My brother and I are having an argument over our mother's health care. She wants to see a homeopathic physician so I take her once a week for her remedies. He wants her to see a real medical doctor, but she doesn't want to go. Does it really matter how she's treated if she feels better?

Homeopathy is a well-respected form of alternative care for chronic conditions like allergies, back pain, migraines, and arthritis. It is practiced around the world, including some countries where it is the first-line of treatment, not just used when traditional medicine fails to help.

Homeopathy treats an illness with heavily diluted preparations that are thought to cause effects similar to the disease's symptoms. It was first reported on by a German physician Samuel Hahnemann back in 1796. The homeopathic substances are referred to as remedies rather than drugs.

Homeopathic treatment takes into consideration the whole patient -- mind and body, not just the person's symptoms. The homeopathic treatment of the whole patient (with all signs and symptoms) is referred to as classic homeopathy.

Paying attention to all aspects of the person (not just the fact that they are having back pain) means that the remedies vary from patient to patient. Anyone with any type of low back pain from trauma, arthritis, disc degeneration, or other physical (and even psychologic) causes can benefit from a homeopathic approach.

If you are sure your mother isn't suffering painful symptoms from a fracture, infection, or tumor, then there may be no reason to discourage her -- especially if she feels homeopathic treatment is helping without using medications that can have adverse side effects.

If your brother lives in the same area as your mother, it may be helpful if he escorted her to the appointments with the homeopathic specialist. In this way, he could ask questions and learn a bit more about this approach. As with all nontraditional, alternative types of treatment, the first goal of every practitioner is to do no harm. Most likely, your mother won't be hurt in any way by this approach. And it sounds like she has already experienced some success with homeopathic care.