Articles about Homeopathy
Imagine you're driving down the motorway at night. It's dark and it's raining. You have still got more than 100 miles to go to get to your destination. Suddenly, you notice a yellow warning light on the dashboard. You don't know what it means and you don't know whether to stop or carry on. You carry on for a few miles hoping that the light will go out, but it doesn't. After another couple of miles you decide to pull over and call your breakdown service. When the mechanic arrives you show him the light on the dash and he nods wisely. You open the bonnet but instead of looking in there, he gets down under the dashboard with a small screwdriver. A couple of minutes later he emerges holding a small light bulb ! He turns on the engine and now there is no warning light showing. You stare at him open-mouthed as he drives off !
I think that we can often be like the mechanic when we are dealing with our health. We treat the symptoms of our illness but not the cause. This may be because we don't know about ways of treating the causes. Homeopathy is one of the ways of getting to the root cause of illness. A key feature of homeopathy is that it treats the whole person at once – it does not treat each symptom separately. Homeopathic remedies stimulate each person's own natural healing system so that it can work more effectively. They are like catalysts which promote natural healing from within.
Homeopathic Remedies
The remedies are made from a wide variety of substances and they are diluted to a high degree. People sometimes wonder how these remedies can work if they are so dilute. If you ask a chemist to tell you what a CD is made of, he may well say that it is plastic and iron oxide. That's true but if you put a pre-recorded CD in a CD player, music will be heard. That's not part of its chemical composition but is information recorded on it. I think of homeopathy as information medicine. Remedies have information in them which is how they can tell your body how to respond more effectively to illness.
Consultation
An initial consultation takes around an hour. It takes this long because I need to understand your symptoms in some detail. I also need to know about your medical history and something of your family medical history too, if possible. In addition, knowing something about your personality is enormously helpful to me in finding the right remedy for you. And because each person is different and their symptoms may be slightly different, whatever illness they have, each person is treated individually. So, 20 people with asthma, for instance, may each need a different remedy !
Scientific Study
For six years Bristol Homeopathic Hospital collected data on the effectiveness of the homeopathic treatment their patients received. A wide range of disorders were treated including migraine, eczema, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, menopause, arthritis, chronic fatigue syndrome and depression. The study included over 6,500 patients and the results were published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine in November 2005 (Spence DS, Thompson EA, Barron SJ. Homeopathic treatment for chronic disease: a 6-year, university-hospital outpatient observational study. J Altern Complement Med 2005; 11: 793-798. See full text). The study showed that over 70% of patients with long-term (chronic) diseases reported positive health changes after homeopathic treatment.
Homeopathy is not a myth, it's not magic; it is effective medicine.
Running Injuries
I imagine that it happens to everyone at some time or another. A trip, a fall, a missed footing, a slip…which leads to some sort of injury. Maybe a pulled muscle, torn ligament or a strained tendon. And then running is off the agenda until it heals. Apart from the physical pain of the injury there is the frustration of not being able to run !
One way of recovering more quickly from injury is to use homeopathic remedies. You can buy these locally in Boots or a health food shop and you can prescribe them for yourself.
Here's a quick guide to what you need to know about the top 3 remedies used in running injuries.
| Remedy | Indications |
|---|---|
| Arnica | Muscle strain and generally over-exertion |
| Rhus tox | For tendons and ligaments. Initial movement is painful but improves with further movement. If you continue, the pain will return. Desire to stretch the injured part. |
| Ruta | General tendon and ligament problems. Prefers not to move the damaged part. |
It may well be difficult to classify your particular injury into a single one of these categories, so it's OK to alternate between 2 different remedies.
Remedies come in different potencies; 30c or 6c are both available in the shops. It doesn't really matter which you buy but the dosage will be different depending on the potency so read the label.
One important principle to follow is that you should stop taking the remedy once you feel an improvement. Don't keep taking it ! The remedies stimulate your body to heal itself more quickly and, once the improvement has started, you only need to repeat the remedy if the pain comes back. If it doesn't improve quickly then you would be better seeking professional advice.
I treated this guy recently. He'd had a problem with his leg for a few weeks which hadn't stopped him running but it had certainly reduced the distance he ran and the frequency of his outings. He thought it might be a pulled ligament but the muscle in his thigh hurt too. I prescribed Arnica 30 and Rhus-t 30 in alternation for 2 days. After that he emailed me to say ‘The leg's much, much better. I was able to go out on Sunday and have an hour's run without any side effects.’
