He worked on the principle of "like curing like" finding that he could produce remedies by greatly diluting substances which in large doses could have created symptoms similar to those seen in the patient.

Over a long period of time Hahnemann and his students developed more and more remedies based on this principle until homeopathy became a complete alternative form of medical treatment which was safe and effective.

Homeopathy concentrates on treating a person rather than a disease.

One of it's principles is that people vary in their response to an illness according to their basic temperament. It follows therefore that a homeopath will not automatically prescribe a specific remedy for a specific illness. Instead they will try to discover the patient's temperament and responses so as to be able to prescribe for that individual.

Because it is the patient who is being treated and not the illness, patients with the same ailments may often require different remedies.

As with any form of therapy, rapid results may be attained when the condition is very acute, but for long term chronic illness the process will be slower because the cause of the illness is being dealt with as well as the more obvious symptoms.