Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z); Disease Condition, Treatment

Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z); Disease Condition, Treatment

Homeopathy is a therapeutic method using preparations of substances whose effects when administered to healthy subjects correspond to the manifestations of the disorder (symptoms, clinical signs, pathological states) in the individual patient. The method was developed by Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843) and is now practiced throughout the world []. Homeopathy is based on two main principals []. According to the ‘like cures like’ principle, patients with particular signs and symptoms can be helped by a homeopathic remedy that produces these signs and symptoms in healthy individuals. According to the second principle, homeopathic remedies retain biological activity after repeated dilution and succussion even when diluted beyond Avogadro’s number.

Few therapies have attracted more debate and controversy than homeopathy. Throughout its 200-year history, critics have pointed out that its very principles fly in the face of science, while proponents have maintained that it is narrow-minded to reject an overtly helpful approach to healing only because one cannot explain how it might work []. Similarly, proponents have quoted seemingly rigorous trials that suggest efficacy, while critics had little trouble citing equally rigorous studies that implied the opposite.

The existence of contradicting evidence is not unusual in therapeutics. One solution to resolve such contradictions is to conduct systematic reviews and meta-analyses of rigorous studies. In 1997, Linde et al.[] did just that. The conclusions of this technically superb meta-analysis expressed the notion that homeopathic medicines are more than mere placebos. The authors also stated that no indication was identified in which homeopathy is clearly superior to placebo. Despite this and other caveats, homeopaths worldwide celebrated this publication as the ultimate proof of their treatment. Since then, a flurry of interest in homeopathy has emerged, and several further systematic reviews have been published. This article is an attempt to critically evaluate all such papers published since 1997 with a view to defining the clinical effectiveness of homeopathic medicines.

Teething of Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z)

The process of developing and cutting teeth is something we all go through. For many children that the process can be painful and disruptive. Some children suffer from sleeplessness, some pain, others diarrhea, vomiting, fever and/or skin rashes. A homeopathy is a great tool for parents to use to alleviate the suffering of the littlest among us.

Here are some of the remedies you can consider for your teething son or daughter:

  • Aconite   When the child has much pain with restlessness and biting of fingers, sleeplessness, crying, fever, and heat of the head
  • Belladonna  Much moaning. Awakens from sleep and looks frightened.  Staring eyes.  Face and eyes red with dilated pupils and a hot head. Violent starting and jumping while sleeping and at other times.
  • Calcarea carbonica –  The head perspires greatly during sleep – wetting the pillow far around. Stools can be hard and chalky. The child tends to be fair skinned and plump.
  • Chamomilla – The child starts and jumps in sleep. It is very cross and insists on being carried everywhere – and only carrying the child seems to relieve him or her. One cheek may be red and the other pale. Can have diarrhea that is watery, slimy and green.
  • Cina  The child rubs its nose a great deal and is restless in sleep. Can also be very hungry. If teeth have already cut through – they may grind these during sleep.
  • Coffea crudum  The child is very excitable and sleepless. It cries and laughs easily. Child can be in a state of exhaustion.
  • Magnesia carb  Green, frothy and foul smelling diarrhea during teething – diarrhea lasts a long time.
  • Magnesia mur –  Teeth are slow to cut through. The child may have distended abdomen and be constipated.  The stools are often large and crumble.
  • Mercurius solubilis  Copious salivation with slimy diarrhea or green stools with much straining on the toilet.
  • Podophyllum: Painful diarrhea with screaming; stools often green. Child can grind whatever teeth have already cut through.
  • Silicea: Weak children with profuse salivation. Frequent or almost continued grasping at gums. Fever towards evening and heat in the head. Often has feet that perspire profusely – the perspiration can have a strong odor. Also sweat from the head during sleep.

Toothaches of Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z)

A handful of remedies can help during the majority of common dental emergencies. These first aid remedies can help alleviate pain or discomfort, at least temporarily, until proper dental measures can be received. These remedies are not intended to replace good dental care.

  • Belladonna –  take every 30 to 60 minutes when the toothache throbs and is worse from touch or motion (chewing).
  • Magnesia phosphoricum –  when a toothache is worse from cold and better from warmth.
  • Coffea cruda   when a toothache is worse from heat and relieved by holding ice in the mouth.
  • Chamomilla – when a toothache is worse from any warmth, but not better from the cold. The pain is intolerable and makes the patient peevish.

Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z) for  Toothaches

Some people say toothaches are the worst pain ever. Why? A toothache is usually a sign of inflammation in the nerve root – the result of decay, tooth trauma, or gum disease. If you have a continuous toothache that prevents sleep, or a tooth that is very sensitive to heat, cold, or sweet things, see your dentist as soon as possible. In the meantime, try one of these remedies to ease the pain, but be sure to follow up with a dental exam:

  • Belladonna –helps throbbing pain that is worse from touch or motion (e.g. chewing) and worse at night. The mouth may be dry. The person may be irritable, excitable, and feverish with a flushed, hot face.
  • Chamomilla –  helps a toothache that is worse from any warmth (whether taking warm food or drink in the mouth or upon entering a warm room) but not better with cold. The pain in unbearable may radiate to the ears, and is worse at night. The person is irritable and oversensitive.
  • Coffea cruda –  helps pain that is worse from heat and relieved by holding ice or cold water in the mouth. The person may be extremely excitable and hypersensitive.
  • Hepar sulph –  can help with an abscessed tooth as well. The tooth is hypersensitive to touch, and the pain is worse from the least draft of air and worse from cold. The person is irritable.
  • Hypericum –  can help in any condition where a nerve has been injured. Pains are excessive and sharp, shooting, tearing, or drawing. Tingling, burning, and numbness may also be present. This remedy can be used for pain and sensitivity after root canals or other procedures that impact the nerve or nerve tubules.
  • Magnedia phosphoric –  helps pain that is worse from cold, better from warmth and warm fluids, and better from pressure; the shooting pains may feel like electric shocks.
  • Mercurius – may help a toothache from an abscess or decaying teeth. The pains are tearing, shooting, and often extending to the ears. They are worse at night and worse from eating or drinking anything hot or cold. The person may have bad breath or a metallic taste in the mouth with excessive salivation.
  • Plantago can help a toothache that is hypersensitive to the lease touch, worse from cold air, and worse from both cold and warm drinks. The cheek may swell, the tooth may feel too long, and the person may have excessive salivation. Rubbing Plantago tincture directly on the affected tooth may also give relief.

Travel Anxiety for Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z)

For many, traveling is a pleasant, albeit sometimes stressful, undertaking. For some, however, the thought of getting on an airplane or leaving familiar territory can cause feelings of anxiety or even outright terror.

  • Gelsemium –   This remedy is perhaps best-known to home prescribers as a remedy for those suffering from the flu. But it is also very useful if you are experiencing anxiety from anticipation—specifically, the type of anxiety where you have diarrhea, your mouth may feel numb, and you can’t think because of a kind of mental numbness.
  • Argentum nitricum – While those needing Gelsemium will experience symptoms of mental prostration, the Argentum nitricum patient will be more tremulous and impulsive. The travel anxiety makes them want to walk for relief. People needing this remedy often crave sweets and have a strong fear of heights.
  • Aconite When travel anxiety spills over into a frank panic, Aconite often saves the day. The anguish is extreme—as if one is facing imminent death. The person is restless with extreme fear.

Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z) for Trigeminal Neuralgia

People afflicted with trigeminal neuralgia endure not just the excruciating pain of the illness but also the uncomfortable and sometimes intolerable side effects of the drugs given to try to stop their pain. But the drugs don’t always work, so beleaguered sufferers turn to surgery—which may or may not help. Homeopathy offers a safe alternative!

Homeopathy can help with both the chronic condition and acute flare-ups. Remedies used to treat acute flare-ups may also help the person’s chronic condition—that is, it will reduce their underlying chronic tendency toward having trigeminal neuralgia flare-ups in the first place. In other cases, a different remedy may be needed to treat the chronic tendency toward flare-ups; if so, this remedy would be given after the acute flare-up had passed and would be aimed at more than just the trigeminal neuralgia symptoms. (Note: For the treatment of chronic conditions, seek the expertise of a trained homeopath.)

The homeopathic remedies below are those used most often to relieve an acute flare-up of this painful condition.

  • Aconite –  Pains appear suddenly and are worse on the left side. They are accompanied by ­restlessness and an anxious look on the face. Pains are intense and are accompanied by anguish. Pains may come on after exposure to or may be worsened by dry cold winds.
  • Arsenicum –  Pains feel drawing or burning, as if from ­needles. They are ameliorated by warm applications and aggravated by cold air; they may be worse after midnight. The person is anxious, restless, and thirsty.
  • Belladonna – Pains are right-sided with a red face. Muscles of the face may twitch with pains, which are severe and intense. Pains are worse with drafts and motion, especially when chewing. Pains appear and disappear rapidly and may worsen at 3 p.m.
  • Bryonia – Pains are worse with the slightest motion, so the person cannot speak or eat. They are ameliorated by cold and pressure and lying on the painful side. The person has dry mouth and lips and is likely very thirsty.
  • China – Pains are mostly left-sided. The skin on the face is sensitive to any light touch or draft, as well as to motion and can be worse with noise. Hard pressure ameliorates the pain. Attacks may come on at the same times every day.
  • Colocynthis – Pains feel tearing or ­stitching, mostly on the left side. Pains are better with ­pressure, rest, and warm ­applications. Location of pain may be worse around the eye. Attacks can be worse in the evening around 10 p.m.
  • Magnesium phosphoric Pains worse on the right side, worse if the body gets cold or if the area is exposed to cold, especially cold wind. Pain is better with warm applications and can be better with pressure. Pains come on like lightning.
  • Pulsatilla – Pains are worse on the right side, with a drawing or tearing sensation. They are worse from chewing, warmth, and lying on the painful side. The mouth feels dry, but the person does not drink. Pains are ameliorated by cold applications and open air.
  • Spigelia –  Left-sided pains, worse from stooping or moving the head, from noise, during perspiration, from cold water and air, and from chewing. Lightning-like pains come on from morning until sunset. The person has a flushed red face on the affected side, and pains come on at certain times of the day.
  • Verbascum – Left-sided pains with a pinching sensation as if parts were being crushed by tongs. Pains brought on by clenching teeth, change of temperature, pressure, open air, and motion. Pains involve the chin and lower jaw.

Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z) for Ulcers

The handful of remedies below are often successful in helping people find relief from ulcers. A consultation with a homeopathic professional is recommended for the treatment of chronic ulcers.

  • Arsenicum album –  indicated in individuals who are meticulous to a fault, chilly, restless, and obsessed about their health. Their ulcer symptoms are worse from stress and anxiety. The pain may be described as a burning sensation, better from heath and from warm food and drinks.
  • Kali bichromicum  –  useful for people who like to go into great detail with everything. They also seem to look at the world in “black and white” and have high moral values, referring often to duty and rules. Sharp, knife-like pains that radiate to the loin, with a sensation of a specific sore spot in the stomach, may accompany their ulcer. The individual also feels as if the entire digestive process has stopped and feels worse immediately after eating.
  • Mercurius corrosivus suits anxiety-prone, restless individuals who may develop delirium and stupor during illness. These people may feel detached or disconnected from others. Often indicated in chronic, long-standing ulcers with severe pain and sometimes with bleeding, it may be chosen to address ulcers that have gone untreated or have been inappropriately treated.
  • Mercurius solubilis –  for people who pine for solidity and harmony. The ulcer may give stabbing pain. People who need this remedy are chilly but also sensitive to heat; they may have weak digestion, with continued hunger. There may be a continued urging or a “never-get-done” feeling on defacating.
  • Natrum phosphoricum –  for individuals who find it difficult to delegate; they are friendly and caring, but highly self-reliant. They may find it difficult to speak about their problems. Effective in ulcers with sour burping and vomiting.
  • Nux vomica – for workaholic people who drive themselves crazy with stress and dietetic excess. They are known as go-getters who thrive on challenges – most often entrepreneurs or managers. With the ulcer, they may have abdominal bloating and flatulence. Dietetic overindulgence triggers emotional stress and sleeplessness, often leading to peptic ulcers when the body can no longer cope with the individual’s hectic lifestyle. May be most effective when taken in the evening.
  • Phosphorus – Best for people who love being the center of attention. These people are oversensitive, artistic, expressive, and affectionate, and give more than they can manage. Their desire for attention can make them dependent on others. Their ulcers tend to be accompanied by flatulence or a distended, bloated feeling in the abdomen, with cramping pain. They feel better from cold food and drink, although they may vomit once it warms up in the stomach.
  • Robinia – homeopathic antacid. Addresses peptic ulcers with hyperacidity. A person might have a frontal headache accompanied by sour belching and greenish vomiting.

Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z) Urinary Tract Infections (UTI)/ Cystitis/ Bladder Infections

Urinary tract infections (UTI), also known as bladder infections or cystitis, are a common problem for women. Symptoms of a UTI include a burning pain before, during, or after urination; a frequent and urgent need to urinate, although only small amounts of urine may come out; and cloudy or bloody urine. A person with a UTI may experience pain or tenderness in their lower abdomen or back, fever, and a sense of being ill.

Allopathic physicians treat UTIs with antibiotics. These control the acute infections quickly but do not prevent repeated infections. A person with a UTI should be under the care of their health professional, but they may not need to take antibiotics immediately if they follow good self-care guidelines and use homeopathic remedies appropriately.

A woman who begins to experience burning or frequent urination should immediately begin drinking more liquids to dilute the bacteria and flush them out. Cranberry juice or other acidic juices (not sweetened with sugar) can also help prevent a bacterial infection from the beginning.

In addition, homeopathic remedies can be helpful. Below is a list of remedies that are frequently used for UTIs:

  • Aconite – during the earliest stages; first have difficulty passing urine, then burning pain during urination develops with general symptoms of fear and anxiety.
  • Apis – severe burning and stinging pain in the urethra before, during , and after urination with a sensation of swelling in the urethra; violent urging to urinate, but must strain to pass urine, and it come out in only tiny amounts; abdomen sensitive to slightest touch; burning and stinging worse from heat and at night and better from cold.
  • Berberis – pains during or after urination; cutting, or shooting pains from the bladder to the urethra or from the urethra to the pelvis, thighs, or back; pains worse from motion; pain in kidneys or ureters (tubes from kidneys to bladder) that worsen from pressure, motion, or jarring.
  • Cantharis most commonly used remedy for UTIs; frequent strong need to urinate, with much burning during urination; urgent need to empty bladder, and may lose urine even while rushing to the toilet; urine passes in small amounts; may feel urging just after or even during urination; tremendous burning, cutting, or stabbing pains in urethra and bladder before, during, and after urination, or whenever the urge to urinate is felt; restless, frantic with severe pain; sexual desire may be increased.
  • Mercurius burning, uncontrollable urge to urinate; dark urine passing in small amounts; burning pain worse when the patient is not urinating; burning may also be severe just before when beginning or at end of urination; worse at night.
  • Nux vomica – burning or pressing pain in the bladder during urination, pain in urethra before or during urination, sometimes with a strong urge to move bowels; needle like pains in urethra extending toward bladder; may occur after excesses in eating, alcohol, coffee, or drugs.
  • Pulsatilla –  pain not as intense as with Cantharis or Apis, but has significant smarting and burning; worse lying on back; urine may pass in dribbles and may be involuntary at the slightest provocation (a cough, sneeze, laugh, surprise).
  • Sarsaparilla the most severe pain in the urethra is at the end of urination; pain may not be burning; pay needs to stand to urinate freely.

Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z)  A whooping Cough

Whooping cough cases in the U.S. are rising at what the CDC describes as “an alarming rate”. If your child develops whooping cough, consider one of the following remedies:

  • Arnica Every coughing spell is announced with crying.
  • Arsenicum –  When there is great prostration with waxy paleness and coldness of the skin.
  • Belladonna – The child gets very red in the face with every coughing spell.
  • Bryonia –  Worse with motion. A cough worse after eating or drinking with vomiting.
  • Carbo veg – Great exhaustion after every coughing spell, with blueness of the skin, hot head and face. Patient wants to be fanned.
  • Causticum A very dry cough remains a long time. Does not get entirely well.
  • Chamomilla A cough is dry; child is very fretful, must be carried to be appeased, one red cheek.
  • Coccus cacti Every coughing spell is terminated by spitting of large quantities of ropy mucus.
  •  Cuprum –  With every coughing fit, the child coughs itself into a cataleptic fit – it appears as if the child were dead.
  • Drosera –  When the child is worse, particularly after 12 AM, with high fever, cough in violent spasmodic spells as if it would suffocate, sometimes bleeding at the nose and mouth.
  • Hepar –   When a cough seems complicated with croup; worse towards morning; a cough sounds croupy and it seems as if the patient would choke.
  • Ipecac  Strangling with a cough till blue in the face.
  • Lachesis –  Child always awakens in a coughing fit; it seems very faint and weak.
  • Mercurius –  The child sweats very much at night. Can bleed from nose and mouth with each coughing spell. Either by day only or by night only, the child ALWAYS has double coughing spells, which are separated by intervals of perfect rest.
  • Nux vomica –  Hard dry cough with constipation.  Worse after 4:00 PM.  The child becomes blue in the face and bleeds from the nose and mouth.
  • Pulsatilla  Child is weepy. A cough very loose, with vomiting of mucus; diarrhea; a cough worse at night.
  • Sepia – a Cough always much worse in the morning when it is loose and terminates in an effort to vomit.
  • Squilla – During a cough the child sneezes, waters at the eyes and nose; the child constantly rubs its eyes, nose and face with its fists during a cough.

Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z)  Diarrhea

Diarrhea affects most people at one time or another and can be quickly and easily eased by homeopathy. The following are some remedies to consider for treating a person with diarrhea.

  • Arsenicum –  person is restless, exhausted, fearful, chilly; thirsty; a great deal of burning and/or cramping pain in the abdomen; the stomach feels heavy; thirsty for small amounts of water; worse when eating or drinking, especially cold food or drink; rectal burning with bowel movement; when something has been eaten that doesn’t agree with the person, or from eating spoiled food.
  • Colocynthis –  cramping, abdominal pain, better strong pressure and warmth; pain is worse upon eating or drinking; vomiting when pain is severe; after anger or suffering insult to his/her sense of justice.
  • Cuprum arsenicosum –  burning, crampy, colicky pains in lower bowels, with vomiting sensation of collapse.
  • Gelsemium – from the anticipation of even an enjoyable event; from fear of an ordeal; may follow a fright.
  • Podophyllum – profuse, offensive smelling yellow or yellow-green stools, often completely liquid, forcefully squirted out, worse in early AM or after eating; not terribly sick; painless, or cramping relieved by warmth and bending double.
  • Sulfur –  stools changeable (sometimes yellow and watery, sometimes slimy with undigested food); urgent need to defecate drives person out of bed first thing in the morning.
  • Veratrum album – violent diarrhea, usually with vomiting, ejected forcefully in great quantity; colicky abdominal cramps temporarily better from diarrhea; may purge from mouth and rectum at same time; severe chilliness, cold perspiration (especially on forehead); cramps in extremities; great weakness; body and even breath cold; thirst for large quantities of cold water.

Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z)  Diarrhea (Dog/Canine)

Most dog owners have dealt with doggie diarrhea at some point or another. Perhaps during a food/diet transition, perhaps due to stress, or perhaps due to the warm summer weather. Try these remedies the next time your four-legged friend comes down with the runs to bring him some fast relief:

  • Arsenicum album –  diarrhea related to whether or diet changes; dogs are often chilly and may be nauseated.
  • Kali bichromicum summer diarrhea, foamy stools or may be yellow, worse in the morning. The dog may vomit mucus.
  • Natrum muriaticum –  Phosphoric acid: profuse, painless diarrhea with or without debility, worse from hot weather or grief.
  • Pulsatilla – painless, changeable diarrhea, worse from the warmth and rich food.
  • Staphysagria –  summer diarrhea, worse after surgical procedures.
  • Sulfur – Foul-smelling diarrhea, often in the morning.

Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z)  Drowning

Note: Drowning is a life-threatening emergency. Call an ambulance immediately if someone is drowning so they may be assessed by an emergency professional. After you call an ambulance, you may administer the remedy below.

  • Antimonium tartaricum drowning victim, cold and blue, covered with clammy sweat, rattling respiration.

Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z)  Ear Infections

One common home health problem that frequently arises is that of middle ear infections, also known by their Latin name, otitis media. Most children experience a few episodes of otitis media, usually associated with a cold or upper respiratory infection.

Here are some of the common, and truly indispensable, remedies to consider for children (or adults) with ear infections.

Chamomilla – You can hear the child who needs Chamomilla down the hall and through a closed door. They are uncomfortable and irritable, and they want you to know it. There is something in their cry that puts you on edge; it’s the kind of cry that causes adults to think things like, “Would someone please shut that kid up!?” The child demands to be carried and screams when put down. They demand this or that but throw the object of their desire away when they finally get it. Another peculiar symptom that may occur is that one cheek may be glowing red, while the other is pale.

Pulsatilla – A child needing Pulsatilla is also tearful, but quite different from the Chamomilla patient. Here the cry is usually wimpier, creating a reaction in the surrounding adults of, ‘Oh, the poor thing!’ The child clearly wants sympathy and nurturing. Discharges (such as a runny nose) are usually yellow or green, thick, and bland – not irritating. They typically have little thirst or appetite and they generally feel better in fresh, open air.

Belladonna Belladonna is appropriate for ear infections with sudden, violent onsets. The child is typically hot, red, and dry. The pupils are often dilated and the eyes seem very bring. Curiously, the head is often hot but the limbs are cold. The nervous system is affected in such a way that the child often experiences twitching or jerking – perhaps in their sleep- and is sensitive to light and jarring. They are often excited and restless.

Ferrum phosphoricum – The child needing Ferrum phosphoricum may first be mistaken for one needing Belladonna. The symptoms are similar, but less intense. The child is often excited, sensitive to light and jarring, but not to the extent of the child needing Belladonna. They are often red, but not as intensely red; hot, but not as burning; eyes red, but not so bright.

Hepar sulphuris –  Think of Hepar sulphuris when the child is chilly, sweat easily, and often has an accompanying hoarse, barking cough. Discharges are typically thick and yellow, and pains are often sticking (like splinters).

Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z) Ebola

The Ebola epidemic raging through West Africa has become a humanitarian crisis of great proportion. Homeopaths worldwide have been mobilizing their efforts toward gaining entrance in those countries affected, in order to provide homeopathic medical intervention to those individuals stricken with Ebola. The overriding goal is to investigate Ebola firsthand, and thereby determine which remedy or remedies are best for treating this disease.
Homeopathy has had a longstanding record in our over 200-year history in the successful treatment of a wide variety of epidemic diseases, including hemorrhagic fevers, some of which are in many ways very similar to Ebola. In our tradition of working with epidemics, homeopaths attempt to determine a central or core remedy that proves effective for most individuals who have contracted the disease, which is named the “genus epidemicus.” This remedy is derived from culling symptoms from many cases, and finding the very few, or preferably, the single remedy which best matches the natural disease expression of the epidemic under consideration.
While there is ample reason to expect that such a remedy can be found for Ebola, to date our homeopathic world community has not yet determined what that remedy or remedies might be. Once such a remedy is found and administered empirically to patients, if it is shown to be effective, we will have in our hands both a treatment for Ebola victims and, very likely, an effective remedy to help prevent or dramatically diminish the spread of the disease to those exposed or at risk of contracting it (homeoprophylaxis). Discovering such a remedy and applying it successfully for Ebola is still unproven, though completely in line with our historical experience with epidemic diseases, both for their treatment and prevention.
The good news is that a small international team of experienced and heroic homeopaths have arrived in West Africa, and are currently on the ground working hard to examine patients, work out the “genus epidemicus,” and initiate clinical trials. This work is being done alongside the current conventional supportive measures and treatments already in place. We applaud and congratulate this team’s dedication and courage in joining the front lines in treating Ebola with homeopathy. The answer to whether homeopathic medicine has an important role in the Ebola epidemic could be forthcoming quite soon.

Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z) Eye Injuries

Eye injuries can come in all shapes and sizes. For minor eye injuries, consider one of the remedies below to help heal.

  • Aconite –  Arnica of the eye; the pain of eye injury.
  • Calendula – as the eyewash for pain after removal of foreign body.
  • Hypericum – use as an eyewash to wash out foreign body; internally for an excessively painful black eye.
  • Ledum soft tissue injury that is better from a cold.
  • Ruta graveolens eye strain.
  • Symphytum injury to eyeball.

How to make eyewash –  add two drops of the remedy to ½ cup of water.

Note: Get medical care immediately if there is severe eye pain, any loss of vision if there is an injury to the eyeball or a foreign body or chemical in the eye. Get medical care today if there is any significant eye pain, if light causes pain in the eye, if the pupil is irregularly shaped or if the pupil does not react to changes in light.

Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z)Fainting

  • Chamomilla –  from severe pain.
  • Cinchona (China) –  from loss of blood.
  • Coffea cruda – from excitement.
  • Hepar sulfur – from slight pain.
  • Pulsatilla – from hot, stuffy atmosphere.

