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About Homeopathic Remedies Homeopathy has a certain mystique
about it. The medicines don't come in strips of foil or in glass bottles
with plastic child-proof caps that have rolled off an assembly line. They
don't have boring names like crocin and imodium. Homeopathy conjures up
visions of mortars and pestles, mysterious powders and pills with exotic
names like nux vomica and arnica montana, bottles containing unnamed potions
and little sachets of powder.
The form Homeopathic remedies are given in
the form of tablets, powders or granules and tinctures. The tablets are
prepared by pouring an alcoholic solution or dilution into specially prepared
sugar granules that absorb the medication as the alcohol evaporates. For
people who don't like the idea of swallowing pills, they can take the medication
in a powdered form. Tinctures are also alcoholic solutions, but as the
concentration of alcohol is very high, it is not meant for consumption.
They are used to prepare lotions that are used as external remedies to
wash and heal the skin.
The source You must be wondering what all these
powders and potions contain. Homeopathic remedies are derived from animal,
vegetable and mineral sources. It may surprise you to know that some of
the ingredients are actually highly toxic like belladonna that is made
from a plant or arsenic album derived from the poisonous metal arsenic.
But there's no need to panic because there are just negligible traces of
the original substance left in the final remedy after a long preparatory
procedure. What is left is the medicinal essence of the substance, which
is totally harmless.
The procedure A homeopathic remedy goes through an interesting procedure before you can actually pop a pill or take a powder. For instance, to prepare arnica, the homeopathic pharmacist would first have to dissolve one part of the plant extract in nine parts of the water/alcohol mixture. He would then have to vigorously shake the mixture ten times (succussion), striking it with rhythmic downward blows. This process is repeated a number of times depending on what potency the pharmacist requires. In case the basic extract is insoluble
in water or alcohol, as in the case of mercurius, the pharmacist grinds
the substance to a fine powder (trituration) and then mixes one part of
the powder with nine parts of lactose and grinds the mixture for an hour
in the mortar.
Potency The term 'potency' when used in context
of a homeopathic remedy refers to the number of times that a homeopathic
remedy is diluted and succussed (shaken) or triturated (ground). Potency
is indicated by one x for each time the process of dilution and succussion
or trituration is repeated. Thus, a potency of 6x would mean that entire
process has been repeated six times.
Storage Homeopathic medicines do not have
an expiry date as long as they are handled and stored carefully. Always
keep these medicines in their original containers. Transferring them to
different containers could result in contamination from the miniscule quantities
of the earlier contents that may cling to the interior of the bottle. They
should also be stored in an area that is away from direct sunlight, heat
and pungent odors like camphor, menthol, mothballs and perfume.
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