The following is an exposition of the effectiveness of the
single remedy (classical homeopathy),
compared to combination remedies. My viewpoint originates in
personal experience, as any understanding should; I have tried
combination remedies and found them ineffective. I have also
tried single remedies and found them to work extremely well.
My own personal experience isn't going to persuade anyone else
though, so here follows a little philosophical thinking:
Extrapolation
The premise behind remedy combinations is that each remedy
cures different elements of the disease. If five remedies can,
in conjunction, cure the range of symptoms which constitute
a migraine,
then presumably a thousand remedies, in conjunction, could cure
every known disease. We wouldn't even need to make any effort
at diagnosis, we could just reach for the cure all, or splash
it on our corn flakes in case we were ill without realising
it.
This is, of course, ludicrous. In practice, each of the remedies
in the combination would interfere with each other.
New provings required
Combination remedies may well have a place in the world, but
they should not be used to cure general symptoms without closer
inspection of the individual case in hand.
I am not dismissing the use of combination remedies per se,
I would suggest that separate provings are conducted with the
combination. For example, hydrogen has one effect on a healthy
subject, oxygen has another; the compounded combination, water
(H20), has a quite different effect.
Wishful thinking
We all have our motives, that without our knowing it can skew
our opinion on any subject. If something is unknown, and we
are better off with one answer than the other, an optimist will
pick the answer that suits him best.
For a pharmacy, the financial gains involved in having one
product on the shelves around the world labeled as a cure
for a headache rather than 700 products named after the
Latin names of animal, vegetable and mineral matter are obvious.
Social context
When looking at the ideas of previous epochs, they often seem
ludicrous to us now, simply because we see them from a different
perspective. For example, the idea that the Sun goes round the
Earth is absurd against a backdrop of mathematical science,
but viewed from an era of biblical study, where, because it
was so written, Man was unquestionably at the centre of the
universe, it seemed right.
Real wisdom stands solid and unmoving in the changing winds
of time. What is truly right is eternally right. Combination
remedies, seem to typify the ideals of mass production, global
economics, convenience or equality that characterise our age;
thier lasting relevance is therefore more questionable than
a point of view which does not express the same ideals.
Ease and convenience
We would all like the easiest answer to be the right one, but
in practice, this is rarely the case. Traditional, or classical
homeopathy is more difficult than using combination remedies.
Effort and time are required.
Computers have only been widespread for twenty years or so,
and it is only in the last 10 years that effective, sufficiently
thorough, though expensive, homeopathy software has started
to appear, and our free online homeopathic
remedy finder software has been live for a relatively short
while, bringing the same processing power to the masses for
free.
Now that Classical Homeopathy is easier, we should see combination
remedies retreating from the popularity that they now enjoy,
in favour of the single remedy.
Go repertorize.
