Before we deal with this, let us
first understand some basic words and definitions.
Case Taking - The process of initial consultation of a patient with a
homeopath in which the patient presents his/her history/complaints to the
physician in detail.
Materia Medica - A book which contains information about the action of
various homeopathy medicines.
Repertory - A dictionary like index of symptoms. Each symptom is
followed by a list of medicines that have produced that symptom during proving.
Now we come back to the original
question of how the homeopathy medicines are selected.
When a patient comes to a homeopath
for the first time, the homeopath takes a detail interview to find out as much
as possible about the complaints of the patient as well as about the patient
himself. The discussion goes beyond the disease name, to the actual signs and
symptoms experienced by the patient, the aggravating and ameliorating factors,
accompanying ailments, causative factors, maintaining factors, physical and
psychological makeup of the person etc. This whole process of understanding the
'person' who is ill can take many hours (in chronic ailments).
After a homeopath gathers this
information he/she uses the repertory to find out which medicines are most
indicated for the case. Then the homeopath uses his/her knowledge of
Materia Medica to find out the remedy that best fits the case.
This is a long process and requires
lot of skill from the homeopath. These days special software are available
which help a homeopath in the process of case analysis and repertorization.