Try it !! Buy a book on homeopathy. Consult your local homeopath (see Yellow Pages or the Society of Homeopaths web site)
Homeopathy - Myth, Magic or Medicine ?
(A version of this article first appeared in the Mensa Magazine in June 2005.)
Homeopathy is a system of medicine and it can help you towards better health. That's the claim – but is it true ?
My purpose in writing this article is to dispel some of the misconceptions about homeopathy and to increase everyone's awareness of what it is and what it can do. I have to confess to being biased ! However, my bias comes about from seeing first hand (both here in the UK and in Nicaragua) the health benefits that homeopathy can bring.
Principles
A key feature of homeopathy is that it treats the whole person at once – it does not treat each symptom separately. This is based on the concept that each of us has our own internal health system (which includes, but is not limited to, our immune system) that manages our health as best it can; however, it is not perfect. Weaknesses are present in it due to inherited characteristics, physical and emotional illnesses or traumas suffered, poor diet, smoking etc. As a result of these weaknesses, symptoms, at some stage, are likely to appear. I use a very simple model for this which I'd like to explain by way of an example. Imagine someone who has regular headaches and who also suffers from mild eczema which gets worse when they're under stress.
The circle represents the strength of the internal health system; the lines represent the set of symptoms they're experiencing. The length of the line is proportional to the intensity and frequency of the symptom set. As homeopathic treatment proceeds, the strength of the internal health system increases and the circle expands until it encompasses the eczema symptom set and, therefore, those symptoms disappear, however, mild migraines are still apparent. Further treatment expands the internal health system still more until these symptoms, too, have disappeared.
Hopefully this illustrates, albeit in a very simple way, what I mean when I say that homeopathy does not treat symptoms directly but rather treats the whole person which then causes the symptoms to disappear.
The conditions I chose in my illustration above were both essentially physical sets of symptoms – migraines and eczema. I suggested that the eczema had an emotional trigger – stress. I want to make it clear that homeopathy can treat all types of conditions, or combinations of conditions, whether mental, emotional or physical. This is because homeopathy treats the whole person and not just symptoms.
Homeopaths regularly treat people with migraines, eczema, asthma, IBS, menopausal problems, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, hay fever, recurrent colds / tonsillitis / sinusitis and conditions that don't have a label. Homeopathy works well with children and infants as well as with adults.
All of what I have said so far applies to chronic illness, i.e. those conditions that often have no definite start and which drag on, generally getting worse as time goes by, unless they are treated properly. However, homeopathy can be used to treat acute illness too, e.g. colds, traveller's diarrhoea, measles, shingles, a fall, travel sickness, shock, burns, flu etc. In these types of situations, the internal health system has been knocked off balance rapidly and will, in most cases, recover of its own accord but homeopathic treatment can restore the balance more quickly. There are plenty of good books available to help everyone to prescribe for themselves and their families in these acute conditions.
Remedies
Remedies are mainly derived from plants, minerals and animals. Examples are jasmine, nettle, sodium chloride (salt), sulphur, oyster shell, various snake venoms. Remedies are made by dissolving the substance in an alcohol/water mixture initially. Successive dilutions then take place (1:10 or 1:100) with vigorous shaking at each stage. The process carries on until the desired potency is reached. A 6x potency is a 1:10 dilution carried out 6 times with vigorous shaking at each stage. A 6c potency is a 1:100 dilution carried out 6 times with vigorous shaking at each stage. 6c and 30c potencies are readily available in chemists and health food shops but homeopathic pharmacies also prepare remedies that have been through many more dilutions. All of these are medicinally active when prescribed in the right circumstances. As you would expect, homeopathic pharmacies prepare remedies under carefully controlled conditions, following strict procedures and with rigorous quality control to ensure consistency of product.
You will appreciate from the above that homeopathy is different to herbalism in that herbalism uses only plants and herbal remedies do not go through the dilution process I have described above. As we said before, homeopathic remedies act as a stimulus to the healing process. They do not have a direct biochemical effect so they can work perfectly well in such dilute form. But dilution is not the only factor – the vigorous shaking at each stage of dilution is important. I have heard people say that making a homeopathic remedy is like dropping a grain of something in one end of a swimming pool and taking a teaspoon of water from the other end. Not true ! This totally ignores the kinetic energy input at each stage of the dilution process.
Mechanism
I'd like to talk a bit more now about how remedies work. I've already said that they act as a stimulus or a catalyst. That's fine as far as it goes but exactly how this happens is unknown. There are theories around concerning how homeopathy works – but that's all they are – theories.
