Homeopathy is one of the alternative medical treatments. The aim of homeopathic medicines is to activate the body's self-healing powers – by transmitting stimuli through highly diluted active ingredients.
Homeopathic medicines aim to activate self-healing powers in the body through certain stimuli. The term homeopathy is derived from the Greek and means "to heal something similar with something similar". Homeopathic teaching assumes that exactly the remedy helps with certain symptoms that triggers the same or similar symptoms in a healthy person. Homeopaths refer to the method as the "principle of similarity" or "principle of similarity". A homoeopathic drug test must confirm that this is the case.
An example: In healthy people, coffee triggers restlessness and nervousness when consumed excessively. If you suffer from inner restlessness and nervous sleep disorders, you should take the homeopathically dosed agent "Coffea" (coffee) according to the principle of similarity to counteract the symptoms.
When is homeopathy used?
Homeopathics can be used to treat a wide variety of ailments and diseases – be it prescribed by a homeopathically trained doctor or homeopath or in self-medication. Common areas of application include:
Weakness of defense, increased tendency to infections
Homeopathy for allergies
Inflammation such as conjunctivitis
Signs of cold like fever, cough and runny nose or sore throat
States of exhaustion, stress, panic attacks, excessive stress, fear
Gynecological infections (for example vaginal infections) or urinary tract infections
Skin diseases such as psoriasis and neurodermatitis
Headache migraine
Gastrointestinal problems, digestive problems, constipation
Menstrual cramps
Back pain and tension
sleep disorders
Sunburn, sunstroke or sun allergy
Potency problems and sexual reluctance
Sports injuries like bruises and sprains
Nausea and vomiting
Menopausal symptoms (hot flashes, palpitations, sleep disorders, irritability, vaginal dryness, joint pain)
Five homeopathic immediate helpers for acute complaints
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Application of homeopathy
At the beginning of the treatment, the homeopathically trained doctor or naturopath records the medical history. This initial medical history usually lasts one to two hours. The homeopath inquires about the complaints and related disorders, as well as general likes and dislikes. For example, he would like to know whether the symptoms improve through rest or movement, whether cold and warmth affect the current state of health or whether the patient feels a lot or little thirst.
The present symptoms are not only assessed according to objectively measurable criteria (such as type and appearance or laboratory values), but also the subjective perception of the complaints by the patient plays a major role. The therapist thereby records the patient's image, that is, the "individual symptoms" of the patient. This can result in people having the same clinical diagnosis but being treated with different homeopathic medicines.
How do I find the right homeopathic medicine?
Every homeopathic remedy has a medicinal profile that summarizes all the symptoms against which the active ingredient can help. The more the drug profile matches the patient's complaints, the better it is suitable for their treatment. The choice of the right medicine is therefore not only based on a symptom, but also on all side effects, which is why a visit to a homeopathically trained doctor or naturopath is advisable. The doctor can not only recommend the right medication, but also determine its dosage and duration of use.
Homeopathic remedies consist of animal, vegetable or mineral active ingredients, which are available as tablets, drops or small sugar globules. Since many of these ingredients are harmful in high concentrations, the so-called mother tincture is diluted (or rather potentiated) until it has a healing effect from a homeopathic point of view.
The following applies: the more diluted the more effective! This contradicts the conventional medical principle of the linear dose-effect relationship, according to which a substance has a stronger effect the higher its concentration. Sometimes mother tinctures themselves are used as homeopathic medicines. Complex agents also often have a significantly higher concentration of the respective active substances.
Potencies and dosage in homeopathy
In addition to the principle of similarity, potentiation is an important basis of homeopathy. It determines the duration and strength of the effects of homeopathic remedies. The mother tincture is diluted in a certain ratio during the manufacture of a drug. The potentiation is not a mere dilution, but follows a specific process defined in the homeopathic pharmacopoeia.
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In the course of potentiation, the active ingredients of natural origin such as deadly cherry (Atropa belladonna), tiger lily (Lilium tigrinum), Arnica, Nux vomica (haunted walnut), aconite, sepia and okoubaka are shaken with water or alcohol or triturated with milk sugar.
The potentiation takes place in a dilution ratio of 1:10 (D powers or decimal powers) or 1: 100 (C powers or centesimal powers). The more often a substance is shaken, the higher the potency. The dilution procedure was carried out six times for D6 and C6, and thirty times for D30 and C30.
Read here how the potentiation works.
First worsening and healing process of homeopathic medicines
In the understanding of homeopathy, the course of healing is subject to various laws. The body strives to keep pathogenic stimuli as far away as possible from the center of the body and from the vital organs (heart, brain). Skin symptoms during the treatment are rated as outward-moving symptoms and classified as positive. After the start of treatment, so-called initial aggravation can occur, which is manifested by a temporary worsening of the symptoms. As a rule, it subsides after a few days.
Side effects and interactions with other drugs are not known for homeopathic medicines. Therefore, the preparations are also suitable for self-treatment, during pregnancy and for children and adolescents. Whether the application is suitable in individual cases should be discussed with the doctor or alternative practitioner.
Basically, certain complaints and clinical pictures as well as acute or life-threatening situations require conventional medical treatment. In these cases, homeopathic therapy alone is not advisable. However, homeopathic drugs can then be used as a support.
Proven effectiveness and studies on homeopathy
Scientific studies prove the effectiveness of homeopathy. Previous scientific studies (controlled clinical studies) mainly examined the question of whether homeopathy has a therapeutic effect beyond the so-called placebo effect.
The results of this are not uniform. Nevertheless, homeopathy is often used because its tolerance is very good and many patients report positive results. Therefore homeopathy is anchored in the medical training regulations and protected with an additional title.
Homeopathic medicines: Many health insurance companies cover costs
Homeopathic medicines are available in low doses from the pharmacy without a prescription. On the other hand, high potencies are prescription-only.
Homeopathy is not included in the benefits catalog of statutory health insurance (SHI), so health insurers do not have to pay for this type of therapy. However, health insurance companies have the option of including homeopathy in their statutory benefits – a possibility that many large health insurance companies make use of. In some cases, you will bear the costs for a one-hour first medical history, for homeopathic medicines or other homeopathic services. The exact range of services can be requested from your own health insurance company.
History: small history of homeopathy
The founder of homeopathy is the German doctor Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), who developed the method at the end of the 18th century. Hahnemann was a great critic of the healing methods of his time. He distanced himself so much from the views of conventional medicine at the time that he was forced to give up his practice as a medical doctor and to finance his living with translation work. He came across the work of the Scottish pharmacologist William Cullens, who described the effects of Chinese bark on the human organism and attested that it had a healing effect on menopause (malaria).
Hahnemann did not want to believe Cullen's theory and so he attempted self-testing with Chinese bark. In these experiments, Hahnemann noticed that the Chinese bark caused false malaria in him. Conversely, he concluded that the Chinese bark should help against a real malaria disease. Hahnemann thus laid the foundation for homeopathy.
Following this discovery, he carried out numerous experiments in which he examined medicines and their toxic effects, which at the same time, in homeopathic dosage, make up their healing properties. With the formulation of the principle of similarity, 1796 is designated as the year of birth of homeopathy. Hahnemann laid down the laws of homeopathy in the "Organon of rational medicine" published in 1810.
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