If you have ever been under homeopathic treatment, you must have certainly experienced the tedious process of case taking, sometimes to the point of your annoyance. Your homeopathic physician must have asked you questions about your personality, likes, dislikes, emotions, preferences etc., such seemingly insignificant details that you might have never thought of. You must have always wondered why are these details needed?
Homeoopathic case taking is a process of detailed collection of all the facts about the patient, using various tools like observation, perception, history-taking – given by the patient/attendant, clinical examination etc. in order to find a remedy for the patient. The objective is to obtain all the facts pertaining to the patient and thereby selecting the right remedy. It is well said, ‘a case well taken is half-cured.’
Case taking is the most important element of a successful homoeopathic prescription. Homeopathic remedies are prescribed on the basis of totality of symptoms. For instance in a case of migraine, it is important to determine the location and extension of pain, the sensation of pain, what triggers the episode, what increase the pain and what gives relief, the patient’s countenance during the episode, any other symptom accompanied by the pain or before or after it.
What is the use of this detailed homeopathic case taking?
Selection of remedy: for every case of disease, there are numerous homeopathic remedies each suited for a unique set of symptoms. for a common cold, there are about //// remedies. Thus, detailed case taking is important to differentiate between the remedies and select the similimum i.e. the right remedy.
Selection of potency: homoeopathic medicines come in variable powers known as potencies such 6X, 12X, 30C, 200C, 1M, 10M, 50M and so on. different problems require different potencies of medicines. Each potency has a different action. Potencies also vary with the patient’s sensitivity, severity and duration of disease. The suitable potency is determined through the study of case history.
Determining cause of disease : a disease is any disturbance in the body, its manifestations may vary over the time but it remains within unless treated. through case taking, the homeopath recognizes the root cause of the disease ,either inherited through genes or acquired from external influences, understands the course of disease and prescribes suitable homoeopathic remedy in order to eradicate the cause and thus eliminate the tendency of recurrence.
mind is the key to the body. Any disturbance first manifests on the mental plane and then on functional plane. In simpler terms, each disease originates from disturbed emotions. A homoepath studies your personality types, your reaction to adverse situations, your likes, dislikes, fears, grief, etc and prescribes suitable remedy that will help you cope with your emotions better.
Individualization: each individual is unique and so are his disease manifestations. Homeopathic case taking is aimed at determining the peculiarities of the patient in health and disease. These peculiarities form the basis of prescription.
Removing disease susceptibility: the viruses are constantly around us, then why is it that whenever the weather changes you catch a flu and others remain unaffected. You and your colleagues went out for dinner last night, had the same food and drinks, but only you wake up with an upset stomach next morning. You have severe cold and breathlessness every spring while others remain unaffected. The reason is Susceptibility. It is the tendency towards disease. Each individual has different susceptibilities to react to certain stimuli. Detailed case taking helps the doctor identify your susceptibilities and remove them through a well selected medicine.
After your first consultation with a homeopathic doctor, you have a friend who knows you better than anyone, maybe you yourself. He’s someone who understands you in your truest self. Many of our patients have felt that they’ve gotten to know themselves better after the interview, emotions that have remained long suppressed, vulnerabilities that were never addressed, all are brought to light through the case taking process and then cured.
