i was always interested in "alternative therapies" because as a i child i was quite ill with severe eczema, asthma and other allergies, plus terrible ear infections etc. my mother had little faith in conventional medicine as it didn't seem to be able to help me. as i was growing up, i continued to have many health issues and saw a homeopath regularly. i've always used the likes of arnica and the most common remedies on myself.

the most striking examples are 2 recent ones - i had a tooth out 2 years ago and another about a month ago. my dentist injected the extraction site with arnica and hypericum and i did not have a single moment of pain or even the slightest discomfort whatsoever after either of the extractions. both went extremely well and i had absolutely no problems at all.

I am a homeopath and have done a lot of study into it

My son had severe eczema as a baby where he used to scratch it on his legs with his toenails until it bled. He scratched his face until it was an oozing wasteland of sores. It took a few tries to get the right remedy but once we did, it disappeared in about a week and I could tell it was the right remedy because it started working to take away the itch within a couple of hours.

I first became interested in homeopathy when a local practitioner came to speak to the students on the massage course I was attending. At the time I had a sprained ankle and the homeopath gave me a little white pill for it. Although I was interested in complementary therapies, I was also cynical but was very surprised to suddenly realise a few hours later that my ankle was no longer hurting. My Mum was later diagnosed with ME and had to leave work. The same homeopath helped her to overcome this life limiting illness. I have been a convert since then.

My homeopath has treated both my young children since they were tiny. They have had about 6 years of visits, about once a month. From birth they both had problems with eczema and allergies and my daughter had respiratory issues as a baby and toddler. After such a long period of treatment, these conditions have pretty much disappeared. As a mother I gave felt so empowered having the ongoing support of homeopathy. It has helped my children through the many challenges of growing up and enabled them to grow into happy, healthy children who never need to go to the doctor or take conventional medicine. If they are ever unwell these days, the first thing they do is ask me to phone Hazel, our wonderful homeopath.