Nowadays people prefer alternative medicines and out of them huge number
are referring Homeopathy. But most of the times we hear people say “Homeopathy
treatment is a slow process. It will take time to recover” or “Why does the
homeopath need to know about my lifestyle or personal details? What has that to
do with treatment for my cold or a headache?”
Well today’s post will answer all those
questions and try to clear common misunderstandings about homeopathic
treatments.
We were referred to a homeopath by
our family physician a few years back as my daughter had recurrent vomiting and
stomach infection issues and allopathic medicines used to take a toll on her.
Now it’s been five years since she is under Dr. Nambiar’s treatment and her
recurrent issues are much under control.
Dr. Gopikrishnan Nambiar became a homeopathic doctor by choice; after the “sweet sugared pills” relieved him of
his childhood sickness when other medicines failed. After finishing his
graduation in 1995 from Fr. Muller’s Homeopathic Medical college, Mangalore he
started his practice. Then in 1997, he joined his MD (homeopathy) in Materia
medica at A. M. Shaikh Homeopathic Medical College, Belgaum, Karnataka.
After his completion of MD studies in
2000, he has been working as a Consultant in his clinic “HomeoWorld” since 2001
which is jointly run by him and his wife who is also MD in Homeopathy and as a
Consultant in BhaktiVedanta Hospital since 2002.
Now let’s hear what Doc has to say.
Understanding your
Homeopath and Homeopathic treatment
Homeopathy is a system of medicine,
notable for its practice of prescribing medicines that do not contain
chemically active ingredients. It has a wide and growing popularity in areas
where it is practiced today, but the way homeopathy medicines work and many of
the fundamental principles of homeopathy like the theory of the vital force and
chronic miasms are still hotly debated.
Generally, when you visit a homeopath
for the first time, you are asked many questions regarding your personal life,
mental and emotional status etc. Many of the patients don’t like it and get
irritated as they feel it’s not necessary and not related to their ailment.
They say “what has my lifestyle got to do with my stomach ache or headache.
Just give me medicines to relieve me of my pain.”
Now, that’s where homeopathy tends to
differ from other systems of medicines.
Homeopathy as a science of medical
treatment has a philosophy of its own and its therapeutics is based on certain
fundamental principles. These are:
- Law of Similia,
- Law of Simplex,
- Law of Minimum,
- Doctrine of Drug Proving,
- Theory of Chronic Disease,
- Theory of Vital Force,
- Doctrine of Drug-Dynamisation.
As we all know, a tree’s growth
depends on the depth and health of the roots, similarly a person’s aliment
depends on what is causing it. Homeopathy acts on the root cause rather than
superficial symptoms.
For example, if you have got rashes,
it’s necessary to know the root cause. Itching and redness are the symptoms,
which are just a tip of iceberg. The main and important thing that a homeopath
must know to treat and have effective and permanent cure is the main cause of
the rash.
So just giving medication and
treatment for itching and redness won't completely solve the problem, and hence
to know the root cause a doctor must know your lifestyle details and other
information and hence the detailed questioning, which some feel are irrelevant.
A common misunderstanding that people
have about Homeopathy is that it is very slow. In my clinical experience of
more than two decades, I have heard this from people that they think Homeopathy
is slow.
It is a natural system, obeys the
laws of nature and takes optimum time to cure. Well, the treatment of chronic
diseases depends on innumerable factors patient compliance, extent and
intensity of damage, age, nature of previous therapies, the physician’s
competence, etc. So homeopathy works faster than people normally think.
Because once the root cause is known,
the treatment is started which directly attacks the root, hence the effect of
medicines is fast as compared to the contrary belief of the ‘slow effect’.
Homeopathy has a two hundred year
track record of curing illness. Homeopathy received widespread public attention
through its effectiveness during epidemics of cholera in the 19th century.
During the great influenza epidemic of the 1920’s, homeopathic hospitals
reported low death rates, while hospitals employing conventional medicine
reported death rates of 20% to 30%.
The important point that I would like
to point is
“Each person is a
unique universe, so homeopathy makes the attempt to take into account that
wholeness. Homeopathic medicines are not
substitutes for allopathic drugs.
Homeopathic treatment restores the life force, so that your system can
recover optimal function.”
