I often come across individuals who happen to begin their homeopathic journey on advice of a friend, a colleague or a family member, without ever consulting a homeopathic physician.

YouTube or Instagram videos and other social media posts are also a hit amongst new category of patients trying homeopathy on their own.

Some patients go a step further and begin by reading a self-help book to consume homeopathic remedies.

Let me share about one such case. A young woman in her 36^th week of pregnancy, keen on taking homeopathic remedies, was referred to me by her gynaecologist. This patient approached me for homeopathic intervention in easy birthing and normal delivery.

During the consultation she shared that one of her close friends had used a homeopathic remedy (after watching a YouTube video) during the same phase in her pregnancy and also advised her to begin consuming the same.

To my utter shock, she was ready to experiment without consulting a homeopath. All when the remedy she was about to consume was absolutely not suited for her unique needs.

Thankfully, in her case, her gynaecologist, seeing her keenness to try homeopathy at this crucial stage, referred her case to me asking to work along.

Well, homeopathy has a wide range of remedies that suit the unique needs of expecting mothers in different stages and conditions of their pregnancy.

There is no one-fits-all solution in homeopathy. What may suit one, may not prove beneficial to other. What may offer symptomatic relief to one, may cause aggravation in other.

That’s why experimenting in such cases can prove counter-productive and bring about ill effects. But sadly, consulting a homeopathic physician is a road less taken by many. Let us pause here a bit and look at another perspective!

People globally trust homeopathy. They already know that it works and is safe for use. That is why across the globe about 450 million people use homeopathy each year. Afterall, if it didn’t work, why would so many people across the globe choose it, and continue using it?

Aside, as increasingly people are developing chronic illnesses & autoimmune disorders, and healthcare is getting more expensive, people are shifting to homeopathy for an economical and sustained way to stay healthy, in the long-term.

It not just empowers individuals to take control of their health and wellbeing, but also promotes a relatively balanced and holistic approach to care. Consequently, more and more individuals are trying homeopathy.

Having said that, we cannot ignore the fact that there is a significant proportion of those seeking homeopathic treatment, experimenting with remedies without professional intervention nowadays. We can’t stop them, but creating an awareness about seeing a homeopath is more likely to prove beneficial than not, for their overall health.

Afterall, the goal of homeopathic treatment is to assist your body’s self-regulatory mechanism, correct the imbalances and restore your healthy body functions. Homeopathic remedies act as catalysts in this process and don’t render your body dependent on them.

An expert homeopath aims to bring you to minimum use of remedies and finally halt your remedy intake, once health levels are restored, over a period of time. 

The cases where continued treatment is necessary, it is a case of palliative care and may need regular/continued follow-ups.

Please remember, homeopathy is not a ‘self-read’ or ‘from-the-social- media’ science. It is much more than that.

It has been widely observed, especially in the individuals experimenting with homeopathy on their own, that seeing changes or improvements in their condition after self-consuming homeopathic remedies:

• They feel they have fully recovered or restored their health, and stop consuming the remedies, all when it’s just the beginning of the healing process.
• They continue consuming prescribed remedies for prolonged period of time on their own, without knowing when to begin or stop a remedy or introduce another one.
• They stop the remedy intake temporarily, to begin again when symptoms re-appear, without knowing whether they are being cured or not.

Meaning relief is short lived and results at best incomplete. So, you might know names of popular homeopathic remedies, but that is surely not enough. Your know-how about treatment process and disease progression is far from complete.

Therefore, for best outcomes and satisfying results, always consult an experienced, registered homeopathic physician and take remedies as advised only.