March 2009 : Volume 11 : Number 2

Greetings Friends in Homeopathy,

It's very hard to believe that so much has happened since I sent out the last Newsletter at the end of January.  The shocking bushfires in Victoria with the huge loss of life have given us all time to reflect on what we have, how we live, and our preparedness for such an event.  The world we live in is changing and we can no longer anticipate outcomes as we did in the past.

If you live in a bushfire-prone area like we do, it brings a cold, hard reality-check as to whether we should go or stay, and what value we put on material possessions versus the lives of those we care about.

As Australians we have all pulled together magnificently to support those who have lost so much and I hope we will carry the memory of this day with us into the future, in order to give continued support on what will be a long road to recovery for the survivors.

Emergencies & Homeopathy

As a homeopath one of my first thoughts in these situations is always what remedies I would have used and how it is so important to have a homeopathic first aid kit, no matter how small, somewhere handy.  Remedies like Aconite and Arnica can do much to treat shock and injury, aiding in physical healing and reducing the level of ongoing trauma for the recipient.  Never underestimate the power of that tiny dose! 

Cantharis is a major remedy for serious burns (see below) and I have certainly used it in first aid situations with great success.  Phosphorus or Nux Vomica can be useful after smoke inhalation, where there is a cough, vomiting or a feeling of toxicity, and Hepar Sulph or Silica help with infection and wound healing.

No-one can change the situation, and many of these people will need ongoing support and counselling for time to come.  However, treatment with remedies such as Stramonium, Gelsemium and homeopathic Opium can assist with symptoms of shock or fright including nightmares and anxiety which persist after the trauma.  Ignatia, Nat Mur, Caustium and similar remedies can go some way to dealing with loss and grief both in the short and longer term.

It's at times like this that all homeopaths consider how much assistance our remedies would be in these situations if we were part of mainstream medicine.  Conventional medicine is so important for the physical and surgical aspects of these tragedies, but we also need tools to heal the mind and emotions.

Arnica - a taste test!

Arnica is often one of the first remedies people come across homeopathically, with its magnificent reputation for dealing with bruising and other physical trauma. 

I've used it for more than 25 years but really took its effectiveness for granted until I decided to look at it more closely and do a series of personal "taste tests"!!

I am prone to easy bruising and produce many beautiful, multi-colored bruises.  I'm not good at self-medicating so they often go untreated and I just watch them disappear over weeks.

On the occasion of my first "taste test" I leapt up from my desk, smashing my knee cap against the corner so hard I sat down again in shock.  I limped into the kitchen wondering if I would be able to do the 2km walk to the City Clinic the next day and wondering if I might even have chipped the bone!  I took 2 doses of Arnica 200c about 15 minutes apart and aside from some broken skin where my knee met the desk, I saw no sign of a bruise in the days that followed.  When I woke up the next morning it was as if it had never happened!

On the second occasion I had a large very colorful bruise on my inner thigh.  I calculated it had been there for about a month and apart from producing a rainbow of colors it showed no sign of disappearing any time soon.  I decided to go for the Arnica cream this time (do not use this on broken skin) and after two applications the bruise cleared completely in 3 days.

This is a brilliant remedy for sports accidents and injuries, baby's first steps (and falls) and anything with bruising, soreness and bleeding.  While we may feel the need to apply something externally, internal dosing actually works more quickly and more effectively.  The sooner you give the remedy, the quicker the result.

Expansion Packs

It is almost impossible to make the perfect kit - there is always something else you need and adding to your kit can prove costly if you buy single remedies!

When I originally created both the Birthing and Home Remedy Kits I selected what I felt were the minimum number of remedies to fit the majority of situations.

However, you tend to find as you use your kit more and become more familiar with homeopathy that there are always remedies which aren't in your kit

I would therefore like to introduce two new kits to expand your remedy selection, without breaking the bank!

The Home Kit Expansion Pack includes an additional 14 "must have" remedies for the home prescriber, bringing your kit up to 42 remedies (including one cream). 

