The Truth About Homeopathy, Part 2–Exciting Cause versus Root Cause

Exciting Cause versus Root Cause

How many times have you felt like you have discovered the cause of a particular health problem?  You have finally gotten to the bottom of it.  This is the root cause, the source of all troubles.

The solution may look something like this:

If I stop drinking bubbly water, my bladder problems will go away.

OR

If I become a vegetarian, that will solve my digestive issues.

OR

If I just eat chocolate a little less often, I can keep my anxiety under control.

OR

If I sleep on my right side, I will sleep better because then I won’t hear my heart beating as I am trying to fall asleep.

OR

If I diffuse Lavender, my anxiety is lessened. (This suggests that you have a deficiency of Lavender currently.)

There are an unlimited number of possibilities we can concoct in our mind as solutions to make our lives better and seemingly improve our health.

In homeopathy, all these “solutions” are referred to as modalities.  We ask our clients a number of questions about what makes symptoms better and what makes them worse.  They are important in determining the correct remedy.

However, they are a “cause” of sorts.  Chocolate could be a cause of your anxiety. Eating meat could cause your digestive issues.

That sort of cause is what is referred to as an “exciting cause.”  Moving out of a damp basement when you have asthma, removes the exciting cause. But what it doesn’t address is why do you have the propensity to develop asthma in the first place.  THAT is the root cause.  The damp basement is the exciting cause.

We can spend the rest of our lives removing exciting causes and chasing down the next one that pops up.  When we have surgery to remove an ovary because of ovarian cysts, that removes the exciting cause of ovulation from that ovary.  But, the next problem will arise later.  It is like a game of whack-a-mole.  My experience over and over is that removing exciting causes where we can is an important contribution to long term healing, but does not solve the problem.

Examining the root cause requires an in depth intake interview.  Examining how you feel about certain events in your life, how you react to other people, dreams, food cravings, sleep positions, and many other questions help get to the bottom of your problems.  Symptoms of your problems come in many forms, some unrelated to what you think your chief complaint is.  Signs of the right remedy may arise in an off-hand comment, or a box you check in the intake form.

Homeopathy helps get to the root of the problem.  It is a profound form of healing.  Anything that only tackles the exciting causes is just a management technique.

If you would like to know more about how to get to the root cause of your problems, click here to book a Complimentary Consult today!

Kathryn
651-748-1556

Respiratory Virus D-68 and Homeopathy

In the midwest, hundreds of children have been hospitalized with the Enterovirus D-68.  This is a serious respiratory virus that can cause wheezing and coughing.

Coughing without covering your mouth can spread a respiratory virus.

According to Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota,  the virus infects the gastrointestinal tract. “It often spreads when children get fecal matter on their hands and then touch their mouths.” The virus can also be spread by coughing.  The virus can also live on surfaces such as doorknobs, toys, eating utensils, and other frequently touched objects.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/09/08/midwest-enterovirus-hospitalizations/15277115/

At the bottom of this article you will find the recommendations from the Minnesota Department of Health on preventing the spread of this virus.

But what does the natural health world have to say about this virus?

First, it seems like if it enters through the GI tract, diet would be especially important.  Limit sugars, sweets, alcohol.  If you aren’t taking probiotics on a regular basis, be sure to start doing so.  One probiotic that is particularly good at dealing with such bugs that are going around that can affect the GI tract is Saccharomyces boulardii.  You should consider adding 1 – 2 capsules (morning and evening if you choose two) per day to your usual regimen.  This probiotic is widely available.

Second, homeopathy can help.  Since this virus has made its appearance, we have been experiencing typical fall weather.  Warm days and cool nights.  We did have a few days of cool days and cool nights as well, but largely, it has been a typical fall.   The remedy frequently needed for this type of weather is Dulcamara.  It would be good to have some available in a 30C.  However, if you get sick, don’t assume you need this remedy.  It still has to match the physical symptoms.  So call your homeopath before taking it.  If you wish to have some on hand and can’t find it in the local health food store, please call me at the number below, and I can get some to you.

However, if you have a history of respiratory illness, it is best to consult your professional homeopath before trying to treat this at home.  And if you are wheezing or having difficulty breathing, you should go to the nearest ER.

There are ways that homeopathy can also help prevent such a virus from taking hold.  If you have a chronic respiratory illness such as Asthma, you should seek constitutional care from a professional homeopath to heal and strengthen your respiratory system.

Please read the post on Influenza to get more information on how homeopathy can help.  I recently reposted this blog from 2012 and you can find it here.  The advice posted here is relevant to this enterovirus as well.

Here is good advice from the Minnesota Department of Health.  They leave out some important suggestions, but I have included them above.

