Homeopathy is also spelled as Homœopathy or Homoeopathy. The word homeopathy is derived from the Greek ὅμοιος, hómoios, "similar" + πάθος, páthos, "suffering" or "disease". Homeopathy is an alternative and complementary system of medicine for the treatment of all types of illness in all age groups. Homeopathy plays complementary role in giving you added relief in your existing chronic illness for which you are already taking treatment. For e.g. you are being treated for your complains of joint pains and your pain control is only for few hours and you are required to repeat your dose of pain killer after every few hours. Starting with Homeopathic treatment simultaneously can keep your pain away for longer hours and in addition to this your need for repeated painkiller tablets will also reduce. So you are saved from side effects of using repeated painkillers for longer duration of time. Similarly Homeopathy also plays an alternative role when certain diseases and illness doesn’t respond to the regular medicines. You can switch over to Homeopathy completely. For e.g. you have tried all types medication for your Psoriasis or Lichen Planus but it is either not responding to the regular medicine or it is partially better. Homeopathy has a great promise to offer in such situation where you have almost made up your mind to live with such health problems. Homeopathy can give you new hope of living a disease free life. When the cases have been turned down by many doctors Homeopathy has taken up the challenge and proved its worth by showing significant improvement in such cases.

It was first discovered by Dr Samuel Hahnemann M.D. from Germany in 1796. It is also known as “like cures like”. The homeopathic system of medicine is a scientific system based on sound principles. The methods used in homeopathy for the treatment of any type of acute and chronic diseases is most simple and gentle way of administering small tiny pills which is sweet and easy to take even by smallest age group of children. Or the medicines are given in liquid or powder form. The medicine is selected on the basis of symptom similarity between the remedy and symptoms of the person under going treatment. The dosage facility is so convenient that it doesn’t interfere with your daily routine. The most important aspect of homeopathic treatment is it is very safe and it doesn’t have any side effects. It is not at all habit forming.

Homeopathic treatment aims at giving long term relief to permanent freedom from health problems. The medicines are prepared from natural sources like plants, minerals, diseased body tissues etc. The medicines are prepared by diluting the original plant’s seed or root or a mineral like Calcium or Phosphorous. The dilution is carried out in stages where the traces of original substance are almost filtered out but the qualitative part of that original substance is present. In other words through each successive dilution we are able to transform the liquid solution in to more and more powerful medicine without actually transferring the material content of the original crud substance from which the solution is prepared. This way only the beneficial effect of the substance is retained.

Regular course of treatment is recommended for longer duration. The duration of treatment depends on type of illness, duration of illness, and the triggering and maintaing factors of the illness in person’s life. The treatment course may vary from few months to few years. After having done the required treatment it is observed that the person continues to live a healthy life which is free from the illness which was troubling him or her for last so many months or years.

We call homeopathic approach to the treatment of illness as Holistic Approach because as a concept of illness we believe that when a person falls sick or remains sick it is not only the body or a particular body part that needs to be considered for treatment. It is an individual person in his totality of mind and body needs to be considered while treating his migraine. This type of total approach to the person includes his physical constitution as well as his mind which is not his brain but his thoughts, his feeling, his spiritualism and his inner self. Understanding a person at such deeper levels of life for the treatment of his migraine makes the whole process of homeopathic treatment very pure, holistic and an honest effort to cure a person’s illness from its roots. This is why homeopathic approach is a holistic approach.

Homeopathy believes that each person reacts differently to same stimulus, this is called individualization, which is a unique feature of Homeopathy. In Allopathy two persons suffering from the same disease may be treated with the same medicine. However a homeopathic physician does not label a patient by the disease condition only but considers a prescription based on the totality of mental, emotional and physical characteristics of the patient, thereby individualizing each and every case. In homeopathy two people suffering from migraine or four people suffering from migraine will receive four deferent prescriptions based on their different physical and mental characteristics even though they all are suffering from same illness. This is called an individualistic approach.

The aim of Homeopathic consultation is to study each and every patient in his individual physical and mental characteristics to plan the suitable homeopathic treatment. This type of total understanding of a person is arrived at by means of discussing a person’s life style, his living habits, his life situation, his family set up and so on. We study an individual’s characteristic response in different situation and try to understand what is so peculiar about the person. This study together with studying his illness comprises of homeopathic case taking and homeopathic consultation. The understanding of characteristic response of a person helps in selecting an accurate homeopathic medicine for him.

It is an approach in homeopathy for the selection and method of administering homeopathic remedy to a patient. According to this approach a physician should study all the characteristics of the case and select a single remedy or group of remedies which are indicated in the case. The mode of administration of the remedy is one at a time and in succession of each other as per the indication. As per this approach multiple remedies or combination of multiple remedies is not administered to the patient. The remedy selected as per this approach is known as constitutional remedy for that individual patient.

