The Flu – Healing With Homeopathy

I posted this blog post in January 2013. It is the flu season now, and I thought this information would be good for you all to have this year.

There are homeopathic remedies that are helpful for when one feels ill from the flu. Often in a flu season, there are 2 – 3 specific homeopathic remedies that are good for that particular strain of flu. During the 1918-1919 influenza epidemic in the USA, homeopathic physicians recorded that those patients treated with homeopathy had a lower mortality rate than those treated with conventional medicine.

To determine which remedy fits best, it is good to observe and to note how the ill person is feeling (you could be the ill person), even taking note of changes in behaviors and emotional moods. Some of the observations are:

• tiredness/fatigue
• heavy feeling
• chilly/hot
• aches and pains
• gradual or sudden onset of symptoms
• fever
• cough
• runny nose                                                                                                                                                                      
• headaches
• stomach issues
• thirst – a lot, a little, for what temperature
• moving – makes one better or worse
• wanting others around or wants to be alone
• clingy
• irritable
• restless
• what makes one better/worse
• time of day when better/worse

Homeopathic Remedies

Here is a list of homeopathic remedies that are useful for the flu. As I wrote above, observe yourself or the ill person,  and then match with the description below. One of the main principles of homeopathy is The Law of Similars, which means Like Cures Like.  I suggest writing down your observations first. The ill person doesn’t have to experience all the symptoms that are listed in the description. Use the 30C potency of the chosen remedy.

You may start with one remedy, and then change to another as the healing progresses.  I had one case years ago of a woman in her 30’s. She started with the remedy Pulsatilla – she didn’t want to be alone and wanted to be with everyone else in the living room. Then she wanted to be in a back bedroom all by herself.  At that time, she needed the homeopathic remedy Bryonia.

ACONITE – symptoms come on suddenly and violently. The person is fearful, anxious and restless. May look anxious and flushed becoming pale when sitting up. Thirst for cold drinks. Head feels heavy. A dry barking cough. Worse before midnight. May feel that they will die.

ARSENICUM ALBUM – aching. Thirst for sips of warm or cold drinks. Burning pains here and there. Extreme weakness and debilitated, yet restless, anxious, fearful and irritable. Extremely chilly, but will want the window open. Wants to be with a friend to calm their fears. Nightly aggravation, after midnight. Obsessed with order, tidiness. Fastidious.

BAPTISIA – sore muscles. Putrid discharges. Prostration. Bed feels too hard, because of the soreness of the body. Confusion. Sensation that the body parts are separated. Face appears dusky and dull.

BRYONIA – worse from any movement. Irritable, doesn’t want people around. Wants to be alone. Constipated. Thirst for large amounts of cold water, although the mouth and lips are dry. Worse in a warm room. Better in cool air. Headaches worse from motion, walking or moving eyes.  Worse from any kind of motion; holds body parts still. Symptoms come on gradually. May have a painful cough and pain in the throat and chest. Pain is described as bursting or stitching.

BELLADONNA – sudden onset of high fever with burning, dry hot body (burning to touch) and icy cold feet. Violent symptoms. Face is flushed. Usually not thirsty, nor sweaty. May have intense fever terrors, to the point that the child does not recognize his parents. Worse in the afternoon.

EUPATORIUM PERFOLIATUM – deep soreness, aching and bruising feeling in the bones, as if the bones will break. Even the eyeballs are sore. May feel totally “wiped out”, lethargic, and unable to exert the least effort. Feels chilled, especially between 7 – 9 am. Great thirst for cold water, especially when chill comes on. Sweat makes all the symptoms better except the headache. Runny nose, sneezing and red eyes prior to body aches.

FERRUM PHOSPHORICUM – often used at the beginning of mild fevers, head colds and chest infections, before distinctive symptoms are shown that would lead to another remedy. Symptoms come on gradually. Red cheeks. Moderate thirst. Dull and sluggish.

