January 2010 : Volume 12 : Number 1

Welcome to the first Newsletter of a new decade!

I trust you all had a good Christmas and a 2010 is already proving to be happy, healthy and prosperous.

I just thought I'd share a few happy and sad events on our property in Tasmania over the last month.

We have not one, but two, learner kookaburras in the garden!! The first time I heard them I thought they were baby black cockatoos because of their screeching. After a day or so I heard an adult kookaburra laugh, followed by one baby kookaburra trying to have a go. It's been about three weeks now and they are taking turns at getting a little more proficient, but I think it's going to be a while before they get their full laughing licence!

Some of you may remember me talking about the miraculous recovery of our drake, Mr Richmond, after Aconite brought him back from the brink following a hawk attack. Sadly, a feral cat attacked him early one morning and no amount of homeopathy could bring him back to us. His girls (the chickens) are very lost without him and we miss his morning greetings at the back deck and funny bobbing head when we called his name. He is buried next to our beloved cat, Ziggy, near the Silver Birch grove.

HOMEOPATHIC TRAVELS IN AFRICA
By Merrilyn Mellis (Friend and patient)

My husband and I are retired and spent 4 months of last year in Tanzania in Africa where we were volunteering at a school called "St Jude" in a town called Arusha. Whilst my husband, who has a business background, was involved with the future planning of the school, I spent my time with the children helping out in every way I could from being prompt at a musical performance, helping with letter-writing and in the very involved process of selecting the next 150 children for 2010.

Before we left for Africa, Melanie gave me a Homeopathic Travel Program which covered Hep A/B and Malaria (two injections I didn't have to have before we left) and other constitutional anti-viral/anti-bacterial remedies. Plus I travelled with my Homeopathic Travel Kit. I felt I was absolutely in control of anything that might come my way with my little box of remedies. I had no trouble at all the airports we passed through and was able to pass the box containing the remedies over to someone the other side of the x-ray machines without them having to go through the machine. Airport staff showed little interest in the contents of my box. Apart from a mild stomach upset and one bout of food poisoning, both of which I treated with homeopathics, I have never felt so well.

Our 4 months in Tanzania gave us a rewarding, stimulating, sometimes stressful but overwhelmingly fantastic experience. The Tanzanian people are welcoming and hospitable, exceptionally polite and happy and very colourful, both in their dress and character, and the children are absolutely the cutest I have ever seen. We have loads of gorgeous photographs and thousands of memories to keep our time there alive for us for many years to come. I can thoroughly recommend volunteering abroad and feel very confident that with homeopathics my good health will not be compromised.

Ear infections - First Steps

As you know, ears have been a speciality of mine for some years, but I realise I haven't written anything about homeopathy for ears for some time. This may be more relevant to those of you reading the newsletter in the Northern Hemisphere, but in reality ear infections can happen at any time of the year.

Kali Mur/Ferrum Phos 6x has long been a favourite of mine for treating a variety of ear symptoms. It is a combination tissue salt to which I have most recently added Nat Mur 6x (see below).

Ferrum Phos is a good remedy when you have a suspicion something is brewing but have no symptoms to pin a remedy to. It is also for the first signs of low grade inflammation (which you may not be able to see) and low fever (which you may be more aware of).

Kali Mur is a good remedy wherever there is nasal discharge or fluid in the ears and it helps keep the mucous membranes healthy.

Nat Mur has an affinity for the fluid systems of the body and is good when colds start with watery mucous and sneezing, hence the addition to the combination.

Sometimes I will use this combination as part of constitutional treatment for glue ear.

At the first sign there may be a problem or when a runny nose develops, I recommend you give the drops (or pilules) every couple of hours on the first day. If it seems to be holding the symptoms at bay, then reduce to three times a day for 3 days.

If you find yourself in the situation of having symptoms to prescribe on here are my three favourite single remedies:

If ear pain comes on quickly and the external ear looks red give Belladonna 30c every hour until there is improvement, with a maximum of 5 doses.

If the child is cranky, clingy and has ear pain with teething Chamomilla 30c is usually the right remedy. Give as required, up to every half an hour for 5 doses.

If the nose discharge has got to the stage of being yellow/green and the ears feel blocked (or hearing seems low) give Pulsatilla 30c three times a day for three days.

The remedy mixture known as ABC (now on the website) can be quite good for pain relief (Aconite 30c) Belladonna 30c, Chamomilla 30c). Give it every 15 minutes until the child is settled (maximum 5 doses, and reduce the frequency of doses as they improve.

Obviously there are many more remedies which could be required for ear infections as every child is different, but these will suit a large number of children.

The majority of ear infections do not need antibiotics and are often adequately treated at home. However if your child has already had a lot of ear infections plus antibiotics, you will most likely need constitutional treatment to bring the immune system back to a point where it is strong enough to work with the remedies effectively.

These are the basics of treating the start of an ear infection at home and will more often than not resolve the problem. If you are not successful with your home prescribing, see your doctor, healthcare practitioner or contact me for a consultation.

10 great reasons to buy a Homeopathic Kit!

Many of my patients have kits or at least a few remedies which they can use in emergencies or at the beginning of an acute illness. However, sometimes people ring me for help, without having anything much on hand. Sometimes they have constitutional remedies prescribed for a family member which can be helpful, or perhaps I can send them to a pharmacy to buy the remedy in a Brauer combination, but often there really isn't much I can do without remedies.