While Dr Hahnemann was busy in translating Cullen’s Materia Medica into English in the year 1790, he came across a description of curative effects of herbal juice of Cinchona bark (a plant) on Malaria. He also read the description saying that the juice of the plant is capable of producing similar symptoms of that of Malaria, if the juice is taken by a healthy human being. Hahnemann was aware of this sort of experience encountered by few other researchers of his time. But it was Hahnemann who conducted a systematic research on this concept. He interpreted the whole description as "that a substance which can produce symptoms similar to an illness when given to a healthy person (here cinchona bark juice can produce malaria like symptoms in a healthy person) can only cure that illness when given to a sick person (here cinchona bark juice can cure Malaria)". He tested this concept first on himself. He took regular doses of cinchona bark juice and surprisingly he found that the statement in Cullen’s Materia Medica is correct, as he found that all the symptoms of malaria were produced in him. When he stopped the drug the symptoms disappeared and when he repeated the drug, the symptoms appeared. He tried similar experiment on other individuals who were willing to under go such experiment. He carried out series of such experiments of various substances on himself and others. The substances thus proved on healthy people were then tried on sick people to treat their illnesses. After getting positive results in many patients Hahnemann finally concluded this concept that "Like Cures Like" or "Similia Similimum Curenter". or in other words he proved that a substance which can produce disease like symptoms only can cure such disease. He worked for 6 years silently on this concept. In the year 1796 he published his discovery for the first time by an essay "Essay On A New Principal For Ascertaining The Curative Powers Of Drugs" in a local journal published during his period. This concept of treatment has withstood test of time not for few days or months but for two centuries. It began with experience of one person which further continued to an experience of millions of people in all parts of world in all types of circumstances. Starting with this one concept Hahnemann did not stop. He continued his research till the last days of his life. Entire his life he worked on developing homeopathy as a complete and scientific system of medicine which can be practiced as a complete science. He has incorporated all his experiences in the form of results, concepts and guidelines for others to improve and follow in various literatures like "Chronic Diseases, Materia Medica Pura and Organon of Medicine" Thus from a single experience Hahnemann created a complete system of Therapeutic science in his life time known as Homeopathic system of medicine.

A weaker dynamic force (person’s disease) is permanently removed by stronger dynamic force (Homeopathic Medicine) if the later is similar to the former. Hahnemann observed that even nature applies the same rule. To remove one chronic disease from the body nature reinforces another chronic illness in the body by virtue of which person now sufferers from new illness and old illness no more bothers him.

1. Action and reaction are equal and opposite.
2. The flux of life travels from within outwards, from above downwards, from more important organs to less important organs. Recovery of the person’s illness also should occur in the same direction that is within out wards – above downwards – symptoms first to appear last to disappear and from more important organs to less important organs.
3. From tiny embryo different individuals are born, from within outwards. No two individuals are alike in the world.
4. The symptoms go in the reverse order of it’s commence.
5. The quantity of force required to make any changes in nature is the least possible, if it is similimum to the nature. The decisive amount is always a minimal or infinitesimal.
6. Laws of elasticity – within the dynamic reversible limits the stress is proportional to strain. The dynamic disease force which affects and deviate the dynamic vital force is eliminated by a dynamic medicinal force only to bring the vital force to normalcy, and heal the body if it is within the reversible structural limit.
7. Laws of resonance – when two progressive dynamic forces having the same properties of (amplitude, speed, and period) are traveling in the same direction in a vital entity, if superimposed each other and the stronger entity resonates and expels the later entity, but all this is within reversible dynamic and structural limits.

A disease is at a primary level disturbance in person’s life giving energy which is known as vital force in homeopathy. This vital force is primarily responsible to give life and maintain healthy state of all living things. Whenever this vital force is disturbed by any external environmental influence or internal cause of morbid genetic influence or a dynamic emotional cause, this disturbed vital force then alters the healthy state of living body to a diseased state.

As the concept of disease is basic disturbance in vital force or life giving energy, the homeopathic medicines also work by resolving the disturbance in vital force. The now balanced vital force then removes the disease from the body and makes the body healthy.

As per the concept of disease in homeopathy the primary disturbance is in vital force or life giving energy. This disturbance then allows all the viruses and bacteria to execute its effects on the body. If the vital force is in a state of health and in a balanced state then the viruses and bacteria will not have any effects on the body. We can see this in every day life when a group of people is exposed to cold weather or rainy weather but only few gets affected and others remain healthy. This happens because of balanced and disturbed vital force in each of them.

Antibiotics help to eliminate or kill the bacteria in the body. It gives the temporary relief by controlling infection. However, the tendency in patients to get affected with viruses and bacteria remains the same due to his disturbed vital force or life giving energy. By treating viral and bacterial infection with antibiotics we are only getting rid of end result of a central disturbance in our body. This central disturbance is disturbed vital force or life giving energy which guards our body against all these infections. When a person develops an infection with virus or bacteria he has developed it primarily as a result of his own disturbed vital force and then secondarily he is infected with virus or bacteria. According to homeopathic concepts the antibiotics are good in killing virus and bacteria but they can not improve the disturbed vital force. There by they cant improve the persons vulnerability to fall sick with such infection every now and then.

