The Body Wants What the Body Wants!

The Cliffs of Moher

In May last year, my husband and I took a trip to Ireland.  We did a good deal of hiking.  While hiking near the Cliffs of Moher, my high ankle, just above the ankle bone, became excruciatingly painful, without explanation.  The tighter I tied my hiking boots, the worse it became.  I managed to find a handful of tissues to stuff in the boot and I made it through the hike.

It was a mystery to me because I didn’t sprain my ankle, the hiking boots were broken in, and, well, there was just no explanation, except perhaps overuse from all the hiking we had done. So,  I tried Arnica, which helped a bit.  I tried Bryonia, and it did nothing.  I managed to get through the rest of the trip, with one more big hike scheduled to the top of a mountain.

Upon returning home, the swelling receeded a bit and I could see a large bump under the surface of the skin.  I determined I had a ganglion cyst on my ankle.  I had never had a ganglion cyst, so I was surprised to see it.

Apparently Ganglion Cysts can be caused by irritation to the joint or tendons, according to many medical websites. A previous injury makes one susceptible to forming a ganglion cyst. (I had sprained that ankle several years prior.) It is a fluid filled cyst that contains the same lubricant found around tendons.  Not wanting to irritate it anymore, I didn’t do any hiking in the summer.

There is a remedy, Ruta Graveolens, that is a specific for Ganglion Cysts.  There are 32 other remedies, but I really didn’t have many symptoms to go by.  Since I didn’t want to confuse a new constitutional remedy, I chose to NOT take Ruta.  I did some experimenting and used an essential oil, Frankincense, mixed with a carrier oil.  I rolled it onto the Cyst several times per day.  It eventually disappeared by mid to late July.

The Cliffs of Moher

In September, I started to develop plantar fasciitis.  It seemed to get worse every time I did any serious walking.  I had hoped a different constitutional remedy would help.  It didn’t.

There was a study published in the British Journal of Podiatry in August of 2000 which showed a significant improvement using homeopathic Ruta Graveolens for plantar fasciitis versus a placebo.  Ruta is a go to remedy for any injury or irritation of connective tissue.  First sprained ankle (didn’t take Ruta), then the tendon with the ganglion cyst and now the inflamed fascia on the foot.

Twice in a short time and three times within several years, my body was displaying symptoms of Ruta in the same area of the body.  Had I taken it the first time with the sprained ankle, or later with the ganglion cyst, rather than using the Essential Oil, I may have been able to avoid the pain of the plantar fasciitis.  There are several remedies for plantar fasciitis, but the symptoms matched those of Ruta, i.e., pain and irritability worse from movement, and the symptoms are particularly worse from stepping on the foot.

The lesson here is to listen to the body, and take the appropriate remedy, sooner rather than later.  The Body Wants What the Body Wants!

Kathryn
www.lotushomeopathy.com
651-748-1556

The Top Ten Natural Care Products–Part 3

Today’s items could be called Lifestyle remedies.  You need them more often depending on the lifestyle you live.

7.    Nux Vomica 30C

Nux Vomica can help with overindulgence.

Nux Vomica is a homeopathic remedy made from a nut. It’s most useful for the after effects of over indulgence. This could include too much food or too much drink. Take a dose of 30C before you go to bed, if you can remember, but for sure when you wake up in the morning.  In hearing of others use of this remedy, they find they not only feel better if they take it, they sleep better too.  If you take it in the morning, you may find you are able to fall back asleep again. I feel like Nux Vomica is the ultimate homeopathic remedy.  In General, homeopathy could be described as the “hair of the dog that bit you.”  And Nux vomica is a specific remedy for the “Hair of the dog that bit you.”

If you feel compelled to over indulge frequently, please seek constitutional care from a professional homeopath.

8.    Ruta

This plant, when made into a homeopathic remedy, helps connective tissue.

Ruta Graveolens 30c is a useful remedy for athletes.  It is great for sprained ankles, tendinitis, and other injuries to the connective tissue.  It is also indispensable if you have an injury to the illiac crest.  This is called a hip pointer in the world of athletics. Please read this earlier post which has a success story on the use of Ruta.  The dental ligament, which is under your gums, can become injured from dental work.  Ruta can help heal the insult to the dental tissues quickly.

9.    Your Constitutional Remedy in a 30C

You only know your constitutional remedy after having a series of appointments with a classical homeopath.  One of the nice things about a constitutional remedy is that you get sick less often.  But, nothing is perfect and people on homeopathy do get sick occasionally.  If you feel you are getting sick, but have no specific symptoms, you can take a 30C dose or two for a couple of days of your constitutional remedy and it will help ward off whatever is coming.

If you are hoping that we are not done after the next post, you are correct!  There are definitely more than 10 essential natural health care products that are hard to live without.

Kathryn

651-748-1556

www.lotushomeopathy.com

Athlete Gets Back on The Court in No Time

My twelve year old son Dylan received his most serious injury of his young sports career this past weekend.

Basketball season has begun.  Although soccer is his best sport, Basketball is a good complementary sport for winter–it helps develop his upper body whereas the focus is on the lower body in soccer.

But it is a contact sport, and often the contact is with the floor.  He got pushed  from behind and fell on his left hip and elbow.

I could see that this was for real.  He winced in pain and could hardly get off the floor.  He did not play the rest of the evening.

We got home, I gave him Arnica for the trauma. Upon closer examination, it appeared he had a hip pointer.

I was not scheduled to be home on Saturday, so I couldn’t keep tabs on how he was really doing.  I was teaching an Acute Care Homeopathy course all day.  During class, I was talking about a remedy called Ruta, which is for shin splints, injuries to the periosteum, sprained ankles and wrists, and is also a specific for injuries to the illiac crest.  As I was teaching, I said, “This is what I need to give Dylan!”  A hip pointer is an injury to the illiac crest.

He felt like the Arnica was helping him, so I waited to see how he was Sunday morning.  It wasn’t looking good for playing that afternoon.  I wasn’t satisfied that he still needed Arnica.  I gave him some Ruta 200c.  Within an hour, he said, “Mom, come and see my hip.”  The bruise was completely gone.  He was running around, feeling MUCH better.  I gave him one more dose before his game. He decided to try warming up at his afternoon basketball game.

Apparently warm ups went well because he played.  He scored 6 points and was unbeatable on defense. They won in overtime.

He was a bit sore in the evening.  I gave him another dose.  He didn’t even mention it this morning.

So all you athletes:  Ruta 200C or higher for hip pointers.  This is an injury which, according to most accounts, takes 1 – 2 weeks to heal.  For Dylan, it took 2 days.  Who knows, if I had switched sooner, it may have been better sooner.

If you need help with an athletic injury, let me know.

Kathryn

651-748-1556

www.lotushomeopathy.com