What is the Difference between Homeopathy and Naturopathy?

Modern medicine has significantly advanced to new more discoveries of new drugs and new forms of treatment. Generally, these are often considered as conventional methods of curing illnesses and are used by most people.

However, another form of treatment has given rise to more realistic approaches to treating illnesses—the holistic way, which simply refers to a type of treatment that goes back to the root cause of an illness as well as a person’s whole being (as part of the treatment process).


And when it comes to holistic treatments, two of the most common yet often confused types of treatments are Homeopathy and Naturopathy.

To help you better understand what’s involved in these two types of treatments (or which one may be appropriate for your health), we will strive to highlight some of the differences between these two holistic treatment methods.

Homeopathy versus Naturopathy

Before we look at the difference between homeopathy and naturopathy, it is important to note that the two treatment methods share the belief that the human body can heal itself when it is given proper care and attention.

Although both are holistic treatments (seek to identify and address the root cause of a patient’s system imbalance), it is how they go about it as well as the therapies or treatment approaches that vary.

Naturopathy

Essentially, naturopathy uses beneficial agents of nature, including sunlight, water, exercise, herbs, diet, and rest to heal the body.

It also employs various types of mechanical treatments such as hydrotherapy, lymphatic drainage, iridology, and massage therapy to aid the physical, emotional, mental, and environmental aspects of the patient.

Considering that none of these agents can be used to cure every disease, they are often combined—to each individual case—to prevent and maintain both short and long-term conditions.

Homeopathy

On the other hand, homeopathy involves the use of highly diluted substances to treat various conditions with the aim of triggering the body’s natural healing system. Based on your symptoms, homeopathy will employ appropriate medicine to match those symptoms.

This is often referred to as “like cures like”. If you are suffering from arthritis, for instance, homeopaths will use the sting of a bee (in a diluted solution) due to the stinging pain nature of arthritis symptoms.

Small amounts of allergens like pollen can also be used to desensitize allergic patients. In most cases, the substances used in homeopathy are extremely diluted, which makes them less toxic.

Summary

Both homeopathy and naturopathy are holistic treatment approaches that strive to remove blockages and provide your body with what it needs to achieve optimal health.

Although their treatment or therapy approaches vary, both systems of medicine require extensive experience and study to maximize their effectiveness.

So, whenever you opt for any treatment option, strive to ask as many questions as possible in order to understand fully what you should expect from every treatment as well as to find the best treatment provider that matches whatever you are looking for.