The remedies come in the new 10g glass bottles in 30c potency and include Allium Cepa, Ant Tart, Arg Nit, Calendula, Carbo Veg, China, Cocculus, Drosera,  Kali Bich, Lachesis, Lycopodium, Nat Mur, Ruta and Staphysagria.

The Home Kit Expansion Pack sells for $69.95, bringing the cost of the individual remedies down to an amazing $5 each.  The expanded information flyer will be available shortly.

If you haven't bought a kit yet, but are now thinking about buying both kits to give you the full range, we will include free of charge Jan Owen's book, Homeopathy for the Home Prescriber.

Birthing Kit Expansion Pack  If your first kit was a birthing kit and you realize you need the rest of the remedies in the Home Kit, we now offer the additional 18 remedies as an Expansion Pack. 

These extra home prescriber remedies are all in 30c and include Anas Barb, Apis, Arsenicum Album, Belladonna, Bryonia, Calc Carb, Cantharis, Hep Sulph, Ignatia, Ipecac, Kali Mur 6x/Ferrum Phos 6x, Ledum, Merc Sol, Phosphorus, Rhus Tox, Silica, Spongia and Sulphur.

The Birthing Kit Expansion Pack is great value at $89.95 for 18 remedies and can be upgraded further with the addition of the Home Kit Expansion Pack.

Measles & Rubella

There have been a number of cases of Measles and Rubella (German Measles) reported in the last month or so, and as usual I've had a few calls asking for assistance. 

I prefer to answer these calls on an individual basis because a lot depends on whether the children you are asking about have been vaccinated conventionally or not.  Be assured, however, that you can boost your child's immunity either by using the remedies in your Homeoprophylaxis Kit as per the instruction card or by constitutional treatment.  Should your child come down with the disease, you can use your home remedy kit to treat symptoms if necessary.

In a reasonably healthy child these diseases should be short-lived and mild.  They provide a major boost to the immune system and assist the child in reaching new milestones.  If you are concerned at any stage drop me a line or give me a ring.

Animals & Homeopathy

Don't forget the brilliance of homeopathy in treating birds, animals and plants too!  This beautiful bird hit the lounge window and I found it lying as if dead in the garden.  A couple of drops of Aconite on its beak and in a few seconds it opened its eyes, sat up quietly in my hand and then flew off into the blue yonder!

Just an update on Mr Richmond, the duck (drake!) who sustained fearful injuries at the claws of a harrier:  he is doing very well, in full feather, and undertaking his job of looking after the "girls" (our 8 chooks) very conscientiously!

Vaccination: replacing acute illness with chronic disease?

I wanted to share the following with you and stimulate a little thinking.  This passage was written by Compton Burnett, a British doctor and homeopath, who practiced in the late 1800s and early 1900s and is his observation of the introduction of smallpox vaccination in his time.  Burnett suggested that not only did vaccines create chronic disease, but that this was how they prevented the acute disease:

"Given a perfectly healthy individual who has never been vaccinated.  We say to such a one, you must be vaccinated or you are liable to catch smallpox, which is often about.  Let us pause to note clearly that the individual thus warned by us as being liable to catch smallpox is perfectly healthy.  Now let us vaccinate this perfectly healthy person, and the vaccination succeeding, we say he is henceforth protected from smallpox.  That is to say, this thoroughly healthy non-vaccinated person becomes more or less proof against the contagion of smallpox by vaccination, or, at any rate, it is so averred.  It may be safely admitted that no-one can be more than perfectly healthy, and any modification or altering of perfect health must result in a minus, ie less than perfect health; and less than perfect health must necessarily be disease or ill health of some sort and in some degree.  Hence it follows that the protective power of vaccination is due to a diseased state of the body."

An interesting statement from an observer of vaccination in its early stages one hundred years ago at a time when there was but one vaccination available! 

I would add here that according to homeopathic principles (and these follow the laws of nature) the body can only deal with one disease at a time, so if the body is chronically diseased, it is unable to produce acute illness and indeed childhood illness.  Minor illness may indeed be avoided through vaccination, instead producing a lifetime of chronic disease.

Until next time,
Warmest wishes

Melanie Creedy