Homeopathy (from the Greek:'similar suffering') was the brainchild of a 19th-century German physician called Samuel Hahnemann, who was also a gifted linguist and chemist.
At that time, standard medical practice was nothing short of barbaric. Blood-letting and large doses of toxic substances were the treatments of choice and the phrase "kill or cure" could be taken literally - the result usually being the former.
Rather than continue to subject his patients to the often brutal and debilitating treatments, Hahnemann gave up being a doctor and put his linguistic skills to use by translating old medical textbooks. During the course of this work he read about the traditional use of Peruvian bark to cure malaria. Although not actually suffering from malaria himself, Hahnemann began taking it to try to understand more about it. After a while, he was intrigued to discover that he was developing malaria-like symptoms and that these symptoms disappeared as soon as he stopped taking the bark.
This is the principle, known as far back as the ancient Greeks, of 'like cures like' - ie using a substance that's known to produce particular symptoms in a healthy person to cure those same symptoms in a sick person. It is one of the basic principles of Homeopathy.
Supposing you've got insomnia. I'd prescribe a remedy (specially-prepared in a homeopathic pharmacy) made from an infinitesimal - and, therefore, safe - amount of a natural substance that, 
ordinarily, would keep a healthy person awake. Coffee is one example.
This is a much more gentle approach than conventional treatment, which relies on drugs that have the opposite effect to the symptoms. In this example, sleeping tablets would be the most likely prescription, designed to put you into an artificial sleep.
As I said, that's a rather simplistic example. The actual process of prescribing is very much more complex than that because homeopathy treats the person you are, inclusive of all your symptoms, and not just a specific named condition.
When we're healthy every part of us is in balance. The body constantly monitors itself eg pulse rate, temperature, digestion etc and makes any necessary adjustments. So, if we’re hot we sweat to cool down; when we eat we produce more stomach acid to digest the food; when we exercise our heart rate goes up to get more oxygen to our muscles, and so on. In biological terms, this balancing act is known as homeostasis.
When we’re ill the same thing happens - the body works to maintain homeostasis. That's why we get a fever with an infection - it's the body’s way of killing off the virus or bacteria. Vomiting or diarrhoea gets rid of bad food. Coughing expels foreign bodies or excess mucus. So, although they are often uncomfortable and even unpleasant at times, symptoms are actually a good thing because they are the outward signs of the body’s natural attempts to heal itself.
Most of the time we’ll get better on our own within a few days. But sometimes the body's natural defenses can get a little overwhelmed, for example in an acute illness, and homeopathy provides the extra support needed to bring the body back into balance. (This is particularly advantageous these days when many bacteria have developed immunity to anti-biotics and there are only a few medicines that are effective against viruses.)
Sometimes this natural process gets stuck. The body keeps on trying to get itself back to normal and so keeps on producing symptoms, but no healing is taking place. This is the picture of a chronic illness. Homeopathic remedies stimulate the body's response against these persistent symptoms so it can right itself again. (This is the opposite of conventional treatment, which uses drugs that act directly on the symptoms only. This causes the body to react against the drugs, often leading to side-effects or rebound effects ie drug dependency).
Most illnesses have a common set of symptoms associated with them - that’s what forms the basis of a conventional medical diagnosis. But as well as generalised symptoms, we also produce our own characteristic symptoms.
Take ‘flu for example. Common symptoms include nose, throat and chest problems, fever and a general achy feeling. But you might get a bunged-up nose, mine might be runny; one person might be thirsty for loads of cold drinks, someone else might not have any thirst at all; you might want company, I might want to be on my own lying still in bed. We’ve all got the basic ‘flu picture, but our experience of it is different and we would each need a different homeopathic remedy.
In homeopathy, we look for the one single remedy that takes into account all of the symptoms that are individual to you, regardless of whether or not they have a conventional medical label.
I've used relatively minor conditions above as examples because I think they're things we can all relate to, but homeopathic treatment can help all kinds of illnesses - from arthritis to depression, migraines to ulcers. Homeopathic treatment has also been very successful with children's behavioural problems, such as ADHD and autism, and even people suffering from illnesses such as ME and AIDS have benefited from homeopathy.
Because of its gentle and non-invasive approach, homeopathy is very helpful during pregnancy and childbirth. Remedy kits designed specifically for use by expectant mums are available from Helios Pharmacy.
If you are pregnant and would like to know more about using homeopathy during this exciting (but sometimes worrying and uncomfortable) time, I offer a 2-hour instructional session for you and your birth partner on the use of the remedies in the kit. The cost of this is £45, including hire of a kit. Please contact me for details.
I hope this has given you a taste of what homeopathy is about. If you would like more detailed information, please contact me or visit Homeopathy Worked For Me.
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