Medical Conditions and Homeopathy

Homeopathic treatment is highly individualised. For a remedy to be at all beneficial, it has to match the specific bodily or mental state for which it was administered. The remedy chosen by the practitioner is determined individually for EACH person in the SPECIFIC situation. It is therefore not possible to say that a particular disease will always respond to a specific remedy.

There are a few exceptions, like for example, in first aid, arnica can be used for most injuries involving blunt trauma. The reason for this is that, in general terms, most people receiving a blunt injury will react in the same way with bruising, pain, etc, and arnica matches this state most closely. However, with most illness, the cause is multifactorial, meaning that numerous factors will influence its expression, like for example, genetics, diet, stress and other environmental factors. Choosing the correct remedy in these cases requires a level of skill that only a qualified practitioner has.

In conventional medicine, the gold standard to assess the effectiveness of a treatment is the randomised, double-blind placebo-controlled trial. This model is useful in assessing a standard treatment for a specific condition, but it isn't the most suitable tool to assess the effectiveness of homeopathy which is so highly individualised. In real life, you are unique, with particular strengths, susceptibilities and weaknesses, and your treatment needs to be tailored accordingly.

However, if you are interested in looking at the evidence for homeopathy, there have been a large number of observational studies (case reports and clinical outcome studies) and clinical trials looking at the following conditions: Seasonal allergic rhinitis or hayfever, sinusitis, allergies, heavy metal toxicity, brain injury, bronchitis, childhood diarrhoea, chronic fatigue syndrome, infertility, fibromyalgia, insomnia, menopausal syndrome, otitis media, plantar fasciitis, premenstrual tension or PMT, psoriasis, sepsis, snoring, stomatitis, tonsillitis, asthma, ADHD, anxiety, weight loss, cerebral palsy, depression, eczema, migraines, hypertension, irritable bowel syndrome, post-operative bleeding/bruising , postpartum pain, colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, cystitis, warts, withdrawal of benzodiazepines, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), addictions, autism, food intolerances, candidiasis, tonsillitis, IBS or irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease like ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease, glue ear, Sjogren's syndrome, endometriosis, polycystic ovaries (PCOS), thyroid problems, multiple sclerosis, bladder instability, panic attacks, PTSD, urticaria, amongst others.

The evidence presented in the websites of the Society of Homeopaths and the Faculty of Homeopathy are good places to start.

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