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September 2011 : Volume 13 : Number 8
Welcome to the September 2011 Newsletter,
This issue of the newsletter is so jam packed with information that I'm not going to do my usual spiel about how wonderful life is in Tassie!! So much going on and so many things to follow up on. In particular, the study on the health of unvaccinated children has been revealed; a study in which a group of German homeopathic doctors looked at the health of 7600 children and their health.
We are suddenly at that time again when hayfever is starting to kick in around the country. If your symptoms are mild you may find our Hayfever & Allergy Combination is a good choice to take the edge off the runny nose and itchy eyes. Otherwise now is a good time to think about having a consultation to strengthen the system before we are fully into the season. Individualised remedies are much more helpful if your symptoms are severe or prolonged.
Moving on through baby's life somewhere around six months of age children these days often start with a variety of acute problems. I've listed some of the most common and the most indicated remedies, but any child whose health starts to decline is best treated constitutionally. Vaccination with multiple diseases at an early age has a strongly suppressive action on the immune system and I have certainly seen increasing evidence of this over the last 5-10 years. Homeopathic treatment can be very helpful for overcoming this and allowing a child to lead a healthier life. As always if you've tried some remedies without success contact your healthcare provider as treating newborns and very small children takes some skill and experience. And if you are looking for a homeopath locally, do make sure they have good experience of treating young children and are prepared to give you the support you may need with a sick child. Research has shown that 80% of ear infections in children under 5 will resolve without antibiotics. Many GPs are holding off giving antibiotics until they see what happens and this is where homeopathy can be a great helpmate. Some children may have a middle ear infection but show no symptoms other than irritability. This may be a sign to see your GP if this is prolonged so you at least know what is going on. Aconite - Sudden onset often in the middle of the night. May come on after being chilled. Fever may be high with sweating and thirst. External ear often hot, red and swollen and very painful. Very sensitive to noise. Child may seem worse for lying down on the affected side and in a warm room. Belladonna - Onset may be late afternoon. Often right ear is involved. May have a high fever but often no sweat is seen, however there is pain in middle ear and external ear. Child radiates heat but may have cold hands and feet. May be delirious and/or very lethargic. Chamomilla - Child may be very irritable and not know what it wants. Ear problems may be associated with teething. Ferrum Phos - very early stages of an ear infection with fever. Not much to prescribe on. Hepar Sulph - Ear problems often associated with tonsillitis. Feels much worse for being cold or unwrapped. Wet dog smelling discharge from ears. Kali Mur - Often chronic mucous with this picture. I like to use this remedy as a combination of Kali Mur, Ferrum Phos (for fever) and Nat Mur which is in our Tissue Salt Combx K*. Pulsatilla - Often comes on after getting a cold. External ear red and swollen. Bland discharge possible, green/yellow runny nose and sometimes wet cough. Child is clingy and weepy. Worse for heat and better being in the open air. ABC (combination of Aconite, Belladonna, Chamomilla) can be a good choice for onset of any of the above, particularly if teething is associated and/or there is fever. Always see your GP if the child has acute symptoms or discharge. Homeopathics can be used alongside antibiotics if they are necessary and even if you have chosen to go down the path of grommets, do remember that you need to treat the underlying problem or the ear infections may reappear when the grommets come out. Aconite - First stage of fever. Sudden onset often in the middle of the night. May come on after being chilled. Fever may be high with sweating and thirst. Red dry throat. Cold sweat. Arsenicum Album - High fever and exhaustion with anxiety and thirst for frequent sips. Wants company. Belladonna - Maybe be the first medicine of choice in small children, particularly if patient is hot and flushed. Onset may be late afternoon. High fever, no sweating (or sweating on head only) and no thirst. Child radiates heat but may have cold hands and feet. May be delirious and/or very lethargic. Better for sitting up, worse for touch or for being jarred. Ferrum Phos - A good choice when there are no obvious symptoms to prescribe on but more of a suspicion that something's not right. May head off an illness if used early. Best given to children as Tissue Salt Combx K*. Gelsemium - Chilliness up and down the back. Muscular soreness, heaviness of limbs and eyes, perspiration and headache. Slow onset. *Our TS Combx K is not the same as that of Martin & Pleasance. ABC (combination of Aconite, Belladonna, Chamomilla) can be a good choice for fevers, particularly if teething is associated. Nappy Rash Persistent and severe nappy rash will generally need constitutional treatment. Apis - Hot, red, shiny/sore rash. Better for uncovering. Worse for bathing/washing, heat and touch. Rhus Tox - Red swollen itching skin. Dark coloured urine. Diarrhea with mucous. Better for warmth. Worse for cold applications. Petroleum - Bleeding, cracked/dry, red, weepy. Worse in the folds of the skin. Sulphur - Frequent urination, especially at night. Burning, bleeding, redness around anus with itching. Worse getting too hot in bed and for bathing/washing. Many of the