Homoeopathy
Homoeopathy is a complete treatment system that was developed by one man, Dr. Christian Samual Hahnemann in the 18th Century. It was a time where infectious diseases such as Tuberculosis and Typhoid killed many people. Dr. Hahnemann was a german medical practitioner who was not that impressed with some of the techniques used by physicians of his time such as for example bloodletting. He was looking for ways to stimulate the life force energy  of a patient (or the Vital force as he referred to it) so that the body could heal itself.

The main principle of Homoeopathy is: "Like cures like". For example you may have experienced at some stage that the best remedy for a hangover is a little bit of alcohol. 

The Homoeopathic remedies can be divided into two main categories. There are acute remedies such as for teething, the common cold etc. and there are the constitutional remedies. A constitutional remedy is a remedy that is aimed at the constitution of a person. The constitutional remedy paints a homoeopathic picture of a person. For example: fearful, meticulous, wakes up between 2 and 4 in the morning, likes hot drinks even when hot etc.  The challenge for the Homoeopath is to find the best match between the picture of the remedy and the picture of the person. A Homoeopathic assessment aims to determine a person's ideosynchratic traits, such as specific habits, preferences, physical make-up and appearance as well as the mental and emotional picture of the person. This process of identifying the best Constitutional remedy is often referred to as "the art of Homoeopathy". The better the match, the better the results.

The best acute remedy for a person is the  remedy that best matches the symptoms of the acute illness. For example if the person suffers from a cold the symptoms could be a watery discharge from the nose, but if the symptoms were a yellow elasticated discharge it would point to a different remedy. After the cold the constitutional remedy will help the person return to optimal health.

My first experience of Homoeopathy was with my son Friso. Because of the lack of oxygen and the resulting brain injury his lungs couldn’t clear fluid from his lungs properly and he developed bronchitis every month on the month. After one week of the homoeopathic remedy Pulmo clear accompanied by a change in diet from cow’s milk to goat’s milk he never had bronchitis again (cow's milk can result in increased mucous secretion, which would then become infected: bronchitis).

I used Homoeopathy for a cold recently. I went through 4 stages of the cold (which normally takes at least a week) in 2 days. I took 4 different remedies to match the symptoms of those stages and after 48 hours my cold had totally disappeared.