Frequently Asked Questions

Many symptoms we experience are the results of one underlying problem. For example, pain, swelling and redness could be the result of an infection or some irritation. Unlike other systems which interfere with body's ability to heal itself. Homeopathy stimulates the body's own healing power. For examples, pain killers stop the transmission of pain signals to the brain without addressing the cause of the pain. Cough suppressants stop expulsion of phlegm (but this gradually gets accumulated in the lungs making people more prone to develop bacterial infections). Homeopathic remedies ensure completely cure by treating the underlying problems and not just the side effects.

Homeopathic remedies start working immediately after they are taken. Headache relief is guaranteed within a few minutes while it takes some time for people to recovery from more complex and complicated medical problems. Acute problems like cold and fever can be treated in a few days while chronic conditions like asthma, arthritis, diabetes, etc need a complete reversal of certain pathological conditions and these take a loner time. Arthritic patients get tremendous relief within a couple of weeks.

Homeopathic remedies are made from vegetables, minerals, chemicals and animal products and nosodes.

• Vegetables: Allium cepa (onion), Asparagus.
• Animal Products: Lac Cal, Spongia.
• Minerals: Natrum mur (common salt), Ferrum met (iron), Kali sulph.
• Chemicals: Ars alb, Calcaria carb.
• Nosodes: Syphilinum, Medorrhinum.

Homeopathy acts quickly without producing any side effects. The homeopathic system is proven to be very effective in both acute and chronic conditions. It treats the problem at the ground level and establishes harmony in health. Besides healing the person, it improves the general resistance and helps people avoid the hassle of frequent visits to physicians for different problems. Homeopathic pills are sweet and they do not taste like medicine. They also offer long lasting health.

According to the WHO (World Health Organization), health is a state of complete physical, mental or social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

While treating the patient, homeopaths consider the state of mind as well as social wellbeing. Different people have different moods and temperaments which results in a different psychological, physiological and immunological blueprint. For example, conditions like thyrotoxicosis (the excessive production of thyroxine hormone by a hyperactivity thyroid gland), people exhibit irritability and anxiety, rapid heart action, loss of weight, exophthalmia and nervous tremors. As each hormone takes care of many functions by regulating many organ systems, classic homeopaths take the totality of these symptoms into consideration, so the person is completely cured and not merely treated.

A sign is that which can be seen, heard, measured or felt through diagnostics. Objective indications are called signs. Finding a sign either confirms or negates the doctor's impression of the disease, for example, swelling, redness, blood pressure and temperature.

In general, symptoms are subjective and exhibited by an individual. A symptom is any perceptible change in the body or its functions that indicate the kind or phases of disease. Symptoms are always subjective, for example, pain, burning sensation, weakness, feeling cold.

These signs and symptoms are vital for formulating a homeopathic remedy. Knowledge of the following listed characteristic symptoms gives a picture of the problem. It also shows how each person differs from others in a similar disease group.

General symptom analysis includes the following:

• Onset of the symptom: date, manner (gradual or sudden), precipitating factors (awakening of the symptom from a dormant state to a dominant state), physiological conditions like excessive exposure to severe cold weather.
• Characteristic Symptoms and Signs:
  • Nature of the pain: Burning, smarting, tingling
  • Location of the pain: Pain in head, heart
  • The kind of pain: Pain in heart radiating to hand, back or localized
  • Severity: Mild or severe pain
  • Timing: Morning, evening, night or any other specific time
  • Aggravating or Relieving factors and associated symptoms
  • The course since the onset : It incidence and the progress

Homeopathic treatment gives equal importance to a person's feelings and their form of expression. As the selection of the most appropriate homeopathic remedy mostly depends on these signs and symptoms, any individual who clearly described their signs and symptoms will be cured fast.

The difference between acute and chronic conditions.
Acute conditions: Symptoms in acute condition have a rapid onset with an increased severity of symptoms and they last for a short duration. People find relief within a few hours or a few days. While some acute problems are seasonal, others are periodical in nature.
Chronic conditions: Symptoms have a slow onset and a long duration. People start feeling better within a few days of taking a suitable homeopathic remedy. Usually chronic conditions have periods of pain relief followed by periods by of pain. During the homeopathic treatment program, people start experiencing longer periods of relief and shorter periods of pain. Chronic problems are pretty complicated and usually involve multiple organs leading to mental problems like anxiety and depression.

There are disorders that have a physiological manifestation, but originate due to an emotional state of an individual. Termed as psychosomatic (Psyche means mind, Soma means body), these are physiological disorders and refer to a large number of organ disorders innervated by the autonomic nervous system in which emotional factors are dominant.

The nervous system regulates and coordinates the body's activities and triggers proper responses to adjust to changes in either external environment or the internal environment. The autonomic nervous system which controls body functions is divided into the sympathetic and parasympathetic system. Conditions like anxiety and fear stimulate the sympathetic nerve fibers and produce vasoconstriction resulting in an overall rise in the blood pressure, acceleration of the heart rate and disturbance in the gastrointestinal activity. Some effects of parasympathetic stimulations are constriction of bronchioles in asthma, contraction of smooth muscles of the alimentary canal (causing gripping pain in the stomach), slowing of the heart rate and increased secretions of the salivary and gastric glands. Repeated episodes of these conditions produce organ disorders. However, all these symptoms along with mental anxiety and physical problems can be treated smoothly without any associated side effects. Homeopathy remedies act by bringing the mind and the body together to eradicate the problem as a whole. Examples of psychosomatic disorders: Migraine, asthma, acidity, peptic ulcer, allergy. Most of the time, some of the following mental conditions mentioned below cause these disorders: excessive anxiety, irritability, insecurity, obsessive traits, undue jealousy, suspicion, paranoia, depression, neurosis, etc.

