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Homeopathy FAQ: Answers to Your Most Common Questions

My aim is to help educate anyone who is interested in homeopathy. Below are a few of the most common and important questions that patients typically have in our Homeopathy FAQ. If you’re unable to find what you’re looking for, please reach out and I’ll be happy to assist you.

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What is Homeopathy?

Homeopathy is a natural practice of medicine that stimulates the entire body to heal, by treating the person as a whole, rather than focusing on any diseased part or labeled diagnosis. The goal is to achieve the highest possible levels of health and wellbeing in all aspects of the person. Homeopathy has been in worldwide use for over 200 years, and is recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the second largest therapeutic system in use. It is based on two principles:

Law of Similars: Homeopathy, means “similar suffering”. It is based on the principle of similia similibus curentur, or like cures like, which is a concept that dates back to the Greek “Father of Medicine”, Hippocrates. This principle means that a substance which can cause symptoms if taken in large doses in a healthy individual, can be used in minute doses to treat similar symptoms in an ailing individual. Examples of this in conventional medicine include the amphetamine-based drug Ritalin. Although it is a stimulant, when used in ADHD treatment, it may help with concentration, fidgeting, attention, and listening skills.

Minimum Dose: In Homeopathy, the medicinal doses given are so small that toxic side-effects are avoided. This draws controversy as they do not work in the same way as conventional medicine, where molecules interact directly with the body’s biochemistry. Although the exact mechanism of action is still unknown, researchers around the world continue to investigate this, as it is likely to be based in physics rather than chemistry. What we do know is that many laboratory studies have shown ultra-high dilution homeopathic medicines having biological effects that you would not otherwise see in an inactive substance such as water or sugar pills.

For example: Adding homeopathic histamine to basophils (white blood cells) can trigger them to release histamine. More here.

What does a Homeopathic visit entail?

In homeopathy, all of a patient’s symptoms are examined as an important and relevant part of the disease process. Each person exhibits illness in a slightly different way, and two people with the same illness will not necessarily be prescribed the same remedy. For this reason, the initial consultation is typically 1-2 hours in length. This gives the homeopath an opportunity to begin to understand the patient, and to acquire a detailed account of their primary complaints, concomitants, and how these complaints affect them. With this information, the homeopath can then study the case in order to find a remedy that is matched to the totality of symptoms.

Is Homeopathy the same as Naturopathy / Herbalism / Traditional Chinese Medicine / Ayurvedic Medicine?

Although homeopathic remedies are derived from natural sources, it is a modality of its own, and differs from other natural healing therapies. Because homeopathic remedies use minute doses of any substance, it can still be used with other forms of treatment whether natural or conventional under the guidance of your practitioner.

For full details, visit our Homeopathy Services Ottawa page.

What is Homeopathy’s history?

The Law of Similars has been documented since at least the time of Hippocrates (ca. 400 B.C.) but Samuel Hahnemann (1755-1843), a German doctor and chemist, is credited with founding homeopathy and observed the Law of Similars in action by testing small doses of substances on himself. In 1796, Hahnemann’s Essay on a New Principle for Ascertaining the Curative Power of Drugs was published, followed by his most famous work The Organon of the Healing Art in 1810, followed by 5 updated editions.

Homeopathy thrived in the 1800s, and by the mid 1900s, several medical colleges existed in which homeopathy was taught, including the first women’s medical college in the world: Boston Female Medical College, later renamed the New England Female Medical College. Abolitionists William Lloyd Garrison and Zebina Eastman were strong proponents of homeopathy and many homeopaths were politically progressive, resulting in the medicine itself becoming associated with female and black emancipation causes, with women physicians being welcomed into the American Institute of Homeopathy fourty-four years before being permitted to join the American Medical Association. Dr. Susan Smith McKinney Steward (1847-1918), who was the 3rd African American woman to earn a medical degree and the first in New York state, sustained a 26-year medical career inclusive of the practice of homeopathy, and co-founded the Brooklyn Women’s Homeopathic Hospital and Dispensary.

By 1900, approximately 20% of physicians in the United States were homeopaths, there were 22 homeopathic medical schools, more than 100 homeopathic hospitals, and over 1000 homeopathic pharmacies in the U.S. In Canada, homeopathy was regulated from 1859 to 1970 where one out of every six physicians was a homeopath. The Toronto Homeopathic Hospital was opened in 1890, later renamed to Grace Hospital before merging with Toronto Western Hospital in 1926, at which point it lost its homeopathic status.

Following various political and social changes, homeopathy’s use diminished in many countries before experiencing a revival beginning in approximately the 1960s. Between 1995-2002, it was estimated that the number of patients using homeopathic remedies had risen by 500%, and continues to be used widely to this day.

Loudon, A Brief History of Homeopathy
Ullman, Discovering Homeopathy: Medicine for the 21st Century

What is Homeopathy’s history with infectious disease?

Homeopathy’s history with infections disease in the 1800s is likely the most prominent reason for its popularity. Statistics indicate that the death rates in homeopathic hospitals from these epidemics were between one-eighth to one-half of those in orthodox medical hospitals¹ , while during the yellow fever epidemic of 1878, deaths rates for those under homeopathic care were approximately one-third of those using orthodox medicine²

Bradford, 1900, 59; Coulter, volume III, 298-305
Coulter, volume III, 299-302

What is a homeopathic remedy?

A homeopathic remedy is a single substance typically derived from a plant, animal, or mineral source. This is then subjected to a special procedure called potentization which brings out the medicinal properties of the original substance through the process of serial dilutions and succussion. A recent article was published to analyze the impact of succussion on pharmaceutical preparations, finding that there were in fact differences between the patterns of succussed vs not succussed samples of medicinal product, dependent on the application of succussion and the number of succussion strokes performed.

Single Remedy: In classical homeopathy, only one remedy is given at a time, and this remedy is carefully selected by the homeopath as the best match to the patient’s needs. Combination Remedy:

Combination remedies include multiple remedies combined in low potencies with the hope that one of the remedies contained is a close enough match to the patient to create a positive response. These are typically used for acute conditions and do not constitute classical homeopathy.

Is homeopathy a regulated practice?

Yes, in Ontario, homeopathy is a regulated profession. The College of Homeopaths of Ontario sets and enforces registration requirements for entry into the profession, where the applicant, following graduation from a recognized institution must demonstrate competence in a range of areas identified as being necessary and relevant to the practice of homeopathy.

Are homeopathic remedies regulated?

Yes, Health Canada regulates homeopathic products as a form of natural health product and reviews homeopathic products to ensure safety and that the health claims are supported by textbooks and other references used in the practice of homeopathy (e.g., pharmacopoeia, Materia medica).

Is homeopathy covered by my health insurance?

Some extended health insurance plans do cover the cost of a homeopathic consultation, and this is dependent on your personal health plan. It is advisable to consult your health insurance provider to confirm your coverage.