GELSENIUM – slow onset, dullness, weakness, heaviness and aching. Listless and apathetic. Face is dull, heavy, flushed with heavy eyelids. Chills running up the spine. Wants to be left alone. Headache beginning in the back of the head or neck and extending upward. Mouth and lips are very dry, yet not thirsty. Lies quietly.

NUX VOMICA – irritability and sensitivity to light, odors and noise. Angry, impatient, easily offended. Chilly. Wants to be wrapped warmly. Constipated, with ineffectual urging.

PHOSPHORUS – often the person doesn’t show the severity of the illness. A child may have a temperature of 104, yet be playing happily. Colds go down to the chest, accompanied by a dry tight cough. Feels very weak. Thirsty for refreshing ice cold drinks, but may vomit as soon as water is warmed in the stomach. Laryngitis with or without pain. May lose voice completely.

PULSATILLA – person may be tearful and emotional. Wants company and desires sympathy. Usually has no thirst. Desire for the open air. Discharges are thick.

RHUS TOX – restless. Aches and pains while lying still. Worse when first starting to move, better with continuous motion. Chilly. Worse in cold and damp air. Thirsty for sips of water. Dry mouth, dry sore throat.

Listen to yourself and your body. It is also good to get as much rest as you can, and to drink fluids. If you feel like eating, eat, if you don’t feel like eating, don’t.

If I can be of any help, please contact me.

Wishing you all good health.

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Hearing Color

I wanted to share this video with you. It is of a man who hears color. He doesn’t see color at all.  His name is Neil Harbisson. Recently, I heard several interviews with Pharrell Williams on the Oprah Winfrey network and on Morning Edition on NPR (December 31, 2013).  In both these interviews, Pharrell Williams talks a little bit about seeing colors when he hears music. This is called synesthesia.

We are all so different. We are each individuals.  It is wonderful to see our different capabilities and sensitivities.   That is what I love so much about homeopathy: seeing each person as an individual. Homeopathy focuses on the individual, understanding the individual’s suffering, and how they experience it. Then selecting a homeopathic remedy that is similar to this individual, and fits them.

Enjoy the video. It is about three minutes long.

What Health Concern Are You “Paying Attention” To? Homeopathy Lessens Your Attention To It

I was reading about “paying attention” in the context of being attentive to what and where our thoughts and feelings are focusing on, and what kinds of stories we tell ourselves. It is being mindful.  I think it is important to develop and practice this skill of paying attention.

There is another way that we can use this expression of “paying attention”. It can be used when talking about a physical ailment, an emotional state, a mental state, or a situation. We may not say that we are “paying attention” to these health concerns, but often, it is all that we are thinking about. It has taken over our lives.

A friend of mine has suffered from plantar fascia for many years, maybe over 20 years. She says walking and sitting are much better than standing, or moving slowly, such as when shopping. The other day, she needed to buy a shower curtain, and was successful in the purchase, but it was uncomfortable to stand, and to move slowly between the aisles as she was looking at the merchandise. She uses a scale from 1 – 10 to rate her discomfort and pain. Two is very manageable, and even acceptable. Ten is equivalent to child birth. She has had a MRI, and there is no pathological tissue damage, nor any nerve damage. Surgery then is not needed. That is good, yet, she still has the pain and the discomfort, almost always. This is an example of a chronic illness: always there; with flare ups, at times; better at other times; never goes away; acceptance and just living with it.  My friend, unfortunately has not come to see a homeopath.

Paying Attention

A chronic state is always saying: Pay attention to me?  I am affecting your day.  You need to think about me, when you do something. When you make your plans, you need to think how that activity will affect me. And how will I affect your experience of this activity?

I know this sounds funny.

But it is true, the chronic state has taken over. This can be with anxiety, with depression, with anger, with fear, with any ongoing physical complaint, with sleeping difficulties, with behavior concerns, I could go on. In a way it is as if everything is just one way – a restriction, a pain, a reaction, a particular thought or feeling, a symptom, a health concern.  And, as if, the only color there is, is orange. And we know there are other colors – blues, reds, greens, purples, yellows, magentas, pinks, and other beautiful colors – but all we see is orange. (I think orange is a beautiful color too.) This is all we are paying attention to. We don’t see anything else. This is not health.