Note: If loss of consciousness is brief (a couple of minutes), get medical care immediately. If unconsciousness is longer than a minute or two, call an ambulance.

Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z) Fatigue

Frequently, patients seek help for lingering fatigue that began after an illness. Typically this is secondary to influenza or mononucleosis but can occur with strep throat, meningitis, Lyme disease, West Nile fever, malaria, and others.
Prolonged fatigue can also set in after a severe mental/emotional or physical shock. These individuals generally respond more slowly over weeks or months, but they frequently need only one homeopathic remedy to feel significantly better. Consultation with a trained homeopathic professional should be considered. Remedies that might be useful and their associated causes include:
  • Argentum metallicum –  when there is a breakdown in the nerves.
  • Gelsemium sempervirens –  after a fright, influenza, or a strong chill.
  • Kali phosphoricum – when there has been too much mental exertion or worry, especially in love relationships.
  • Natrum sulphuricum – when weakness occurs after a head or back injury.
  • Nux vomica when there has been the abuse of stimulants and alcohol, and a loss of sleep.
  • Phosphoric acid –  when there has been a strong grief.
  • Picric acid when exhaustion results from overwork and intense study.
  • Selenium – when there is exhaustion on the sexual sphere from overindulgence.
  • Stannum metallicum –  after pneumonia or lung problems.
  • Zincum metallicum – after influenza, or a disease (especially of the skin) that has been suppressed in some way.

Homeopathy Medicine(A-Z)  Fever

Every parent worries when their child runs a fever.

A human body’s oral temperature ranges between 97 and 99 degrees. Anything over 100.4 is technically a fever. A body at a heightened temperature actually fights infection more efficiently than one at a normal temperature. Many parents hit the panic button at 100 degrees. Fever is a friend. Always call your doctor if you are concerned about the cause of a fever – but try to tame your anxiety about the fever itself and avoid using traditional analgesics to bring it down. Tylenol, Motrin, and aspirin all have side effects that can cause serious physical harm to small children. The correct homeopathic remedy will allow you or your child’s body to correct the problem – bringing the fever down in the process.

  • Aconite –  sudden onset of symptoms; patient intensely nervous, restless, anxious and fearful; skin is hot, dry; bounding pulse.
  • Arsenicum album – fearful; restless; burning pain relieved by warmth; very thirsty for frequent sips of water; rapid prostration, increasing weakness; worse after midnight.
  • Belladona –  sudden onset of symptoms; patient has a flushed face, high temperature; the pulse is strong and rapid; they have little to no thirst; may become delirious.
  • Bryonia “Grumpy bear” patient; patient prefers to lie still as they are worse from very little movement; very thirsty, drink large amounts of water; usually pale and quiet.
  • Ferrum phosphoricum –  gradual onset of symptoms; red cheeks, throbbing head, but milder than belladonna; pulse fast and weak, better from cold applications on the head.
  • Gelsemium – 4 Ds” – dull, droopy, dumb, dopey; the patient is chilly, aches all over, don’t want to move; a dull headache, droopy eyes, heavy limbs, chills up and down back; despite fever, no thirst.
  • Phosphorus – the patient has fever and chills and night sweats; a thirst for cold drinks; often needed when a head cold goes into the chest; a child with a temperature of 104 degrees may appear to be perfectly well; the patient may be hungry despite the fever.
  • Pyrogenium – most indicated in blood poisonings; temperature goes up and down; the pulse is weak and rapid; restless, aches all over have chilled, is alternately hot and cold, and complains bed is hard.

When to Call a Doctor

Here are a few tips

  • Your child has a fever with no other symptoms that last for three days or more.
  • Your child develops a fever two to three days after surgery.
  • Your child has a fever with abdominal pain, vomiting, chest pains or rash.
  • Your child has a fever and is three months old or younger.

Flu

The flu can come on suddenly and stop you in your tracks – but there are many homeopathic remedies that can help bring relief and shorten the duration of the flu.

You Might Also Like   Gelsemium; Uses, Dosage, Site Effects, Interactions

The following are some remedies that can bring relief during the flu:

  • Arsenicum album – great prostration with extreme chilliness and a thirst for frequent sips of warm drinks. The eyes and nose stream with watery, acrid discharges. Feels irritable and anxious.
  • Baptista – gastric flu with vomiting and diarrhea. Comes on suddenly. Feels sore and bruised all over. Profuse perspiration with a high fever and extreme thirst. Feels (and looks) dazed and sluggish.
  • Bryonia –  flu comes on slowly. Aching pains in all the joints are worse for the slightest motion. Painful dry cough that makes the head hurt. Extreme thirst at infrequent intervals. Feels intensely irritable and wants to be alone.
  • Eupatorium perfoliatum the pains are so severe it feels as if the bones are broken. The muscles ache and feel sore and bruised as well. A bursting headache with sore, aching eyeballs. The nose runs with much sneezing, and the chest feels sore and raw. Thirsty for cold water even though it brings on violent chills in the small of the back.
  • Ferrum phosphoricum – a fever develops, the flu is likely but the symptoms aren’t clearly developed yet (and Aconitedidn’t help). Take 3 doses every 2-4 hours.
  • Gelsemium –  flu comes on slowly especially when the weather changes from cold to warm. The muscles feel weak and achy. There’s a great feeling of heaviness everywhere-the head (which aches dully), limbs, eyelids, etc. No thist at all. Fever alternative with chills and shivers that run up and down the spine. Feels (and looks) apathetic, dull, and drowsy.
  • Mercurius solubilis fever with copious, extremely offensive perspiration that doesn’t provide any relief (unlike most feverish sweats). The breath smells bad, there’s more salivation than normal and an extreme thirst.
  • Nux vomica –  gastric flu with vomiting and diarrhea. The limbs and back ache a great deal. The nose runs during the day and is stopped up at night. Fever with chills and shivering especially after drinking. Very chilly and sensitive to the slightest draught of air or uncovering. Feels extremely impatient and irritable.
  • Pyrogenium –  serious flu with severe pains in the back and the limbs and a terrible, bursting headache. Feels beaten and bruised all over. Very restless and feels better on beginning to move. Chills in the back and the limbs with a thumping heart.
  • Rhus Toxicodendron –  flu in cold, damp weather. Great restlessness: aching and stiffness in the joints are worse for first motion, it eases with continued motion and then they feel weak and have to rest after which they stiffen and have to move again. Pains are better for warmth. Feels anxious and weepy.
At the first sign of the flu Oscillococcinum® can also be taken right at the very beginning of feeling ill but before any symptoms have developed.
Flu prevention: Give yourself an increased chance of staying healthy during flu season by eating all the right things, getting enough exercise, rest, and sleep. Washing your hands when around those who are sick will help to reduce your chances of contracting the disease. The homeopathic remedy Influenzinum can be used as a preventative—taken once a month during flu season with additional doses if in contact with someone who has the flu. Many homeopathic pharmacies make it fresh each year from that year’s flu vaccine.

Food Poisoning

If you are unlucky enough to get food poisoning with vomiting and diarrhea, these remedies can usually speed your recovery:

  • Arsenicum album –  Is effective for treating food poisoning caused by consumption of contaminated fruits (particularly melon), fish, meat, ice cream or canned foods; and it works for most food poisoning with vomiting and diarrhea.Those needing it are usually restless and anxious. They often cannot stand the sight or smell of food. They are often thirsty, frequently for sips of ice cold water (which may be vomited shortly after drinking). Simultaneous vomiting and diarrhea may occur, although Arsenicum might be indicated in patients with only one or the other. The stool is often foul and burning while the patient is chilly and desires warmth. These patients sometimes develop a fastidious quality, which may be manifest by something as simple as wanting a bedside basin or other sickrooms implement placed “just so.”
  • Carbo vegetabilis Patients needing this remedy often have the characteristic “air hunger”—that is, they want air blowing in their face. They may not be short of breath and they are often chilly, but the cool air fanned on their face feels good. Like those needing China, they tend to be flatulent and may have a colic that is better from bending double. The stool is usually foul with a decomposed quality.
  • China (Cinchona) –  Patients needing China are often bloated and flatulent. Diarrhea tends to be dark, foul, and watery, and there is often undigested food present. They may have a colicky pain in the abdomen that is better by bending double (also consider Colocynthis if this symptom is present). In patients who need China, debility is marked; they are weak and oversensitive from their exhausting discharges.
  • Colocynthis – The leading characteristic of Colocynthis is severe abdominal colic that compels the patient to bend double and/or to press into the abdomen. The stools are often frothy or watery. The symptoms are often brought on by anger and the patient is easily vexed.
  • Ipecac – Homeopathic Ipecac is called for in those whose nausea is severe and relentless, not relieved by vomiting. There may be a gripping or drawing pain about the navel, and the stool may be frothy or slimy.
  • Nux vomica Ineffectual urging with a bowel movement is typical for those needing Nux vomica. They feel they need to go (and they can’t), or they go and feel they need to go more. Typically they are chilly and irritable, sometimes downright ugly in their behavior.
  • Podophyllum –  Patients needing this remedy generally have a gushing, painless, foul-smelling stool. The episodes are often preceded by a gurgling in the abdomen and may be relieved at times by lying on the abdomen. Podophyllum is a common remedy in cases with gushing profuse stools.
  • Pulsatilla –  Often the remedy needed after bad fish. Like the Carbo veg patients, those needing Pulsatilla often want cool, fresh air. They often feel “too warm,” but have little thirst. Emotionally, they may be whiny and easily offended, but they usually feel “wimpy” (emotional, tearful) and they desire sympathy. The stomach often feels heavy, as if weighted by a stone. Diarrhea can be changeable.
  • Lycopodium – after bad shellfish (especially oysters).
  • Urtica urens  This remedy, homeopathic stinging nettles, is more commonly used for cases where hives are associated with food poisoning, as is often the case after eating bad fish.
  • Veratrum album –  good for vomiting and diarrhea (if Arsenicum album doesn’t help). The skin will be especially pale and feel clammy to the touch. There is also a thirst for cold water, which tends to be vomited up very soon after it has been drunk. Moving around intensifies nausea.
  • Belladona – allergic reaction to MSG.

Frostbite

Frostbite is the body’s way of protecting itself from hypothermia and can range from mild to severe. In mild frostbite, the skin looks cold and can be numb and stiff. It’s uncomfortable but doesn’t lead to permanent damage. In second degree frostbite, the skin turns white or blue and feels hard and frozen. In severe frostbite, the skin turns white, blue, or mottled. In severe cases, a damaged area may need to be amputated. However, there are several remedies that can be used to quickly heal mild cases of frostbite at home. More severe cases require immediate medical attention.

  • Agaricus muscarius –  this is the most common frostbite remedy. The person may feel like hot or cold needles are piercing him. The frostbite can itch and burn, sometimes intolerable, and the pains may be accompanied by a sensation of cold, numbness, and tingling. There may be trembling and/or twitching. The symptoms may appear diagonally, such as right hand and left foot.
  • Carbo vegetabilis this person may be very sick. He may appear blue, icy-cold, weak, and exhausted. His limbs may feel heavy, stiff, and paralyzed. Although he is terribly cold, he may want the window open or a fan pointed at him. He feels he needs the air in order to breathe.
  • Nitric Acid – the pain of frostbite has a characteristic sticking quality, like pain from a splinter. This person is extremely sensitive to pain. He will not want anyone to touch or move the painful area. He may appear irritable and anxious about his health.
  • Nux moschata –  the skin will feel cold, dry, and may have bluish spots. The person may appear very drowsy and seem a little bewildered. Though his mouth and throat will be dry, he is characteristically thirstless.
  • Petroleum –  people needing this remedy tend to have skin that cracks in the wintertime. The skin feels thick, tight, and hard. There can be swelling of the extremities with painful cracks or splits in the skin, accompanied by a burning sensation, itching, tingling, and/or numbness. The skin may also appear purple.
  • Pulsatilla –  the pain can be shifting in intensity and location. For example, the person may complain of burning in the fingers and throbbing in the toes. The pain is worse if the affected part is hanging down. The person may be weepy and frightened, seeking comfort and sympathy.
  • Silica terra – the person needing this remedy tends to get cold very quickly. You may find him wrapped in blankets sitting by the fire, even if it’s not terribly cold out. Although his feet may feel icy cold, they may be very sweaty. The skin appears delicate, pale, and waxy.
  • Zincum metallicum – the frostbitten area will appear swollen and painful and feels much worse if you rub it. The tip of the nose is easily frostbitten and will remain red long after it has been frostbitten. The affected areas can feel weak and may tremble and twitch. This person may appear confused and is likely to complain about their discomfort.

Gas

Gas is uncomfortable, unpleasant, and can be somewhat embarrassing. Consider one of the remedies below to help alleviate your gas symptoms.