Here then are 10 great reasons to think about buying a kit for yourself or family:

1. Small children often come down sick in the night when no-one is available to help. With a kit and a book you can at least begin the treatment process if the situation does not require medical care at that point.
2. Accidents and injuries happen when you least expect them and you need something on hand immediately. The sooner you can treat, the sooner discomfort is alleviated and the better the outcome.
3. You can use your remedies for your family and also for your pets and even your plants as you get more confident.
4. It's great to have a few remedies or a small kit ready to throw in an overnight bag or nappy bag. I always have a mini kit in my handbag.
5. Remedies are easy to transport, pilules won't leak, and a kit can be reassuring when travelling in Australia or overseas, especially if you're in the middle of nowhere!
6. Remedies made up in pilules have a five year use by date on them so even if you don't use them for a while they won't go off!
7. Homeopathy is safe when used according to the instructions, and can be used alongside conventional medicine, without fear of interaction.
8. Homeopathy is easy to use with the information supplied with the kits or from a home prescriber book.
9. When you buy a kit you can save up to 50% on the cost of buying single remedies.
10. Kits start from as little as $29.95 for a 6 remedy first aid kit.

What's new on the Website

We have been reviewing our postage costs and have made the decision to reduce the cost of all orders weighing under 3kg (which accounts for 99% of orders) to a flat rate of $5 Australia-wide, making the cost of shipping 1 or 2 remedies more reasonable. Free standard postage Australia-wide will now apply to orders of $100 or over. Express postage will remain the same.

Our new Soft Kits are now in stock, with a 12 remedy kit retailing at $59.95, a saving of over $60 on the cost of the individual remedies.

With beautiful embroidery on padded washable black fabric, these Soft Kits are sure to be a hit as a gift for a loved one or a present for yourself!

The Ear, Nose and Throat kit can be a good way to start your own home kit at just $39.95 for 6 of the most indicated remedies for these conditions.

The kit contains Aconite 30c, Anas Barb (Oscillo) 200c,Belladonna 30c, Hepar Sulph 30c, Kali M/Ferrum P/Nat M 6x (tissue salt combination),Pulsatilla 30c + instructions.

Young Living Essential Oils

Last month we introduced you to Young Living Essential Oils and we've had a lot of excitement from you about the products and the quality. I've started sending out some information on the Everyday Oils starter pack which contains nine combination and single oils to cover all your daily needs. This is the pack we started with and we've used every one of the oils many times over - there's something in there for everything! All of the oils mentioned below come in the Everyday Oils pack.

This month I wanted to mention Young Living's Peppermint Oil which many of you will know and use from other sources. I recently had the gastro bug that went around. No diarrhea just tummy ache!! Very strange and most uncomfortable. Homeopathics helped quite a lot, but 2 drops of Peppermint Oil in a cup of hot water, sipped provided instant relief.

Remember, Young Living Essential Oils are Therapeutic Grade and can be taken internally or used in cooking - don't try this with other brands unless certified food quality as they can be toxic.

Panaway has been a real boon for Dean, my husband, with his chronic back injury. We've tried so many different topical applications to help ease the inflammation (from overwork!), pain and stiffness (every morning) but apart from combination tissue salts, nothing has made any difference until Panaway. This combination of oils with an affinity for inflammation and pain has been amazing. Dean rubs a couple of drops on his back if he is getting pain, then uses a heat pack and next morning he is relatively pain free. I tried it for muscular aches and it's like magic. The ache is there in the evening, rub on the Panaway and it's gone in the morning.

If you are ordering homeopathics and are interested in the oils, I would love to send you a CD on all the products in the Everyday Oils pack, which makes good listening.

For a bit of oily fun… Go to: www.oil-testimonials.com Click on 'Search' (top right) then, type in any condition eg. Migraine, psoriasis, bruise, arthritis, etc and see what comes up.

MORE INFO? If you would like further information on Young Living Therapeutic-Grade Essential Oils, or would like to become a member to obtain discounted prices and other great benefits, contact Dean on 03 6266 4406 or dean@elementsofhealth.com.au

Workshops

If you are located around Hobart, I will be running my first Tasmanian Home Prescriber Workshop on Sunday 14 March at Tarremah Steiner School, Huntingfield. Bookings are essential. Details are on the website or contact me direct. This is a great 1/2 day workshop for beginners and as a refresher even if you are using homeopathy already.

I have also had a request for an live on-line advanced homeopathy group. I'm working on this one at present and will keep you posted.

Clinic Hours

I currently consult in Hobart all day Tuesday, Friday afternoon and some Saturday mornings. Consults (including phone consults) are available at Mountain River all day Wednesday, Friday morning and some Mondays if I have time.

Vaccination Issues

I am continually updating the Vaccination page of the website with links to sites that have good information, so do look there as a starting point if you have any questions or concerns.

Vaccination Information Database If you would like to receive information related to vaccination please email me and I will add your name to the vaccination database. All names and email addresses will remain confidential.

Homeoprophylaxis (Homeopathic Immunisation)

Please remember to keep me updated if you change your email address as any changes to programs come out via email.

Until next time,
Warmest wishes

Melanie Creedy