Not to be confused with herbal remedies. They are quite different. Herbs are like medicines that you give for a particular effect in teas, tinctures or ground up.

Homeopathic remedies often use the same herb to start with, but in a very different way. They also use some poisonous substances. Both the herbs and poisons are used in extremely small amounts, sometimes no more than a molecule or two of the substance.

They are given to stimulate the body's natural healing response, often to counteract a particular problem by giving a substance that will CAUSE the trouble or is known to help heal symptoms that mimic an overdose of the herb or poison.

Recently dd got in late with some major bruises, bad fall skiing when a skateboarder mowed her down. I gave her homeopathic Arnica. Her bruising was gone the morning after along with the sore muscles from skiing.

Normally Arnica is poisonous taken internally although a good herbal cream can be rubbed EXTERNALLY over bruises and strains and aches with terrific effects. That is a good example of using the herbal type of remedy, in addition to the homeopathic version.

The Homeopathic remedy which I bought from the health food store is diluted 1 to 100 with 30 repeats of the dilution. Very little if any remains, certainly no more than a molecule or two. Not enough to cause harm, but enough to stimulate her body to heal itself.

I would NEVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCE use herbal arnica internally. I can't stress enough how different this is. Many people confuse the two, saying homeopathic when they mean herbal, and vice versa.

BUT it is extremely useful to know a bit about homeopathy, it can help with a lot of minor stuff to treat at home.

I recommend if you want to learn more about it, that you get some books out of the library

The best beginner book is by Maesimund Panos, and it's called Homeopathic Medicine at Home.

My second reference book of choice is The Complete Homeopathy Handbook by Miranda Castro

Dr Andrew Lockie wrote 2 that I refer to occaisionally to help prescribe-- the most useful is: The Complete Guide to Homeopathy; principles and practice of treatment. which I consult 3rd.

The Family Guide to Homeopathy by Lockie is ok but I wouldn't buy it again.

Dana Ullman has written lots, but the most useful is Everybody's Guide to Homeopathic Medicines which is my 4rth book to consult when I'm puzzling out which remedy to use. He has written the one on horses and homeopathy that my dd consults.

Homeopathy:An Illustrated Guide by Ilana Dannheisser and Penny Edwards is #5 in usefulness but it's good.

FINDING HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES
Your local health food store is a good source, I use one in Vancouver BC that specializes in homeopathics when I can't find what I need locally.

Some drugstores also sell them.

They usually come in little lactose sugar granules stored in brown glass or opaque bottles.

You shake one out onto the cap, put it under the tongue and let it dissolve.

You don't repeat for a while. You should see some improvement sometimes immediately or like my dd's bruising, overnight. Repeat if the symptoms that you are treating come back.

I found having a kit of them quite useful for family and pets.

Useful remedies:

Arnica-- given as the homeopathic first aid. For bruises, sprains, muscle aches from over doing it. I gave it to my old dog after he had any anaesthetic and surgery on his gums and teeth. It is also by the way, good to take if you've had any dental work on teeth or gums.

Cantharis-- burns. This works really well, give right after intial treatment under cold running water. Takes the sting out. The other big remedy for burns is Causticum and is used to treat worse burns after initial treatment.

I like Cantharis, it works well for me right away. Stops the blistering too, in all but the worst burns from common burns like touching the hot oven rack.

Apis Melliflora-- stings. Obviously don't use this if you are allergic, get your usual treatment FIRST but then follow up with a granule of Apis under the tongue. I also like to slap a cut raw onion onto the sting. Immediate relief as the onion juice neutralizes the sting.

Obviously there are plenty of other useful remedies, in the homeopathic kit bag but those are really useful for homeopathic first aid.

In the other homeopathy thread over in the village, Pat reminded me about mixtures for specific purposes.

Many homeopathy companies produce specific mixtures;

in the spring I like to use something called Canada Pollens, but you can find specific ones like that for your area. Helps stop or slow down the allergies in the pollen season.

they come for specifics like insomnia, nausea and so forth so you don't have to get really knowledgeable about prescribing.

That is a good way for beginners to get the benefits without a whole lot of research going on.

A good all purpose Flu and Cold remedy is called Oscillococcinum. Long name, good results. In France Boiron who makes it tested it, and it was around 80% effective at preventing or reducing cold symptoms. I started using it years ago and like it very much. Its' a bit pricey so I often use Tea Tree oil up the nostrils at the first sign of a cold instead, but the Oscillo is an excellent remedy.

I absolutely agree with the Homeopathic medicines. I have the book by Dana Ullman and love it. I use Pulsatilla for colds, etc.; Arnica gel for sprains and bruises, Colocynthis for cramps, Spongia Tosta for coughs, Arnicalm Arthritis blend for aches and pains and others as a particular condition comes up. I use the pellet form for most of these that is made by Boiron.

If you're interested in natural healing, check out some books at the library on homeopathic medicine. It's really amazing - though be prepared for others to think you are nuts.

Very interesting, thank you!! I'm going to be looking into this as well.

Excellent information here from Margery.

I say homeopathy doesn't work for several different reasons.
First, the classification of potencies works in a reverse order and goes
by a factor of ten, fifty, or one-hundred. Homeopaths claim that the more
diluted a remedy is, the more potent it is. A 30x remedy has been diluted by a factor of 10^30. This leaves NONE OF THE REMAINING MOLECULES left in the mixture, only water. How can this cure a patient?
Second, there have been no definitive double-blind clinical sudies which prove the effectivness of these remedies. It is only proved by individual cases, which seem miraculous, but could be cured by any number of causes.

Welcome b-s. Its nice to have everyone's opinion on this. Its always great to hear what everyone thinks, be it for or against something.

Its interesting this topic has come up again. Just yesterday on our local news a well known pediatrician was saying that both homeopathy and regular medications do work, although at times they can combat each other. She recommended that it always be explained to your physician what you are taking so that this doesn't happen. She also mentioned, just as in conventional medicine, homeopathy medicine can do harm as well. Again, it was interesting to hear her talk, because she supported both conventional and homeopathy.

actually although many people think there have been no scientific studies, in fact in France there have been double blind studies and they show that the stuff works, better than a placebo but they aren't sure WHY it works. One of the best selling cold and flu remedies in France is Oscillococcinum, by Boiron, one of the worlds largest homeopathic producers and it's studies showed it to be very effective. I've used it and it works but it's a bit expensive.

Dana Ullman's books have the references to the lab studies that were done. Some work well, others not so well. Because the theories as to why it works when it does, are so vague and incomplete this forms a considerable barrier to acceptance of this branch of non traditional medicine.

A good beginner book is Homeopathy at Home by Panos. Can't remember her first name off the bat. Dana Ullman has written a lot too.

I don't use homeopathic remedies exclusively, but I do like some of them very much. I like Arnica a lot, and I also love oscillococcinum for the flu. I think it works pretty well in warding off the flu as long as you take it when you first feel symptoms set it. I don't think it works very well if you take it too late. I get my homeopathic remedies from seacoastvitamins.com because I get really good prices there for my supplements.

And what a co-incidence you have popped up here to promote your products and your company....and you even have a link on your profile! :shootlurk
This is NOT a sales forum!!