- December 09, 2020

 

Homeopathy was discovered over 200 years ago by German physician, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843). After becoming disillusioned with common medical practices of the day such as purging, bloodletting, and the use of toxic chemicals, Dr. Hahnemann began his first homeopathic experiments in 1790.

He became fascinated with a species of South American tree bark (cinchona) which was being used to treat malaria-induced fever. Hahnemann ingested the bark and discovered that it caused symptoms similar to malaria - this was the beginning of the Law of Similars, ‘like cures like’. 

 

Through various experiments, he discovered any plant, mineral, or animal substance can be used to make a remedy. Using a process of dilution and succussion (a specific form of vigorous shaking), the original substance is diluted in liquid repeatedly, and vigorously shaken with each dilution. This process is called ‘potentization’ and it explains the power and efficacy of homeopathic remedies.

Through testing many remedies (called ‘Proving’) he was able to determine specific symptoms relating to each remedy. His studies of drugs led him to the realisation that single drugs in moderate doses offered up the best - if not the only - hope of creating

a gentle and effective system of curative medicine.

 

It is on this principle, that Classical homeopathy is based. Classical homeopaths prescribe one remedy at a time and believe in using only a minimal dose - the lowest dose and fewest number of repetitions required in each particular case. Many mainstream Homeopaths have diverted from this purely Classical path and are prescribing combination remedies or more than one remedy at a time. Often this method is equally successful and certainly easier for the prescribing Homeopath, rather than trying to pinpoint ONE remedy out of the thousands of remedies that now exist.

 

But there can be downsides to this method too.

If a combination remedy fails to act, which particular component of it was defective? Was it remedy x, y or z? This means having to start all over again, and if it's an acute situation you are aiming to treat, the longer it takes to find the Simillimum (the remedy indicated in a certain case because the same drug, when given to a healthy person, will produce the symptom complex most nearly approaching that of the disease in question), the longer it takes to treat. The same issue arises in the case of aggravation to a remedy.

 

On rare occasions, a person may develop an unwanted reaction to a Homeopathic remedy. While this is not life-threatening or dangerous in the usual sense of aggravations to over-the-counter drugs, our job as Homeopaths is to make a person feel better, not worse! Most aggravations are an intensity of the current symptoms the person is wanting to treat (which can also be a curative action - the symptoms can get worse briefly and then disappear). In the case of aggravation, the intensity doesn't ease as fast as it would when it's curative. If a combination remedy has been used - which remedy caused the aggravation?

 

We may wrongly eliminate a remedy that is curative, simply because it was combined with several others. Many see using combination remedies as "easier." In some ways that is true. Generally speaking, the majority of people will find some curative action using a combination of remedies. It may not be a full cure as such, but it helps at the time. While Classical Homeopaths can take a little longer to prescribe the correct simillimum, the effect of it is instant, curative, and long-lasting. Minimising aggravations and saving time in the long term.

 

All Homeopaths - classical or not - observe the “Law of Cure”, which means we heal from the inside out, from top to bottom, with the most recent issues curing first. This phrase was coined by Dr. Constantine Hering (1800- 1880). Initially a skeptic of homeopathy, Hering set out to prove it couldn't possibly work - but soon found he couldn’t. When homeopathy saved his gangrenous finger after conventional medicine had failed, he was converted and became an early pioneer of homeopathy in the United States.

 

Homeopathy is truly holistic medicine; we consider and treat the whole person, never just one problem or condition. We treat the ‘Totality’ of the person as a unique individual, which is why homeopathy cures deeply and profoundly.​

 

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