What is Homeopathy? Homeopathy is a system of medicine that was devised over 200 years ago in Germany. The originator of homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann had become disenchanted with the medicine of his day. Therefore, he was motivated to examine alternative approaches to treatment. There are two major principles that Dr. Hahnemann discovered in his work. One is called the Law of Similars. This refers to the idea that healing can be stimulated by giving patients a medicine that causes symptoms similar to what they’re suffering from. It can be hard to wrap our minds around this concept. Conventional medicine prescribes drugs that oppose our symptoms. For example, patients with insomnia are prescribed sedatives, patients with chronic pain are prescribed analgesics. When substances are prescribed that are opposing the symptoms of the body/mind, in many cases, they work temporarily and must be repeated to maintain an effect. While this can be helpful, there are many chronic conditions that don’t respond well to these approaches. In homeopathy, the treatment goal is to use a medicine to precisely stimulate the system to restore a higher level of functioning. In addition, homeopathic medicine doesn’t focus entirely on symptoms. Instead, the medicines are used to stimulate the whole body/mind to become stronger and therefore, begin to heal itself. Ultimately, homeopathy enables a transition from a chronic state of dis-ease to a self-sustaining state of health. The other main concept is the Law of the Infinitesimal Dose. This states that we should use the smallest, most dilute dose possible that will stimulate a healing response. Hahnemann found in his experimentation that if the doses were too strong, they could cause side effects or problems. In his unique use of dilutions of medicines, he found he could retain the healing capacity while avoiding side effects. return to home page