Homeopathic Medicine

What is Homeopathy?

Homeopathy is a distinct system of medicine developed by German physician Samuel Hahnemann in the 18th century and is still widely and successfully used today in many countries throughout the world. Based upon the principle of “like cures like”, a patient’s symptoms are carefully taken and then matched to a homeopathic remedy that produces similar symptoms rather than giving a medicine that opposes or suppresses the patient’s symptoms.

What does “like cures like” mean?

Coffee is frequently used as an example to demonstrate this Law of Similars, or “like cures like” since most of us have consumed coffee at least once. If you can remember back to that first cup of strong coffee you drank, or perhaps a time when you indulged in a bit too much coffee, it is likely that you experienced one or more of the following symptoms: heart palpitations, trembling hands, restlessness, racing thoughts, increased sweating, or difficulty falling asleep depending on how close to bedtime it was consumed. Since those are the symptoms coffee produces in a healthy person, following this Law of Similars, when an unwell individual has a combination of these symptoms- such as someone suffering from insomnia due to a racing mind causing restlessness- a homeopathic prescription of Coffea may stimulate their body to heal and relieve their symptoms.

How does homeopathy work?

The way homeopathy and a homeopathic remedies work is very simple – they stimulate your body to heal itself. At its deepest level every individual’s body has a desire to be healthy and resilience against becoming ill. However, at times the physical, environmental, infectious or emotional stressors we are faced with can become so great that they throw our body “out of balance”; outweighing this resilience and leading to disease. A properly matched homeopathic remedy can give your body the gentle nudge it needs to get back on track; allowing self-healing to take place and decreasing its future susceptibility to disease. Therefore, the profound and often rapid improvement that takes place after taking a remedy is solely the result of your body falling back into balance and fulfilling its desire to be healthy.

What can homeopathy do for you?

Homeopathy affects all body systems and can be used to assist with acute and chronic conditions including the flu, seasonal allergies, pain, gastrointestinal concerns, autoimmunity, sleep issues, as well as depression and anxiety. Since homeopathy is used to treat you and not your illness, it can also be used to improve symptoms that do not have a specific medical diagnosis or fall into a particular “disease category”.

Are homeopathic remedies safe?

As mentioned above, a homeopathic remedy does nothing more than stimulate your body to heal itself and therefore does not produce side effects like traditional pharmaceuticals targeted toward a particular symptom, pathway or body system. They are even safe for infants, children, pregnant women and nursing mothers and are used frequently in these populations with fantastic results.

Will my remedy interfere with my prescription medication?

Homeopathy and Homeopathic remedies can safely be taken with prescription medications without either one interfering with the other. Over time with homeopathic treatment you may find that as your health is being restored you may require a reduction in your dosage of pharmaceutical medications. This is something we will monitor together as well as your other physicians to discuss your options and personal preferences as they present.

Homeopathy at Richmond Natural Medicine

Homeopathy is one of the tools all of our Naturopathic Doctors utilize at Richmond Natural Medicine. During their education in Naturopathic Medical School, every ND receives training in homeopathic medicine as one of the modalities that they can use in helping patients improve their health. In addition to Naturopathic Medicine intakes our NDs offers Homeopathic intakes to assist in helping improve many health conditions.

For more information about the Practitioners at Richmond Natural Medicine visit our Practitioners Page.

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Learn More About Homeopathy and Cancer Treatment