  • Carbo vegetabilis –  stomach fills up with gas, no matter what is eaten; repeated belching.
  • China –  (China) or Nux vomica: stomach feels full of gas that won’t come up or go down; midsection feels distended.
  • Lycopodium –  feeling of fullness after only small amounts of food; the belt feels too tight; rumbling of gas and discharge.

Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease

Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFM) starts with a fever and shortly after, the spots appear. The spots are more like blisters and can show up on the soles of the feet, palms of the hands, and/or inside the mouth and back of the throat. The blisters in the mouth can be very painful, especially when your little one is trying to swallow or eat.

A child also might

  • develop fever, muscle aches, or other flu-like symptoms.
  • become irritable or sleep more than usual.
  • begin drooling (due to painful swallowing).
  • gravitate toward cold fluids.

Try the following remedies when HFM makes an appearance in your house.

  • Mercurius solubis –  Mouth sores can be very severe, and the person is very sensitive to hot and cold; may have a fever before getting the blisters and may alternate between getting too hot with perspiration and becoming chilled at night; becoming too hot or too cold makes the person worse in general; blisters tend to be more painful at night; one of the characteristic symptoms of Mercurius is the tendency to drool or to have an excess of saliva in the mouth; the breath may be quite offensive with pus visible on the tonsils or elsewhere in the mouth.
  • Antimonium tart – Chill stage of fever: gooseflesh and icy cold skin; heat stage of fever: clings to those around and wants to be carried; does not want to be touched or looked at; thirstless despite the dry parched tongue; what stage of fever: profuse, cold, clammy or sticky; dry, cracked, parched tongue with whitish discoloration in the center; tongue tip and sides clean, moist and red; thrush; may crave apples or apple juice.
  • Borax –  Refuses to talk during fever; desire for cold drinks and cold food during fever; great heat and dryness of mouth with white ulcers (aphthae); white fungus-like growth; tender; ulcers bleed on touch and eating; painful red blisters on tongue; sore mouth prevents infants from nursing; fear of downward motion; startle easily; very sensitive to sudden noises.

Hangovers

If you end up with a hangover try

  • Nux vomica: if you feel nauseated (or have over-indulged in rich, fatty foods). Especially if you feel bad-tempered and liverish.

Learn how much to take and how often to take a remedy.

Headaches

Selecting the right remedy for a headache can be difficult because many headaches are worse or better from the same conditions. Many remedies cover these common symptoms. You should only use the person’s strongest and most definite headache symptoms when you are considering remedies. The person’s general symptoms are often the most helpful in making the choice between remedies. BelladonnaNux vominca, and Bryonia are the remedies most likely to be helpful for people suffering from an acute headache with few other symptoms.

  • Belladonna – intense headache with violent, throbbing pains; extreme sensitivity to light, noise, touch, strong or unusual smell or jarring; pains begin and end suddenly; pain may be localized anywhere in the head or spread throughout the head, but is most often focused in the forehead; pain may extend from the forehead to the back of the head; face is flushed and hot, and hands and feet may be cold; pupils may be dilated; often used for headaches associated with high fever.
  • Bryonia –  pain is described as a steady ache, marked sensitivity to motion (even slight movement of the head or eyes); pain often in forehead and extending to the back of the head, or centered over the left eye; pain is worse with light touch but better from firm pressure; the head feels full or heavy; worse in the morning; nausea, vomiting, and constipation may accompany the headache; emotionally irritable and wants to be left alone.
  • Gelsemium – pain begins at the back of the head and extends to the rest of the head or forehead; may feel like a band or hood is bound tightly around the head; a headache preceded by dim vision or other visual disturbances; pain may be localized on the right side of the head; pain aggravated by light, noise, motion, and jarrig, but not affected much by temperature change; better from napping or urinating; person feels dull, tired, heavy, and apathetic; eyelids droop and looks exhausted; not very irritable, but wants to be left alone.
  • Iris –  pain felt on one side of the forehead, especially on the right side; pain preceded or accompanied by dim vision or other eyesight changes; nausea and vomiting, with a headache worse after vomiting; pain better by walking in the open air; periodically recurring migraines (e.g. every weekend).
  • Nux vomica –  headaches brought on by overeating, use of alcohol, coffee and other drugs, or missed sleep; overall sick feeling and digestive upset; sour or bitter taste in the mouth, queasiness, nausea and/or vomiting, dry heaving and/or gas; also for headache from mental over-exertion, cold air or cold wind; worse from morning, especially on first waking; worse with motion, but shaking the head is especially painful; sound of footsteps is especially irritating; pain better from wrapping the head up a warm room, or from a nap if allowed to finish it; very irritable.
  • Sanguinaria –  especially noted for pain beginning in the back of the head and extending to and settling over the right eye or in the right side of the head; pain is sharp, spitting, knife-like and sometimes throbbing; nausea and vomiting at height of the pain; pain better after vomiting; worse with motion, better with sleep and firm pressure; headaches may recur in a consistent pattern.
  • Spigelia –  stitching, burning, and pulsating pain, usually in the front and often on the left side of the head; better from lying with the head propped up; worse from stooping, motion, noise, and cold, stormy weather; washing with cold water may feel good, but pain usually worsens after; head pain is made worse from warmth and temporarily better from cold; headache with stiff neck and shoulders which make motion very painful; may have severe pain in and around the eyes, extending deep into the sockets.

Heartburn

Homeopathy offers a selection of remedies for the treatment of heartburn and acute acid reflux symptoms.

Heartburn is one of the most common complaints of pregnant women, perhaps because hormonal changes relax the esophagus, allowing acid to back up. Try cutting out spicy and greasy foods, and sleep with your head and shoulders elevated. Ginger tea can be helpful if you drink it before or during a meal, rather than when you actually have heartburn. One of these homeopathic remedies may also bring relief:

  • Arsenicum album –  The individual may complain of burning pains felt in the stomach with food backing up into the esophagus. This is accompanied by burning pains all the way up to the throat. There may be severe, watery, burning, yellow diarrhea. Many of the symptoms will feel better while drinking hot drinks like tea, or by applying hot applications, like a heating pad. They may be thirsty for small, frequent sips of cold water, their mental state may be anxious, restless and fearful of being left alone.
  • Carbo vegetalis – Bitter, sour, rancid burping along with nausea and a very bloated abdomen are typical; burping gives you temporarily relief. You may feel worse after rich, high-fat food. You crave fresh air and want the windows open and fans turned on. You feel physically exhausted and mentally sluggish, but when you lie down the indigestion is worse. You tend to have cold hands and feet and varicose veins.
  • Nux vomica – The individual may complain of stomach pains of all types including burning, bloating, aching, constipation, nausea, belching and the feeling of stomach digest and acid backing up into the throat. Characteristics, which help determine this remedy, are a brusque temperament; similar to the overworked, high powered businessman/woman who is very intense. He or she may be bossy and easy to anger. This individual often eats and drinks alcohol in excess. He/She desires coffee, spicy food, fatty foods, and other stimulants. The person needing Nux vomica is inclined to overdo everything, all of which contribute to his acid reflux symptoms.
  • Phosphorus The individual needing Phosphorus for heartburn will complain about burning pains felt in the abdomen, bloating and a feeling of fullness accompanied by a great thirst for icy cold drinks, which are vomited back up shortly after becoming warm in the stomach. Belching and vomiting of undigested food are characteristic of the person needing phosphorus. The person is mild-mannered and seeks company and affection.
  • Pulsatilla –  The heartburn comes on at different times of the day and after eating various kinds of foods (especially rich, greasy ones). Burps have a sour, bitter taste. Stomach and abdomen feel empty (or sensation of a hole), with gurgling and rumbling in the evening, and pressing pains. You feel better in the fresh air. The individual’s personality is sweet, gentle, whiny and tearful. They are afraid of being alone and desire sympathy.

Heat Exhaustion

Homeopathy can be extremely effective in stabilizing an individual and helping them to heal from overheating. Being exposed to too much hot weather can result in a mild form of shock and make a person overcome with exhaustion. Below are ten common remedies to consider*. Before selecting, make sure that the patient lies down in a cool, dark space and apply a cool wet cloth to the head while giving sips of water (add a bit of salt to the water if it’s available):

  • Glonoinum – Agonizing congestive headache with waves of throbbing. A face is hot and red. Extremities are cold. Irritability and confusion might be present.
  • Veratrum alb –  Individual might have fainted or collapsed. A face is pale with profuse and clammy sweat, extreme coldness especially to hands and feet. Pulse is rapid and weak. They are anxious, afraid and may rant and rave wildly.
  • Belladonna – Face is bright red, glassy-eyed, pupils are dilated. Pulse is strong and fast. No thirst but has a dry mouth.
  • Cuprum met – All symptoms of Veratrum alb may be present, but the dominant symptom is cramping. Individual may have jerking motions of the muscles.
  • Aconite – Faint and dizzy with a headache after prolonged, direct exposure to the sun. Individual may say that they feel like they are dying, be anxious and restless.
  • Bryonia The individual feels “done in”, wants to lie down and to be left alone. Has a terrible headache made worse by the slightest motion? The individual is extremely thirsty for large amounts of cold water.
  • Camphor – The individual responds to heat by feeling intense chilliness and will shiver. They feel faint and dizzy. Muscle cramps in the arms, legs, or abdomen might be present.
  • Carbo Veg – Collapse from excess heat with clamminess of the skin and stomach complaints. They have a sense of heaviness in the head, with a throbbing headache in the middle of the forehead and might complain of pain in the eyes. The individual wants to be fanned and needs to feel moving air.
  • Gelsemium – The individual is overwhelmed by the exhaustion and puzzled by what is happening. They might experience changes in vision and sore muscles. They are drowsy with a headache in the back of the head, aren’t thirsty.
  • Lachesis –  For headaches from sun exposure; especially if they are worse on the left side. The individual feels worse after waking from sleep (possibly fell asleep in the sun), feels faint and dizzy.

Hemorrhoids and Constipation (during pregnancy)

Hormonal changes that relax the muscles of your pelvis in preparation for labor can slow down digestion, while your growing uterus puts pressure on the other organs and veins. This can make you prone to constipation and hemorrhoids. Along with drinking lots of water and eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, one of the following remedies may help:

  • Hamamelis –  This is a good remedy for bleeding hemorrhoids that protrude, pulsate, and itch. Varicose veins may appear on the abdomen and legs along with ankle swelling after being on your feet all day. The varicose veins are especially worse with heat and may impair your ability to walk. You may also have nosebleeds.
  • Lycopodium – Your inflamed, achy hemorrhoids are painful when touched, and may bleed. Stools are large, hard, difficult to pass, with a burning sensation afterward. You crave sweets; have bloating and much gas; are hungry but easily full. Constipation is worse after travel. You may be generally mild-tempered but bossy and domineering at home.
  • Sepia – Your abdomen feels bloated and full. Ineffectual urges and straining with bowel movements lead to hemorrhoids and varicose veins. You may have a nagging feeling in the pelvis. You may be worn out from previous births or the demands of the household.

Homesickness

Getting away from home can be a true relief for some people, a break from both routine and wearisome demands. But for others, leaving home – and separation from home and family – can be very difficult, and can affect both adults and children.

