Why See A Homeopath

Homeopathy, like the name implies (homeo-same, pathy-disease), relies on finding an exact match between the disease someone has and the medicine that successfully cures it. This requires precision. A homeopath pursues an extensive understanding of the individual and their symptoms in an office visit in order to gather all the information needed for this precision. However, there are 2 parts involved in this precision: the patient and the practitioner. Not all practitioners are made equal, nor are all patients made equal. In other words, some homeopathic practitioners are more skilled than others and likewise some patients are better suited for this type of treatment than others. For this precision, a homeopath must know remedies, people, health and disease well; and likewise for this precision, a patient must be self aware and be willing to talk in depth about their experiences, not only of their physical health but also their mental and emotional wellbeing. The homeopath as well must be a good guide to help a patient go deeper into their experiences.

Many people don’t understand the meaning of “cure,” thinking that palliation is cure. But, palliation is a far cry from cure. Palliation occurs in 3 ways: 1) When treatment modifies symptoms but doesn’t fully resolve them in a healthy manner, 2) When treatment temporarily makes symptoms go away only for the duration of time until the next dose of the treatment is needed with no progressive progress gained, and 3) When treatment makes symptoms go away, but the whole person becomes more unhealthy as a result of the suppression. Palliation allows the body to continue to get weaker while appeasing it–that is, having it not complain about the attack it’s under. The homeopathic definition of “cure” is rapid, gentle, permanent removal of symptoms with the overall person becoming healthier than before the treatment. It does this by stimulating the vital energy* to be stronger, therefore giving it enough energy to fight the condition.

Palliation can occur with allopathy, but it can also occur with homeopathy. The goodness of homeopathy is not in the taking of routine remedies for such-and-such ailments. The goodness is in the individualization of care that it offers, and it needs people with knowledge to provide that individualization. Most over-the-counter homeopathic medicines cause palliation, not cure. For curative treatment, seek the help of a professional homeopath. Professional homeopaths study and study and study; their wealth of knowledge can help you become healthier without inferior palliation or suppression. And, if you don’t have success with one homeopath, seek the help of another homeopath because not all homeopaths are made equal. Some homeopaths are more successful than others.

A word about acute versus chronic illness. Acute disease is an intense time for the body where all the vital energy* is mustered up to battle the illness. The vital energy* is what creates the body’s reaction to illness, and in a healthy response this reaction will quickly peak, and the body will respond in recovery (an example of this is a fever that “breaks” with recovery soon following). Seeing the symptoms needed for the exact match in a homeopathic cure is much easier in acute disease than chronic disease. Not all treatment of chronic disease is difficult, but some chronic diseases are more difficult to cure for several reasons. In chronic disease, 1) The vital energy* is often smoldering, and the body has a hard time culminating it together [in other words it’s stuck], 2) Chronic diseases have usually been with someone for many years and require more time than acutes to resolve, 3) The whole body has to be taken into account in order to find the exact match and hence, healing is more complicated, and 4) Often people are palliating their chronic condition, and this can modify symptoms that a homeopath needs to use to find the appropriate homeopathic remedy.

Nonetheless, no matter whether a chronic illness may be difficult or easy to treat, homeopathy is helpful in exercising the body’s homeostasis mechanisms. These homeostasis mechanisms are like a muscle that requires exercising in order to keep it robust. Don’t settle with palliating symptoms, which only encourages a smoldering vital energy.* Instead, boost your body’s strength by working with a homeopath to find the exact match to cure your illness.

*Definition: “vital energy” is the culmination of physiological processes, organ strength, and cell health that leads to the overall wellbeing of the body. Health can be measured by all the various activities and functions required by the body. How symptom free you are on a day to day basis is a measure of your vital energy.