You can help protect yourself and others from respiratory illnesses by following these steps:

• People who are sick with respiratory illness should limit their contact with others, cover their coughs and sneezes, and wash their hands frequently.
• Wash hands often with soap and water for 20 seconds, especially after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing, going to the bathroom or changing diapers.
• Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth.
• Avoid kissing, hugging, and sharing cups or eating utensils with people who are sick.
• Disinfect frequently touched surfaces, such as toys and doorknobs, especially if someone is sick.

http://www.health.state.mn.us/news/pressrel/2014/enterovirus091714.html

 

Be well,

Kathryn

651-748-1556

www.lotushomeopathy.com

 

The End of the World And What You Can Do About It

The Weather Forecast for 12/21/12. Not sure who created this, but thanks for the good bit of humor!

This may be the last blog I post.  That is, if the Mayans are correct, or our interpretation of their calendar is correct.

Homeopathy will certainly not stop the world from ending if it is indeed destined to do so.  But there are some remedies that do reflect a fear that the world is coming to an end in some way.  So I thought it would be fun and interesting to share some information about them, in light of the impending doom.

The first place to look in the homeopathic repertory is under a symptom called, Mind, Prophesying, Predicts the time of death.  The first remedy one thinks of in this situation is Aconite.  This remedy is a fairly common one and you can pick it up at your local Vitamin Shoppe or food coop or natural foods store.  The idea behind Aconite is not that you are going to die sometime soon.  The idea is that you are going to die in the next couple of seconds.  It is a useful remedy for children who are very fearful about medical procedures, for example.  Also, it helps those who have been in a car accident who can’t seem to shake the fear that the next car in the intersection is going to blast through the red light and kill them.  (I’m sure you all know what I am talking about.)  Aconite was given out a lot by homeopaths in New York after 9/11, and I’m sure those in Connecticut will also be recommending Aconite as well, after the recent tragedy there.

With not quite the same sense of urgency, but nearly so, we find Argentum Nitricum.  You may know this substance as Silver Nitrate.  Do you ever look over the edge of something high and get the willies?  If you feel that way because you are afraid you might jump, this is the general feeling of Argentum Nitricum.  They are a bit impulsive and they get that sensation in high places.  If they are in between large buildings, they are concerned the buildings may fall.  Bridges?  They might collapse.  It is also a good remedy for people with performance anxiety.

Cenchris contortrix is also known as the Copperhead Snake.  The feel they will die immediately as well.  Often it has to do with a violent death in this case, whereas Aconite is more about an illness or an accident.  The fear often comes on the night and the person who needs it wakes up screaming with her heart pounding.

Lac Defloratum is a remedy made from skimmed milk.  Skimmed milk is actually not good for you, but as a homeopathic remedy, it is amazing and with the right mental emotional picture, can help people get over their sensitivity to milk.  Like all milk remedies, the people who need it are care takers.  The women are very domesticated and for them, there is no other choice.  Sometimes it gets to the point where they are feeling hopeless about their situation.  She will suffocate and die alone in a convent.  (Words from the 1800’s.)  Modern day information would be a mother who is really torn between staying home with her children and feeling like she simply can’t do that anymore.  Or they get headaches so badly they wish they could die.  There is no fear of death. It is a more drawn out process, a bit of a living death.

There is also a symptom Mind, Death, Conviction of.  The people who need the remedies in this symptom are sure they will die, without assigning a time to their death.  So those who are fearful of the demise predicted by the Mayans would definitely not fall into this category.  As it turns out, there is almost no overlap with the remedies in the other symptoms.

I hope the Mayans are wrong and you are around to read my next blog post.  Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!

All the best,

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

Fear of Flying and Other Trauma in Airplanes

The vacation is over, as is the poor internet connections, which prevented me from posting as often as I had planned.

Trauma in an airplane--helped by Homeopathy

On the way home, my sons, 12 and 15, got to sit together in the very back row of the plane.  My husband and I were split apart.  My kids got to sit next to someone who normally got sick while flying.  YAY!.  Glad it was them and not me.  Apparently the poor fellow spent at least 45 minutes in the bathroom during the 2 hour flight.

Had he been fortunate enough to be sitting next to a homeopath who had her remedy kit handy in the plane (that would be me), the homeopath would have considered these remedies.

First, if the issue was related to the up and down motion of the airplane, which one can experience during turbulence, take offs and landings, I would have given him Borax.  This is a remedy that has the symptom of being worse from up and down motion.  Another remedy to consider for motion sickness is Cocculus indicus.  I believe I mentioned this as a jet lag remedy, but it is also a great remedy for motion sickness in airplanes and boats.  There are actually 61 remedies for nausea caused by motion.  Another one to consider is  Nux Vomica, a good all purpose remedy, especially for nausea from over indulgence.  So if too many drinks at the airport bar was the source of the distress–and this is not too far a stretch if the fellow was nervous about flying and wanted to calm his nerves–Nux Vomica would be the first choice.  If anxiety about potential death and chills were in the picture, try Arsenicum.  Homeopathic Tobacco, or Tabaccum, is another motion sickness remedy.  This remedy is also very chilly, but feels more distressed by the illness than by the thought of possibly dying in a plane crash. Like a child who sneaks his dad’s cigarettes, it also includes dizziness along with the nausea.