There are quite a few remedies to help relieve the feelings of homesickness, and the following are some of the most common:

  • Arnica –  Though not usually thought of as a homesickness remedy, Arnica addresses shock of many kinds, and every emergency kit should keep this on top. If the separation is shocking, hugely upsetting, repeated in the mind (“I can’t stop seeing them come to take me away…”), or an emotional “blow” to the heart and soul, consider Arnica.
  • Aurum metallicum Literally the gold standard of remedies for sadness, longing, and melancholy, this remedy appears in the repertory rubric, “Mind, Sadness, pining in boys.” The child who needs Aurum feels profoundly forsaken and responds with despondency and self-reproach, believing he has done something horrible to deserve the abandonment. The child might desire open air and can be irascible, unyielding, and taciturn.
  • Belladonna – This remedy can be useful for the person whose ­homesickness ­symptoms are vigorous and volatile. Are acutely sensitive, have nightmares, and be surprisingly agitated, even violent without clear cause. Symptoms come and go suddenly. The person may experience and demonstrate an urgent need to escape (a child at camp may try to run away, for example). The person may crave lemons or lemonade and cold food. They tend to be averse to water, to be aggravated by light, noise, and touch, and to have right-sided symptoms, spiking fevers, and redness of the face. This remedy may need to be differentiated from Capsicum.
  • Capsicum annuum – This is one of the most important remedies to consider when a person’s homesickness is accompanied by sleeplessness and red cheeks. The person may want to be alone. They may be cross and unable to concentrate. Often, children who need this remedy cannot study or work and will unceasingly complain that they want to go home. The person may look a bit like they need ­Belladonna, but they are more obstinate and sullen, and they show a diminishing of reaction. The redness of Capsicum is cold to the touch (“false plethora” as it’s called in the old books), whereas the flush of Belladonna is burning hot.
  • Gelsemium –  This is a wonderful gift for a person who is terrified of having to perform, an issue that may surface strongly when a child is away from home for the first time or an adult is traveling on business for an important engagement.
  • Ignatia – The premiere homesickness remedy, it is indicated in people who are agitated, overwhelmed, and upset; sometimes to the point of “hysteria” (e.g., fainting or dramatic mood swings). Worse from stress, coffee, and cold air and may have fevers, headaches that feel like nails driven into the skull, or other physical symptoms that can be traced back to a disappointment, ­separation, grief, shock, or trauma. They sigh a great deal and feel ­disconnected from what is going on. For that reason, they may be heard saying, “I just can’t believe…”  Do not like consolation, but are not made angry by consolation.
  • Phosphoricum Acidum  The homesick person is prostrate with grief and hopelessness. On the surface they may seem apathetic and ­mentally unfocused, although the longing is right under the surface. The person may speak and respond quite slowly. Their pain results in a sad kind of resignation, and they appear to be what people commonly call “depressed.” Low spirited and anxious about the future, they may lose their appetite.
  • Pulsatilla This is an effective remedy for those who feel lonely, ­forsaken, and weepy. They are as sad as sad can be and give homesickness a truly poignant cast. They cry easily, and they feel better from consolation, touch, company, and sympathy. They may develop a cold with a thick or yellow nasal discharge. They feel all alone in the world and may elicit in others a need to nurture and protect them. They may be indecisive and reach out for help and reassurance.

Indigestion, Nausea, Vomiting, and Upset Stomach

Indigestion, nausea, vomiting, or and upset stomach can affect anyone and sometimes strike without warning. Whether you’re at home or out and about, homeopathy can help relieve these symptoms and restore your health.

Consider the following remedies when treating indigestion, nausea, or vomiting:

  • Antimonium crudum – vomit right after eating or drinking; constant belching; white-coated tongue; from overeating or eating indigestible substance.
  • Arsenicum – cannot bear sight or smell of food; burning pains in abdomen relieved by heat.
  • Bryonia –  stomach feels heavy after eating and is sensitive to touch; burps taste bitter; thirsty for long drinks of cold water and may vomit from warm drinks. Stitching, tearing pains, worse from the slightest movement; vomiting of bile or water. Irritable.
  • Carbo vegetabilis –  gas and belching about 30 minutes after eating; even the simplest food disagrees with the person. Averse to meat, milk, and fatty foods; wants clothing loose around abdomen; chilly, but better from cold; craves fresh moving air, like from being fanned.
  • Chamomilla –  bitter taste in mouth; one cheek may be red and hot and the other pale and cold; indigestion after a fit of anger or irritability; abdomen distended with gas, cramping; extreme restlessness, anxious tossing; very sensitive to pain.
  • Colocynthis – severe cutting abdominal pain causing the person to double up; it is worse from anger or indignation; better with strong pressure and warmth.
  • Ignatia –  rumbling in the bowels; sour belching; craves food that doesn’t agree with them; might occur after receiving bad news or shock; frequent sighing; sensitive, nervous, excitable.
  • Ipecac – constant and continual nausea; much saliva; gripping intestinal pains; tongue clean; worse smell of food; usually a great deal of vomiting, sometimes continuous; also diarrhea with nausea; better with the slightest motion.
  • Nux vomica –  heartburn; sour bitter belching; abdominal bloating a few hours after eating; empty retching; headache; drowsy; mentally dull; very sensitive to stimuli (noise, odors, light, etc); irritable; worse with eating, stimulants, and the open air; better from uninterrupted nap or warmth; hard-driving personality; illness after over-work, overeating, use of alcohol, coffee or other drugs; often used for hangovers.
  • Phosphorus –  similar to Arsenicum (much vomiting and diarrhea, burning pains, weakness, anxiety, and restlessness); sour taste and belching; nausea worse with warm drinks; great thirst for cold water which is vomited as soon as it becomes warm in the stomach; vomiting blood; sense of emptiness and weakness in abdomen; empty hungry feeling may keep person awake at night.
  • Pulsatilla –  heartburn; queasiness; dry mouth with bad taste; the sense of heaviness after eating; tongue coated thickly with white or yellow material; averse to fatty foods; wants clothing loose around abdomen; peevish, weepy; wants sympathy and comfort. Indigestion due to improper diet, especially rich, fatty foods, ice cream.
  • Veratrum album – the person feels cold to touch; cold sweat, especially on the forehead; the person feels chilly; exhaustion, even collapse; cramping in extremities.

Insect Bites and Stings

There are two main remedies for appropriate for most insect bites and stings and you should find them in any homeopathic kit:

  • Apis mellifica  This remedy is not just for bee stings, but for any insect bite with swelling. The bites feel better from cold applications.
  • Ledum palustre – For insect bites or stings of any kind without significant swelling, including mosquito, flea, or tick bites.

The following remedies are less commonly needed for insect bites and stings and rarely found in standard homeopathic kits

  • Androctonus – This is the first choice for scorpion bites; otherwise, use Ledum.
  • Carbolic acid This is for anaphylactic reactions or collapse after bee or wasp stings, with hives all over teh body and dangerous swelling of the face, tongue, and throat.

Insomnia

Ten Homeopathic Remedies for Simple Insomnia
  • Coffea cruda – Drinking coffee causes a wakeful, somewhat excited state, and homeopathically prepared coffee is indicated for persons in just that same state. This state is sometimes caused by joy, pleasurable excitement, or sudden happy surprises as well as by unexpected bad news. Such a state may also be found in those who drink too much wine or in those over-fatigued from long journeys. When the person lies down to attempt to sleep, the mind is simply awake with a flow of ideas.
  • Nux vomica – In the classic Nux vomica type of insomnia, the patient can often fall asleep early, but awakens at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. with great mental activity or worries. When the time to rise rolls around, the patient finally feels able to sleep but instead must get up in a tired, irritable state. This type of acute insomnia is commonly brought on by the overuse of drugs and/or stimulants including alcohol, coffee, and wine, or by overwork or excess studying. The typical Nux vomica patient is irritable, easily angered, and impatient—in short, a grump. They are often chilly, nervous, and excitable.
  • Aconite – The patient needing Aconite is restless and excited with an anguished kind of fear. Such a state often comes on in the early stages of a sudden acute illness, often after a chill. But this state may also be caused by a shock or fright, such as a serious accident, natural disaster, or operation.
  • Chamomilla – Those needing Chamomilla are usually in an irritable, uncivil state. They are often frantic with pain or irritability and say they “cannot stand it.” They may have the peculiar symptom of being drowsy during the day, but unable to sleep in spite of sleepiness. This irritability is often found in teething infants who insist on being carried, or in adults who will walk the floor.
  • Arnica – This is a well-known remedy for those with bruises and other sorts of trauma, and those needing this remedy for insomnia have often been in a recent accident or had recent exertion and strain. Such a state is known to travelers as “jet lag.” Many of my patients routinely use Arnica for jet lag with great success. The patient is overtired but cannot sleep and may feel bruised, or the bed may feel too hard. Remember Arnica for those who have nightmares of the accidents or the injuries that they have suffered.
  • Cocculus – Those needing this remedy are sleepless from exhaustion. This often comes on from loss of sleep associated with the night watching or nursing ill persons. Their sleep may be interrupted by waking and starting. Patients needing this remedy are often emotionally sensitive, easily offended, and intolerant of contradiction, or they may be extremely sad. Motion sickness is a symptom often seen in those who will respond to this remedy.
  • Belladonna – Patients who need this remedy may be sleepy, yet unable to sleep. They often start or jerk suddenly during sleep or when falling asleep. Teeth-grinding during sleep is a common symptom. They are often restless. This type of sleepless state is often seen in those coming down with an acute illness or fever.
  • Gelsemium – Those needing this remedy for insomnia are often dull and drowsy, maybe even trembling. Yet they cannot get fully to sleep; their bodies are still and they may appear asleep from the outside, but they are on the edge of sleep internally. Sometimes they start on falling asleep. When finally asleep they may have restless sleep or a stupid, heavy sleep. Or, conversely, they may have a sort of nervous irritation, much like the Coffea patient, that comes on from an anticipation of an upcoming event.
  • Capsicum – Think of homeopathic Capsicum for those with sleeplessness from homesickness or similar emotional states, especially if they have red cheeks.
  • Staphysagria – Consider this remedy for those who are sleepless after a fit of anger or after a dispute in which their honor was wounded and they suppressed their anger. (Some of the other remedies mentioned, such as Nux vomica, Aconite, Chamomilla, and Coffea also may have sleeplessness after a fit of anger. Look at other characteristics to distinguish one from the other.) Patients needing this remedy are often snappish and take offense easily.
There are other remedies that might be considered for acute insomnia. If none of the above remedies seems to fit your situation, then look in one of the many homeopathic self-care books or a comprehensive homeopathic materia medica for other ideas. If, however, you have chronic, long-term insomnia, it’s best to consult a trained homeopathic practitioner.

Interstitial Cystitis (Painful Bladder Syndrome)

Many IC patients have found significant or complete relief from their IC symptoms through homeopathy. But because homeopathy is patient-specific rather than disease-specific (as conventional medicine is), one interstitial cystitis patient may require a completely different homeopathic remedy than the next. The symptoms that lead a homeopath to choose a helpful remedy are often not the urinary pain, urgency, and frequency that are common in most people with interstitial cystitis (unless the urinary symptoms are unusually intense or unique). Instead, it is usually the constitutional remedy that fit the patient’s overall mental, emotional, and physical nature that alleviates the IC. NCH recommends seeking assistance from a trained professional homeopath to treat the symptoms of IC. Visit our Practitioner Directory to find a homeopath near you.

You Might Also Like   Stannum Metallicum; Uses/ Indications, Dosage, Side Effects

Jet Lag

Homeopathy can help you recover from jet lag quickly:

  • Arnica – wonderful for relieving symptoms of exhaustion and jet lag. Can give you a second wind so you are able to stay up till the local bedtime; this will help you adjust to your new time zone swiftly and painlessly.
  • Cocculus if you feel like you are still in motion and find it difficult to sleep.
  • Gelsemium – Jet lag with a sense of paralysis. You feel completely exhausted and every body part feels heavy – even your eyelids.

Labor and Delivery (Birth)

Giving birth to a child can be a different and unique experience for each new mom. And homeopathy can be very easily incorporated into any birth plan. The following are some of the most common remedies that can provide assistance and relief during labor and delivery:

  • Aconite – Everything is happening too fast. Contractions are running into each other without a break. There are tremendous anxiety and fear, especially fear of death. After the birth, this is the best remedy for shock for mother, baby, and/or partner (look for “big eyes”—that is, who looks and feels shocked, like they’ve been through quite an experience).
  • Arnica –  If you had to choose only one remedy to use during labor, this would be it. Take it throughout labor to prevent bruising—every 4 hours, or more frequently if it provides relief from pain. Typically, it will be more effective for those contractions that feel sore, bruised, aching—but manageable. After labor, take 3–6 times daily for up to a week to speed the healing of bruised muscles and to help with after pains.
  • Chamomilla –  Backache labor with intense, unbearable pains. The cervix is slow to dilate. The birthing woman is very angry—she screams with pain and demands relief but nothing is right.
  • Cocculus –  After the birth, there may be tremendous tiredness because of breastfeeding and the nights of broken sleep. Exhaustion is accompanied by dizziness, trembling, and/or a mild headache.
  • Kali carbonicum –  Backache labor with chilliness and exhaustion. Pains in the lower back radiate down into the legs and are better for very hard pressure. Contractions slow down or stop. The birthing woman is anxious and irritable, bossing everyone around.
  • Kali phosphoricum For simple exhaustion during or after the birth. In labor, one dose can be taken between each contraction until energy starts to return. After the birth, it will help if there’s exhaustion with insomnia from the excitement of the birth itself.
  • Pulsatilla – The cervix doesn’t dilate, and the contractions stop and start. The birthing woman feels pathetic, weepy, and clingy—like she “can’t do it” and she says so. She wants company and reassurance, and she feels better when she gets
    it. She doesn’t want anything to drink. She craves fresh air, feels much better from it, and much worse in a stuffy, hot room. After the birth, she feels depressed with all of the above general symptoms only more so and says “I want my mommy,” either literally, or in the way of wanting someone to take care of her.
  • Sepia – The birthing woman gives up, becomes completely exhausted, and sags on every level. She is miserable and irritable—wanting to be alone but tending to snap only at loved ones. After the birth, she feels depressed— “burnt out,” irritable, and just wanting to be alone. The after-pains are severe.
  • Sulfur –  During labor, the contractions become very weak or stop. The birthing woman becomes very restless and feels hot, sweaty, thirsty, and irritable (unlike with Pulsatilla). She wants fresh air (like with Pulsatilla).

