I am pleased that homeopathy is increasingly in the hands of everyday people. Most of us need a little help with aches and pains and injuries that do not call for potent prescriptions.
Sherill Sullivan, CCH
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In considering the Learning Curve in Homeopathy, my mission is to put the concepts of homeopathy into easily understood terms. Do users of homeopathy need or want to understand the underlying principles? Does our dominant system of medicine (allopathy) have an underlying philosophy? How many of us ask? I would love your feedback and to hear questions you may have.
When homeopathy is used for acute ailments like beestings, household accidents, bumps/scrapes/contusions, even some of the curious among us wonder. Some of the more practical of us care only IF it works, not how. The reason I believe it is useful to understand at least some of the principles is to understand how to use it most effectively; to gain the most benefit. And in those cases of chronic or more serious ailments, understanding is critical, and much more complicated. That is when a lay user who wants to be safe and effective needs to consult a professional. So let’s start here:
- Less is more ~ The minimum dose is the best dose. Only one medicine at a time in the smallest amount that works.
- Use similars ~ The remedy is LIKE the ailment, not opposite from. Red onion might be used for a cold or allergies that make one’s eyes burn and run.
- Individualize ~ treat the patient, not the disease name.
To begin with these 3 ideas let me give one example:
My daughter was stung by a wasp. It really hurt and because she was already experienced in how to describe what was happening, she ran in from outside to report, “It is at a 7 (meaning pain on a scale of 1 – 10) and getting worse!! I quickly gave her a cube of ice until I could find the remedy I wanted, Ledum Palustre. I gave her a dose and the pain started to subside, “… going down … now it is at a 4” as she went back out to play. In about 10 minutes she returned saying, “It’s going back up!” So it was time to redose. The pain subsided and this time it did not return. In this example, I used one remedy (the ice was a temporary fix and also gave me more information). I used one dose until indications were that she needed the next dose. Ledum given to a healthy person can cause stinging, boring pains. We have learned it is good for stings of insects and it fit her case when she was better by cold application. The importance of individualizing her reaction helped find a helpful remedy even in a simple case like this one.
Learn more about Sherill at https://homeopathiccounselor.com/