Homoeopathy is a system of medicine which was developed in the 18th Century by a German physician and chemist, Samuel Hahnemann. Hahnemann found that many substances could produce symptoms when administered to a healthy person. He also found that illness could be cured by using small, specially prepared doses of a substance which was capable of causing symptoms similar to the illness. For example, coffee stimulates the nervous system and the production of urine. A homoeopathic dose of coffee can cure a patient troubled with unusual mental activity, sleeplessness together with excessive production of urine.

In the last 200 years, the effectiveness of homoeopathy has been clearly established and today homoeopathy is used worldwide. Homoeopathy can be used to treat chronic illness, acute illness and minor accidents which require first aid.

Conventional medicine is based on a concept of diseases and agents that cause disease, (eg. bacteria and viruses) and the resulting pathological or physiological changes. Treatment aims to relieve the symptoms. Homoeopathy views all symptoms as an indication of an underlying state of ill health that affects the whole person, not just one or two body systems.

Treatment acts as a catalyst, stimulating and directing the body's own healing energy towards the resolution of states of imbalance, disorder or disease. Healing takes place in different ways and reactions to a remedy vary. Sometimes there is an immediate healing. Sometimes it begins with an increased feeling of well being even though the symptoms initially remain. In some cases, old symptoms recur as part of the healing process. Occasionally there is a temporary worsening of the symptoms prior to an improvement.

Homoeopathic medicines are prepared from minerals, plants and other substances. These medicines are used in extremely minute dilutions due to the processes of dilution and potentisation. The potentisation process releases the healing properties of the substance.

Tissue Salts
Tissue salts are mineral based homoeopathic medicines. These minerals are produced in a finely broken down and energised form so that they can be taken up more readily by the cells. Minerals are components of many enzymes that are necessary to facilitate essential body functions such as nerve impulse transmission, oxygen transportation, the formation of building blocks for bones and teeth, and are components of hormones.

Flower Essences
Traditionally flowers have always played an important role in healing amongst the indigenous peoples of the world. Modem flower essences capture the therapeutic qualities of all kinds of flowers. They offer a unique way of rebalancing the body, especially mentally and emotionally, and they also can have a marked positive effect on physical ailments as well.