I've come across a few people who have said to me that homeopathy must be a complete load of nonsense because there's no scientific explanation for it. However, I cannot see how that premise leads to the conclusion. Gravity was working very happily before the apple fell on Newton's head and the ancient Chinese were using lode-stone for navigation way before there was any explanation for magnetism. Homeopathy is like gravity in the pre-Newtonian era. It's an observable, reproducible phenomenon, we just don't have a detailed explanation for the facts as yet. And it may be some while before we arrive at that position as there are no companies, institutes or individuals with the interest or the money to finance research programmes. But that's OK – homeopathy, like gravity, still works.
How do I know it works ? Couldn't it be just the placebo effect ? I know it works because I see it working in my practice. Other homeopaths report the same. Homeopathy has been going for over 200 years and there's a large body of literature available which includes a huge array of cured cases. Designing proper trials for homeopathy is not easy. Since homeopathy treats individuals and not their symptoms, then, for example, 30 people with asthma might each need a different remedy to reduce or remove their respiratory symptoms. It's not one size fits all ! Also homeopathy is not a mechanical process with a fixed set of questions and answers which lead to a remedy. The rapport between homeopath and client is important so that the necessary information can be elicited to allow an accurate prescription to be made. So personality plays a part but I don't accept that it is the placebo effect. Infants and animals improve under homeopathic treatment. Surely the placebo effect is not working there. Also patients don't just say they feel better after treatment, there can be measurable improvements in signs and symptoms which are indisputable. So, no, I don't believe that the placebo effect is the reason remedies work.
Consultation
Having mentioned rapport between homeopath and patient, I'd like to talk about what a consultation is like. Firstly, I would like to find out about your symptoms now – what are they like exactly, when did they start ? How do you feel when you experience these symptoms ? Is there anything that helps relieve them (heat, cold, pressure, lying down, fresh air etc.). I'd also like to know about your personal medical history – previous illnesses, accidents, operations, emotional traumas. I also need to know something of your personality – how you react to situations, how you would describe yourself, how others might describe you, etc. I would ask about more general things like sleep, food likes and dislikes, thirst and body temperature. I will also ask about any drugs (prescribed, over the counter or recreational), herbs and supplements you may be taking too. This generally takes an hour or an hour and a half. Of course, this method is fine for adults but must be varied for children and especially for infants where information from the parents coupled with close observation will be the principal sources of data.
I like to see clients again about a month later to make a detailed assessment of how they have reacted to the remedy. At this stage I may repeat the remedy, change the potency, change the remedy or do nothing. It depends entirely on the client's reaction. This follow up consultation usually takes 30-45 minutes. The number and frequency of follow ups thereafter depends very much on the client and their ongoing reaction to the remedy. I am available by phone and by email for any questions of concerns patients may have throughout their treatment.
Conclusion
Homeopathy has a high success rate. What I mean by success here is that it has a positive impact on clients' health. I'm not saying that homeopathy can cure all illnesses in all people all the time. Nobody can claim that about any form of treatment. What I am saying is that the majority of people who receive homeopathic treatment experience an improvement in their health. This statement is based on my experience and that of homeopaths I know. So, if it's so successful and it's safe and gentle in its action, why is it not more popular ? I think the answer has to do with money and trust. Let's talk about money first. Clients often have to pay for homeopathic treatment (unless they are fortunate enough to get funding from the NHS). Costs range from £50 to £100 for a first consultation. Some people are unable or unwilling to pay the fees. To those that are unwilling to pay, I would ask them to consider how much they pay to have their car serviced, or how much they spend on an evening out, or pay to see a football match. How much is your health worth ?
The other issue is trust. Since a client needs to reveal something of themselves in a consultation, how do they know the homeopath is trustworthy ? All professional homeopaths are members of a professional body (e.g. the Society of Homeopaths). These organisations all operate a strict code of ethics which members are bound by. Complaints procedures are defined and homeopaths can be struck off the register if they fail to observe the code of ethics. Homeopaths do merit your trust.
I have deliberately not gone into some of the principles of homeopathy as I doubt whether these would convince you of the benefits of homeopathy. I hope, however, that I've been able to explain a little bit about the practicalities. The only way that you are going to be convinced is for you to experience it for yourself. So, why don't you go and find the name and number of a local homeopath (try Yellow Pages or the Society of Homeopaths web site) and book an appointment. Go on, do it now and get moving towards better health. Homeopathy is not a myth, it's not magic (although it may appear to be so at times) – it is medicine.