Sometimes it is hard to separate fear of flying from motion sickness.  There are many remedies for fear of flying, and it really depends on what the fear is about.  If you are certain that death is imminent, consider Aconite before the flight and during the flight.  If the fear of death includes nausea and chills, consider Arsenicum.  Argentum nitricum, common name Silver nitrate, is a remedy for fear of flying that would also include claustrophobia.  Aconite also has this symptom, but the emphasis is on death in Aconite, where as the closed in spaces would be the prominent symptom in Argentum nitricum.  Arg Nit is a warm remedy as well.

Another option is Bach Rescue Remedy prior to and during the flight.  You could also have someone familiar with Bach Flowers to mix a customized blend of Bach flowers to match your situations and symptoms.

There are many possibilities to help make your flight more enjoyable, short of drinking yourself into oblivion before and during the flight. If these options don’t help or match your symptoms, call a professional homeopath to help.

Kathryn

651-748-1556

www.lotushomeopathy.com

 

Homeopathy and Malaria

Mosquitoes carry the protozoa which causes malaria.

This is the week for Homeopathy and Traveling, so I thought I would start with a look back in the history of homeopathy and discuss Malaria.  Fortunately, in the US, we don’t have this problem anymore.  But if you travel abroad, you may find yourself in a country where Malaria prophylaxis is recommended. Unfortunately, many of the mosquitoes are carrying a protozoa which is immune to the phrophylaxis drugs.  In addition, the side effects are not pleasant.

Back in the 1700 and 1800’s, physicians used Quinine to treat malaria.  It is still used in western medicine.  Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of the principals of homeopathy, was a physician and a chemist.  He was curious about the way medicines worked.  He was disgusted by the medical practices of his time and so he quit practicing medicine and translated medical textbooks to support his large family.  While translating a book, he found a reference to how Quinine worked.  It said that the reason it treated malaria so well was because it was so bitter.  Being a chemist, Hahnemann knew several substances that were more bitter than malaria.  His curiosity got the best of him and he decided to take a dose of Quinine, just to see what would happen.

What happened is that he developed the symptoms of malaria.  He didn’t develop malaria because he didn’t have the protozoa necessary to develop the actual disease.  In taking the medicine, he stumbled upon the principal of like cures like.  He recognized that if he gave Quinine to a patient who had malaria, the symptoms would go away.  But if he gave it to a patient who did not have malaria, that person would develop those symptoms.  He dedicated the rest of his life to exploring and developing the principals of homeopathy. He recognized that he needed to harness the healing properties of quinine and other natural substances without making people more sick than they had been due to other effects of the drugs.   He even coined the phrase “homeopathy” which means “Similar Suffering.”

So the first homeopathic remedy was made from the bark of the Chinchona bush, commonly called Quinine.  It’s homeopathic name is China.

Fast forward to the present time.  Malaria is a horrible disease which causes many needless deaths annually in Africa.  Homeopaths in Africa successfully treat malaria with homeopathy.  A homeopath in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, has found that when he is able to treat his patients with homeopathy, they don’t get malaria again.

So what if you have a trip planned to Africa and you don’t want to take the Malaria prophylaxis drugs, such as chloroquine, doxycycline and others?  Can homeopathy help?  Yes, it can.  There are a series of high potency homeopathic remedies that can help your body develop a generalized immune response that can enable you to avoid the effects of the mosquitoes.   It is too complex and complicated to put into a blog, and the remedies can only be purchased from a homeopath.  Like other Malaria prophylaxis, you must start a month before you leave for your trip and continue the remedies while in country.  When you get home, you can discontinue the remedies.

If I were going to a country where malaria is rampant, I would bring my mosquito netting, insect repellent and a small kit of remedies to use just in case I got malaria while I was there.  (Many people who do contract the disease don’t actually get the symptoms until they have returned home.)  I would also have my malaria prophylaxis remedies along too.

Let me know if you have a trip coming and would like some help.  You would need to contact me at least six weeks prior to taking your trip.

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

Emergency Medicine: What Homeopathy Offers–Part 1

Arnica Montana for Trauma

Earlier this week I discussed some Natural Health viewpoints of western medicine.  The view of Emergency Medicine is different.  Most Natural Health providers find ER doctors and nurses to be amazing life savers.  It takes a certain type of person to work in an Emergency Room.  You have to have a clear head and be confident in your skills.  A panicky nurse or doctor won’t be very successful working in a crisis environment.  (Remember this:   a crisis isn’t what happens, it is how you react to what happens.)

