Although many people have grabbed a tube of homeopathic remedies from their local vitamin store, Sprouts, or Whole Foods, often, they don’t really know what they are taking, nor why it works.
My first experience with homeopathy was in high school with the little combination tablets called Calms that help you get to sleep or get back to sleep after waking in the night. I had no idea how it worked and really, all I cared about at that time was getting some sleep. My next experience was the flu and picking up some Oscillococcinum from the local drugstore. After that, I became curious and wanted to learn more.
When you are sick, understanding why your medicine works is probably not your top priority. If you are feeling good right now though, why not take the time to learn what homeopathy is and how to be ready to incorporate it into your life to maintain or regain your health and vitality?
First, let’s dispel some of the common mistaken assumptions with regard to homeopathy.
Homeopathy is Not:
- Herbal medicine: Many homeopathic remedies are made from herbs, however, all sorts of other substances are used to create homeopathic remedies.
- Home remedies: Unlike home remedies like elderberry syrup or fermented garlic, which are created in the home, homeopathic remedies are created in FDA-regulated labs by a set of very stringent guidelines.
- Supplements: Although certain homeopathic remedies, like cell salts, can help correct mineral imbalances in the body, homeopathic remedies are not supplements and should not be treated as such.
- Allopathic drugs: Homeopathic remedies are medicine and are classified as drugs by the FDA. Fortunately for us, however, they do not come with the lists of side effects that accompany all allopathic drugs, even over-the-counter.
What is homeopathy?
- Time-tested: It is a system of medicine that is over 200 years old. It was created in 1796 by Samuel Hahnemann.
- Science-Based: Back when allopathic physicians were practicing blood-letting and dosing their patients with lethal amounts of Mercury, homeopathy was researching the effects of remedies before they used them on patients by using “provings” where they would give a particular remedy to a healthy person to see what symptoms the remedy caused. Then, in 1885, homeopathic practitioners began using masked studies. A masked study is also referred to as “blind” in that the participants don’t know if they are getting the medicine or a placebo. In fact, it was a full 40 years before allopathic medicine would follow suit and begin using masked studies to test their medicines.
- Popular: Homeopathy is the second most-used medicine in the world, and is incorporated into the health care systems of countries such as Mexico, Cuba, Brazil, Chile, India, and Pakistan.
- Nano-medicine: Homeopathic remedies are extremely diluted. For many years, no one really understood how they worked because we didn’t have the equipment to “see” what was there. Now we can understand it more clearly.(2) For the very science-minded, check out the work by Nobel laureate and co-discoverer of HIV, Dr. Luc Montagnier for insight into how the nano-particles in homeopathy work. (3)
- Sustainable: As you saw above, since very little of a substance is needed to create thousands of bottles of remedies, this is an extremely sustainable form of medicine. We don’t have to over-harvest precious herbs, engage in harmful factory farming, or fiddle with nature.
- Gentle: As stated above, homeopathy does not come with the side effects of conventional meds.
- Effective: For over 200 years, homeopathy has been used to address acute ailments such as colds, flus, headaches, tummy trouble, etc. It is also used in chronic ailments such as autoimmune disease, allergies, pain, and mental health issues, just to name a few. Homeopathic practitioners have also had great success in epidemics throughout the past 200 years (4), as well as present day. (5)
- Affordable: A homeopathic remedy tube is generally around $8-$15 at the time of this writing. (Inflation is going crazy right now, so I felt the need to add that disclaimer.) Depending on the manufacturer, you will get 20-80 doses from that tube! Another important fact is that they do not expire. As long as you don’t store them for days on end in hot cars or the like, your tube can be passed down to your grandchildren after you go.
Spilled Homeopathy vials and pillules
How Homeopathy Has Changed My Life:
- Eliminated my food sensitivities: I was able to add wheat (gluten), pork, tomatoes, peppers, and yeast back into my diet. For any of you who have long-standing food sensitivities or allergies, you know how liberating this was for me! I can now go out to eat at a restaurant and not have to worry about being “exposed” to one of my sensitivities. Even better, I can order whatever I want, including those foods!! I can go to a friends house for dinner without having to have them make special food for me! I can go to a BBQ and not have to quiz everyone on what they put in their dish!
- Eliminated my son’s gluten sensitivity: My son can now eat gluten again! This is possibly even more liberating that the fact that I can as I don’t have to worry when his class has celebrations at school or when he goes to his friends’ houses.
- Made me healthier: I uprooted my annual, extremely painful, sinus infection. After my son was born, I started getting sinus infections every few months. Even after doing significant work on healing my gut, I would still get them once a year. Not anymore!!!
- Reduces our dependence on allopathic medicine: I am able to help my family sail through acute situations without going to the doctor. Earaches, tummy aches, headaches, bumps, bruises, bee stings, etc. are all easily dealt with using homeopathy. We recently had the sickness that has been making headlines for the past couple of years, and homeopathy kept our symptoms tolerable and helped us bounce right back.
- With life events that require a doctor, I am able to alleviate the need for allopathic meds and their side effects. My son broke his elbow after soccer practice this year, and we used Arnica 200 on the way to the ER to manage the pain, as well as afterward. Then, once his bone was set in his cast, we used Symphytum 200 and Calc phos 6c to help his bone knit back together quickly.
- Homeopathy is great for use before and after surgery to speed healing and avoid allopathic drugs as well.
- Keeps our pets healthy: We have used homeopathy to get rid of fleas, heal wounds, and relax our pets when stressed and alleviate car sickness in our dog.
Utilizing Homeopathy in my Practice:
Instead of ordering expensive lab work, putting clients on restrictive food protocols, and extensive supplement protocols, I can help my clients heal their bodies much more gently and cost effectively with homeopathy. This give me great peace of mind as a practitioner. I have utilized Homeopathy when helping people with all sorts of chronic ailments:
- Hormonal issues
- Cardiovascular issues
- Issues with digestion, food allergies/sensitivities
- Long-term brain fog and memory issues
- Mood disorders like anxiety and depression
- Skin issues like eczema, rosacea, and rashes
- and more!
Want to Know How You Can Incorporate Homeopathic Remedies in Your Life?
If you want to skip “sick care” and take charge of your health:
- Buy yourself an acute homeopathy kit and learn how to use it! The key is knowing which remedy helps for which ailment ahead of time. If you wait until you have a pounding headache to look up headache remedies, you may just end up reaching for the NSAID and risking the side effects associated with them. If you have learned beforehand, the next time a health issue strikes you or a loved one, you will be ready!
- There are plenty of homeopathy books for beginners if you are a self-led learner.
- If you need more guidance, enroll in an online course to learn how to address acute ailments like runny noses, skin rashes, and ear infections.
If you try any of the above, let me know! If you use homeopathy, want to learn to use homeopathy, or have something to share about a homeopathic experience, tell me about it in the comments. 🙂
References:
- removed
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15593258211022983
- https://www.homeobook.com/pdf/Luc-Montagnier.pdf
- https://homeopathic.com/the-history-of-homeopathy-in-epidemics-by-cilla-whatcott-hd-rhom-cch/
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2156587214525402
Note:
For those who want to understand the exact meaning of the word homeopathy, “homeo” stands for “like” or “similar”. You may already know the root “path” from words like pathology or pathological. It means disease or feeling. In this instance it is referring to disease. So, when we break the word homeopathy down, it means “similar disease”. This is in reference to the law of similars upon which homeopathy is based which is “like cures like”.
