What is Homeopathy?

… is a natural system of healing that stimulates the body’s inherent ability to heal itself. Homeopathic medicines, or remedies, use minute amounts of plant, mineral or animal substances to stimulate a person's innate healing ability and to strengthen the entire body system.

In 1796, a German doctor, Samuel Hahnemann, discovered a different approach to the cure of the sick which he called homeopathy (from the Greek words meaning 'similar suffering'). Like Hippocrates two thousand years earlier, he realised there were two ways of treating ill health: the way of opposites, most commonly used by conventional medicine, and the way of similars.

Hahnemann discovered that diluting and ‘succussing’ - shaking - remedies (which homeopaths call potentisation) not only produced fewer side effects but also produced better results. Homeopathic remedies are prescribed on the principle of treating “like with like”, or the way of similars.

What does “like with like” mean?


Take, for example, a case of insomnia. The way of opposites is to treat this by giving a drug to bring on an artificial sleep. This frequently involves the use of large or regular doses of drugs which can sometimes cause side effects or addiction. The way of similars, or homeopathic way, is to give the patient a minute dose of a substance, such as coffee, which in large doses causes sleeplessness in a healthy person. This can then help the patient to sleep naturally. Of course, this is a simplified example. Homeopathy is patient-centred and based on the totality of your symptoms and how you, as an individual, experience them. This also takes account of you as a person - your individual characteristics, both emotional and physical. Homeopathic remedies, properly prescribed, are safe and can also be given to pregnant women, babies and children. They are particularly effective for depression, anxiety, allergies, infections, gynaecological concerns, skin conditions, digestive problems, and a variety of chronic and acute conditions including colds and flu. They are the perfect solution for anyone wanting an effective yet gentle approach to health care, and work particularly well in tandem with other naturopathic treatments.