remedies for teething can be similar to those for ear infections and fevers. Remember, if the overall picture fits - rather than just a single symptom - try the remedy. Calc Carb - is a great general remedy for many children even if they don't fit the classic picture of chubby and sweaty! It is a remedy which helps greatly with transitions and has an affinity for dentition so is often worth a go. Chamomilla - Teething is unbearable with restless sleep and sometimes accompanied by a cough, green diarrhoea and always irritable and unsettled. Mag Mur - can have painful teething with colicky symptoms and green diarrhoea. Phytolacca - Babies will often bite down hard on anything they can. This is not your average chewing, but really biting. Rheum - is a small remedy with very painful teething and sour smelling, pasty stools. Children are colicky, irritable, difficult restless and don't want to play. They may sleep little and survive well! All of the above plus some of the fever remedies are included in our Teething Combination. Giving remedies to the newborn or small children who are resistant! Crush pilules and tip a small amount inside baby's bottom lip or put one pilule in ¼ glass of water, stir vigorously and spoon a small amount into the mouth.
The Copper Child: Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis Last month I mentioned hair analysis as a means of looking at the reasons some patients do not progress on well chosen remedies. This month I wanted to talk about chronic high copper accumulation, which is the most common form of heavy metal toxicity in children.
In women, we may see recurring thrush, painful periods and headaches which are worse at this time. Tendency to depression, which is worse at ovulation and during the period. Since using the oral contraceptive pill (OCP) abdominal bloating, wind, alternating constipation and diarrhea, food allergies and IBS. Sources of copper
Some cases will respond to normal constitutional treatment, but sometimes this toxicity creates an obstacle to cure and needs to be removed before health can be restored. This is done through chelation (removal of the toxic overload) via homeopathy, looking at mineral levels and also looking at diet. It can be done with other natural methods but from my experience homeopathy can work more quickly, although it does sometimes cause an aggravation of symptoms. This can be managed however and certainly shows the treatment plan is working. Reference: Gamble, J 2010, Mastering Homeopathy 3; Obstacles to Cure: Toxicity, Deficiency & Infection
What is Constitutional Treatment I use this term all the time but sometimes I wonder if people understand what this means in homeopathic terms. If you have seen homeopaths in the past their definition may also be a little bit different to my own. When I talk about doing a constitutional consultation what I mean is that rather than just looking at certain symptoms in isolation, we look at the whole picture. We take into account the mental, emotional and physical aspects of the patient plus a host of other items. This includes how they are feeling, what the moods are like, what they want to eat or drink (or don't want to eat and drink), how they are sleeping, what the energy is like and what fears or anxieties they may have just for starters. This often leads into looking at grief and trauma such as divorce or death, as these are powerful precursors to changes in health. We then add to that the patient's medical history and family medical history (always interesting) and current (or presenting) symptoms that need to be treated and we come up with what needs to be cured. Constitutional remedies often fall into families and members of that family will share certain characteristic symptoms. The constitutional characteristics will still be there even when the patient is healthy and will usually intensify and sometimes change during illness. If they intensify then the constitutional remedy may be indicated for the acute as well, but if they change then another remedy may be indicated. Usually another indicated remedy will be in the same family. According to a book I recently skimmed through on homeopathic prescribing, the use of constitutional medicines is a skill that eludes most novice prescribers. Prescribers need to know a great deal about the patient and the medicine and the use of constitutional medicines is not recommended unless appropriate knowledge and experience has been gained!! I would agree with the fact that this is a skill and it does often elude those who have not had adequate training or practice to master the art. While some homeopaths stick firmly to the idea that the patient should only need one remedy to treat everything and will need that for life, based on my assessment of the case, I don't necessarily agree with this. My observation is that life produces layers - like the layers (or skins) of the onion - which may need different remedies to remove them. I do occasionally see patients who always need the same remedy no matter what, but generally I treat what is uppermost with the most appropriate remedy and then wait to see what is lying underneath. Sometimes there are layers which cannot be removed with standard constitutional treatment because they cause a block and these need to be treated in different ways. Heavy metal toxicity is a good example of this, as are drug interactions, acute trauma and similar. With children it is often difficult to work out the constitutional remedy when they are very small unless you have a particularly observant mother, unusual (strange, rare and peculiar) symptoms that strongly indicate a particular remedy or the child actually needs the remedy that the mother needed during the pregnancy. Sometimes treating the mother at the same time as the child can be really helpful in treating the child.
