Homeopathy

Homeopathy simply explained
Homeopathy is an effective and scientific system of healing which assists the natural tendency of the body to heal itself. It recognizes that all symptoms of ill health are expressions of disharmony within the whole person and that it is the patient who needs treatment, not the disease.

Different people react in different ways to the same illness. In order to find the correct remedy, your naturopathic physician or homeopath will need to know not only your physical symptoms, but also information about yourself and how your symptoms affect you.

What is homeopathy?
In 1796, a German physician, Samuel Hahnemann, discovered a different approach to treat people that he called homeopathy (from the Greek words meaning "similar suffering"). Like Hippocrates two thousand years earlier, he realized that there were two ways of treating ill health: the way of opposites (allopathic) and the way of similars (homeopathic).

To illustrate the difference, take for example a case of insomnia. The allopathic way is to treat this by giving a drug to bring on an artificial sleep. This frequently involves the use of large or regular doses of drugs that can sometimes cause side effects or addiction. The homeopathic way is to treat insomnia by giving the patient a minute dose of a substance that in large doses causes sleeplessness in a healthy person. The remedy will enable the patient to sleep naturally.

How does it work?
Homeopathic remedies work by stimulating the body's own healing power. The body's innate healing power is great and many complaints heal themselves unaided. However, when the healing process is faulty, blocked, or slow, the homeopathic remedy acts as a stimulus to the curative powers of the body.

What will your naturopathic physician need to know?
In order to find the right remedy, your physician will want to know all about you. She/he will ask you many questions about yourself, as well as your illness, and will also want to know about the health of your family, both present and past. The initial consultation can sometimes take as long as two hours. Do not be afraid to mention something that is seemingly unimportant or unusual. Remember that anything you say is confidential.

What will the treatment be like and what do I have to do?
Your naturopathic physician will give you a remedy, often in the form of pills, which should be allowed to dissolve under your tongue. Nothing else should be put in your mouth for 15 minutes before or after taking the remedy, including toothpaste or cigarettes. Your physician will usually advise you that while having homeopathic treatment, you should not take any coffee or peppermint, or use eucalyptus oil, camphor, or menthol because these strong smelling substances can antidote the effects of some homeopathic remedies. For the same reason, she/he may ask you not to take any other form of medications for colds or coughs. If you are given homeopathic pills to take at a later date, be sure to store them in a cool dark place well away from anything with a strong smell.

What can I expect to happen?
After taking your remedy, you should notice some changes. For instance, it occasionally happens that your symptoms appear worse for a short time. This is the remedy taking effect and you should feel the beginnings of recovery when this period has passed. Alternatively, patients often experience a period of well-being and optimism after taking the remedy. The process is different for everyone.
If you develop a runny nose, cold, rash, or some form of discharge, this is probably the remedy cleansing the body. These new symptoms will pass and should not be treated, as they are an important part of the healing process. If you feel worried by any changes that you notice, contact your naturopathic physician. Whatever your reaction may be, your physician will need to know. You can help by making a few notes of your changing symptoms as a reminder for your next appointment.

How quickly will I be cured?
This depends very much on what sort of illness you have. A very slowly developing complaint, such as a stomach ulcer, will not disappear overnight. Acute complaints can get better quickly. Complicated cases are cured from the inside out. This means that superficial or outer symptoms, such as skin disorders are often the last symptoms to go. Be patient. It is much better for you to be cured of both the cause of your illness and its symptoms than merely to relieve the symptoms. Every case is different, just as no two patients are alike.

Biotherapeutic drainage homeopathy
Drainage is a type of homeopathy that promotes the excretory functions of a particular organ or organ system. The reason this is necessary can be compared to cleaning your home. As you clean your house, you collect garbage and put them in bags. These bags collect around the house. You go to take the garbage out but the door is locked. The garbage bags cannot be put out so they pile up by the door. Imagine what this would look like in one month, in one year. The same process is true in healing the body. This is why drainage is essential to ALL health programs to help restore your body and vitality to what you want it to be.

Mikhael Adams, N.D., one of the pioneering practitioners of Drainage in North America, defines Drainage as, "the process of detoxifying the body by opening the routes of elimination and discharging the toxic accumulations." These drainage routes (or emunctories as they were historically called) are separated into two categories: primary, which includes most of the abdominal organs (liver, kidney, intestines, lungs, stomach and pancreas) and secondary, which includes the other naturally existing routes of elimination such as the skin, mucus membranes, nose and genitals. These natural routes of elimination may not be active and functioning at all times leading to an unnatural accumulation of toxins. These toxins in the body may be considered to be the cause of many different symptoms and diseases. That is to say that your present health concerns may be a result of toxic accumulations in your tissues.

Michel Bouko Levy of Marseilles, France, a medical doctor and a drainage practitioner, gives this explanation of drainage: "Cleaning and fortifying of the body is maintained by the emunctories. In most cases you need to help and stimulate the organs touched by chronic disease. This is drainage." Thus, drainage is involved not only in helping to eliminate toxic accumulation but also serves to stimulate the proper function of organs in order to improve the patient's overall health.
The most complete writings on drainage are available only in French with the best-known books written jointly by medical doctors G. Gueniot and C. Deplanque. They believe that the accumulation of toxins can be a factor in acute and chronic illness, genetic weaknesses, and chronic disease and create blockages to therapeutic treatment. In these texts, the doctors clearly outline the necessity of drainage, as well as the actions of individual remedies in the UNDA Numbered Compounds, which are the low potency combinations popular in drainage.
**Extrapolated from Dr. Thom's Biotherapeutic Drainage and NCNM Homeopathy Simply Explained.

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