Basically, what is homeopathy?!
Question: I'm used to plain old herbal remedies and teas, but they're not working for me. I've tried looking into homeopathy but am so overwhelmed with latin names and chemical jargon that tell me about certain treatments, but not about the whole picture. What exactly IS homeopathy? Is it just precise herbal and mineral treatments? I cannot afford to see a specialist in this field just now, so am left to my own research.
Answers: I'm used to plain old herbal remedies and teas, but they're not working for me. I've tried looking into homeopathy but am so overwhelmed with latin names and chemical jargon that tell me about certain treatments, but not about the whole picture. What exactly IS homeopathy? Is it just precise herbal and mineral treatments? I cannot afford to see a specialist in this field just now, so am left to my own research.
Homeopathy is a school of healthcare that, in essence, believes that condition can be treated by stimulating the body to kick in its own defenses. It uses VERY small amounts of toxins that mimic the exact symptoms you are having that are specially prepared to stimulate your body to have a stronger healing response.
The toxins used are SO dilute in the final preparation, that they are undetectable with modern chemical analysis.
Recently there has been an upsurge in over the counter homeopathic remedies. Unless you are exactly sure of the details of your malady, be careful about what you take. For example... back pain is not specific enough... is it hot deep pain? stabbing? Is your cold in your nose with chills or more in your chest with a fever?
Good luck :)
Homeopathy is a very interesting approach for curing.
I'm going to tell you an edgy example. If you get bitten by a poisonous snake, the homeopathic remedy would use the same venom but watered down, and that would inspire your immune system to fight against the toxins. I'm not sure about the snakes, but I know that it works for almost any common diseases, and Homo, or homeo means the same. so they use the same thing to cure you that basically makes you sick.
I love them, because they support and boost your immune system, instead of taking antibiotics that are suppressing the signs, and stopping your own immune system to fight. However homeopathic products take longer for you to get better. I havent used regular medication in 10 years, and I got sick fewer times.
There are books, and websites that can help you finding out what homeopathic pills you need for what sympthoms.
what herbal supplements were you taking and what was the problem you were taking them for?
Where you taking store brands?
Go 2 Ivy Rose's website (i think it is www.IvyRose.com ) I found this an amazingly helpful site when I was studying Holistic Body Therapies.
Also the The Federation of Holistic Therapists have one www.FHT.org.uk (I think off top of head ) But I'm not sure how much public access there is to this one.
Hope it helps!
Dr. Sammual Hehnemann coined the word homeopathy from two Greek words - homoios, meaning similar or like and pathos, meaning suffering. 60% of remedies are made from plant material, the rest come from minerals or metals and a few from animals (mostly insects - bee, spider, venom, etc.) so a lot of the taxonomy comes from Latin as that is how the plant kingdom is differentiated.
There are over 2000 remedies, some used more widely than others (polycrests) as they will fit the symptoms of most people's health problems.
200 year old method of health care
http://www.beyondflatearth.org
I think
oops...http://www.beyondflatearth.com
You can't find a basic answer, because homeopathy deals with something very complex: a person's whole state of being. Homeopathy must precisely choose remedies, but in a very holistic way. It can be user friendly for acute problems, but with chronic (long-term, or recurrent) problems you need a good practitioner to realize its full potential - which is worth getting the money for. Its very hard to treat yourself or even your loved ones, because besides the challenge of being objective, its a very tricky art and science to learn. If you get a book like "Homeopathic Self-care...." by Ullman and Reichenburg-Ullman, you can learn basically what it is and maybe can treat acute conditions, although many acute problems arise form chronic terrain.
Literally anything can be made into a homeopathic remedy, not just minerals and plants. When it is, there's a transformation from the substance of the remedy to the "energy" of the remedy. So its very different than vitamins or herbs. Then this remedy can be given to groups of people, in a blind study called a proving, where the "blind" participants will manifest many symptoms, some familiar but more intense, some foreign, even extending into strange occurances in their lives, there will be emotional symptoms, specific dreams, and specific physical symptoms. The recorded experiences are brought together, and interestingly themes will emerge from commonly shared experiences, and poignant symptomatic expressions. This then is a way to bring out what a remedy "causes" although its only an energetic impression that's made collectively on the group which comes from the remedy. In essence, the collective consciousness around the remedy is manifest. Thats one key, amongst more, to then applying the main dynamic priciple that "like cures like", so when a practitioner establishes the whole state of their patient they then give a remedy that can produce a similar state to the one the person is already in - physically, mentally, and emotionally. And thats the way people heal themselves with a remedy: their physical conditions resolve themselves and at the same time their whole state of being makes a shift and comes into harmony with their environment permanently. Its radical and complete healing. The other ways a homeopath understands remedies is through accidental poisonings, if the remedy happens to be toxic, through its physical properties, its clinical attributes (what symptoms its already seen to have addressed) and how its related to by humans. In other words, a remedy needs to be understood from how that remedy relates to its environment, and how it's environment relates to it. Same with the patient. When a good remedy is given, the 2 energies meet and there's a resonance that promotes an incredible healing process you wont often see.
