Most of us do not realize just how strongly conventional medicine has conditioned us to believe that symptoms are the illness. Rather than seeing persons as a totality, as a spiritual/mental, psychic/emotional and physical being, it sees a fragmented organism whose broken or "sick" part requires fixing. Allopathic medicine sees only the end results of the problem ( the symptoms ) and labels them as a disease or syndrome. If a human being were a machine, the process might be effective. However, we are not and addressing health only on a symptomatic level leads to suppression and eventually to chronic illness.It is therefore important to understand health from a different perspective if we are to have healthier and happier children.

Conventional medicine works in opposites, prescribing antibiotics ( anti life ), anti inflammatories, anti fungals, etc. which take over from the body's natural intelligence, suppressing its response. It fails to recognize what homeopathy has understood since its discovery. That is, that every symptom produced is an attempt by the body to rebalance itself and that the symptom picture provides the guidelines through which it can do so. To look at this totality is vital.

If your child for example has had a tendency in his or her early years towards eczema and earaches, these two symptoms are only a part of the picture profiling the imbalance and in turn, the homeopathic remedy that the child will require to regain balance on an energetic level- the plane where all disruptions start. To treat the eruption and earache symptomatically on a physical level and in isolation from the whole will only cause suppression. When a symptom is repeatedly suppressed, the channel of expression eventually becomes closed. The child may then no longer exhibit eruptions and earaches but be bothered by another symptom such as a migraine headache. Further, it must be remembered that every symptom is an attempt at rebalancing, and if this is constantly interfered with the organism becomes weaker, hovering in a constant state of chronic illness.

Suppression may also be caused by topical cortisone, zinc ointment and tar. It is not uncommon to see children who have been prescribed topical cortisone for eczema present some time later with clear skin and asthma .In this instance, the suppression of the body's natural expression of the imbalance through the channel of the skin has resulted in the organism finding another point through which to express the imbalance- this time in a deeper and more vital system.

Homeopathy takes an entirely different approach to addressing health problems. Firstly, it sees the "illness" as merely an imbalance in the body's vital energies. It recognizes that the symptom is not the disease but is rather the body's attempt at alerting us to a disruption and a way of correcting the imbalance.Homeopathy follows the symptom pattern taking into account not only the physical symptoms but the mental and emotional state of the child as well.

As an example, let's look at tummy aches that occur when the child is upset or stressed by a new situation or a change in his or her environment. The emotional state becomes somaticized. It is not the tummy ache that has to be addressed but the child's lack of ability to cope with change, his fears, etc. that has to be corrected. A homeopathic remedy which is a non-toxic, energized substance is prescribed based on the understanding of the child, on the understanding of the whole symptom picture, not on the symptom in isolation.

Homeopathy s a brilliant therapy which can address acute and chronic health problems from infancy onward. It is an intricate and complex form of medicine that requires careful casetaking and a skilled, experienced practitioner.