Homeopathy is a healing modality with a different approach of health then we are used to by regular medicine.
Let's start with symptoms. In conventional medicine symptoms are considered the disease. In homeopathy symptoms are seen as the attempt of the body to heal itself, to restore balance.
We all have a natural ability to heal ourselves and to bring back balance. Behind the scenes that is what our body is constantly doing so we don't get knocked down by every trigger. It is called homeostasis.
If the normal detox ways don't work, the body will always try to throw out symptoms on the most superficial level. This means we can see symptoms appearing first as skin rashes, vomiting, diarrhea, colds. We tend to want to get rid of these symptoms as soon as possible, which is understandable as they are not pleasant.
There is however another way, which is encouraging the symptoms so the body starts healing itself. This means we work with the body versus against it. This is the main principle of homeopathy, curing like with like.
Already a few thousand years ago, Hippocrates, the father of medicine, said there were 2 ways of healing. One is to stop the symptoms, the so said treating by opposites and the other is by encouraging them, which is LIKE CURES LIKE.
This is basically the difference between regular medicine and homeopathy. In regular medicine drugs are used to stop the symptoms, while in homeopathy symptoms are used to guide us to find a remedy that can restore the innate healing ability of the sick person.
Homeopathy is INDIVIDUALISED. 10 people with arthritis might all receive a different remedy because they all have their own individual way of reacting to the disease, to try to keep in balance and they also have their own background, history of trauma, medical and genetic history. This also means that someone with arthritis could get the same remedy as someone with digestive problems for example.
This means that a homeopath spends quite a bit of time with their patient, often one hour or more for the first consult. Some of the questions asked might seem irrelevant to your main complaint but they can help understand your pattern of disease.
During the consultation the homeopath will find out how you got off balance, and based on the unique symptom picture that you are experiencing a remedy is selected. This remedy is known to create the same symptom picture in a healthy person. This is why it is called the law of similars. We give the life force of the patient a gentle suggestion to start restoring health.
So based on all this we understand that the homeopathic remedy does not cure directly and rather removes the block so that someone's own healing ability is restored. So the question “which remedy for this complaint” is totally irrelevant in homeopathy.
The duration of treatment is also individual. Sometimes when there has been much suppression by medication, it might take longer to provide deep long lasting healing as there are several layers to work through. The ultimate goal is to treat at a very deep level so your problems don't come back and also don't result in deeper pathology.
Homeopathic treatment has the added benefit that it will open you up to listen to your body and understand patterns in which you get off balance.
If you like to know more about how I can help you, you can book a free introductory chat to discuss your options.
Great to see you here Lisette!