It’s a question I often get asked; “What made you become a homeopath?”. Trying to find the exact defining moment is tricky. For me there were a series of events that when I consider them together the question I ask myself is “Why did I not become one earlier?!”
Why.
Seriously bad eczema as a child; the kind that you wish your own child didn’t get, continuous itching and tears. That was me. Nothing worked. I think my mum tried every steroid, bath product and cream going. You can see from the photo below how I used to be bandaged regularly as my eczema was so bad. My allergies were intolerable; not being able to play at my best friend’s house for too long because her dog molted everywhere, I would end up looking like I’d been punched in both eyes with a reaction. I was uncomfortable and itchy and sneezy everywhere I went. This continued on and off until my teenage years. As you can imagine this affected my confidence. So Mum took me to a homeopath.
This initial encounter with a homeopath lessened hayfever symptoms, asthma, eczema and increased my confidence. At that age I never questioned it I was just happy to move on, have better skin and not be ‘the odd one out’ any more.
I revisited homeopathy at the age of 28 during my first pregnancy with my daughter. I had remedies for morning sickness, high blood pressure, anxiety in pregnancy as well as a birth kit (which I used constantly following a rather dramatic emergency caesarean!). It was at this time that I realised the importance of what I put into my body not only affected me but my child too.
After that and during early motherhood, my homeopathic kit went everywhere with me. I began to read up on every remedy after I was prescribed one. The descriptions of the remedies fascinated me. It seemed that homeopathy was a discipline that I would never get bored of! And for those of you who understand what it means to be a Tubercular type* – then you will know why it suits my personality!
Making the transition from someone who dabbles to going the whole hog.
When I was pregnant for the second time, I began to really delve more into homeopathy and noticed that the less over-the-counter stuff I took and the more natural solutions I found, the healthier I felt. This resulted in a second pregnancy that was easier, healthier and more enjoyable! However, life has a funny way of throwing us a curveball – at the age of 33 I discovered that I had a malignant melanoma in my arm. I had two choices; either give in to fear and live a life worrying about it or face it and learn from the diagnosis and throw myself into looking at how natural medicine and a healthy lifestyle actually works. At 35, I gave up a career in teaching to follow my passion; homeopathy!
I’ve been practising homeopathy for a few years now and just love the variety of issues I see patients with. My own areas of interest are, unsurprisingly, eczema and allergies as that is where my journey began. I am also fascinated by homeopathy and it’s ability to help with anxiety and how it can improve the quality of an individual’s life.
So how has homeopathy helped me?
*Allergies, eczema and asthma
*confidence, grief and at times low mood
*migraines
*skin ailments
*menstrual health
*First Aid; in particular fracturing my cheekbone whilst running
*Stress and being a parent!
Qualified!
Sharing my love of homeopathy is my vocation. I am always happy to chat with patients about my own experiences because I am a homeopath who has had plenty of health issues to draw upon! Most homeopaths have learnt that a natural approach is better, kinder and in the long term more effective. Being a homeopath is enriching as most of us have had previous careers and health issues that we draw upon in our practice. I’ve been practising for over 3 years now and have treated over 250 patients in that time.
*’Tubercular’ is a miasm. All illnesses relate to a miasmatic pattern and Tubercular types suffer with allergies (they are also curious individuals!).