"Homeopathy" literally means like-disease: You cure the disease by giving something that can "cause" it, which actually means using a little resonant perturburance to encourage your system's own healing ability to complete the chronic disease process it has begun trying to heal, but is stuck in. So you can't just give this for that. Homeopathy is the most holistic of all holistic therapies. When its full potential is realized, people heal their chronic state: disease, issues and all, its nothing short of magic!
I would recommend that you watch this interesting video..towards the beginning it talks about homeopathy and what it is and why it is not preferable to herbs.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=...
highly recommended series
Be sure that your herbal are organic or wild crafted as these are 7-10 times higher in the pytochemical that prevent an cure disease. He also addresses this on his video linked above about 5 minutes into the video but the intro is interesting too.
Be sure to use a tincture for best results. It is easy and is on either this video or the one before or after it (number 5 or 7 I think)
Homeopathy works on the principle of the energy of the herbs.
Supposedly the higher the strength (30 x is stronger than 6x) the more effective is is supposed to be but the probably NO herbs are in this.
Here is how they do it..they take one drop of the herb and 99 drops of water, shake it and then take one drop of that and add 99 drops of water, shake and take one drop of that and add 99 drops of water..this will be 3x..one continues to do this for 30 times to get a 30 x dose.
This will be one drop to close to 3000 drops of water so very very little of the healing properties are in it but supposedly the energy of the plant remains.
It is hard to see how this could help anyone but I have heard people swear by it..maybe it is the placebo effect.
the same type thing is how they do the flower essences..it is the vibrational energy of the flowers that is in the very, very diluted drop of flower.
One thing is highly dangerous or toxic herbs can be used as there are barely no molecules of the herb in the preparation
I personally am not a big believer but I have used some homeopathic remedies but prefer to use the herbs themselves,,now we are made of energy so maybe that is how they works but this is essentially how they are prepared.
as some of the people explained, it is based on like cured like
also people believed that if an herb or plant was colored or shaped a certain way, it was good for that part of the body..like kidney beans would be used for the kidneys, walnuts for the brain (looks like one and even has a scull), the root of ginseng looks like a man so it is a whole body tincture..also red plants were used for blood disorders and so forth..this is not homeopathy but based on the principle of like cures like..as it was believed the creator gave us clues..interestingly walnuts are the only land source of omega three which is good for the brain and ginseng is used as a whole body tinctures, beets (dark red) is good for the blood if one is anemic, and kidney bean pod tea is used for kidney and bladder problems so maybe there is something to this interesting theory.
I am a chiropractor, and have to say I trust herbs more than homeopathy, although a lot of people swear by it. What are your symptoms? Good luck.
As I said before, homeopathy is not basic, and a couple of the above "answers" show the kind of ignorance that is typical of something not so straight forward. I am a practicing, very experienced professional homeopath, and there are many others who aren't qualified to give answers, who nevertheless will anyway.
While its true that homeopathy is not herbalism, and its a good distinction to make, to talk about homeopathy as "just water" (as the nutbar in the video did) or something that works by placebo, is simply ignorant and frankly quite condescending. I am also a herbalist, naturopath, and Dr. Ac. so I understand a lot of distinctions.
The woman above promoting the video, was trying to talk about the doctrine of signatures,(some characteristic of the plant will reveal it's own properties) which I think originated with Paracelsus, and was used by a few different herbal schools of thought: it is NOT the law of similars, or like curing like, although that principle was spoke of before the founder of homeopathy (Samuel Hahnemann) by Hippocrates, but not in a dynamic light.
Homeopathy is not placebo, end of story. Both children and animals respond to remedies, and they aren't being convinced of the effect of something. One really has to experience the effects of homeopathy to really know the healing potential it has.
Basically, it is a scam.