Surgery represents conventional medicine at its best and its worst. On the one hand, surgery demonstrates incredibly sophisticated informational and technical advancement, yet on the other hand, it often indicates the inability of physicians and patients to prevent this invasive treatment of last resort. Like other health professionals, homeopaths honor the special role that surgery and surgeons have in health care. Homoeopaths are not against surgery, because certain conditions are simply not treatable without it. At the same time, however, surgery is often performed unnecessarily. It is performed when other, safer measures can be effectively used. It is performed too early when the body can sometimes heal itself. And it is performed inappropriately, primarily because surgeons only know surgery and don't know what else to do.