Homeopathy - Additional Information
Why Homeopathy?
Homoeopathy is a system of healing that can only become more popular in a society that is becoming increasingly aware of its environment. More importantly, because the remedies are made from the substance that can cause the disease, homoeopathy can provide solutions to many new health problems, as well as being uniquely adaptable to social, climatic and environmental changes or disasters. In addition, enormous quantities of remedies are made from very small amounts of their raw materials. When you consider the number of lavender plants needed to produce a small bottle of the essential oil, it is worth appreciating that from the sting of a single bee it would be possible to treat each and every person in the world with the remedy Apis. It is a highly practical system for the future, and this makes it accessible to everyone, wherever they live.
At a time when public health services are coming under increasing pressure and their quality of service is being more closely scrutinized, learning how to look after ourselves can give us a great sense of empowerment. We increasingly want to know what is going on with our own bodies and we want to be able to be more in control of our health.
(Foreword of 'Homoeopathy' by Rebecca Wells at Neal's yard remedies).
Homoeopathy is an holistic health practice, treating the person as a whole when diagnosing the problem, rather than taking the illness out of its personal context and treating it in isolation. The best introduction to homoeopathy is to see a professional homoeopath, who is trained to provide constitutional treatment. These visits will help the new patient to learn about homoeopathy and they will also help strengthen the immune system and increase vitality. Once a patient is brought back into balance we at the Natural Health Service encourage patients to take an active role at home in applying remedies to acute situations.
Self-knowledge is an important and exciting thing, but respect for different healing methods and how these are used is important in the safety and understanding of our health and general well-being.
What is Homeopathy?
Homoeopathy comes from the Greek word 'omeos', meaning 'similar', and 'pathos' meaning 'suffering'. This literal translation indicates one of the fundamental aspects of homoeopathy: the principle of 'like cures like' something causing imbalance in the body being used to restore balance. For example, most of us are familiar with coffee and its stimulating effect, whether it is drunk first thing each morning to give a kick start to the day, or late at night after a meal, frequently leaving us to toss and turn in search of sleep. Coffee is a stimulant that alerts the brain and acts on the central nervous system. In this way, the homoeopathic remedy made from coffee, called 'coffea' is most commonly prescribed for insomnia and hyperactivity. Likewise, everyone is familiar with the way in which our bodies react when we are chopping onions: eyes stream, noses run profusely and we want to rub at our eyes to relieve the stinging, if this picture is kept in mind, it becomes easier to understand the main use for this homoeopathic remedy made from the red onion called 'allium cepa' _ commonly used to treat hayfever and colds. Hence the term 'like cures like'
The Vital Force
The concept of energy, or vitality, is an important one in homoeopathy. Just as it is necessary to understand the vitality of the remedy, so it is to understand the vitality of the patient.
We all have a life-force or energy running through us, which, quite literally, keeps us alive. This force maintains balance, enabling our bodies to adjust to the constant change required in our lives. In homoeopathy this is known as the 'Vital force' and is a similar concept to the 'chi' and 'prana' of Eastern Medicine.
Just as nature has its own regulating mechanism so too do individual people. We are unable to understand the exact meaning of this, or to locate it. Scientifically, but we are aware of the flux that we experience in our own energy state. The homoeopathic concept is that when our vital force is out of balance, then our bodies and minds produce symptoms such as colds, rashes and depression as an expression of this disharmony. The energy held within the remedies helps to stimulate the energy of the vital force, thereby rebalancing at this fundamental level.
Susceptibility
The issue of how vulnerable different people are to disease and ill health is an important one. Some people have amazingly robust constitutions, rarely succumbing to illness, regardless of their lifestyle. Others are susceptible to every illness imaginable, even if they exercise daily and eat a balanced diet.
Many factors determine the strength of your constitution. Genetic inheritance is an important one. Illnesses and weaknesses that run through families are often passed down through generations, and many people find that they have similar health patterns to other family members, such as a tendency to asthma or eczema. Others may find that there is one area that is always affected when experiencing disharmony in their life, such as headaches or a skin irritation. We all respond in different ways according to our own constitution. Homeopathic remedies can help strengthen and change these patterns, thus altering the patterns of our susceptibility. By doing this, homeopathy can prove vital in the prevention of disease as well as being curative in specific cases of illness.
What to expect at a consultation
Homeopath's will tend to ask detailed questions, including those that may often seem irrelevant, such as what type of weather or food the patient prefers as well as specific responses to the patient's condition.
The medical history of the family is also important. This depth and detail of questioning is vital in the holistic aspect of finding the right remedy for the whole person. The art of finding the right remedy can be a difficult one. The remedies can often reveal old imbalances that have been masked by conventional medicine or an unknown suppression of symptoms. The period of treatment usually corresponds to the period of illness. Monthly visits to a homeopath are generally advised as a starting point. During the early stages of treatment from a homeopath, remedies will often be administered in a higher potency. It is common for the patient to receive just two or three tablets to help stimulate the body's natural healing mechanism, aiding re balance and healing over several months.
This is a dramatic move away from any conventional medicinal practices, which tend to use repeated and multiple doses of medicine over long periods of time. After taking a constitutional remedy from your homeopath, the symptoms can sometimes get worse briefly - known as a 'healing crisis.' This reaction is often perceived as a good sign because it shows that the body is starting to speed up its natural healing processes. Other symptoms that occur may include colds, diarrhea, feelings of tearfulness or even a return of old symptoms. These will not last long, however, and are all signs that the body is starting to cleanse itself.
(Taken from 'Homeopathy' By Rebecca Wells at Neal's Yard Remedies).
Homeopaths at the NHS
There are four homeopaths at the NHS, Rhian Davies Powell, Emma Kamio and Jenny Evans all who graduated from the Welsh school of homeopathy and Dr Kavitha Thota who graduated in homeopathic medicine and surgery in Southern India.
- First appointments usually around one and a half hour duration costs £40
- Follow up appointments which are usually monthly and around forty-five minutes duration cost £25
- Prices include consultation time and all medicines