Homeopathy Tips Newsletter

Posology is the science of the dosage of medicines. It is very important in homeopathy. We are always very concerned about finding the correct homeopathic remedy, the simillimum. This is usually the greatest challenge for the homeopath. But after the remedy has been found, it is important to see that the case moves forward and healing is maintained.

Potency selection is the next step in the prescription and it is intimately tied to the repetition of the dose. Hahnemann stressed the minimum dose necessary to inspire the vital force. The potency needs to be slightly stronger than the expression of the vital force. This way it will inspire as the vital force will have a direction to move towards.

With most children and healthier adults that have not been suppressed by years of drug treatment, a single dose is always preferable. It requires more case management because we need to understand how the vital force responded to the dose and the duration of its response. Remember, homeopathy...

In the profession of being a homeopath, we usually engage our services with an exchange of money. Often, we call this business a "practice." It holds by definition but also there are other definitions that I prefer. I do not want to refer to my profession as a practice. I have trained and done my "practice" and now am a professional that is engaged with my clients. They pay me for rendering a professional service of homeopathy. They do not want me practicing on them. This would not be fair if I were still learning yet calling myself a professional. Not that I will ever stop learning homeopathy but I prefer to call my professional work just that; a professional work or business.

When I engage in my business, I refer to everyone who engages me for my professional services as a client. This is what they are. It brings with it a certain responsibility on their part as well as my own. I try to never refer to the client as a patient. By definition to be patient is "to bear pain or...

With the warmer weather, flowers of every kind can be found around cities and blooming in people's yards. It is really quite beautiful and my favorite time of year. But with this comes the insects to pollinate these plants and other creatures that can bite and sting us. It is always a good idea to have some good remedies available in the event you or someone you know is suffering from a bite or sting.

Anaphylactic shock is the greatest worry for someone having an allergic reaction to a poisonous bite or sting. This is most common after a bee or wasp sting. It is sudden, severe, and possibly fatal if not treated appropriately. Once a person has developed an allergy to the venom, their reaction usually becomes more acute with each reaction.

Symptoms of anaphylactic shock could include an immediate drop in blood pressure, fainting, hives, itching in any part of the body especially ears, mouth and throat, mental confusion, and rapid swelling of the affected part. 

The...

It is not often that we encounter bites from animals but when we do, they can be painful and cause serious complications if left untreated. This week, let's discuss the bites of non-poisonous animals, and next week we will get into more about bites and stings!

Most animal bites, including human bites, often involve puncture wounds. The most common bites are from dogs, less frequent are cat bites and human bites. Rarely do bites from larger animals happen but if they do, they can be life-threatening and serious, particularly due to the size of the bite and strength of the animal. If they do occur, they may possibly be fatal. Consider the bite of the alligator, crocodile, shark, or any other toothed creatures of significant size. If a bite happens that is non-fatal, hospitalization is nearly always necessary to save a life.

The mouths of animals are the dirtiest place of the animal including humans. Bites tend to become infected quickly and should always be treated by...

When treating chronic illness, there comes a time when the return of old symptoms can challenge the homeopath as to what to do next. If it is not clearly understood where a person is in their healing cycle, it can be most frustrating for the homeopath. He/She may even be tempted to change the remedy because it seems the remedy has stopped working. Understanding the bigger picture is vital to successful case management.

Often, when a person has been doing well and is responding to the most beneficial remedy, a time will come when it seems that all of the old symptoms return. Sometimes this is referred to as an aggravation. If this occurs after years of successful treatment, it can be very confusing. Why after all of this time is the person suffering like when they first started to take the remedy? Shouldn't the person be getting better still?

I have seen this scenario play out many times in the course of healing chronic illness. If it is not understood where the person is at in their...

When we give a remedy, we expect that a person will get better and the path to wellness is easy and straight forward. But nothing could be further from the truth. During healing, we often have the expected aggravation but there are other moments that will come up that do not fall into the aggravation description but need to be understood.

There is no cure without an aggravation. Most homeopaths have come to accept and expect to see this. There are a lot of ways to recognize the healing by aggravation and amelioration. Sometimes these are very clearly presented by the person. There are other less noticeable forces that also work to bring about change and they do not fall into the class of aggravation but need to be understood also.

When a remedy is given and is recognized by the vital force a wave of energy is initiated. This energy usually is accompanied by amelioration of the presenting symptoms and an upsurge in energy. The person will usually report they are feeling better...

Intercurrent remedies are remedies used with a particular intention to help open up or clear a confusing case. Sometimes in the course of treatment, a case may stall even with the best-selected remedies. At times like this, intercurrent remedies can be helpful.

I find that the most common application for giving an intercurrent remedy is for when a case has become confused, either by giving too many remedies or there has been too much suppression from allopathic drugs. At times like this, giving an intercurrent remedy can be helpful. The case can then be better defined. New expressions of old symptoms can appear and it becomes easier to "see the case."

When a case has had good movement and then seemingly stalls, most often it is an issue of potency. But sometimes it is that the remedy has stopped working and any potency does not seem to help. At a time when the movement has stopped, giving an intercurrent remedy can be helpful.

At other times, an intercurrent remedy may be given to...

There are as many different ways to apply the potency and the dose in homeopathy as there are suffering people and homeopaths. Each homeopath has their own way they have either developed or been taught. The first rule that is universal to any correct prescription is to let the client tell you what you need to know to make a decision about potency and dosing. If you do not do this and there is a strict protocol you follow, then the beauty of the prescription will be lost. This is more akin to an allopathic approach and the likelihood of successful treatment will wane.

This requires the homeopath to be equally as observant of the client when determining the potency and dosage as when determining the remedy. Here are a few of the ideas I keep in mind when determining the potency and the dosage of the remedy.

The first question is, "Am I giving the remedy based on an acute expression or based on the current expression in relation to a chronic condition?" As...

Last week, we discussed two-rubric prescribing and the confusion in cases with many rubrics leading to many remedies. This week, let's dive into one-sided cases, some of the most difficult cases that come to homeopaths, the ones with very few symptoms. Hahnemann recognized this also and wrote about it in the Organon in Aphorisms 172 through 184. He described these cases as one-sided and are less amenable to cure. Let’s review each of the Aphorisms and really understand what he was sharing with us.

These Aphorisms are in common language and not from any translation. They are simple explanations of the content in layman's terms.

• Aphorism 172 – In reference to the cure of cases, Hahnemann recognized that some difficult cases are those with too few symptoms. In his described methods for removal of disease in previous Aphorisms, he told of the importance of the whole person and understanding the multitude of symptoms. But when there are few symptoms, the system for cure...

When receiving a case, we often are given a lot of seemingly valuable information. As the person tells their story, we can end up with dozens of different symptoms that can be repertized. This can be an overwhelming amount of information, especially if repertizing by using books. With modern computer repertizing programs, it is easy to enter all of these symptoms and get many suggestions for remedies.

When we have a case that has so many rubrics, it will often leave us more confused. If we have chosen rubrics that have hundreds of different remedies under them, having to sift through so many remedy choices can be a daunting task. Often, we can narrow the list of possibilities down to six remedies or so if we have good knowledge of Materia Medica.

But when we have so many rubrics leading to so many remedies, we can miss the most vital part of the case. Most often Sulphur and the other leading polycrest remedies will be the most indicated. In the end, this will not lead to good...