When patients begin homeopathic treatment, they are naturally anxious about seeing positive results fairly quickly. This anxiety is understandable as a lot of patients turn to homeopathy in a final, desperate attempt to find a solution to their ailments, after having pursued many different types of therapies. During the first consultation, the most common question I am asked is “How long will the treatment take?”
There are many factors that I have to consider before I can give a fair response to the patient.
How long have you had the ailment?
Generally, if the patient has had the condition from childhood, the treatment may take longer compared to a patient who has recently started experiencing the problem.
What other health conditions do you have?
This question is absolutely crucial in determining the course of the treatment. Generally, the more conditions the patient has, the longer the treatment will take. It also depends upon whether all the patient’s ailments are on the physical plane or if they are also experiencing any mental or emotional problems such as anxiety or low moods. I encounter patients who come to me for their skin ailments but who are also having a lot of sleep problems and anxiety, for which they are being treated conventionally. From a homeopathic point of view, all the symptoms the patient experiences are linked - diseases do not happen in isolation. We treat the entire person who is unwell and each symptom (whether the skin eruption, the anxiety or the sleep problem) is an expression of the body’s imbalance and is not mutually exclusive. For this patient, I would expect improvement in the anxiety and sleep patterns before seeing any result on the skin. Since the patient is also taking conventional medication for the anxiety and sleep problems, it is not possible to stop the medication suddenly. I will continue to treat the patient alongside the conventional medication and once the conditions, the allopathic physician can taper off the medication. This entire process takes some time as the patient is experiencing not just a physical ailment but also emotional and sleep problems. As a Classical Homeopathic Practitioner, it is not possible for me to just treat the skin, which is what many patients want from me.
What are some of the health conditions that your parents and grandparents have or had?
The answer to this question gives me an idea about the genetic predisposition of the patient. If the parents or grandparents have a lot of chronic health conditions, the patient may have a weaker constitution which may prolong the treatment time. For example, if a patient’s main complaint is constant, recurrent coughs and colds and I find out through my interview that there is a family history of asthma and chronic allergies, I can say that this patient has a genetic tendency for respiratory ailments. The course of treatment for this patient may be longer compared to another patient who is seeking treatment for coughs and colds.
These are just some of the questions that I enquire into during the first
consultation in order to give my patients a perspective on the homeopathic
approach to healing. Even for the same ailment, there is no
one-size-fits-all approach or remedy as we are all unique individuals with
different genetic predispositions and lifestyles. If you would like to find
out more about how Classical Homeopathy can work for you, please feel free
to give me a call at +65 80563282 for a free initial 15min chat. It is
important that you understand my treatment approach before you begin your
homeopathic journey with me.