Results of the survey of the state of health of unvaccinated children Vaccineinjury.info would like to announce the results of their survey of the state of health of unvaccinated children. They had over 7600 questionnaires filled in on www.vaccineinjury.info and over 2200 on the German site www.impfschaden.info For the results please go to www.vaccineinjury.info/vaccinations-in-general/health-unvaccinated-children/survey-results.html The results of this survey are very interesting and it is worth a look if you want confirmation that not vaccinating is good for your child's health - or maybe that vaccinating is not??!!
As with last winter, there has been a very nasty cough doing the rounds of most states in Australia. While some cases would appear to be Pertussis or more likely Bordetella Parapertussis (a milder strain of whooping cough), some are just a generally persistent winter cough. All of the above situations require constitutional treatment and you will quite likely find that your home prescriber remedies won't work in these cases anyway. You can certainly try our Dry or Chesty Cough Combinations first, but do consider some professional help if they linger.
Don't forget delivery is free on orders over $120 Australia wide! Creams on Special: Our range of 65g creams are on special for the month of August and September at $10 each. This is a great opportunity to restock your medicine cupboard or try one of our creams. The base is a great favourite with many clients because of its all natural ingredients and its gentle effect on wounds and sore bottoms! Home Remedy Kits on special: If you've been thinking about buying a home remedy kit we have $20 off our standard 28 and 46 remedy kits for the months of August and September. Cold & Flu Combination We have combined our Cold Comfort and Flu Combination into one combination. This is largely because the symptoms of the cold/flu that has been going around this winter have overlapped and we have found people needing remedies from both combinations. Homeopathic Hemorrhoid Cream On request from a patient I have made up a new cream in our lovely base which contains the most often indicated remedies for the relief of external haemorrhoids. This will work for most people for simple haemorrhoids, but if there is an ongoing issue individualised treatment may be required.
Topical Items from naturalnews.com, wddty.co.uk, etc Here are some items from these very informative websites and more. As always I do not warrant this information to be correct or accurate but provide the links so you can investigate for yourself. Journals' Centenary Homeopathy Collection Digitised The homeopathy collection at the Taubman Medical Library of the University of Michigan originated in the holdings of the Homeopathic Medical College, first established as part of the University in Ann Arbor in 1875 and conducted concurrently with the allopathic Medical School until 1922. The collection itself contains items dating from the mid-1800's to the present day. Of particular interest is the Bradford Homeopathy Collection, which is composed of 1027 pamphlets that detail 75 years of the history and development of the field of homeopathic medicine. Along with the holdings of the former Homeopathic Library, these pamphlets constitute one of the world's most complete collections on the subject. Protect your children from toxic chemicals
Homeoprophylaxis (HP or Homeopathic Immunisation) - Adding new babies to your program Adding a new baby to an HP program If you have a new baby and want to use your homeopathic immunisation program for this child ask me to sent you a questionnaire and organise a phone consult (if appropriate), after which I will send you out a record card and offer the usual support. There is a small fee to cover the cost of the paperwork and the consult. Your new baby will then be added to the register I hold in the clinic of all children who are currently using an HP program.
I am now consulting in Hobart all day on both Tuesday and Friday. Saturday mornings are by arrangement only. Consults (including phone consults) are available at Mountain River all day Wednesday, Saturday morning and some Mondays if I have time, although I do have some flexibility. Distance/Skype Consultations – I offer consultations by phone or skype, if you have it available. Skype can be very useful for treating children and just for having a face to face chat if you are not local to the clinic. You can email melanie@elementsofhealth.com.au for appointments or phone 0409 089965 Please note the clinic is closed on Thursdays – emergency calls only. Until next time,
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