What Are You Paying Attention To?

What is it that you are constantly paying attention to?  Is it a particular symptom, a thought, a feeling, a gut feeling, a health concern, plantar fascia? This is what homeopathy heals so well – what we are paying SO much attention to. With a homeopathic healing, the symptoms and health concerns become less and less and ease off. We are then able to be involved in living,  not being restricted by this health concern. We see all the colors.

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I am happy to talk further about how homeopathy can be of help for what health concern you or a loved one are paying attention to. I see people of all ages. Either leave a comment below or contact me through my website, http://www.homeopathytoheal.com  I offer a 15 complimentary phone consultation.

 

 

 

Acute Illnesses and Chronic Conditions – Homeopathy Heals

People say they are sick, with a cold, a flu, asthma, eczema, for example. In this blog post, I want to differentiate between an acute and a chronic illness. Homeopathy is helpful in both of these types of illnesses.

Acute

An acute illness is defined as being one of a sudden onset, lasting for a short period of time. Either the person recovers, or dies. It is a one time occurrence. Some acutes are:

• Colds
• Influenzas
• Viruses
• Infections
• Childhood diseases

 

 

 

With homeopathic care, these acute illnesses don’t last as long, and symptoms don’t linger. Often, in a flu season, there are several homeopathic remedies that are healing for that particular flu strain that year.  If you are not moving through an acute illness, then homeopathy will be very helpful.

Sometimes an acute illness can develop into a chronic condition, such as with earaches, stomachaches, sore throats, and swollen glands. We hear this a lot with children, having one earache after another. Having earaches has become a chronic condition.

Chronic

Chronic conditions are ongoing health concerns. There are flare ups of the symptoms, and at other times the person may feel well. It is not necessarily life threatening, but it is ongoing. Often, at the onset, it might not have been noticed, but over time, it has gotten progressively worse, lowering the person’s immune system.  The person tends to live with the chronic health concern the best way they can. And perhaps, the person is using medication to help ease or to palliate the symptoms, pains, or discomforts, but the medication is not truly healing the health concern. Some chronic health concerns are:

• Arthritis
• Auto immune diseases
• Asthma
• Breathing difficulties
• Coughs
• Depression, anxiety, panic attacks
• Insomnia
• Skin eruptions – eczema, psoriasis
• Digestive issues
• Headaches and migraines
• Menstrual difficulties
• Fertility issues
• Men’s issues
• Behavioral challenges
• Fears
• Chronic earaches, stomachaches, sore throats, swollen glands
• Just don’t feel well
• A health concern developed after an accident or injury, such as chronic pain
• A health concern that developed after an emotional loss or trauma

Homeopathy Heals Acute and Chronic Health Concerns

Homeopathy is wonderful for both acute and chronic health concerns. With each of these health concerns, the homeopath listens, observes, and uncovers, with the aim to understand what this person’s suffering is like. Then a homeopathic remedy is given that is similar to what the person is experiencing in their health concern. The homeopathic remedy stimulates the person’s own healing process, their immune system, and heals at the core of where the symptoms, discomfort and pain stem from.

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I would be happy to talk further about how homeopathy can be of help for any acute or chronic health concerns you, or a loved one may be experiencing. I see people of all ages. Either leave a comment below or contact me through my website, http://www.homeopathytoheal.com  I offer a 15 complimentary phone consultation.

My Ear Hurts – Homeopathy Heals

An earache or ear infection can be very painful. Some children have a few, and some children have ongoing ones, with antibiotic, after antibiotic, that doesn’t help at all.  And the overuse of antibiotics is now thought of as being a possible cause of a child developing a peanut allergy. See my blog post OVERUSE OF ANTIBIOTICS MAY BE A CAUSE OF PEANUT ALLERGIES.

