AS someone who has had two back operations Daily Echo health reporter Sam Phillpott is willing to try out any remedies to ease aches and pains. To mark Homeopathy Awareness Week she went to see for herself if this method of complementary medicine could help

AT FIRST glance walking into Southampton's Centre for the Study of Complementary Medicine is just like going into any other doctors' surgery.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, perhaps a dingy backroom with dusty potions on wooden shelves.

But, given that all of the practitioners who work there are either former GP's or still practising, it's not surprising that it looks like any other health centre.

I was booked into see Dr Jeni Worden, a former GP from Dorset who works at the centre once a week. After filling in a detailed health questionnaire I walked into her bright and breezy office and my consultation began.

She explained in depth what homeopathy was and the effectiveness of any treatment. For this reason the initial appointment is half an hour.

Open since 1982, the Centre for the Study of Complementary Medicine in Bedford Place has been offering private and NHS patients a wide range of complementary medical therapy.

It is now advising Boots on its complementary healthcare range.

Homeopathy is a system of medical treatments which stimulate the body's own capacity to balance and heal itself. Remedies are prepared from certain plants, minerals and a variety of other substances.

A mother-of-two, Dr Worden explained: "homeopathy is very much holistic, and is based on the whole person.

"In homeopathy I would be looking at the whole of you, what you are like as a person? How you think and feel about things? Whether you enjoy having an argument or avoid confrontation?

"All those sorts of factors could be important in making a homeopathic remedy.

"I might get three people in with the same sore throat but they get treated differently and that's the whole basis of homeopathy."

She added: "It's not psychotherapy - if patients don't want to talk, they don't have to."

Homeopathy is not herbal medication and treatments can consist of just three or six tablets to give the body a nudge towards healing.

The therapy has been part of the NHS since 1948, but due to the shortage of doctors' who practise it, it is not always readily available.

I admit to Dr Worden, 38, that while remaining open-minded about alternative treatments, I'm sceptical if her remedy can improve a mechanical problem such as backache or damaged discs.

She responds : "I believe it can help, because pain is pain. I had a patient in with arthritis yesterday and it seemed to work for her - but it doesn't work for everybody.

"We always try and treat people with our doctor hat on first and hopefully try and find some healing.

"It's not our policy to stop other medication.

"If someone had a back problem, I might prescribe a homeopathic remedy, with acupuncture, but say 'keep taking your painkillers as well'."

Many of the remedies homeopaths prescribe have been used for more than 200 years.

So in this sense, homeopathy could be described as medicine in its purest form.

The remedies are made from natural sources from animals, minerals or vegetables - the majority being plant based. They are then put into alcohol and 'energised'.

Small sucrose and lactose tablets are then soaked with this active ingredient. For this reason when taking the tablets it's advisable not to touch them and destroy their effectiveness.

Dr Worden admits that the fact she is a doctor is reassuring to her patients and a factor why they come to visit her.

While some might consider a half-hour appointment at £104, and the standard 15-minute consultations at £52, expensive, Jeni believes compared to the cost of conventional medicine, this is reasonable.

Some can get treatment under the NHS.

She does however recommend a potential patient ringing up the practitioner first to get feel for them and see if they would be comfortable in a face-to-face environment.

She added: "I always get patients who phone with an enquiry to speak to me.

"If I can't help someone - for example if they have cancer - I'll tell them."

"Fed up" with being a GP for ten years with all the strains and stresses involved and not enough time to spend with her patients, Dr Worden is much more content in her work now.

"I get to sit and have time to talk to patients now, instead of ten-minute appointments as a GP in a surgery.

"It was so bureaucratic being a GP."

I'm curious as to whether any improvement a patient feels as a result of an appointment is a consequence of them having a chance to talk to someone about their problems.

Dr Worden said: "I believe the mind and the body are inextricably linked.

"There is a big debate at the moment on how much talking about the problem is part of the cure.

"I went into homeopathy with no background at all, and I'll admit I was very cynical at first.

"But, I'm converted now.

"It's changed my life, and I'm much happier doing what I do now than being a GP."

Dr Worden prescribed me with Arnica Montana - 'mountain bone' used by Swiss mountain guides to ease bruised muscles. She also gave me sulphur, supposedly suited to my temperament and recommended glucosomine, well known for its anti-inflammatory powers and available in most chemists.

So how did I feel after taking it?

Two days later, I felt refreshed and alert on waking up at 6am, which is unusual on a Friday.

However after going on a packed Hen weekend with little sleep and too much alcohol any feelings of well-being and health were swiftly eradicated.

I will however persevere with the remedy.

n To find out more about homeopathy you can join Dr Mike Clark, also based at the centre and expert in his field for a free talk at Boots, Above Bar, Southampton at 5.30pm tomorrow.

Dr Clark will be offering a limited number of free introductory consultations at this event.

Further details are available at the pharmacy counter.

For more details on the centre for complementary medicine call 023 8033 4752 or visit them at 51 Bedford Place, Southampton.

The Centre for the Study of Complementary Medicine also provides treatment in homeopathy, acupuncture, the Alexander Technique, environmental, nutritional, herbal and manipulative medicine.