As Homeopathy works in a harmless and holistic way, it brings the disturbed vital force to balanced and healthy state by dynamic Homeopathic medicines. Two things are achieved by this. First, the little creatures (bacteria and viruses) leave the body without doing any harm. And second, as the equilibrium of the vital force is restored, the person regains the immunity for not getting affected by the microorganisms in future. It is the complete cure, so is called as the long term and permanent relief.

No. Homeopathy is not at all slow to act. In cases of fever and infections and acute diarrhea etc where fast results are expected homeopathy can give fast results with the help of fast acting medicines which is known as acute medicine or emergency medicine. Act fast results within hours of taking the medicine. But when we are treating a chronic complains like arthritis or psoriasis or thyroid etc the process of curing a person permanently it self is long and slow. It is not that homeopathy is slow but it is the body which takes time to come out of effects of such chronic and rigid illnesses. The treatment can last from few months to a year or more. It depends upon how old is the problem. But even in such chronic and old complains patient who starts with homeopathic treatment starts feeling relief in his complains within few days. The complete recovery is a longer process but the action of homeopathic medicine is fast enough to make you feel relieved in your symptoms. Where as in recent and short duration illness like diarrhea, viral fever etc the relief is seen within few hours. Homeopathic medicines are fast to act in acute and chronic illness but complete relief from long term illness demands longer course of treatment.

As Homeopathic medicines are nothing but different dynamic forces and don’t have any material existence, it works on the body in a dynamic way. By keeping Homeopathic pills under the tongue, nerve endings of the mouth are stimulated. The stimulus is carried to the brain and from brain the curative force of Homeopathy operates on the organ or location in the body where the disease exists. Just like electricity passing through wire cannot be seen but proves its existence by producing desired effects, Homeopathy also works in similar way.

The Homeopathic medicines are originally prepared from any crude substance. It can be in the form of minerals, vegetables, plants, healthy or diseased extracts from animals and human beings, different energies like X-ray, light (photons), etc. One part of original substance is mixed with 99 parts of alcohol and it is potentised by 10 downward strokes to make it dynamic. This is the first potency on centesimal scale designated as 1C. In order to prepare the second potency, one part of first potency is mixed with 99 parts of alcohol and the same process is repeated to make it dynamic. This is second potency designated as 2C. The dilution is carried out in further succession to as high as 100,000 times and the potency is designated as CM potency. As we go higher in potency, the actual original substance is almost nil in its existence but it shows its presence by affecting the vital force and producing its characteristic symptoms, when taken during the drug proving. In other words, Homeopathic medicines work dynamically not chemically (physiologically).

According to universal laws, a dynamic force can be affected by a dynamic force only. If a living organism shows its lively existence by presence of dynamic life energy (vital force or life giving energy), it should be deranged by a dynamic morbid agent (disease) which should have a dynamic origin only. If that is so, then the medicines which are used to restore the vital force to its normal condition should also be dynamic. Hence, Homeopathic medicines in spite of the minuteness produce curative action on living organism. Higher the potency, more minute is the content, but more potent with deeper power of penetration in vital organs.

The drug proving in Homeopathy is to derive the knowledge of any drug’s capacity to produce disturbance in the form of symptoms when given to the healthy human body. When any drug is given to healthy human being in a potentised form, it produces functional changes by disturbing the balance of vital force temporarily. It produces its own characteristic symptoms which persist on the human body as long as it is implemented during the time of drug proving. This type of proving helps in gathering the symptom producing quality of the particular drug in question. This symptom producing quality then becomes disease curing quality of that particular drug.

It is the systematic record of the various drugs proven on the healthy normal bodies in the form of symptoms. When any potentised drug is administered to the healthy human body, it produces its characteristic symptoms and these symptoms are recorded systematically to represent the drug picture of that particular drug.

It makes the physician acquainted with the dynamic, hidden and curative power of medicine which operates beyond molecular level. Materia Medica is useful to homeopathic physician to understand the curative powers of the homeopathic medicines so that he can use them with success in the treatment of different illnesses.

The role of homeopathic physician is multi faceted. His job is to diagnose person’s illness so that he can predict the prognosis well. His art is to understand person as an individual within his environment. His expertise is to chose what is most characteristic aspect of person’s illness, his personality and select the most appropriate homeopathic medicine which is very much similar to the his individual characteristics. Further his job doesn’t end there. He has to now decide on to how to use this medicine in the case most judiciously and in a harmless way. Once the treatment is started with most appropriate medicine, Homeopathic physician then plays a role of observer who silently observes each and every minute change that is occurring in the person at the level of mind and body. This observation helps him to decide when to repeat the next dose of medicine and when to change the medicine. The detailed study of person’s illness and natures then helps the homeopathic physician to give necessary guidance to him which can help him recover faster. Homeopathic physician can many a times land up playing a role of a counselor or to say more a homeopathic physician can turn out to be a friend – philosopher and guide for his patient.

Irrespective of the type of disease, age or sex, the primary consideration should be given to the treatment that is harmless, scientific, logical, and quick as per the nature’s therapeutic law. Homeopathy works very well towards providing a permanent relief and helps eliminating disease from the body permanently and safely. So homeopathy should be thought as first line of treatment for any of your minor or major illness.