I want to let people know that there are other choices to help an earache or ear infection other than antibiotics. Homeopathy is very helpful.  As with anything, each person experiences an earache unique to them.  I have listed a few homeopathic remedies below that are helpful for earaches. When you read the description, you can see how different each remedy is.  The side of the earache? How it came on? Thirst? Emotional state? Cold or warm?  What makes them better? Worse?

Homeopathic Remedies

Observe the person who has the earache or ear infection, and match it to the remedy that is similar.

Aconite – comes on after being exposed to cold/dry wind or shock. Sudden onset. May come on after a fright. Sensitive to noise. External ear is red. Pain is sharp and severe. Thirsty for cold drinks. Restless, anxious, fearful, screaming with pain. Worse at night, from noise and pressure. Better in fresh air, from rest, and hot applications. May also have a high fever and/or swollen glands.

When one of my sons was a baby, he developed a fever. His ear may have been hurting as well. A couple of days before this, there had been an extremely loud clap of thunder during the night. (We very rarely have thunder in the San Diego area.) At the time, he had started to cry from the loud noise, and seemed very, very frightened. Remembering his response to the thunder several days before, I gave him the remedy Aconite. This homeopathic remedy helped him a lot.

Belladonna – comes on from exposure to cold/dry wind, or getting the head wet. Sudden onset. Right sided. Ear is bright red. Eardrum is red and bulging. Hears noises in the ear. Pain is severe, stitching, sharp, throbbing. Pain comes on suddenly. Pain may extend to neck. Tongue is “strawberry” in color. Pupils are dilated. Thirst less. Head is hot, and the extremities are cold. Restless. Delirious. Confused. Screams with the pain, even when sleeping.

Calcarea carbonica – may come on from getting wet. Putrid discharges. Hearing may be impaired. Throbbing pain. Person is slow, sweaty, sour and sluggish. Worse from cold and exertion. Better with rest and heat. Glands may be swollen. May be stubborn and obstinate. Constipated.

Chamomilla – may come while teething or getting wet. One cheek is red and hot, and the other is pale and cool. Pains are throbbing, sharp like a sudden attack. Hot and thirsty. Irritable, capricious, wants things now and then throws them away when given. Wants to be carried. Pains are unbearable. Worse at night, from cold air. Better from cold applications. May have a fever.

Hepar sulph – from cold or cold winds. Moves from left to right. Offensive discharges.  Hearing is impaired. Pain is sharp, stitching, and radiates to jaw or throat. Person is sweaty and chilly. Irritable, angry, and abusive. Better with hot drinks, warmth, head or ear wrapped up, hot applications. Often accompanied by a sore throat or swollen glands.

Pulsatilla – after getting chilled, from emotional stress, measles or common cold. Discharge is thick, bland and yellow/green. Ear is red and feels blocked. Pains are pulsating, darting, tearing, and pressing. Moods are changeable. Thirst less. Chilly. Weepy, clingy, irritable, whinny, and affectionate. Worse at night and from heat. Better from cold, crying, gentle motion, and fresh air. Hearing is impaired. Hears roaring of pulse in ear. Itching in ear.

Silica – may come on after getting chilled, change of weather to cold and dry, from getting feet wet and from vaccination. Has blocked sensation in ear. Itching in ear. Discharge is smelly, thick and bloody. Pain is tearing, pressing outward. Sweaty and chilly. Timid, anxious and worn out. Worse from cold, cold drafts and wind, and open air. Better from warmth, wrapping, hot applications and humidity. Hearing is impaired.

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If the earache continues or if there are ongoing earaches, it would be beneficial to see a homeopath. The homeopathic remedies I listed here are only a few of many that can help and heal in this situation. When seeing a homeopath, they will find out more about the person, and how the earache is for them. Then the homeopathic remedy that is the most similar to the person will be given.  A good healing will come from this.

I would be happy to talk further about how homeopathy can be of help for earaches and ear infections. Either leave a comment below or contact me through my website, http://www.homeopathytoheal.com