12
Nov
2009

Health by Homeopathy

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12 Nov 2009

Can homeopathy really cure coughs, colds and tonsillitis?

Like most Londoners I could be a lot healthier. This time of year in particular reminds me that I’m run down and prone to flus, coughs, sniffles and headaches.

Recently a chest infection was the culprit, with constant coughing and crippling tiredness. I was knackered, frustrated because I couldn’t sleep, and two rounds of antibiotics and three different cough medicines had done nothing. Two months went by and I was still coughtastic with no visible end in sight.

At my wits end, I decided to try a local homeopath, Frances Turner, to see if she could help me. I had used a homeopath a couple of times before when I was younger, but not since I’d moved to London. At between £60 and £100 a session it’s not exactly the NHS.

Homeopathy treats the person rather than the disease, so sessions often involve a lengthy consultation. It’s especially good if you just don’t feel well, but are unable to specify exactly what you’ve got.

My session lasted an hour and it was so different to visiting the doctor. Frances really listened, asking numerous questions; she wanted to know my previous medical history, and my immediate family’s too, as well as my current general health.

She asked how the cough made me feel, how I slept, what times of day it was worse, what sort of foods and drinks I was craving, if it was painful and where. At the end of the session she provided me with four different treatments to be taken one after the other, and then suggested a comprehensive list of supplements and vitamins to boost my immune system, including things to help my liver, throat and chest.  

She finished our session by telling me if anything changed, or if I was unsure of anything, to call her immediately. I left feeling reassured, listened to and cared for.

One week on I felt so much better, and a month or so later my health has now dramatically improved. Not only is the cough completely gone, but I’m full of energy and I haven’t picked up any of the other London bugs going round.

Homeopathy might not be a solution for everyone, but the treatment time and its effectiveness, coupled with the feeling that someone was just at the end of the phone, made it worth every penny.

An initial session costs £60, with subsequent sessions at £40.
www.homeopath-london.co.uk. 

Also this month:

Living Well loves…Mangosteen Juice. Grown in Thailand it is the most densely packed single food of antioxidants on the planet. Available from A Healthy Habit it’s ethical, organic and super healthy. It’s also a great hangover cure – tried, tested and proven by our Living Well guinea pigs!

www.onehealthyhabit.com

Image by Allan Henderson courtesy of Flickr

About Post Author

Emma Mills

Emma quit her full-time, safety-net salaried job as a magazine editor in February of this year to take a terrifying leap in freelance journalism and actually write about something she was interested in. Bored of 9-5 and doing the same old thing every day, she wanted to live to work, not work to live. It was a risky move, but one that paid off and she now works for a number of national and London-based magazines, writing about food, travel, culture, theatre, women's health and education. She can usually be found in North London, because it's way better than 'sarf' London, either working from home or pottering about looking for a cafe with wireless (why aren't there more?). Work distractions include tinkering with her fantasy football team, making banana cake and watching re-runs of The OC.

6 Responses

  1. Paulie

    Please can people who live in London and get a spare minute, fill in my survey regarding getting people more physicaly active. There is no need to register or anything like that and is ultimately for a good cause.

    Will really appreciate it.

    Regards,

    Paul.

  3. chris

    So you don’t find the absolute lack of any proof whatsoever that homeopathy does anything at all and actually diverts resources from proven cures at all alarming?

  4. Gemma Hughes
    Gemma Hughes

    I whole-heartedly agree with Chris, and am always amazed at how many magazines, websites and God knows who else write about homeopathy as if it is a real and proven therapy, further fuelling the outrageous and offensive claims these ‘practitioners’ make.

    To anyone considering this, PLEASE read up on what homeopathy actually is before spanking your hard earned cash.

    Unless you are happy to just believe that ‘water has a memory’ (!) without seeing any proof whatsoever, that is….

  5. Richard Johnson

    Gemma and Chris, what worth is there in your comments? I have never heard anyone look at something in such black and white terms, making your own ‘outrageous’ comments. I am not the biggest believer in homeopathy by any stretch, but after many trips to the doctors with the same complaint and simply to be given the same medicine after sitting in a waiting room for an hour really doesn’t do anything for me – maybe homeopathy is something I should consider… At least this way someone will actually listen to me.

    I agree people need to do their reading, and articles like this one help. Slating it as you have will simply deter articles being written in the future and therefore neglect people who are actually interested in other treatments the opportunity to read of someone else’s experience.

    The NHS will always be the first port of call, but when this fails people need other options.

    Well done Emma.

  6. Gemma Hughes
    Gemma Hughes

    Personally, I don’t think asking for proof that something works is a particularly outrageous idea.

    Nor, I think, is suggesting that people read-up on something before buying into it!

    But then again, I DO find the idea of passing off water with as a 30x dilution of a herb as a cure for cancer outrageous… so what do I know?!

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