With the incredible popularity and growth of homeopathy over the last 15 to 20 years, the profession has been under increasing pressure to provide scientific evidence to substantiate the effectiveness of its treatment.  And although the action of homeopathic remedies has yet to be discovered, this push to provide high quality evidence has led to enormous development in the field of homeopathic research.

1. There are more than 4,000 homeopathic medicines.
2. Every true homeopathic medicine is made using one substance -- whether plant, animal or mineral.
3. Remedies are commonly made by crushing a plant, animal or mineral substance then putting it into a solvent such as grain alcohol.
4. Insoluble solids, such as quartz and oyster shell, are diluted by grinding them with lactose.
5. The extract is then further diluted in a mixture of alcohol and water. The process is repeated many times to achieve a therapeutic dilution.
6. After each dilution the mixture is vigorously agitated in a machine or by hand that delivers a calibrated amount of shaking. This is called succussion.
7. The process of succussion is believed to leave an energetic imprint of the medicinal substance throughout the body of water.
8. Remedies can be administered in many forms, including tablets, ointments, liquid, or sprays.
9. Homeopathic remedies are non-drowsy and non-habit forming. They cause no side effects and no conflicts with other medicines.
10. Homeopathy is safe for women to take during pregnancy, and safe for children and old people.
11. Homeopathic remedies are cheap at around £6 per prescription.

Homeopathic Materia Medica are filled with thousands of remedies and there are new remedies being discovered, documented and used in practice on a regular basis.  Each remedy is coded with hundreds and even thousands of different symptoms that uniquely identify it apart from one remedy picture to the next.  This unique information is what characterises a remedy in terms of using it in homeopathic practice.  And that is why it is so important to understand your experience of being unwell as an individual, so that a remedy which has the same sorts of coded characteristic symptoms can be matched to the way you experience being sick. 

Acute and constitutional prescribing underpins homeopathic practice though it’s always important to remember that homeopathy treats the individual, not the disease name, body part or pathology diagnosis.  But what does that really mean?  Simple, when we are healthy we all experience life differently, for example one person might feel invigorated taking a hot bath, whereas another person finds hot baths unbearable.  Homeopathy works on this principle and aims to understand the individualising factors of your illness in exactly the same way.

Homeopathy is a lot more common than you might think.  According to the World Health Organisation, homeopathy is the second largest system of medicine in the world.

When I first went to see a homeopath 17 years ago, I had no idea of what to expect, all I knew was that I felt unwell and had a strong inclination to explore a safe and natural alternative to health.  During the consultation we talked about my presenting complaint but my homeopath went on to ask an range of questions that built a more complete picture of who I was in relation to this.  These included medical and family history, my thoughts, feelings, desires and aversions, moderating factors, sleep and eating patterns, responses to atmospheric conditions, and many more.

Homeopathic remedies are made from natural substances, whether animal, mineral, plant or imponderable.  All homeopathic remedies which have been identified for use have undergone a series of dilutions and succussions (shaken) to make various potencies for prescription use.  The repetition of this particular process eventually dilutes the original substance beyond its physical form and it is still scientifically unknown how this can work.