The homeopathic treatment of a patient begins with careful history taking and observation of the patient. A list of the patient's symptoms is developed and can be determined from the materia medica or compared to a repertory. The materia medica contains the results of provings of thousands of substances. The idea is to match the patients symptoms as closely as possible to the symptoms listed for a given substance in the materia medica.
The prescription is based on the symptoms and the behavior of the patient. Hahnemann believed that a single remedy should be given at a time, to prevent interference between two or more remedies.
The response to treatment is believed to follow the Laws of the Cure, which state :
- A remedy begins to work at the top of the body and progresses downward.
- A remedy works from the inside out; from major to minor organs
- Symptoms go away in the reverse of their order of appearance.