Labor and Delivery: Special Guidelines for Prescribing

  • Select a potency that matches the intensity of the symptoms; 200C often works well during and after labor, the only exception being Kali phosphoricum which works best in a 6X potency.
  • You’ll want to repeat more often than you would for an acute illness – every 5 to 15 minutes or even between contractions if symptoms are very strong – less often (i.e., every half hour to hour) if the symptoms are not very strong.
  • Don’t worry if you jump from one remedy to another during the birth. Different remedies may be needed at different points in the process.
  • Just as you would in using homeopathy in other situations, remember to
  • Stop the remedy once it “works,” i.e., once you see an improvement.
  • Repeat the same remedy if the same symptoms return.
  • Change the remedy if you’ve taken 6 doses and it hasn’t helped.

Laryngitis

If you’ve lost your voice, don’t try to get it back by forcing yourself to be heard! Resting your voice is one of the best ways to speed healing. But whatever you do, don’t whisper—that is harder on your vocal cords than regular speaking. Try not to clear your throat either, since that causes irritation in the vocal folds, too; better to try to swallow instead, or a cough, if you must.

Also, drink plenty of fluids and try inhaling steam and using humidifiers, which will soothe the irritated vocal cords.

Many homeopathic remedies have also been known to help acute laryngitis. Here are some that are used most often:

  • Aconite – Hoarseness, with sudden onset, especially after exposure to cold, dry wind; from a fright or shock; or from overuse. Restless, fearful, anxious, feverish. Worse at night, after midnight, from cold air, from talking. Dry, short cough with difficulty breathing in.
  • Argentum nitricum – Laryngitis of singers or speakers; can become chronic. The sensation of a splinter in the throat on swallowing. High notes cause a cough. Thick mucus in airways. Continued, vain attempts to swallow; food lodges in throat. Anxious, nervous, impulsive; stage fright. Thirsty. Desires sweets. Better from the cool air.
  • Arum triphyllum –  Hoarseness. Expectoration of much mucus; ­constant hawking. Throat feels swollen, constricted, burning. Voice uncertain, uncontrollable; cracks, goes to a high pitch, changes pitch. Worse talking, singing; “clergyman’s sore throat.”
  • Causticum – Laryngitis from exposure to cold, from paralysis of laryngeal muscles, from overuse in singers, from anger or grief. One of the most commonly used remedies for laryngitis. Chronic hoarseness after acute laryngitis. Raw throat; dry cough makes chest sore; burning. Mucus accumulates that is hard to expectorate. Worse dry cold winds; better damp, wet weather. Worse 3–4 a.m.
  • Phosphorus Well known for its use in coughs and bronchitis, this remedy is also frequently indicated in laryngitis. Inflamed, sore, raw larynx; cannot talk due to pain. Loss of voice from prolonged talking. Violent tickling in larynx while speaking. Tickling in throat leads to cough. Worse cold air, emotions, weather changes, talking, laughing, eating warm things. Better cold food, washing with cold water.
  • Spongia Tosta – Larynx feels dry, burning, constricted, tickling. Early stages of croup. May be accompanied by a dry barking cough. Worse at night, from touch, when swallowing, and during sleep. Suffocative feelings. Better warm food and drinks; lying with head low.

Measles

While measles is probably best known for its full-body rash, the first symptoms of the infection are usually a hacking cough, runny nose, high fever, and red eyes that can be very sensitive to light. Characteristic markers of measles are Koplik’s spots, small red spots with blue-white centers that appear inside the mouth. The rash first appears on the face and then moves downwards and from the face downward.

  • Euphrasia –  Lots of mucus; a mouthful hawked up on cough; clears the throat frequently; a cough during the day only and worse in the morning; better lying down; eyes – burning, watery and sensitive to light; eyelids burning, red and swollen; wind and light aggravate; nose – bland, watery unlike the watery discharge of the eyes which burns; throat might be sore with burning pain.
  • Pulsatilla –  thirstless; clinging and weepy; warm rooms and becoming warm aggravate; open air ameliorates; low fever and the itchy skin/eruptions are worse for heat; eruptions itching and worse for warmth with white or yellow discharge.
  • Apis –  eruptions painful, burning, hot, stinging with swelling where the skin looks shiny/puffy; thirstless; itching better for cold applications and worse for heat, especially heat of bed; if a rash is slow to develop or is suppressed; better in general for fresh air, better with cold drinks.
  • Bryonia Rash/eruptions slow to come out or suppressed; warmth of the bed ameliorates; dryness and dislike of movement; a headache has pain behind the eyeballs, bursting and violent, worse for moving; better for cold compresses and pressure; thirsty for large quantities of water all at once; motion aggravates; grumpy bear remedy – want to be left alone; throbbing/pulsating pains; dryness throughout all mucous membranes.

Menstrual Cramps

Menstrual cramps affect many women. Some mildly and some more serious. Homeopathic remedies can help ease the pain of menstrual cramps naturally – and sometimes need to be taken very frequently at first (even as often as every 2-3 minutes) to achieve relief. If this is the case, five tablets or globules of the remedy can be dissolved in a one-half glass of water and the water can be sipped, each sip serving as one dose.

Below is a list of remedies that should be considered when looking to relieve the symptoms of menstrual cramps:

  • Apis –  stinging pain in the area of the ovaries; violent bearing-down pains as if in labor; scanty, dark red mucus and scanty dark urine.
  • Belladonna –  acute pain, beginning and ending suddenly, with menses; may feel like cramps or labor pains; intense pressure and weight in the lower abdomen; may feel as if the pelvic organs will fall out; pressure to genitals or abdomen will help with pain; pain worse from potion, walking, or being jarred, sitting from bent over; better from sitting or lying with abdomen straight.
  • Caulophyllum – cramps especially bad before flow starts, less immediate relief from start of flow than with Lachesis; pain in small of back or dizziness also may precede menstruation.
  • Chamomilla –  remedy choice based on mental symptoms; marked irritability; fault finding and snapping over little things; cries out from pain; cramps feel like labor pains; sensation of weight and bearing down in pelvis; pain worse from anger and better from warmth.
  • Cimicifuga sharp pains that dart from side to side in abdomen and cause doubling up; lower back pain during flow, aggravated by motion.
  • Colocynthis cramps relieved by warmth, hard pressure and bending forward; may include sharp pains in ovaries which may occur before flow begins; the woman who finds relief from her cramps by bending over the back of a chair (hard pressure) is likely to be helped by this remedy.
  • Lachesis – symptoms relieved when flow begins; may see spotting or light flow first and cramps, ovarian pain, back pain, dizziness, headache, diarrhea; all symptoms improve when true flow begins; worse with tight clothing around the abdomen; symptoms begin or worsen during sleep or upon waking.
  • Magnesia phosphorica – similar to Colocynthis, but prefers more gentle pressure for cramp relief (weight of the book on the abdomen, pressing with hands); also relief from the warmth and bending forward; pain centered in the uterus and may radiate in all directions.
  • Pulsatilla – irritable, but not as angry as Chamomilla; sensitive, changeable moods, weepy; appreciates gentle comforting; pains cause her to cry out or moan, may have dizziness, fainting, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, back pain and headache before or during flow; thirstless, worse from heat, better from the open air.

Morning Sickness

There are many natural tips out there to help ease the discomfort and unpleasantness of morning sickness. Try eating a dry cracker before getting out of bed. Avoid rich, high-fat foods. If the nausea is worse when you’re hungry, eat frequently, but in small amounts. Stay hydrated and drink ginger or peppermint tea. One of the following tried-and-true remedies also may help:

  • Colchicum – You are extremely sensitive to the smell of food and may gag at the very thought of food, particularly the smell of fish and eggs. Your nausea can last all day and is worse from motion. You want carbonated drinks. You prefer to lie with your knees drawn up, since stretching out your legs can cause nausea.
  • Cocculus indicus –  Your nausea is worse with the thought, smell, and sight of food. You have no appetite, feel fatigued, and tire easily. You feel chilly and your symptoms are worse in the afternoon. Often the nausea is accompanied by vertigo and loss of sleep because of other worries.
  • Ipecacuanha – Your severe, constant nausea is not even relieved by vomiting. You salivate profusely and may have to spit frequently. (Note: This remedy is homeopathically prepared and diluted Ipecacuanha and is NOT interchangeable with the common drugstore Ipecac used to induce vomiting.)
  • Nux vomica Your nausea is strong, especially in bed on waking, but you’re unable to vomit. You are very hungry, but feel worse after eating, with indigestion and cramping. You may be irritable and oversensitive to noise and light.
  • Pulsatilla –  Your nausea is worse in a warm, stuffy room, better in the open air, and better from walking slowly. You crave rich, sweet, fatty foods, but they make you feel worse. You are not thirsty. You tend to be weepy with changeable moods; you want comfort and reassurance. Eating the wrong foods can bring on headaches with a bursting pain over your eyes.
  • Sepia –  Your nausea is worse from the smell and thought of food. You have a sinking feeling in the stomach that makes you feel faint; eating may relieve it but only temporarily. You crave vinegar and pickles, as well as sweets. You have a sensation of heaviness or sagging in the pelvis. You may feel indifferent to your loved ones because you’re exhausted, but physical exercise makes you feel better overall.
  • Tabacum –  You have incessant nausea that is worse in a warm room and from the smell of tobacco. Intense seasickness or motion sickness in the car that is better in the fresh cold air, so the woman may want to open the car window to get the fresh air or go up on the deck of the boat. She wants to uncover the abdomen.

Motion Sickness

There is nothing more miserable than motion sickness on a long journey. If you are prone to this malady, make sure you find a good remedy and test it on a short trip before you try it on any longer trips – like on a vacation. One of the following remedies is likely to help:

  • Borax you fear downward motion, and feel worse when the plan is landing or the boat lurches downward suddenly.
  • Cocculus you have much nausea and dizziness and a strong desire to lie down. The symptoms are worse from watching moving objects or from seeing or smelling food.
  • Kali bichromicum this can help seasickness; severe nausea and dizziness that are worse from standing up. You may feel weak and achy, especially in the bony areas of the face or head; if you vomit, it may be bright yellow.
  • Nux vomica – you have severe nausea with difficulty vomiting, and an intense headache at the back of your head or over one eye. You are chilly and feel worse from the smell of food, tobacco, and coffee.
  • Petroleum – you have persistent nausea with excessive salivation, stomach pain, and stiffness at the back of the head or neck. You may feel worse from light, noise, or when trying to sit up.
  • Rhus tox – this is helpful for airsickness with nausea and vomiting. Your mouth and throat are dry, and you have an unquenchable thirst.
  • Tabacum –  you are nauseated. Others say you appear almost green. You feel better from cold, fresh air.

Mumps

Cases of mumps may start with a fever of up to 103°F (39.4°C), as well as a headache and loss of appetite. The well-known hallmark of mumps is swelling and pain in the parotid (salivary) glands, making the child resemble a hamster with food in its cheeks. The glands usually become increasingly swollen and painful over a period of 1-3 days. The pain gets worse when the child swallows, talks, chews or drinks acidic juices (like orange juice). One or both sides may be affected.

  • Jaborandi – Almost specific for mumps and can be used as prevention in an outbreak; lots of saliva that resembles egg white in consistency with profuse perspiration; great thirst after the sweat and salivation have stopped with drowsiness; saliva can be difficult to swallow if in a state of stupor; face red/flushed; when there is a possibility of the mammary glands or testes swelling; pain or swelling in the breast/ovaries or testes
  • Pulsatilla: Lots of mucus and there may be a sensation of a lump or plug when swallowing; pain when swallowing and even when not swallowing and a constant desire to swallow; thirstless and chilly generally; weepy; want to be carried; clingy; warm rooms and becoming warm aggravate; open air ameliorates; low fever and the itchy skin/eruptions are worse for heat; eruptions itching and worse for warmth with white or yellow discharge
  • Phytolacca: Throat sensitive to slightest touch; throat sore and pain extends upward toward the ears on swallowing; throat may hurt on sticking out the tongues; glands are hard, painful and swollen; copious saliva/sweating; smelly breath; pains spread to the ovaries/breasts, testes.
  • Mercurius solubis: All the discharges are smelly: breath, sweat, stool, urine, saliva; worse at night, in bed; sensitive to extremes of temperature so resting in bed in a moderate temperature gives the greatest relief; intense thirst in spite of a lot of saliva; may even drool; bitter, metallic taste; glands hard, swollen and painful; right side; copious saliva and sweating; mumps pain worse for blowing nose; worse at night; bones in face might aches; similar to Jaborandi but smellier.

