HHC Centre Homeopathy for Children: What Parents Need to Know | Page 4

What is homeopathy?
Homeopathy is an alternative medical practice based on taking small amounts of products to cure
ailments. This strategy tries to get rid of the negative effects of large amounts of medicinal products as is
the conventional method. Started back in the 18th century, the main principles of homeopathy include
the following:
 Law of infinitesimals: This law, commonly referred to as the Law of the minimum dose, proposes
that medications are more effective when administered in small doses. This is the reason for
enormous dilutions for homeopathic medicines. Some like the Hyland’s Teething Tablets has
undergone dilutions of up to 1,000,000,000,000 times. After such large dilutions, the end result is
often devoid of any trace of the original ingredient but homeopathic practitioners claim that they
cure ailments because the “memory” of the original ingredients lives on in the diluted medicine.
 Like cures like: This notion, also called the law of similar, proposes that healing occurs when one
takes substances that cause similar symptoms. A good example is a homeopathic claim that the
rattlesnake’s venom can cure Ebola on the basis that both involve bleeding or that the cure of
insomnia is drinking coffee.
Homeopathic medicines are extracted from plants (such as mountain herb, belladonna, poison ivy, red
onion, and stinging nettle), animals (such as crushed bees), and minerals (such as arsenic). The most
common homeopathic products are made as sugar pellets and are meant to be placed under the tongue.
Other forms include gels, ointments, tablets, and creams.