A Homeopathy Success Story–Lesson Learned: Pay Attention to Symptoms

I recently had a repeat accident.  I burned my finger while cooking in oil.  This time I was on vacation and I had only 36 remedies to choose from.

It was EXTREMELY painful, so I took the same remedy that provided relief last time–Cantharis.  It is a good remedy for burns that are extremely painful and blister.  Read about that blog post here.

Cantharis was in the 36 remedy kit, so I was in luck…or so I thought.  It didn’t work, however.  We were fishing.  I was in the boat.  I had a bag of ice and a cooler of ice.  My burned finger felt great in the ice.  When I was busy, I noticed it didn’t hurt so much.  But waiting for those walleyes to bite was excruciating!  When I first started reeling in the line, it hurt, but the more I continued reeling and netting other’s fish, it felt much better.  I had observed even before we went out fishing that as long as I was walking around, it felt much better.

Rhus Tox, also known as Poison Ivy, with the smooth leaves. Leaves of three, let it be.

I thought of Rhus Tox which is a well known remedy. The symptoms of Rhus Tox include being worse from first motion and better from continued motion.  But generally Rhus Tox is better from heat, especially with Poison Ivy, and my finger was MUCH better from cold.  If I hadn’t had any way to look up the symptoms, I would have just taken it, but since I could look it up, I did.  It turns out that Rhus Tox also has the opposite symptom of being better from cold.  I took a dose.

Within 20 minutes, it was an order of magnitude better.  Later in the day I took another dose.  That was all.  Two doses.  Pain was gone.  The next day it had formed a blister.  Since then, the skin has all peeled off the burn and you cannot tell that it was even there.

I knew before I took the Cantharis that I was better from walking around (classic Rhus Tox symptom).  I should have paid attention to all my symptoms before deciding to use the remedy that worked best last time.  I would have had pain relief two hours earlier.

Remedies to Bring Along When You Travel

People ask all the time what remedies they should bring along on a trip.  Obviously, it depends on the time of year, where you are traveling, what you are doing, etc.

The first thing I recommend is that you buy a remedy kit for traveling.  This may or may not be the same kit you keep at home.  If you can have them hand checked, that would be best.  Many people I know replace the kits after they have been through an x-ray machine 8 – 10 times or so.  On the other hand, I have used the same kit for many years and it still works.

Ledum can help puncture wounds, such as you may get from stepping on a sea urchin barb.

Limiting it today to domestic travel, think about what could happen that would really ruin a trip.  Injuries, colds, influenza to start with.  A nice Homeopathy First Aid kit would be handy.  Arnica would naturally be a remedy I would recommend you bring on a trip.  30C and 200C at a minimum.  If you were to sprain an ankle, or sustain some other injury, it could really make a difference.

One remedy you may not think to bring is Ledum.  Ledum is a remedy for puncture wounds.  If you splash in the waves in Hawaii in your bare feet, you may step on a Sea Urchin barb.  The first thing the locals recommend for this situation is to soak your foot in your urine.  If you can’t stand the thought of that, take Ledum 30c, and ice the point of entry.  You will probably have to take several doses of Ledum.  You can take it as needed.  Another handy use for Ledum is if you bite your tongue.  People don’t think that as a particularly burdensome injury, but it can spoil your meals for a few days.  Young children in a crabby mood because they can’t eat could hamper the merriment as well.

Sunny weather often equals sunburn.  Obviously, Sunscreen is the best prevention.  But if you forget to put some one or you miss a spot, there are a few good options.  Calendula creme or ointment can help a mild sunburn applied topically as needed.  If you get a serious sunburn, Causticum or Cantharis could also help.

I recommend that my clients bring along their constitutional remedy in a 30C.  If you feel you are coming down with something, a couple doses of  30C of your constitutional remedy can help ward off a bug.  If you don’t know what your constitutional remedy is, give me a call.

I would also recommend Bryonia and Rhus Tox as well.  They are great injury remedies to follow Arnica.  Bryonia is good for injuries worse from motion.  Rhus Tox can help injuries that are worse on first motion but better on continued motion.

This won’t cover all situations that may arise, but it is a start.

Kathryn

651-748-1556

www.lotushomeopathy.com

Can Weather Affect Your Health?

Everyone knows the story of an elderly relative whose arthritis acts up when rain is coming.  But largely, Western Medicine ignores weather as a factor in either health or illness.

Change of seasons can affect your health

In homeopathy, it is different.  We are just moving out of what has been a fabulous autumn in Minnesota.  Warm Days and Warm Nights.  Fall is a typical month for the remedy Dulcamara, which has the symptom of being worse with Warm Days and Cool Nights.  In 2010, I recommended Dulcamara many times.  In 2011, where the nights didn’t cool off so much, I recommended it perhaps twice.  This remedy could be used for digestive disorders, coughs, colds, any acute illness that comes on under those weather conditions.

Another important remedy to keep in mind with winter coming up is Aconite.  An Aconite state produces a high fever and anxiety about their illness, being certain that they will be dying soon.  The weather condition that is most likely to produce this state is cold, windy weather.  I’ve seen children and adults, who are exposed to cold wind, develop a high fever and need Aconite for ear infections, bronchitis, and even pneumonia.

Anyone who lives in the Northern climate knows that the lack of sunshine can cause depression all winter long.  This is sometimes known as Seasonal Affective Disorder.  I call it the winter blues.  Light boxes are an option and can make things better.  The Homeopathic Materia Medica lists 58 remedies under the symptom, General Weather, Cloudy, Aggravates.  I am fairly certain this is not an exhaustive list, however.

Change of seasons can bring up all sorts of pathology, acute or chronic.  One remedy that has this symptom is Rhus Tox.  It is a common remedy for injuries that are better from heat.  Most of the remedies in the symptom General, Seasons, Autumn, Aggravates are remedies that are better from heat.  Most of us probably also would not be surprised to find that the season that aggravates more people is Winter, followed by Summer, Spring and then Autumn.  So we are in the best time of year, health wise.

So if you are dreading the approach of a new season, whether it is the season itself or just the transition to a new season, homeopathy can help you through it.

Kathryn

651-748-1556

www.lotushomeopathy.com