Pain

Homeopathy can be effective in treating patients with painful conditions, but unlike conventional pain medications where the same ones are used for most all patients with a given condition, homeopathic remedies must be individually prescribed for good results. Visit a professional homeopath to treat a chronically painful condition. But the following are a handful of remedies that might help in patients with a few, selected conditions when treating at home:
  • Arnica –  Patients needing this remedy have a sore, lame, bruised feeling. It is the most commonly indicated remedy after any trauma, bruises, overuse of organs, or strain. It is helpful after childbirth, surgery, and often helps those suffering from jet lag.
  • Bryonia The grand keynote of this remedy is “worse from any movement.” Bryonia is indicated for pains that are stitching, sticking, or tearing in quality, for example, a patient with an inflamed knee that has a stitching or tearing quality that must be kept still. This remedy is also often indicated in patients with sinusitis, pleurisy, appendicitis, headaches, and the flu. Patients needing this remedy are often irritable, thirsty, and constipated.
  • Chamomilla – Patients needing this remedy are characteristically oversensitive, irritable, thirsty, hot, and may have numbness with the pain. They are so irritable, the pain is unendurable. This remedy is often indicated in children for painful conditions such as teething and middle ear infections. The children must be carried, one cheek is often red while the other remains pale, and they may throw down objects which they demanded just moments before. I have also seen it help a number of times with women enduring a difficult labor.
  • Ledum palustre This remedy is on my mind since an elderly female patient of mine with a terribly painful attack of gout responded so well to it just this week. It is commonly indicated in cases with painful soles of the feet, such as plantar fascitis. The patient is often chilly, the injured or ill part is cold (but it also may be red and hot), and the pain is relieved somewhat by cold applications. This is the main remedy for puncture wounds.
  • Magnesium phosphoricum This is a leading remedy for patients suffering from severe pains, often cramping or neuralgic (nerve) in origin. The pains are relieved somewhat by warmth. Consider it in patients with a toothache, teething, or cramping abdominal pain (such as menstrual cramps) forcing the patient to bend double, place warm applications on the abdomen, and press on the abdomen.
  • Nux vomica Patients needing this remedy are irritable, oversensitive, and usually chilly. They often have constipation with ineffectual urging. They often cannot bear noises, light, odors, etc. This remedy is commonly indicated in patients with hangovers and digestive disturbances after dietary indiscretions (i.e., over-indulging).
  • Rhus tox – This remedy is frequently indicated in patients with musculoskeletal problems that have pains and stiffness on beginning to move, but they limber up with continued movement and feel better. This may be an injury to a limb (such as a sprain) or a back strain/injury.
The fact of the matter is that almost any homeopathic remedy may be indicated and give relief in patients with painful conditions. The list above merely reflects some commonly indicated remedies in common conditions. Many other remedies such as Aconite, Belladonna, Coffea, and others might be indicated, so don’t be afraid to check a more complete source, such as a homeopathic home health book, for other possibilities. Always pay close attention to the character of the pain, the location of the pain, and the modalities (those things that make the pain better and worse). Always observe and check for other symptoms the patient is having which may seem unrelated to the condition but may be the clue for choosing a curative remedy.

Pets

In general, the remedy you would give to a human for a particular medical issue is the same remedy you would give to a pet for a similar medical issue. You must simply observe your pet to determine the correct remedy to give. For example, you might notice that your sick dog, who usually prefers to sleep on the couch cushion, is lying on the cold tile floor in front of the door which is leaking a winter draft. You could conclude that the dog feels better from the moving air and might consider Pulsatilla. Or you might consider Acconite after noticing that your pet is coughing and sneezing in the evening after a long run outside in especially cold, windy weather.

Below is an abbreviated list of some of the common pet medical concerns and remedies you might consider when treating them:

  • Aconite – scratched eye, especially from fights; beginning colds/coughs/fight after labor and delivery.
  • Arnica – injury; after labor and delivery; exhaustion during prolonged labor.
  • Arsenicum –  vomiting/diarrhea/stomach upset; “cat flu”; a gastroenteritis.
  • Calcium phosphorica  epileptic seizures; fall on the side, clamp jaws, foam at the mouth.
  • Calendula – external treatment for wounds.
  • Ferrum phosphorica – bleeding wounds, after phosphorus.
  • Hepar sulphur  – inflamed, infected wounds; ear canker, abscess in the middle ear.
  • Ignatia –  grief after owner’s death or absence; homesickness being left at kennel.
  • Phosphorus –  bad chest cold; hoarse sore throat; fear of thunderstorms; cheerful temperament; bleeding wounds; any profuse bleeding.
  • Pulsatilla –  after birthing to help empty uterus.
  • Ruta joint stiffness.
  • Silica –  infected wounds if Hepar sulphur has not helped; slow wound healing.
  • Veratrum album stomach upset if Arsenicum has not helped.

Pink Eye

It happens to most parents: your child wakes up in the morning with one (or two) gooey, red eye – classic symptoms of conjunctivitis or “pink eye” – an inflammation of the conjunctiva (the thin membrane that covers the inner surface of the eyelid and the white part of the eyeball).

Homeopathy has long been used to safely, gently, and successfully treat pink eye. Here are a few remedies to consider if your child wakes up in this state:

  • Apis mellifica- Puffy swelling of the eyelids. The eyes feel better from cold applications. Stinging, burning pain may be experienced, and the eyelids may stick together. A person who needs this remedy often feels irritable.
  • Argentum nitricum – With this remedy there can be swelling of the eyelids with yellowish or pus-like discharge as well as redness of the whites and inner corners of the eyes. The person’s eyes may be tired and achy, worse from light and warmth, and better from cold compresses and fresh air.
  • Belladonna – Patients needing this remedy often have intense redness of the eyes, including the bloodshot appearance to the whites. There may be throbbing pain or the eye may feel hot. Bright lights and even loud noises may increase the discomfort. The patient may also have a fever. Belladonna is useful when there has been a rapid onset of symptoms.
  • Euphrasia – This remedy is frequently called on when the patient has symptoms that center on the eyes. There is often a large number of tears that burn the eye and surrounding skin. At times a greenish or whitish discharge may form with a feeling as though a foreign object, such as sand, is in the eye. There can also be a profuse bland discharge from the nose.
  • Hepar sulphur –  When this remedy is called for, the eyes feel sore or bruised, with inflammation and burning pain.  Yellow discharge can stick the eyelids shut, especially in the morning. Warm compresses and warmth in general, often make the patient feel better. The patient is often extremely sensitive to cold – a chilly patient – and can also be sensitive to light and noise. Irritability can also be a feature of the case.
  • Mercurius solubilis – Patients needing this remedy often feel lousy and are sensitive to both heat and cold. Discharge is greenish-yellow and can irritate the lids and margins of the eyes. A person who needs this remedy often has very offensive breath and lots of salivation with thirst. There can also be eruptions around the eyes and on the lids of someone who needs this remedy.
  • Pulsatilla This remedy is often called for when there is a great deal of thick, yellow, itchy discharge from the eye.  The discharge generally doesn’t irritate the skin. The person needing this remedy can be needy as well as worse in a warm room. They are also often thirstless. Cool compresses applied to the eyes are often soothing.
  • Sulphur – This remedy may be helpful for patients whose eyes are red with burning and itching. The whites of the eyes look red and bloodshot, and the tears feel hot. Symptoms are worse from heat.

Pregnancy

So you’re having baby congratulations! This is an exciting time as you prepare for the arrival of your new little one. Now more than ever, it’s essential to take good care of yourself: eat wholesome foods, drink enough water, exercise regularly, get plenty of sleep, and see your doctor or midwife for check-ups. These measures will go a long way toward ensuring a healthy pregnancy and a happy baby.

But even the healthiest mom-to-be can develop a few annoying discomforts, like morning sickness, heartburn, or constipation. How can you find relief? You know its best to avoid most drugs because they may place your baby’s health at risk. Homeopathy can help you feel better and stay as healthy as possible.

  • A backache and Ligament Pain
  • Heartburn
  • Hemorrhoids and Constipation
  • Insomnia
  • Morning Sickness
  • Post-natal Care

Prostate Issues

Not just affecting elderly men, prostatitis and benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) are both much more common than might be expected in middle-aged individuals. It is always advisable to seek professional advice for chronic, long-standing complaints from a professional homeopath. In an acute attack consider the remedies below for some relief while you wait to see a professional rule out the possibility of a more serious condition.
  • Chimaphilla umbellato – Itching, burning, soreness in the region of the gland, constant urge to urinate, worse from pressure, worse from sitting, sensation of sitting on a ball, stringy mucus discharge, can only pass urine standing with legs spread and bending forward.
  • Kali bichromium –Pain aggravated by walking, must stand still for relief, needlelike pain or drawing pain that extends from prostate into the penis, burning in urethra after urinating, very thick, string, or sticky discharge.
  • Lycopodium clavatum  Enlargement with sexual dysfunction, frequent painful urging to urinate, pain during or after urination, urination delayed, painful straining—dribbles by drops, needle-like pains in bladder and anus. Concomitant Symptoms: Much flatulence
  • Pulsatilla – Severe pains after urination (sharp or spasm), spurting stream of urine, thick yellow discharge, urgent need to pass urine, worse from lying on back, retention of urine in the elderly. Concomitant Symptom: History of gonorrhea
  • Sabal serrulata –  Frequent urging to pass urine (especially at night), difficulty passing urine, the area around prostate feels cold, painful intercourse, ejaculation is painful or impossible, prostatic emissions with stool.
  • Thuja occidentalis – the Frequent urge to pass urine, burning sensation at the neck of the bladder, feeling as if urine dribbling down the urethra, a forked stream of urine, involuntary urination in elderly men, easy discharge of prostatic fluids, lump sensation in the rectum. Concomitant Symptom: History of gonorrhea

It’s important to note that typical cases of prostatitis and BPH have very few distinguishing symptoms that help in remedy selection. If no one remedy is an obvious choice then you might try each individually (one at a time) and pay close attention to any change.

PTSD

It is okay for the home prescriber to treat an acute post-traumatic reaction, but serious and/or chronic cases should be treated by a professional. Here are some of the most commonly-indicated homeopathic remedies for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Remember, there are many other remedies that might be chosen to help a patient with PTSD, so if one of the remedies below doesn’t fit the situation, do some more research or seek professional help.

  • Aconite –  extreme fear, frequently accompanied by an unexplainable, vivid sense—even certainty—of imminent death, along with restlessness and agitation. The victim looks scared and has very small pupils. Most helpful during the first hours after a traumatic event (especially disasters), it might also be helpful many years later.
  • Arnica –  for people who suffer from PTSD as a result of a terrible car or motorcycle accident. They may be morbidly afraid to ride a bike or drive a car.
  • Arsenicum album –  victims are anxious, restless, and fidgety. They constantly call for help, need to be reassured, and crave company. They may become chilly and may feel much worse after midnight. They’re unable to sleep and may develop diarrhea from severe anxiety. They’re also thirsty for small amounts of cold drinks.
  • Stramonium –  for people with nightmares (when a child wakes up terrified and remembers the dream) and night terrors (when a child wakes up morbidly frightened but doesn’t remember the dream). Some children develop violent behavior after a terrorizing experience. This violence seems to come in outbursts, without any apparent premeditation. They may become afraid of the dark, of dogs or other animals, and of water. Some children begin to stammer; others may exhibit various grimaces and twitches.
You Might Also Like   Apis Mellifica; Uses/ Indications, Dosage, Side Effects

Rubella (German Measles)

Rubella infection may begin with 1-2 days of mild fever (99-100°F, 37.2-37.8°C) and swollen, tender lymph nodes, usually in the back of the neck or behind the ears. A rash then begins on the face and spreads downward. As it spreads, it usually clears on the face.

  • Gelsemium –  Slow onset of Rubella with fever and headache; pains in back of head, spreading to forehead; head feels heavy; vision blurred; heaviness, drowsiness, and lack of thirst with chills; trembling, weakness and dizziness; heavy feeling in legs; drugged feeling; head pain at the back of the neck; no thirst even though feverish; fear of ordeals, exams, and speaking events.
  • Pulsatilla – Can be used as prevention; thirstless; clinging and weepy; warm rooms and becoming warm aggravate; open air ameliorates; low fever and the itchy skin/eruptions are worse for heat; eruptions itching and worse for warmth with white or yellow discharge.
  • Coffea – Recommended by when the child is overly excitable, extremely sensitive to pain, sleepless because of sensitivity to all noises. Can be used for teething when desires ice/cold drinks.

