The fundamental difference between main stream and homeopathically prescribed medicine is that your Doctor will aim to treat your symptoms whereas a Homeopath will aim to treat the causes of those symptoms.

The Homeopath's task is to gather together the relevant information during the patient's consultation so that an individualised medicine can be prescribed to match the particular problems of that individual.  The prescription will cause a reaction in the patient and it is this reaction which tackles the problem. In essence your body will be triggered to heal itself!

Homeopathic remedies are extremely dilute, and there are no side effects of homeopathy.  I have used homeopathy extremely effectively and safely with patients who have also been taking medication prescribed by their GP.

History

Homeopathic medicine is based on the application of the law of “Similars” (aka “like cures like”). It was Hippocrates the “Father of Medicine” that formalized the idea that "like cures like."

Hippocrates ca. 460 BC - ca. 370 BC

The law of “Similars” is the principle that underpins Homeopathy. Curing with “Similars” is akin to the idea of that of vaccinations. By providing the body with the “taster” of the disease it prompts the body to create resistance, but unlike vaccinations, homeopathy is given, not just as a preventative, but most often as a remedy to an existing condition. 

Medicine based on Hippocrates' principle of "Similars"  has been an ever present feature. His principles have been utilised throughout the ages.  In the Renaissance period the notable physician and alchemist Paracelsus, treated patients using the principle discovered by Hippocrates.

Paracelsus 1493-1541

Curing with “Similars” means using a substance that causes a similar problem to cure the problem. For example when a skin condition has the symptoms that resemble, and feel like “nettle sting”, even though it wasn’t a remedy made from nettle, it can still  be used homeopathically because the effects of nettle are  “Similar”.

The German physician and scholar Dr Samuel Hahnemann is known as the founder of Homeopathy. He took the ideas of his predecessors and developed them into the scientific and systematic medicine, on which homeopathy is now based.

Dr Samuel Hahnemann 1755 - 1843

“The highest ideal of cure is the rapid, gentle and permanent restoration of health; that is the lifting and annihilation of the disease in its entire extent in the shortest, most reliable and least disadvantageous way, according to clearly realizable principles.”