HOMEOPATHY
A GENTLER WAY TO CARE FOR THE WHOLE PERSON

WHAT IS HOMEOPATHY?

Treating the person, not just the symptom

You have a headache. You’re not sleeping well. Your skin is acting up, your digestion is unsettled… But behind every symptom, there is you — your story, your sensitivities, and your own way of responding to stress, cold, fatigue, emotions, or illness.

This is where homeopathy begins: not with the name of a disease, but with the person living through it. It considers that the physical, mental, and emotional dimensions are closely connected, and that we cannot always care for one without paying attention to the others.

An emotionally difficult period can make the body speak in its own way: disturbed sleep, headaches, digestive troubles, skin reactions… Conversely, in the homeopathic view, silencing a peripheral symptom does not necessarily mean that the person’s deeper balance has improved.

Homeopathy is therefore less about silencing the body than about understanding what it is trying to tell us.

Symptoms: the expression of our natural defence system

For homeopathy, a symptom is not simply an enemy to be eliminated. It is first and foremost the visible expression of the body’s own defence mechanism, the response it produces as it seeks to restore balance.

Fever, inflammation, coughing, secretions… these are all sometimes uncomfortable manifestations, but they also show a body that is reacting. The symptom then becomes a kind of dashboard: it tells us something about the particular way the body is defending itself and trying to return to balance.

Rather than systematically opposing this reaction, homeopathy seeks to work in the same direction as the body. It selects the simillimum: the remedy whose picture most closely resembles the patient’s own reaction.

According to the principle similia similibus curentur, this similar stimulus reinforces the response already set in motion by the body. The goal is to support its defence mechanism so it can do its work more effectively, helping to accelerate the natural healing process.

This obviously does not mean letting someone suffer or refusing necessary treatment. It means taking a different look at the symptom: before trying to suppress it, understanding why the body produced it and what it is trying to accomplish.

Because no one reacts quite like you

We inherit a family history, and then life adds its own: joys, losses, fears, encounters, hardships, environment… This combination is unique. And so is the way each of us reacts.

We all saw this with Covid: faced with the same virus, some people became very ill while others barely noticed. Even with an ordinary flu-like illness, one person may burn with fever yet stay restless and active, while another shivers, exhausted, deep under the covers.

For homeopathy, these two people should not necessarily receive the same remedy. We look for the one that most closely resembles the particular way this person expresses their imbalance: their reactional mode.

This is the whole logic of similarity: similia similibus curentur, “let likes be cured by likes.”

What homeopathy is not

No, homeopathy is not “medicine made from plants.” That is herbal medicine, which uses plants and their active compounds at measurable concentrations.

Homeopathy also uses many plants — Arnica, Belladonna, Pulsatilla… — but also mineral and animal substances. What makes a substance a homeopathic medicine is therefore not its natural origin.

Its originality lies in the way it is prepared: successive dilution and dynamization. This is what fundamentally sets the homeopathic medicine apart.

An idea with more than two centuries of history

The story begins at the end of the 18th century with Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician deeply dissatisfied with the often aggressive treatments of his time. While testing cinchona bark on himself — then used against certain fevers — he made an observation that would change the course of his life: the substance caused, in a healthy person, symptoms resembling those it could help treat in a sick one.

An idea was born: what if the body could be helped to defend itself by giving it, at a very small dose, a substance capable of producing a similar reaction? Hahnemann experimented, observed, refined his method, and in 1796 published the text that marks the birth of homeopathy.

Since then, the idea has travelled far beyond Germany’s borders. Over more than two centuries, homeopathy has spread around the world, taking root in Europe, the Americas, India, and many other countries, and today it is used by millions of people.

Two centuries of practice do not, of course, settle the scientific debate around homeopathy. But they do give it a history, a clinical tradition, and above all a remarkable continuity: a medicine born in Hahnemann’s time that continues, generation after generation, to accompany patients all over the world.

THE HOMEOPATHIC MEDICINE

Three kingdoms, one unique method of preparation

A mountain flower, a grain of sea salt, a honeybee… Homeopathic medicines may originate from the three great kingdoms of nature: plant, mineral, or animal.

