Classical Homeopathy is an elegant system of medicine that was first formulated by Dr. Samuel Hahnemann.
Among his many extraordinary contributions to the practice of medicine, Dr. Hahnemann demonstrated the wisdom and effectiveness of using only one remedy at a time in a person’s treatment.
The curative effect of that one remedy can be carefully evaluated before considering the possibility of another remedy. After taking a careful history with attention to all of the details of a person’s symptoms a Homeopathic prescriber will prescribe a remedy.
This remedy is designed to address the totality of the person’s symptoms. The overall approach of prescribing one remedy at a time is the same whether one is being treated for an earache, a flu or for multiple chronic symptoms. The basis is that although the individual may have many symptoms, they are interrelated in the whole of the person.
Remedies may be prepared according to Homeopathic standards, but too often are misprescribed according to conventional standards.Confusion arises in the general public because remedies are often advertised in health food stores and pharmacies in the manner of “Take this for that.”
The idea behind this type of prescribing is that If you have a certain condition you take a certain remedy. For example if you have a flu, you should take remedy A; if you have PMS you should take remedy B and if you have gastritis you should take remedy C.
This is a misunderstanding of how Homeopathy works. While it is important for the doctor to understand the patient’s conventional diagnosis, she must also be able to make a Homeopathic diagnosis which is the prescribing of the remedy.
Ten patients may come in to be treated for influenza, but each patient’s overall symptoms might be quite different and therefore require a different remedy.
This is true for any acute condition whether it is influenza, cough, sore throat, ear ache, pneumonia or cystitis or complex chronic disease.
Combination remedies have multiple Homeopathic remedies contained in one pill are also sold. We may call this a “shot gun” approach. Many remedies are offered up in the hope that one will work.
While this approach is sometimes effective for home care in the treatment of acute, milder symptoms such as the pain of teething in children, it is certainly not an effective long term solution for chronic problems.
The treatment of chronic health problems such as menopausal issues, fibromyalgia, emotional issues, asthma, Lyme disease or MS using Homeopathy requires a skilled Homeopathic practitioner who is trained in conventional diagnosis as well as Homeopathy.
Patients suffering with these conditions have multiple symptoms. The well trained Homeopathic prescriber will look for the one unifying remedy that covers these symptoms.