses. There are more than 2000 known remedies in homeopathy. One must consult a homeopath to determine which remedy is the correct one to take in any circumstance. For information on Dr. Semon's homeopathic practice, click here. The preparation of remedies is discussed below.
One of the main difficulties in understanding homeopathy is knowing how to distinguish between chronic problems and acute problems and yet to integrate the treatment of both. Chronic problems are long term; acute problems are problems that arise suddenly.
If a person has both chronic and acute problems, it turns out that the chronic problem cannot be treated successfully until the acute problem is taken care of. The symptoms must be listed as either chronic or acute, and usually there are separate remedies for both. For example, a person may present with influenza symptoms such as aches, chilliness, and being tired, as an acute problem and at the same time may be suffering from a grief, which is causing sleep problems. The acute problem of the influenza, which may need the remedy gelsimium, needs to be treated before the problem of the grief, which may require the remedy called natrum muriaticum. If we give the natrum muriaticum before the influenza is treated, the natrum muriaticum will not work while the influenza symptoms are present.
The best way to understand treatment of acute problems is to know that over the 200 years homeopathy has been in existence, there are known to be certain remedies for certain conditions. For example two remedies for earaches in children are Pulsatilla and Chamomilla. One need not start with all the 2000 remedies and try to take an entire case and find the one out of 2000 which fits all the symptoms. Instead one starts with the acute problem and asks about all the symptoms of the acute problem and about all the modalities such as whether the pain is better or worse with time of day, with cold or hot, with people around or not. Then one looks through the list of remedies known to be useful for that acute condition and tries to figure out which one is best. If the first remedy does not work, another remedy should be tried.
In regular medicine, a sore throat, worse on the right than the left is the same as a sore throat worse on the left than the right. However, in homeopathy such distinctions as right versus left, and time of day, whether motion or swallowing helps or hurts, are of major importance. Such distinctions, called modalities, tell us how the vital force is acting. The remedies act on the vital force and in healthy people, show their own modalities in provings. If we then match the remedy to the vital force of the person, as shown through symptoms and modalities, the energy of the remedy will add to the vital force of the person, to cure or improve the problem.
We can look at the body as having a vital force which keeps our body processes going but which may be weakened by anything from a grief to a vaccination. Then the vital force may be weakened, and diseases may occur. These disorders can be thought of as energy leaks of the vital force, which is now resulting in a person who is not feeling as well as he or she might. A child with an ear infection has a disturbance of the vital force. Treatment of the ear infection will result in restoring the vital force and stopping of the energy leak. For more information on homeopathy and ear infections, click here.
All disorders may be thought of this way. Cancer patients may have acute energy leaks, such as diarrhea, which may or may not be part of the cancer, and the cancer itself and the patient may have deeper layers such as a grief which occurred before the cancer began. First, the most acute problem is treated. The most acute problem is where the initially most important energy leak is. Then the remedies for the specific cancer may be given. Then the remedy for the grief which started the problem may be given. If we treat in layers this way and see the problems as a series of energy leaks, each with its own remedies, we are more likely to be successful in treatment. For more information on homeopathy and cancer treatment, click here.
Colds may be viewed the same way, as a series of energy leaks, or colds may be viewed by looking at where the energy started to leak from. If the cold began with a sore throat, then start with the sore throat remedies. If the cold began in the nose, start with remedies for nasal discharge. If the cold starts to look rapidly like influenza, with fever and cough, there are remedies for influenza.
Energy leaks can also be viewed as having occurred in the past. For example, if someone had a flu which totally knocked them out resulting in chronic fatigue ever since, one way to treat is to treat the symptoms at the time the energy leak began, in this case when the flu symptoms were present.
Ear Infections and Homeopathy
One of the best ways to treat chronic ear infection, in addition
to anti-yeast intervention, which is explained in Ear Infections is to prevent colds and other upper respiratory
infections from becoming ear infections.
I have found, in my practice, that
treating colds homeopathically can reduce the severity of the colds and prevent
ear infections. Homeopathic treatment is inexpensive and relatively safe.
However,
there are numerous remedies for each medical condition that we usually think
of as one illness, such as a cold, so it is best to consult a homeopathic practitioner
or doctor to determine which remedy might be beneficial for you or your child
at a certain time. If one treats the beginning symptoms of a cold immediately with homeopathic medications, the cold usually does not develop into an ear infections, and antibiotics are not needed.
Differences in Treatment Strategies between Homeopathic Writers
The method described above is based primarily on the writings of Dr. Hahnemann. Other homeopaths have treated using different methods. The approach of Kent was to try to find one remedy to fit all. This approach works best for psychological problems but does not work well for chronic problems. Kent was both American and he was a dominant figure in homeopathy, so he is followed by many people. The other approach was given by the founder of homeopathy, Hahnemann, who believed in treating problems as a series of problems, each requiring its own remedy.
Kent used high potency remedies, given only once and repeated only as indicated. This approach results all too often in aggravations. Hahnemann used low potency remedies given frequently. This approach does not result in aggravations. If a remedy does not work in low potencies, we simply try a new one.
Preparation of Homeopathic Remedies
Homeopathic remedies are prepared from the natural substance, usually first in alcohol. This is called the mother tincture. Then further dilutions are made. The usual way is by diluting 1/100. The first such dilution is called 1C. The next 1/100 dilution is 2C and the next is 3C. With each dilution, there is shaking and hitting of the glass container the solution is in against something about as hard as a leather book. This is called succussion. This combination of dilution and succussion brings out the energy of the remedy. The provings were made with the C potencies, so the C potencies are preferred by most homeopaths. There are also X potencies, which are 1/10 dilutions. These may be used but they were not tested in the same way as the C potencies.
Selection of the Right Potencies
Kent recommended using high potencies, which is usually 200C. Hahnemann recommended using much lower potencies such as 6C. For a chronic problem, the starting dose is 6C given three times per day but if people feel that they are very sensitive, the 6C can be started at once per day or even once per week. 6C works gradually but gently. Use of 200C may result in aggravations, that is things get worse before they get better. Acute problems may be treated with higher potencies briefly such as one or two doses of 200 C, or repeated doses of 30C. 30C should be adequate for acute problems.
For example, if someone has asthma, there may be a chronic remedy for the asthma, given at 6C three times per day. If an acute asthma attack develops, the attack may be treated acutely with a higher potency of the same remedy, such as 30C or with a different remedy temporarily, probably also at 30C. Once the attack is over, we go back to the chronic remedy at 6C three times per day.
There are also remedies which may be used to help children after the acute illnesses to improve their vitality and make them less susceptible to acute illnesses. These are mainly the calcarea remedies.
Caution in Self-Prescribing from Books!
Often, homeopathy appears to be so simple that people attempt to treat themselves using books as guides. However, this can lead to ineffective treatment. It is much better to consult an experienced homeopath. For self-prescribers, I would advise that when looking at symptoms in homeopathy books, try to stay with the main symptoms of the acute problem. If the book mentions a confirmatory symptom but it is not related directly to the acute problem, be careful in using that confirmatory symptom. For example, patients needing gelsimium may have the symptom better from profuse urination. The symptom of better by profuse urination is not helpful if the other symptoms of gelsimium such as drowsiness, prostration, tiredness and dizziness (in influenza) are not present.
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