With the recent interest in "alternative" and complementary modalities, the practice of homeopathy in the U.S. is again on the rise. It is used successfully to treat everything from first aid conditions to acute and chronic illnesses in people of all ages and in animals as well.
Mainstream Western medicine (known as allopathy or allopathic medicine) sees disease as a collection of symptoms. Homeopathy views disease as an imbalance in a person's "vital force" and the disease's symptoms are the body's best attempt to rebalance itself. Rather than eradicating symptoms as allopathy does, homeopathy addresses the underlying imbalance.
Allopathy is only now beginning to recognize the mind/body/spirit connection that has always been a fundamental principle in homeopathy. In addition, homeopathy recognizes that the experience of a disease is unique to each individual. During a homeopathic consultation, the classical homeopath discovers how the individual is effected on the physical, emotional, and mental levels in order to recommend the one homeopathic remedy that best matches the whole person.
