Free Pain Relief Newsletter  Click Here Pain Relief Articles - Homeopathy Exercise:  A Natural Reliever For Chronic Low Back Pain 4 Natural Home Remedies to Ease the Pain of Sunburn Getting A Grip on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Exercise Your Way To Pain Relief Benefits of Alternative Medicine Neck Pain Management Migraines - Food and Diet Tendonitis Pain Relief Treating Arthritis - Naturally Getting Well With Smell Guided Imagery - The Healing Power of Imagination The Healing Power of Food Healing With Herbs Healing With Movement Healing With Water Self-Healing With Homeopathy Laughter Is Good Medicine Treat Your Own Back Pain Healing With Your Mind Self-Healing With Homeopathy By Gerri Shapiro, MS Ed. "Symptoms are not 'the enemy' - to be vanquished or suppressed, but indications of how your body is dealing with a problem. What is homeopathy? Homeopathy is a 200 year old system of medicine that attempts to encourage your body's natural healing mechanism to take over. Your symptoms are not regarded as "the enemy." - to be vanquished or suppressed, but as indications of how your body is dealing with a problem. They give vital clues to the type of help that is needed, such as rest, dietary changes and which homeopathic remedy to choose. Homeopathy Treats The Whole Person Homeopaths do not treat physical, emotional, mental or even spiritual illnesses separately, but regard them as intimately connected. People seeking treatment are interviewed in detail and matched with the single remedy whose total symptom-picture most closely resembles their own. "Like Heals Like" Homeopathy relies on the idea that "like heals like." Remedies are prescribed according to the Law Of Similars which states: "That which makes sick shall heal." This means that the symptoms caused by too much of a substance are the symptoms that can also be cured with a small dose of that substance. A homeopath seeks to find a substance in nature that can mimic your symptoms in order to help your body heal itself. For example, if you were stung by a bee, he might give you a pill made from a diluted solution of bee venom. Research How homeopathy works remains a mystery to the scientific world. A substance is vibrated and diluted until no discernible part of it remains. Yet its effectiveness has been demonstrated repeatedly in scientific studies. One hundred consecutive outpatients at Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital were surveyed one year after treatment. Of the 80% who responded, 60% had improved in the area for which they sought treatment, and 61% felt an overall improvement in well-being. This is very impressive when you consider that 81% of those involved in the study had been unresponsive to conventional treatment. What Happens? After taking a homeopathic remedy you may experience a period of well-being or you may suddenly feel very tired. Sometimes your symptoms may even appear to get worse for a short time. All these reactions are indications that the remedy is working and that the process of self-healing has begun. These symptoms will pass. It is best not to treat them as they are an important part of your healing process. Homeopathy requires patience. In the long term it works on both the cause and the symptoms of your illness, rather than merely relieving or suppressing your symptoms. Homeopathic Remedies The minute doses of homeopathic remedies insure that they will have little effect unless they are enough like your illness for you to be highly sensitive to them, which is a built-in safety feature. While many remedies are available in health food stores or pharmacies for self medication, you can also visit a practitioner who can tailor a treatment for your particular needs. Common homeopathic remedies include: Arnica - for bruises Aconite - for common cold; headache Cantharis - for cystitis Byronia - for indigestion Rhus tax -for flu Are They Safe? Homeopathic medicines have no harmful side effects, do not interfere with the action of pharmaceutical medicines, and are safe for infants, the elderly and pregnant women. You do not need a doctor's prescription to buy them. They are available as tablets taken under the tongue, liquid tinctures or ointments and typically cost between $5 and $7. When To Consider Homeopathy 1. For functional complaints (e.g., headache, insomnia and anxiety); 2. Where much relief and little harm is possible (e.g., wounds or flu). 3. Instead of surgery, if immediate action is not required. (e.g., fibroids, gallstones, varicose veins) 4. Where drugs must be taken long-term (e.g., allergies; asthma, colitis ear infections); 5. When side-effects make conventional treatment intolerable. 6. When conventional therapies have done all they can and results are still unsatisfactory. 7. When conventional treatments fail or do not exist (e.g., incurable or terminal illness). Is Homeopathy For You? People suffering from all kinds of illness, from arthritis and migraines to ulcers, may be helped by homeopathy. It is a safe, cost-effective, locally available tool which offers a self-healing option you may want to consider.