However, there are a few homeopathic remedies that should be staples in the Emergency Room that would improve outcomes for the patients.

The first remedy is, you guessed it, Arnica montana.  Arnica is a remedy with no equal when it comes to dealing with trauma such as a car accident, a broken limb, etc.  Studies have shown it to not only be effective in easing pain without the use of narcotics, but also helping people heal faster.  One study was done on Arnica and plastic surgery.  People’s perception of how quickly they healed did not show any difference between those who got Arnica and those who didn’t.  But digital photos of the patients showed a significant difference when the photos were enlarged and the pixels of the bruised skin were examined and counted.  The bruising on the Arnica patients healed more quickly. Of course, no one ever heals quickly enough when they have had cosmetic surgery.  This is not a study on a traumatic situation, but the skin was still traumatized by the surgery.

Aconite for anticipating death

Aconite should be used in all Emergency Rooms, but especially in Pediatric ER’s.  The feeling of Aconite is one of panic.  The symptom is “Can Name Their Time of Death.”  When a child goes to an ER or to have surgery, they frequently feel like they are going to die.  Even my son would need Aconite when he accidentally ate nuts or peanuts, his throat started to close, and he began to think he would die.  Within minutes, he was much better.  Because it is such an intense state, we must match the state with the potency and have high potency (1M, 10M, 50M) doses available.  Children’s hospitals have social workers, nurses and others working to calm children before they have surgery.  Think how much easier it would be to give them some Aconite so they can calm down on their own, rather than having to be talked into being calm.

There are many other emergency remedies, which we will discuss in Part 2.

There are many important elements in making the presence of remedies in the ER successful.  First, the people who would be dispensing the remedies need to be well trained.  They need to know what to look for, learn the symptoms of the remedies, what potency to give, and how often.

Second, many different potencies of the remedies would need to be made available.

Third, the ER staff would have to buy into the idea of using the remedies.  The cost savings would be significant and the outcomes improved.  That would be a place to start.

Kathryn

651-748-1556

www.lotushomeopathy.com

What Do You Think Of….? Part 2

One of the big disagreements between natural health practitioners, such as homeopaths and acupuncturists, and western medicine doctors isn’t whether or not western medicine drugs suppress symptoms.  The disagreement is whether suppressing symptoms is problematic or not.  They largely say it is not.  We say it is.

Dis-ease is like a vine

How many of you know of someone who has taken a medication, only to develop additional symptoms.  Eczema?  Here’s some cortisone creme.  What happens a few months later?  Asthma perhaps?  I’ve seen it.  I had a client a long time ago who had asthma.  She received a remedy that matched her current symptoms.  To my surprise, she called me between appointments to tell me that some warts on her fingers had returned.  It had been hard to keep them suppressed, and she had had several appointments to get them frozen off.  The interesting thing is that when the warts returned, the asthma went away.  It took until we could give her a stronger dose of her remedy for the warts to disappear completely.  But she was happy to have the warts in the mean time rather than the asthma.

Many people’s lives have been saved by Western Pharmaceuticals, and this should not be disregarded.  However, there is a time and a place for them. Sometimes symptoms spiral out of control and it becomes a game of Whack-a-Mole.

Think of your dis-ease as a very tall pole, and ll your symptoms as vines growing up the pole.  if you cut down the vines, they will grow back again.  If you cut down all the vines, it also allows new and different vegetation to take hold and grow up the vine.  The suppressive approach taken by western medicine is analogous to cutting the vines down.  If you stop the medicine, the vines grow back.  If you continue the medicine, you allow new growth in the form of new symptoms.  Then you need an additional medicine to cut down the new vines.

By contrast, homeopathy aims to remove the pole.  If the vines have no where to grow, they will die.

In life, it is much easier and faster to snip down a vine than to cut down a pole.  The attraction of suppressing the symptoms and having instant relief is clear.  However, homeopathic remedies can work with amazing speed–sometimes within seconds.  The waiting that occurs is the time it takes for your body to heal itself.

Kathryn

651-748-1556

www.lotushomeopathy.com

What Can Homeopathy Do?

I am often asked exactly what homeopathy can do.  For a longer list, I recommend going to my website at www.lotushomeopathy.com and click on Can You Help Me.  Don’t click on any of the submenu items just yet.  By clicking on Can You Help Me, the website will display a list of categories of things that homeopathy has been known to assist with.

It isn’t very often that I can actually SHOW the effects of homeopathy.

A bad case of Lazy Eye--before

After he received the correct remedy, the eye improved rather drastically within 3 days or so and continued to improve regularly after subsequent doses of the remedy and after different remedies.

No surgery needed.  This is a good thing, because those surgeries don’t always work, in spite of their long history.

No More Lazy Eye--After Homeopathy