However, this is far from what a homeopath needs to arrive at a remedy. There is a lot of confusion about what kind of information a homeopath needs and why they need it. Here are the hows and whys of the homeopathic consultation.
As we have seen in this post - How to choose a homeopath - the first consultation is usually 30-45 minutes for an acute case and 1-1/2 to 2 hours for a chronic case.
What is an acute case? Acute diseases are those that come on suddenly, progress rapidly, and then the patient gets better within a few days. Colds, coughs, stomach upsets are all acute diseases. Injuries like falls, fractures, sprains, burns also come under acute care. For these kinds of ailments, the homeopath will want to know how the symptoms first started, and they will try to determine a cause for the disease.
Now, in conventional medicine, the cause is always attributed to some microorganism like a bacteria or virus. However, in homeopathic philosophy, the cause is usually a weakness of the body's inherent energy (prana in ayurveda, chi in oriental medicine) during which time the bacteria or virus is able to multiply to such an extent that the body's natural immune system is unable to fight it. The homeopath will try to determine why the body's vital energy was low in the first place. They will do this by asking questions like what kind of food you ate before the symptoms started, or if you were under any kind of stress, or if you were exposed to bad weather conditions, etc.
Further, if your complaint is headache or similar pain, they will ask you to describe in which area you feel the pain most, and to elaborate on the type of pain (some headaches are throbbing, some just have a dull pain all over the head, etc.). They will ask you what makes your pain worse and what makes it better. To answer these questions, the client or patient needs to be in tune with their sensations. For children, the homeopath will ask appropriate questions that will help them customize a remedy for the child.
Next, what is a chronic ailment? All diseases that are long-lasting and that do not get better without appropriate therapy are called chronic diseases. High blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, asthma, allergies are all examples of chronic ailments. Even headaches and colds and coughs can become chronic ailments if they last for longer than 6 months. The homeopath needs a lot more information in these cases, so don't be surprised if there are questions about your nature, emotions, dreams, food intolerance etc.
Whether acute or chronic, the goal of the homeopath is to customize a remedy for you as an individual, based on all the information that you provide. The remedy that works for you may not work for another person, because no two people are alike. Even identical twins who share a lot of genes have their own individual tastes and habits.
The homeopathic consultation really helps you understand your body and why it behaves in a certain manner, and also needs you to be in touch with the symptoms that are unique to you, so you can relate them accurately to your homeopath. You are given a homeopathic remedy mostly based on the information that you provide, and an accurately customized remedy can work wonders.
Now you know why the homeopath always has so many questions for you and listens keenly to everything you have to say before suggesting a remedy! So the next time you see a homeopath, you can be ready with all the data you can provide :)
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