FAQ's
Is It Safe?
Yes. Homeopathic remedies are diluted from their original substances, which makes them safe, gentle and effective. Occasionally symptoms may appear worse or aggravated. This aggravation is short in duration and is often an indicator that the remedy has begun to help clear, or push, imbalances out of the body.
Homeopathy does not interfere with other medicines and can be a wonderful way to complement other therapies. Shann is happy to work with your other health care providers and can recommend others if you desire.
What is the difference between homeopathy and naturopathy?
Naturopathy is an umbrella term which describes a style of natural medicine that integrates many healing traditions such as clinical nutrition, herbalism, Oriental medicine, and homeopathy. Homeopathy, however, is a distinct system founded on its own set of principles and philosophy. A visit to a naturopathic doctor would employ a mix of approaches, whereas a clasical homeopath would strictly use homeopathic remedies for treatment. Homeopathic remedies empower an individuals own healing abilities, and do not add aditional substance for the body to process.
Why choose homeopathy over other forms of treatment?
Homeopathy is the second most widely used system of medicine in the world. Homeopathic medicines are currently prescribed by 150,000 physicians to 300 million patients throughout the world, and continue to grow in popularity. This success is fueled by several factors:- Homeopathy is extremely effective. When the correct remedy is taken, results can be rapid, complete and permanent.
- Homeopathy is completely safe. Even babies and pregnant women can use homeopathy without the danger of side effects. Homeopathic remedies are not addictive and can also be taken alongside other medication without producing unwanted side effects.
- Homeopathy is natural. Homeopathic remedies are usually made from natural substances.
- Homeopathy works in harmony with your immune systems, unlike some conventional medicines which can suppress it.
- Homeopathy is holistic. It treats all the symptoms as one, which in practical terms means that it addresses the cause, not the symptoms.
In conventional medical thought, health is seen simply as the absence of disease. You assume that you are healthy if there is nothing wrong with you. To a person versed in homeopathy, health is much more than that. A healthy person is a person who is free on all levels: physical, emotional, and mental. Obviously, a person with a broken leg is not free, on the physical level, to move around. But on a more subtle level, a person who cannot eat certain foods or is allergic to certain materials is also experiencing a lack of freedom. It is a good emotional release to cry at a "tear jerker" movie, but someone who continues to cry for several weeks afterwards is experiencing a lack of freedom on the emotional level. Likewise, a person who cannot absorb what he has read or cannot remember day to day appointments is experiencing a restriction on the mental level. The homeopath recognizes such limitations and attempts, through the use of the properly selected remedies, to restore the person to health and freedom.
How are remedies made?
Remedies are made from plants, animals, and minerals. The products extracted yield a mother tincture. This tincture is potentized by a process of dilution and succussion, taking the remedy beyond material substance, so that it no longer works like a chemical drug, but instead triggers an energetic healing response within the body and mind. It is thought to stimulate the psychoneuroimmunoendocrinological axis (PNEI ) - essentially, the part of the organism that integrates how the nervous system, immune system and hormonal system interact with one another.
How to take the remedy:
It is not suggested to eat or drink anything, brush your teeth or smoke about 15 minutes before or after taking your remedy. There are no side effects to homeopathic remedies. In some cases there is a brief worsening of symptoms and occasionally a flare up of an old symptom, which is also brief. Both of these situations are considered positive, indicating to the homeopath that your symptoms are coming to the surface and being released, or driven out by the body.
Taking Tablets or Pellets:
This is to be placed under your tongue and left to dissolve.
Taking a Liquid Remedy:
- Bang the bottle before each dose 5 times against the palm of your hand. Take 5 drops of the remedy into a small amount of water (about 30ml)
- Start by taking the remedy once daily. Ideally, it should be taken at least 10 minutes away from having had any food, drink, or brushing the teeth
- If you feel well and your condition is improving, continue with the recommended dosage.
- If you are not feeling much improvement, you can increase the dosage by increasing the number of bangs and the number of drops (up to 10), you can also increase the frequency of the dose (up to 4 times a day).
- If you experience any worsening of symptoms, this can be a sign that the dosage is too strong for you, so reduce the number of bangs and the number of drops.