During the holiday season, we value giving back, being present to family, gratitude for what we have. But too many of us have discomforts or illnesses that are thrown into stark relief during the holidays. We may be sitting across the table from a family member we haven’t seen since the last holiday, and our suffering catapults our attention away from them and toward ourselves and our discomfort. A charity event becomes barely endurable, let alone fun and inspiring, because an ache or fatigue takes over. Even worse is waking up to aches and pains that don’t have names or explanations, depriving us of the validation of a diagnosis and an effective treatment. We may tell ourselves to just stop “complaining” and “get on with it,” or we may wonder if the problem is all in our mind. But the absence of a name or an explanation is not a personal failing, but rather a limitation of some systems of medicine.

Most of the medical systems in the world rely on labelling. Someone must come into the office and be put into a box: is that ache a nerve problem? Joint problem? Muscle problem? Is there inflammation or lack of circulation? Psychosomatic or mechanical? Once the box is determined, then treatment may follow. Even vague boxes (e.g. the complaint is “inflammatory” or “stress related”) determine treatment (e.g. anti-inflammatories, or adaptogens and meditation).

In homeopathic medicine however, all of the small and large discomforts, annoyances, or changes from your healthy state are used to find the appropriate remedy for your disorders. In other words, every small or large symptom is meaningful, respected and considered thoughtfully in homeopathic treatment. If someone comes in with “nervousness with a burning sensation in their chest that is better from lying down,” a homeopath will give them a medicine that can remove nervousness with a burning sensation in the chest that is better from lying down. The practitioner matches the person’s symptoms directly to the medicine known to remove those symptoms, bypassing the need for labels. This allows homeopathy to treat diseases that have no name or diagnosis, just as well as it treats symptoms that have been diagnosed.

I have witnessed hundreds of people who suffer daily, but who have convinced themselves that they should just go on with life and stop complaining, all because they can’t fit their symptoms into a predefined label. These are people who don’t feel well enough to fully express their love for the people closest to them, or who can’t make room for giving back to their community because they are consumed by “small” discomforts. But health does not mean an absence of diagnosis; it means being able to give back to yourself, your family, and your community. So what I wish for everyone this holiday season, is to find health. To be able to give back the way you want to, enjoy life the way you want to and love the way you want to.