Homeopathy to Improve Health and Well-Being

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Homeopathy can be used in many different ways to support an individual’s healthcare regimen. The three common ways Homeopathy can be used are:

  • Self-care: individuals use homeopathic remedies to treat minor traumas and illnesses
  • Acute care: homeopaths recommend remedies for acute illnesses
  • Constitutional care: homeopaths recommend a program of remedies to optimize health

Basic homeopathic self-care can be very useful for acute and minor traumas and illnesses, however, please do seek advice from your local qualified Homeopathy before taking a remedy to ensure you are using them correctly. Homeopathy works to support the vital force of the body, it assists by stimulating a response in the natural ability of the body to heal faster.

When doing homeopathy for self-care, it is critical to remember several things.

  • Signs or symptoms of a potentially serious illness require medical evaluation, for example, chest or left arm pain, shortness of breath, severe dizziness or loss of consciousness, severe headache, fever of 38.8 or higher that persists for more than three days, blood in vomit or stool.
  • If you are treating yourself homeopathically for an acute illness that persists without improvement for more than three days, seek professional help from a qualified homeopath or your local GP.
  • Understand the difference between single remedy treatments for your acute symptoms, for which you can follow clear symptomatic responses to remedy and dose. Multiple remedies take the shotgun approach to your illness but may complicate your condition by bringing on proving symptoms.
  • When selecting a remedy, remember to take into account the unique aspects of your complaint. For example instead of just stating that you have a sore throat, note the details: Is it left-sided sore throat, with fever, irritability, and sensitivity to touch, craving lemonade, you can’t stand to have anything around your neck, better for pressure, drinking cold water helps.

It is possible to assemble a home first aid kit, which is handy to have for self-care and when a homeopath advises you over the phone to take something for an acute injury or illness.

The easiest, and often the most economical, way to do this is to purchase an already assembled first aid kit from a homeopathic dispensary for the most common remedies and potencies. Certain remedies are more commonly used in children, so you might want to customize the kit for you and your family’s needs. These can be purchased through several different companies, such as Simillimum, Selene, Healing Haven Dispensary, Lincoln Mall Pharmacy.

How can I use homeopathy for acute care?

Acute illnesses that are more serious, or longer-lasting, can often be treated well with homeopathic remedies, but this should be done through a consultation with a professional homeopath as this would be a constitutional approach. Close monitoring is necessary for optimal outcomes, as the homeopath may need to change the type and/or potencies of the remedies as the symptom picture changes.

Over a couple of days, your symptoms clarify. You are chilly and very irritable, your mucous membranes are very dry, and you are thirsty for large amounts of fluids at a time. You have a splitting headache that gets worse from the slightest motion. You speak with your homeopath, who advises you to take a 30c remedy from your first aid kit and check back in six to eight hours.

What is constitutional care?

The concept of a “constitution” is found in many systems of healthcare, including Homeopathy, Ayurvedic, Naturopathic, Traditional Chinese, and others. It is the idea that as an individual we have certain trends in our nature-for example, someone may tend to be cold, like to be coddled when ill, desire a lot of time out in the wind, crave fatty foods, or be given to melancholy.

Each system of medicine has a way of clustering mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual traits into constitutional patterns, to better understand an individual and to help guide one’s treatment when ill.

In homeopathy, a person’s constitution is identified by a specific remedy picture, and that remedy picture is most often used to treat long-term disorders and sometimes acute illnesses. Some people will refer to this as being their “remedy,” meaning their constitutional type.

Remedy selection is based on the most distinct, central focus of the individual symptoms that are truly characteristic of the patient whether or not they are related to the chief complaint-is often called “constitutional” prescribing. The emphasis is placed on the nature or constitution of the patient.

This is the same as classical homeopathy, adhering strictly to the original principles laid down by Hahnemann. This contrasts with other ways of prescribing a homeopathic remedy, such as prescribing two or more remedies to be alternated or taken simultaneously, testing the compatibility of remedies with patients by electrical devices, or using needles to inject solutions containing homeopathic preparations.

Constitutional care is done for several reasons:

  • It can be used as part of a preventive or optimal health routine. Identifying the simillimum, is the one remedy that would best fit the overall mental, emotional, and physical state of the individual. Helps to re-balance, stimulate, and support the vital force to achieve optimal health and functioning. One’s usual simillimum is the same as their constitutional remedy, though sometimes an acute illness may indicate a different simillimum for that situation.
  • It can be used to address chronic or recurring healthcare challenges. It may require one or a series of remedies to help the body recover from the imbalance that exists and may be done in conjunction with conventional medical care, although good communication is needed. Some medications may interfere and antidote the remedy to act, and a successful remedy may impact the need for, or a dose of, the pharmaceuticals.
  • Homeopathy may be used at the end of life for palliation or to ease transitions.

What Is the Frequency and Duration of Constitutional Treatment?

Homeopathic remedies are recommended in differing potencies and for varying durations. In addressing chronic problems, a prescriber may take a case and select a remedy that they prescribe as a one-time, one-dose treatment, with instructions for the client to then self-monitor and report back in four to six weeks. Once that response has been evaluated, if it appears that the practitioner chose the remedy well, may suggest that the client repeat a dose at the same or higher potency, or wait for a longer period without further treatment. This all depends upon the client’s severity of symptoms and the strength of their vital force, any aggravation of symptoms, the level of improvement of symptoms, and the nature of the imbalance.

The possibilities are limitless, for example, if a prescriber identifies a clients’ constitutional simillimum, it impacts them on every level of being. The client may reach a point at which he or she is doing very well, without symptom complaints. At that point, no further remedy is indicated.

Then life unfolds, they may suffer extreme stress, the loss of a loved one or another trauma, and symptoms may return. At that point, a dose of the constitutional remedy may be therapeutic. It could even be taken at the time of the stress, before symptom complaints occur, as a preventive.

Homeopathy offers support in restoring our body’s balance, health, and vitality. You must seek professional advice from a qualified registered homeopath or your GP to ensure you are receiving the best possible treatment for your chronic illness that you are experiencing.

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Start your journey today in becoming a Homeopathic Practitioner, and enrol now in our NZ Diploma in Acute Prescribing with Homeopathy!

Adapted from Source:
University of Minnesota
Karen Lawson MD