by Dana Ullman
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WHEN I FIRST got involved in the field of homeopathic
medicine in 1972, anyone who used or advocated the use
of homeopathic "combination medicines" was considered
to be committing blasphemy. Because the classical
traditions of homeopathy emphasized strict
individualization of the total person and prescribed a
single remedy based on the totality of his or her
physical and psychological symptoms, any method that
oversimplified this arduous task was viewed with
varying degrees of contempt and disdain.
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At that time
many of us were also taught that those who used lower-
potency medicines (3, 6, 9, or 12th potencies) were
"wimps" who were either afraid to use the powerful
higher potencies or not educated to know how to use
them. The "real medicines," we thought, were the high
potencies (200, 1M, 10M, 50M and higher).
Since those early days, I have grown beyond this homeopathic chauvinism and microdose machismo which pervaded the first dozen years of my involvement in the field. As someone who regularly lectures to thousands of laypeople and health professionals every year, I have had the opportunity to share my knowledge and to hear theirs. Initially, I was defensive about the classical method, until too many people told me of their successes with various non-classical forms of homeopathy. I ultimately found that my own dogmatism somewhat resembled the dogmatism many physicians had toward homeopathy as a whole. As much as I still honor the classical method and consider it the most effective way to change a person's health in a truly profound way, I also recognize and appreciate the various non-classical methods that help improve health in perhaps less profound but still significant ways. It is important to recognize the value of individualization that single remedy homeopathy brings to healing. On the other hand, homeopathic formulas provide a user-friendly approach which helps provide easy access to some of the benefits that homeopathic medicines offer. Combination homeopathic remedies are considerably safer than conventional drugs, and people with access to these simple-to-use natural remedies will certainly be healthier for it. It is helpful to note that Chinese medicine and virtually all herbal traditions commonly incorporate the use of formulas of two to eight ingredients. The use of these mixtures has consistently shown that there is a synergistic action when certain ingredients are mixed together which creates greater benefit than the use of single herbs. The herbalist may not know which individual ingredient was most significant in stimulating a healing response or if it was the unique combination of ingredients that provided the healing. However, it is not always as important to know which specific remedy was most useful in healing as it is to do everything possible to encourage healing to happen. One can only wonder if the beneficial synergy that is created by mixing together three or more Chinese herbs might also be experienced by mixing together homeopathic medicines. Because of this possible synergy, homeopathic combinations may, in fact, be more effective than single remedies in relieving certain acute conditions (I particularly believe this is true for treating serious injuries because it is often necessary to given Arnica, Hypericum, and Ruta together). Only further research will determine this. The results of using combination remedies are not just empirical. There are now several controlled trials which have shown the efficacy of homeopathic formulas, including for the treatment of hayfever, sprains, labor and delivery, post-surgical treatment, and varicose veins [I give these references in my book]. I have personally found that combination medicines are valuable remedies for many acute, non-life threatening conditions. Their use makes sense to me particularly when the correct single medicine is not immediately available or when the person cannot determine with confidence which single medicine to take. Because it is not always easy to determine the correct homeopathic remedy in acute situations and because single homeopathic remedies are not as easily accessible as homeopathic formula products, there is a place for combination remedies in healing. Steven Subotnick, a homeopath, podiatrist, and sports physician from Hayward, California, commonly prescribes homeopathic medicines for people who injure themselves. He has found consistently that a single remedy is rarely as effective as a mixture of remedies for the treatment of injuries. Arnica 30, for instance, may be effective in treating the shock that a person experiences from an injury, and it can help to heal injury to soft tissue, but if nerve tissue is also injured, Hypericum 30 will be helpful, and if bone tissue is also injured, Symphytum 30 or Ruta 30 will be indicated too. Dr. Subotnick commonly prescribes single remedies in his own formulas as well as formulas made by homeopathic manufacturers. Even though combination medicines do not "cure" a person deeply, neither do the vast majority of single medicines taken for relief of acute conditions. For instance, Euphrasia 30 may ease allergy symptoms, but it will not cure the underlying allergic state. Thus, combination remedies and single remedies for acute conditions have a similar range of benefit. Some classical homeopaths are the most vocal against the use of combination medicines. It must be noted that the term "classical homeopathy" originally referred to the type of homeopathy practiced by its founder, Samuel Hahnemann. In part as a reaction to physicians of his day who commonly prescribed several powerful drugs concurrently, Hahnemann insisted on using extremely small doses of only a single remedy at a time. However, recent evidence from an Oxford-trained scholar, Rima Handley, has confirmed that during the last ten years of Hahnemann's life, he gave most of his patients two different medicines to take daily, one in the morning and one at night [See Handley's A Homeopathic Love Story, Berkeley: North Atlantic/Homeopathic Educational Services]. While combination remedies may have a place in one's medicine chest, the power of the individually chosen single homeopathic medicine should never be underestimated. The correctly chosen homeopathic medicine can effectively heal a person's chronic or even hereditary condition. The correct medicine can also raise the individual's overall level of health so that he or she is more resistant to physical and psychological ailments, acute and chronic.
There is a place in healing for both single ingredient medicines
and combination formula products. Combination
formulas provide a convenient and dependable source of
homeopathic care which complements the use of single
ingredient homeopathic medicines.
Ullman, Dana, 1995, The Consumer's Guide to Homeopathy, The Definitive
Guide for Understanding Homeopathic Medicine and Making It Work for You, G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, $13.95 ($18.95 Can.). |
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