Arnica comes from the plant world, Natrum muriaticum from sea salt, Apis mellifica from the honeybee. A few other, more unusual sources are also used by homeopathic pharmacopoeia.

But whatever its origin, the substance undergoes a very particular transformation: it is progressively diluted and dynamized.

Dilution… but above all, dynamization

In the Hahnemannian method, each dilution is prepared in a new vial: one part of the previous preparation is diluted in 9 parts of solvent for a DH, or in 99 parts for a CH. The mixture is then subjected to a series of vigorous shakes: succussion.

The Korsakovian method follows a different path: a single vial is used. It is emptied after each dynamization, then refilled with solvent before starting again. This produces the K dilutions: 30K, 200K, MK, and so on.

Dilution and dynamization are therefore inseparable in homeopathic preparation. At high dilutions, the amount of the original substance becomes extremely small, even undetectable at the molecular level. This is precisely what explains the absence of dose-dependent chemical toxicity associated with the starting substance.

Dilution and “potency”: it’s not about quantity

Here lies one of homeopathy’s paradoxes: in its traditional conception, the more a preparation is diluted and dynamized, the higher its “potency” is considered to be.

Low dilutions tend to be used for local manifestations. Medium dilutions correspond more to general presentations, while high dilutions are reserved for situations where the similarity involves the person more deeply, including behavior and emotional experience.

A 30 CH is therefore not simply “stronger” than a 5 CH the way 1,000 mg would be stronger than 100 mg. It corresponds to a different level of prescribing. This is why choosing a dilution is never a trivial matter.

Pellets, single doses, drops or topical preparations?

Pellets are the most familiar form: these small spheres, impregnated with the homeopathic preparation, are generally left to dissolve in the mouth. They are particularly well suited to repeated doses.

Single-dose tubes contain tiny globules meant to be taken all at once. Depending on the remedy and the situation, a single dose may be prescribed once, weekly, monthly… or sometimes at even longer intervals.

Drops, usually prepared in a hydroalcoholic base, are mainly used for certain low dilutions and for many homeopathic complexes.

Finally, creams, ointments, and other topical forms allow for local use, for example for certain minor injuries or skin conditions.

HOW SHOULD HOMEOPATHIC MEDICINES BE USED?

A few pellets… but not at random

In homeopathy, taking more pellets does not necessarily produce a greater effect. It does not follow the conventional “more medicine = more effect” relationship.

Pellets and globules are generally left to dissolve in the mouth, ideally with a clean mouth. It’s practical to take them at some distance from meals. And contrary to an old belief, drinking coffee or using mint toothpaste does not “cancel out” a homeopathic treatment. Still, it’s best to remain cautious.

As you improve, take it less often

In an acute situation, doses can sometimes be taken close together at first. But one simple rule is especially useful: as soon as improvement appears, space out the doses.

In chronic situations, with high dilutions, or when a remedy has been chosen based on the person’s overall terrain, doses can instead be spaced much further apart — several days, several weeks, sometimes more.

The absence of dose-dependent chemical toxicity at high dilutions does not mean any remedy, at any dilution, should be taken indefinitely. In homeopathy too, knowing when not to repeat a dose is part of the treatment.

A few simple storage tips

Homeopathic medicines ultimately like the same things we do: no excessive heat, no prolonged exposure to light, no harsh environment.

Simply store them in their original packaging, in a dry, temperate place. Avoid high heat as well as prolonged storage near strongly scented or volatile products.

And because respectful medicine also starts with reasonable use, there’s no need to stockpile tubes or keep taking a remedy that no longer serves a purpose.

And above all: know when to ask for advice

For a minor, familiar, and temporary complaint, homeopathy lends itself readily to self-care guidance. But when a problem persists, recurs, worsens, or seems connected to something deeper, simply picking “a remedy for a symptom” misses the essence of the homeopathic approach.

That’s when listening truly matters: understanding your history, your terrain, and your way of reacting helps in finding the remedy that resembles you, rather than just the one that shares the name of your problem.

And gentle medicine never means blind medicine: an intense or unusual symptom, breathing difficulty, a significant change in overall condition, or any concerning situation calls first for proper medical evaluation.