The term 'biotic' (living) in science deals with the functions of life. Antibiotic is an agent that destroys life. Bacteria affect only a few, though lots of people get exposed to them. These antibodies are proteins that are naturally produced by the body in response to a disease-causing agent or a foreign substance called an antigen. So, our body develops a suitable antibody to each bacterium, virus and other allergens. A weak immune system causes problems and Homeopathic remedies eliminate the need of antibiotics by strengthening the immunity system. Homeopathic remedies work effectively to alleviate the symptoms of the following conditions to ensure rapid recovery without side effects. These problems include sinusitis, tonsillitis, urinary infection, ear infection, bronchitis, meningitis, pneumonia, tuberculosis, gastro-enteritis (vomiting-diarrhea), dysentery, etc. Homeopaths give each individual a selected remedy to treat the problem. This is the reason why there is no single homeopathic remedy that has gone out of practice in the last two hundred years.

Homeopathy is a good option for viral problems because it strengthens the immune system. These remedies give immense relief from the symptoms of common cold, flu, measles, chickenpox, viral hepatitis (jaundice), viral meningitis, etc.

An allergy is an acquired hyper sensitivity to a substance (allergen) that does not normally cause a reaction. It is essentially a disorder of the immune system that results in an antibody-antigen reaction. But in some cases, there may be a genetic predisposition to a particular allergy where the antibody cannot be traced. They may also develop over a period of time. Homeopathy addresses the multiple symptoms of an allergic reaction using a single remedy. Allergic conditions include:

• Eczema, allergic rhinitis or coryza, hay fever, bronchial asthma
• Symptoms like eosinophilia, nasal congestion, tearing, sneezing, wheezing, coughing, itching rash, eruptions
• Etiology: pollen, dust, hair, fur, feathers, scabies, wool, chemicals, drugs, insect bites and specific foods such as eggs, chocolate, milk, wheat, tomatoes, citrus fruits, oat-meal, potatoes.
• The 20th century syndrome: People develop allergic symptoms to everything in the environment. This is most probably due to either acute or chronic emotional stress.
• Allergic conditions could be genetic or might have been developed later on due to a specific cause.

Homeopathy addresses the cause of the problem and reduces the recurrence of the problem. Some of these problems that can be addressed by Homeopathy are piles, fissures, fistula, appendicitis (except gangrenous), chronic ear discharge, vocal cord nodules, polyp in nose-ear, kidney and gall bladder stones, small size uterine fibroid, ovarian cysts, warts, corns, etc.

Problems that are treated using surgery may often reappear as described below:

• After surgery they may appear in the same place. For example, recurrent kidney stones after repeated surgeries.
• After surgery they develop in different location. For example, caries tooth. Infection of healthy teeth due to the absence of a timely removal of badly infected teeth on the same side or opposite side. This may end up with the individual having to wear with dentures.

Piles are nothing but swollen pyloric veins. The real problem may either be pressure on the veins due to constipation, a congested liver or a heart problem. Until the root cause is not known, these appear repeatedly, they are operated on. Homeopathic remedies strengthen the muscles and ligaments. This holds the uterus in its proper place and also save it from removal in case of uterine prolepses. These pathological changes are nothing but the end products of the disease. Mere removal is not the solution for many medical conditions. Homeopathy remedies take some time to act but they help people by avoiding surgery and eliminate the tendency to develop the problem again.

Personalization refers to finding a single remedy that is suitable for all the symptoms to avoid prescribing multiple drugs to address multiple symptoms. A single-remedy approach is employed in Homeopathy that negates the need to run from one specialist to another. No side effects and fast recovery and quick healing are some of the other advantages.

Some examples in personalizing are follows:

• Take two cases of hay fever; one has a headache with fever, while the other has a runny nose with itchy eyes.
• Take two people suffering from asthma, one may suffer an attack in winter, the other in summer.
• In menorrhagia, one has bleeding only in the day time; others have it only in the night.
• Some people suffer more in the morning, others during the night.

Homeopaths try and understand these signs and symptoms to understand the underlying cause and pathology. Diagnostic tests are not the best bet when it comes to assessing an individual's medical condition and a lot depends on skilled and professional observation.

Homeopathic remedies are safe and very effective for children. As Homeopathic remedies strengthen resistance, it is highly recommended to start the Homeopathic treatment as early as possible to ensure that the child is healthy right from the beginning. This negates the requirement of wearing glasses at an early age and using dentures during a later period on life. Homeopathy is also effective for behavioral problems like irritability, temper-tantrums, fears, phobias, thumb-sucking, nail biting, destructiveness, bed-wetting, etc. Ailments like cold, cough, fever, vomiting, diarrhea, dysentery, colic, tonsillitis, bronchitis, asthma, chicken pox and mumps can be also addressed effectively using homeopathic remedies that have no side effects.

Homeopathy removes food allergy in kids and a single remedy works for multiple food items. Besides, the medicines are sweet and children love taking the minimal doses.