Homeopathy Vs Naturopathy and Modern Medicine

So I took my daughter Hope to the doctor for her annual well-care visit and she is doing fine.  Recently my daughter has been under the weather…she has a nasty cold it seems.   I do not feel comfortable giving her over the counter cold medication at this age as she just turned two the first of this month, so I bought her a homeopathic remedy having no idea what homeopathy is.  I assumed it was basically a natural herbal remedy to sooth the symptoms of a cold.  Well, I was wrong.  Once I took her to the doctor, I was asking her is there anything safe that I can give her to soothe her symptoms over the counter and she told me no.  Then I started to share with her how I bought this homeopathic remedy and she asked me, “Do you know what homeopathy is?”  “Nope.”  I replied.  How could I buy something that I have no idea what it actually is?  Well just another mommy fail.  She then explained to me that basically homeopathy is the treatment of disease through minute doses of natural substances that in a healthy person would produce symptoms of a disease.  So the principle is ‘let likes cure likes’, meaning whatever would cause your symptoms, will also cure those same symptoms.  It is supposed to stimulate the immune system to heal the ailment.  Once this was explained to me, it makes no sense.  If this were true, then when I can’t sleep then I should drink a cup of coffee to stimulate my body to help me sleep.  I believe that different things work for different people so I will not discredit it if is has worked for some.  I had been giving my daughter the homeopathic medicine for some days now seeing no signs of relieve of her symptoms.  I do not believe that it is working for her.  I ultimately do not believe in homeopathy, however, I do believe in naturopathy.

 

What is Naturopathy?

Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a system of medicine based on the healing power of nature. Naturopathy is a holistic system, meaning that naturopathic doctors strive to find the cause of disease by understanding the body, mind, and spirit of the person. Most naturopathic doctors use a variety of therapies and techniques (such as nutrition, behavior change, herbal medicine,  homeopathy, and acupuncture).

I do not discredit traditional modern medicine.  However, I do believe that the majority of the time when you go to a allopathic doctor, you are prescribed a pharmaceutical drug to treat the symptoms.  That in itself is not bad because who doesn’t want to feel some relieve from what is causing you pain or discomfort.  However, if you never find out the cause of the symptoms, they will continue to reoccur and most of the time these drugs also have a lot of side effects that are treated by more drugs, therefore causing unnecessary toxic build up in ones system.  Most of these drugs are produced in labs and are chemical version of what we find in nature.   To treat a person holistically, a doctor must find out what is causing the symptoms and treat them to prevent the further proliferation of the disease and also teach the patient how to nourish and care for the body so as to prevent disease processes from occurring in the future.  This is where I feel that Naturopathy is very complementary to traditional medicine or could even replace it depending on your current state of health.

As a parent, I feel it is my responsibility to educate myself about how to properly care for myself and my family.  It is important to me that we eat healthy food that nourishes our bodies and to take care of ourselves not just physically but also emotionally,  mentally, and spiritually.  I have in the past received guidance on how to heal myself of various ailments that I struggle with from a naturopathic doctor successfully.  I really was seeing significant improvement and I want to continue to use what works for me and my family.  A really good read on the facts about herbal remedies and supplements versus prescription and over the counter drugs is found here:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/natural-health/herbs-vs-drugs-facts-about-medicine-zmaz06djzraw

I am not a doctor nor an expert, just a mom who wants the best for herself and her family.  I know that it is not possible to obtain perfect health but it is possible to be in decent or even good health.  It is my desire to share with others what has worked for my family and to also learn from others through this platform.  Have you tried any alternative therapies that have worked for you?  Has homeopathic medicine worked for you personally?  Please I would love to hear your thoughts and insights!