Meaning 'similar suffering', Homoeopathy is a holistic, non-intrusive form of treatment, which is personalised to the individual. It treats the whole animal, not just the immediate symptoms and is based on the principle of treating with the minimum dose and 'like treats like' i.e. a substance which causes symptoms can be used in small amounts to treat those same symptoms (for example allium sepa, which is derived from an onion, is extremely effective at treating hay fever symptoms such as watery eyes, running nose etc, similar to the effects that peeling an onion does, and coffea (coffee) can be used to treat insomnia!). This principle is also used in conventional medicine, e.g. the use of pollen in minute quantities to desensitise allergies.