People are very passionate about natural healing.

Especially their preferred method.

Years ago I saw a meme about essential oils.

It featured a man with a gunshot wound to his chest, saying, “Don’t worry, my wife has an oil for that.”

We can be the same way with homeopathy.

Because we don’t like to discuss its limitations.

Homeopathy is nothing short of amazing.

When it works.

It often works.

But it can take time and effort to find the right remedy.

There are also limitations to what homeopathy can do.

Part of this is due to the fact most of us live in an allopathic world.

There are no more homeopathic hospitals.

We have very few homeopathic MD’s.

Sole practitioners are expected to solve complex cases with little or no support.

Many people also have a poor understanding of homeopathy.

They expect instant results for long-standing problems.

Which isn’t going to happen because the body can only heal so fast.

Yes, we can and do work around these obstacles.

But it doesn’t hurt to acknowledge our limitations, as well as the limitations of the system we work in.

The Limitations Of Homeopathy

We don’t like to discuss the limitations of homeopathy.

It can make people angry.

This was evidenced during a recent Facebook discussion in which I mentioned addiction and homeopathy.

I made sure to say that homeopathy can help people overcome their addictions.

But I added that, ideally, they should partake of additional psycho-social supports.

I never said homeopathy is not good for addiction.

Or that it doesn’t work.

Or that it’s not possible to move someone from addiction to health, based solely on our brilliant prescribing skills.

On the contrary, we have wonderful remedies.

Helping addicts is part of our training.

However, addiction can be life threatening.

Why not do everything in our power to maximize someone’s chance of recovery?

This would mean good homeopathic care, close follow up and psychological support above and beyond what we as homeopaths can offer.

Plus, I don’t think the average homeopath is qualified to assess whether someone suffers from an addiction.

Or whether they’ve actually recovered. Or whether they claim to be recovered but really aren’t.

We also have remedies to treat anorexia nervosa.

By all means we should use them.

But a person with this life-threatening condition needs all the help they can get.

Do we discourage them from seeing mental health professionals?

Does Homeopathy Have Limitations?

Homeopathy also has a long history of helping people recover from traumatic physical injuries.

But just because we can help with a remedy doesn’t mean someone should forego physical therapy.

If someone breaks a bone they need it set.

If someone has dental problems we can help strengthen the health of their mouth.

But we never tell them not to see a dentist.

So here are some things that homeopathy can and can’t do.

• Chronic conditions heal slowly. There will likely be stops, starts and remedy changes. They body can only heal so fast. Even the most brilliant prescriber usually can’t make a long-standing problem disappear overnight. (Occasionally you might get lucky.) Acute problems are a different story. A virus will run through you faster. Instead of being sick for two weeks you spike a fever and the worst is over. In a few days you’re back to normal. Broken bones, strains and sprains heal quicker with homeopathy too. We often hear anecdotal reports of doctors being amazed at how fast a bone knits after someone is given homeopathic Symphytum (always after the bone is set).
• We are not homeopathic hospitals. There are no homeopathic hospitals in the United States, even though at one time at least one-third of all hospitals in this country employed homeopathic physicians. Instead, each of us is a sole practitioner, after having completed a training program in homeopathy. But each one of us is not a homeopathic hospital. This is an inherent limitation. Years ago sick people would be in a hospital. Someone with pneumonia or bronchitis would be admitted and not released until they were well. Someone with severe stomach pain would be hospitalized. There they’d receive round-the-clock care from homeopathic MD’s. Today, though, we have the absurd situation of very sick people getting on Facebook and getting random remedy suggestions for serious conditions that at one time were treated in homeopathic hospitals. I worry this practice will come back to bite us in the worst way and we’ll be dealing with a brand new set of limitations.
• Cases that need surgery. Happily with good homeopathy surgery can often be avoided. But not always. This isn’t a failing on the part of anyone. It’s just reality.