In case you don’t know much about Homeopathy, this is a good place to start.
The birth of homeopathy
Let’s begin with the origins of homeopathy.
It was the year 1784. Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician, dissatisfied with the treatment methods in medical system of his time, left his practice and started translating scientific and medical books.
A few years later, he came across a text which stated ‘cinchona bark was effective in treating malaria because of its astringency^”. An explorer at heart, he was curious to learn more about cinchona and experimented it on himself, even when he wasn’t sick. What he found, later became the founding principles of Homeopathy. The self-application of cinchona had induced malaria-like symptoms and led him to theorize that since a drug can produce certain symptoms in a healthy person, it can also cure the similar symptoms in a diseased person. This became the first law of homeopathy – ‘similia similibus curentur’ which is ‘similar cures similar’.
Dr. Hahnemann continued doing multiple experiments to build on his hypothesis. He published his first article about the homeopathic approach in a German-language medical journal in 1796 – and homeopathy was born.
The past 200 years have seen our understanding of homeopathy improve. It has now become an alternative system of medicine worldwide and as a second mode of treatment after allopathy.
How homeopathy differs from other medicine systems
Unlike allopathy, homeopathy treats the person as a whole - the ‘totality of symptoms’ is treated and the person feels better with the medicine in every aspect, mentally, physically or spiritually.
Homeopathy stands out amongst all the other methods of treatment. Homeopathy is not a symptomatic treatment of disease; it works on the underlying cause and cures the disease by removing it from the roots. To do this, minimum doses of medicines are given – ‘less is more’ being the philosophy behind homeopathy. The medicines have no side effects on the person as well.
What diseases can one use homeopathy for?
Homeopathy is mostly used in treatment of chronic and recurring diseases. But its effectiveness in acute cases also can’t be denied.
The list of diseases could be pretty long, so let’s look at the more commonly known medical conditions where homeopathy is very effective - fever, cough & cold, tonsillitis, stye, chalazion, vitiligo, psoriasis, leucoderma, urticaria, eczema, skin allergies, sinusitis, acne, poly cystic ovarian syndrome, dysmenorrhoea, vaginal infections, infertility, joint pain, gout, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, dengue, chikungunya, hairfall, alopecia, dandruff, depression, personality disorders, autism, ADHD, OCD, irritable bowel syndrome, piles, fistula, fissure, warts etc.
Homeopathy is especially very good for children as they can be given the sweet pills (containing medicines) without any hassle and the child would take the medicines without any tantrums.
Homeopathy is a safe and gentle way of medicine to restore health.