How Does It Work?

Although there is a great deal of empirical evidence that homeopathy does work, we do not yet have a scientific explanation to describe how homeopathic medicines work.  This is true of many other things in the world around us.  Those who are sceptical point out that homeopathic remedies are often so dilute that any beneficial response is probably due to the placebo effect. This explanation seems unlikely, as practice has shown homeopathic medicines to be equally effective in the treatment of young children and animals.  The answer to this mystery is likely to be found by those studying quantum physics and electro-magnetism. It is thought likely that the process of dilution and succession (shaking and striking against a surface) involved in the production of homeopathic medicine leave an imprint of the original substance’s energy pattern in the dilutant.  This energy imprint somehow stimulates the body’s own healing energy to start working.

​

There are many ongoing fundamental research projects looking how homeopathy works, along with clinical research, reviews and databases.  It is worth exploring the Research and Resources page. 

How Does Homeopathy Differ from Conventional Medicine?

Homeopathy is a holistic medicine. This means that its focus is on the whole person. Spiritual, mental, emotional and physical factors are regarded as completely inter-connected and no single factor is taken in isolation. It is based on the idea that symptoms are not the cause of disease, they merely show that ‘dis-ease’ exists.  A simple analogy is to imagine that you are driving your car and the red oil warning-light comes on. You know nothing about cars so you decide to take it to the garage.  When you come to pick up the car, the light is no longer on. So having paid the bill, you drive off quite happily. You naturally assume the problem is fixed, but would you feel so satisfied if you later discovered that the garage had merely unscrewed the warning-light bulb?

For the homeopath, symptoms are helpful indicators, acting as guides to treating the individual and their ‘dis-ease’.  Instead of merely removing the symptoms, it removes the individual’s central disturbance.  Then the symptoms disappear anyway, because the warnings they were trying to give have become unnecessary.

What Happens During a Consultation?

If you have a chronic, or frequently recurring complaint, the first consultation generally takes around an hour. You begin by telling me what is troubling you. It is helpful if you can give as much detail as possible about your symptoms, including anything that makes them better or worse. If you have noticed any other changes in yourself (mood, anxieties, sleep, dreams, appetite, thirst, temperature) since the symptoms started, these can also be very useful.  I will normally take a full medical case history from you and record details of any previous health problems in your family, going back to your grandparents.  The aim of the consultation is to get an overview, not only of your complaint, but also of you as a person.

​

In the shorter follow up consultation I assess your response to the previous remedy and decide how your treatment can best be continued. Remedies stimulate the body, which may react as part of the healing process. Often this passes unnoticed but sometimes involves some sort of discharge, possibly emotional – tears etc. or physical – catarrh, diarrhoea, rash etc. or some minor symptom. Improvement normally follows.  Sometimes, if the remedy is working well I may not prescribe anything, but the information gathered during the appointment is helpful in later selecting the next remedy.