The word homeopathy comes from the Greek words homos (similar) and pathos (suffering). Homeopathic medicines, or remedies as they are often referred to, belong to a pharmaceutical system that prescribes extremely small doses of substances derived mainly from the plant, mineral, and animal kingdoms. Homeopathic medicines are prescribed based on the discovery that whatever symptoms a substance causes in large doses (toxic effect) will help to rally the body’s natural healing response in people with similar symptoms or suffering when given in very minute doses (nontoxic). Homeopathic medicines help boost your body’s ability to heal itself.

The word homeopathy comes from the Greek words homos (similar) and pathos (suffering). The way you experience sickness and health are the key characteristics your homeopath will focus on for choosing an accurate homeopathic medicine. You may have the same general diagnostic name as many others such as headache, arthritis, or anxiety. Proper homeopathic prescribing will more importantly target those symptoms and feelings that are unique and special to you while finding a substance that matches your own experiences or" similar suffering". Customizing your healing is the best way homeopaths have found to assist you in living an enjoyable life.

Let’s take a quick look at a common example of how this nontoxic approach differs from what you may be used to doing for your health. When you have trouble sleeping and it becomes a growing concern for you, conventional medicine offers a drug that brings on forced artificial sleep. This may involve the use of large or regular doses of the drug, which can sometimes cause side effects or even become addictive. The homeopathic method involves giving you a minute dose of a substance, which has been incredibly diluted so that there is no danger of unwanted chemical reactions typically called side effects. Since your own body is doing all the healing work you can’t get addicted to the substance. In fact the practice of homeopathy recommends discontinuing remedies when your own system functions properly.

Whatever remedy is chosen, it will be based on the entire person’s health to ensure an accurate homeopathic prescription that stimulates your body to self-heal in many ways, including better sleep, for example.

Homeopathic remedies, or homeopathics, are specially prepared with minute amounts of an active ingredient that do not cause side effects or become chemically addictive.

Homeopathy gained its initial popularity in Europe and the United States during the 1800s because of its successful nontoxic treatment of infectious epidemics that savaged both continents. During that time, medical cures were often as dangerous as the diseases. People who kept getting sick despite their own best efforts were looking for other health-care options. Sound familiar?

The Rise of Medical Options

The last decade has produced an unprecedented increase in the use of what is termed complementary alternative medicine (CAM) or integrative medicine. This definition includes many of the non-conventional therapies such as acupuncture, chiropractic, massage as well as the use of vitamins and herbs. The growing popularity can be illustrated by the increased coverage on television, the Internet, newspaper, and many magazine covers devoted to the old and new forms of healing. An article released in the November 11, 1998, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association entitled "Trends in Alternative Medicine Use in the United States From 1980-97" shocked many health watchers by revealing that 628,855,000 visits had been made to alternative care providers in 1997 alone, while only 427,120,000 visits were made to primary care providers.