Sciatica

The following are common remedies for sciatica

  • Magnesia phosphorica – The person needing this will have a classic sciatica pattern of nerve pain extending from the low back down the back of the buttocks and leg. The pain can be cramping (often from overexertion) or sudden, violent, and neuralgic such as cutting, shooting, or sharp, lightning-like pains. When the sciatica is on the right side and is better from warmth and pressure, yet the warmth is more relieving than pressure, consider this remedy.
  • Colocynthis –  This is another classic sciatica remedy. When sciatica is left-sided and the pain is better from the warmth and hard pressure, but pressure gives the most relief, Colocynthis will often help. In their state of violent pain, the person may be angry, indignant, impatient, and easily offended, and they may want to be alone because their friends irritate them; yet these mental-emotional symptoms are not as necessary to the prescription of Colocynthis as are the physical symptoms.

Shingles

There are many possible remedies to help a person with shingles. But remember, if you’re treating yourself at home and your symptoms do not get better, please seek advice from a professional homeopath. Here are a few of the more common remedies for shingles:

  • Rhus toxicodendron –  Skin is red, hot, swollen, with intense itching and blister-like vesicles. Better from hot water and worse from cold drafts or cold applications. Burning and neuralgic pains after shingles that are worse from rest and beginning to move, but better with continued motion; they are also better from heat or a hot bath (compare to Arsenicum because both have the symptom of being better from a hot bath). Worse from exposure to cold wet weather, and better from warm dry weather.
  • Ranunculus bulbosus Eruption or post-herpetic neuralgia pain is often on the torso, chest, and in the intercostal spaces between the ribs. Stitching pains in the chest and between the shoulder blades. Skin eruptions are often bluish or dark blue. Burning with intense itching; worse from touch, wet weather, motion, taking a deep breath, and turning the body. Shooting pains with thickening of the skin and formation of hard scabs. Worse from cold and changes of temperature; better from rest, warm applications, and warm weather.
  • Arsenicum album – Burning, itching red blisters; the burning is better from hot applications or a hot bath. Painful, shooting or burning neuralgia. Symptoms are worse after or around midnight, in open air, and in cold air. In general, people needing this remedy are chilly, anxious, and restless.
  • Mezereum Eruptions itch violently and burn like fire; when dry scabs form, they cause great pain if torn off. Neuralgic burning pains after shingles. The ­person is very chilly and very sensitive to cold air (even a fan), yet they have internal burning pains and are worse at night, worse from warmth and warm applications, and better from cold applications to the skin.
  • Iris versicolor Herpes zoster on the right side of the body. Fine eruption, showing black points after scratching, with great itching at night. Vesicular ­eruption, becoming pustular, on arms, abdomen, back, buttocks, and left knee; much itching in evening.
  •  Skin eruptions are vesicular, moist, burning when touched, and ­surrounded by dry scales that easily bleed. They itch more when the person is warm and in bed (compare to Sulphur, which has similar indications). Itching is worse from perspiration; the person perspires easily; the sweat may be oily, have a foul odor, and stain clothing yellow.
  • Sulphur – Skin eruptions with violent itching and burning that are worse from scratching and from washing/bathing. Worse from becoming warm, from the warmth of the bed, and from warm applications/bathing.

Shock

  • Arnica – pale, cold, clammy skin; rapidly rising pulse, restlessness; shallow breathing; feeling of impending disaster.
  • Aconite – instead of arnica if patient is extremely fearful, agitated, restless.

Slapped in the Face Disease (Fifth Disease)

Common in kids between the ages of 5 and 15: begins with a low-grade fever/chills with a headache, body ache, sore throat, and cold-like symptoms like a runny nose. After these subside, a distinctive rash that looks like a ‘slapped cheek’ appears. The rash spreads to the trunk, arm, and legs.

  • Ferrum phosphoricum Slow onset; low-grade fever; nosebleed.
  • Chamomilla – Fever stage has flushes of heat in head and face; fiery red rash on face; burning; cold limbs with burning heat of face; perspiration is hot with fever; behavior is key; whining restlessness; wants many things, then refuses them; aversion to touch but wants to be carried; very sensitive to pain; ugly behavior.
  • Apis – Chill stage of fever: worse from any warm coverings; better open air and from uncovering; heat stage of fever: extremely drowsy with great thirst; barely any perspiration; want cool cloths on red cheeks; ‘slapped’ face looks swollen, shiny and feels stinging & hot (just like a bee sting would look and feel); possibly with a sore throat; fear of being alone and possessive of the mother (jealousy).

Snakebites

Homeopathic remedies can be an important adjunct or even curative intervention in the treatment of a snakebite victim. This should be attempted only while getting as quickly as possible to the nearest emergency medical facility. Here are some remedies to consider for snakebites:

  • Aconite –  useful at the initial stages, when the person has a great fear of death, with anxiety or panic and restlessness.
  • Arsenicum album – may help chilly, anxious, restless people, who fear death and desire company. They may have burning pains that are relieved by heat.
  • Carbo vegetabilis – useful for bite reactions that have progressed into shock, coldness, blue discolorations, weak pulse, clammy sweat, and collapse.
  • Cedron known in herbal and homeopathic medicine for its “powers of antidoting snakebites”.
  • Echinacea –  indicated for dullness, weakness, exhaustion, and marked drowsiness; the wound may be infected, septic-looking, and painful.
  • Hypericum perforatum –  indicated for neuralgic, shooting pain around wounds of nerve-rich areas, such as fingers and toes.
  • Lachesis – may help the individual who has prostration, restlessness, painful swelling, bruising, and possibly bleeding; the person typically cannot bear anything tight around them (e.g. tight necklines or waistbands) and may be very talkative.
  • Ledum  – useful for puncture wounds, especially when the wound feels cold and is relieved from cold applications. The person may have muscle twitches or spasms near the area of the bite.

Sty

Also known as a stye.

  • Apis mellifica – a pinkish sty with stinging and burning pain. Edema and pain are relieved by cold compresses.
  • Belladonna –  a tender red sty on with throbbing pain, the eye is sensitive to light.
  • Euphrasia –  the sensation of sand in the eye, eyelids are stuck together
  • Hepar sulph –  an extremely painful sty in a child prone to acute suppurations, eyelids stuck together with purulent discharge the child is irritable and touchy. A warm compress speeds the rupture and relieves the pain.
  • Pulsatilla – inflamed eyelids, stuck together with yellowish discharge; symptoms are alleviated by cold compresses; sty is painless or with mild pain; style is almost always on the upper eyelid; shy and timid child prone to recurrent says.
  • Silicea –  also works well for preventing recurrent styles; a child prone to lingering suppurations
  • Staphysagria – the main medicine for chalazion (a lump in the eyelid that is not painful).Fits best children who tend to suppress their emotions.

Sunburn

Even the most devout sunscreen user can miss a spot or forget to reapply after having too much “fun in the sun.” If the sun has scorched your skin, homeopathy offers several remedies that can ease pain and prevent complications such as blisters and infection.

  • Arnica – Because there is often an element of shock present with sunburn over a large area, many homeopaths suggest taking one dose of this remedy before giving one of the following.
  • Cantharis –   Painful burning, possibly with itching, raw sensation. The burn feels better from cold applications and the person cannot remove the cold pack for even an instant. If taken immediately, it can prevent blistering.
  • Causticum – Burns that blister and ooze (like “chemical” burns). This remedy can be used for old burns that do not get well, and for ill effects from burns.
  • Urtica urens – Intense burning or stinging pain, often with violent itching. The burn feels worse from cold water, heat, exercise, and after sleeping.

Immediately after getting burned, apply a cool compress, which is preferable to ice packs that can damage skin and nerve endings. You can soak the compress in an herbal tincture for added benefit. Refresh compresses frequently, as soon as they “warm up” against the sunburned skin. Dilute one part tincture in ten parts sterile water. A spray bottle is another helpful way to apply diluted tinctures.

  • Aloe vera gel  – A tried and true burn reliever; it should be applied to unbroken skin.
  • Hypericum tincture – Relieves pain on sunburn and unbroken blisters.
  • Calendula tincture –  Helps prevent infection and blisters.
  • Urtica urens tincture –  Soothes the sting of the burn.

Take a dose by mouth every 2-4 hours, as needed, but for no longer than 2 days. Sunburn can lead to heat exhaustion or heat stroke, so seek medical attention when in doubt.

Learn more about how much to take and how often to take a remedy.

Surgery

Know someone who’s having surgery? Pass along these tips on how to recover/heal more quickly after surgery:

  • First, give Arnica  one dose of 200C given before surgery and immediately after. Arnica helps remove the shock.
  • Next, after surgery, wait for return the patient to wake up and gauge their pain. As soon as pain is felt, give a dose of Arnica 200C. After 5 minutes, ask about the pain. If it is better to give Arnica 200C every 20 minutes, or as needed.
  • After that only give another dose as needed – whenever there is a pain.

If there is a pain after Arnica is given immediately following surgery, 90% will not feel better with Arnica alone. Also give Hypericum 200C / 1 dose every twenty minutes for 6 doses, then as needed when the pain returns.

  • You can also use a Hypericum tincture on gauze over the incision.

Sweating (Excessive); Primary Focal Hyperhidrosis

Here are indications for 5 remedies that are useful for patients suffering with primary focal hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating).

  • Sulphur Excessive sweating on palms, soles, and underarms. Hot, sweaty hands. Warm-blooded, thirsty for large quantities; milk disagrees. Worse with heat, worse with washing and bathing, worse with standing. Body orifices are red (eg. red lips, red anus). All discharges are acrid, excoriating whrever they touch. Prone to itchy, burning, flaky, dry skin diseases. Itching from warmth. Feels good to scratch, but scratching causes burning.
  • Calcarea carbonica – Cold, sweaty hands and feet. May also have excessive sweating on chest and upper body. Calcarea cabonica patients tend to be chilly, obstinate, constipated, often desire eggs (especially hard boiled), milk, and cheese. They are chubby babies with cold feed who often have cradle cap and atopic eczema. Their heads may sweat profusely at night. They are late with the eruption of teeth and have difficulty with teething.
  • Silica – Profuse sweating of head, hands, feet, and underarms. The sweat of the feet can be quite offensive. (Remember Silica when parents complain of their child’s stinky feet.) Silica patients tend to be cold, chilly, and lacking in vital heat. People who need this remedy may also have white spots on the nails and in-grown toenails. They tend to be very thirsty. Children who need this remedy are rather weak, yielding, faint-hearted, and anxious. THey tend to thave large heads and distended abdomens, and they can be slow to walk.
  • Lycopodium –  Sticky and offensive perspiration of the feet and underarms. People needing this remedy are worse between 4pm and 8pm, worse with heat, worse in a warm room, and worse from warm applications (exception: throat and stomach problems are better with warm drinks). They may have numerous gastrointestinal disorders, including heartburn, flatulence, and liver problems. They may have premature graying of the hair.
  • Ignatia – Excessive sweating of the palms. This remedy is one of the premier remedies for grief. Especially suited to nervous, sensitive, easily excited persons who are quit to perceive and rapid in execution. Rapidly alternating emotions. It is a remedy of great contradictions (eg. people with hyperhidrosis whose sweating decreases with vigorous exercise). In general, people who need this remedy are worse with coffee and smoking.

The process of developing and cutting teeth is something we all go through. For many children that the process can be painful and disruptive. Some children suffer from sleeplessness, some pain, others diarrhea, vomiting, fever and/or skin rashes. A homeopathy is a great tool for parents to use to alleviate the suffering of the littlest among us.

Here are some of the remedies you can consider for your teething son or daughter:

  • Aconite  When the child has much pain with restlessness and biting off fingers, sleeplessness, crying, fever, and heat of the head
  • Belladonna – Much moaning. Awakens from sleep and looks frightened.  Staring eyes.  Face and eyes red with dilated pupils and a hot head. Violent starting and jumping while sleeping and at other times.
  • Calcarea carbonica – The head perspires greatly during sleep – wetting the pillow far around. Stools can be hard and chalky. The child tends to be fair skinned and plump.
  • Chamomilla – The child starts and jumps in sleep. It is very cross and insists on being carried everywhere – and only carrying the child seems to relieve him or her. One cheek may be red and the other pale. Can have diarrhea that is watery, slimy and green.
  • Cina The child rubs its nose a great deal and is restless in sleep. Can also be very hungry. If teeth have already cut through – they may grind these during sleep.
  • Coffea crudum The child is very excitable and sleepless. It cries and laughs easily. A child can be in a state of exhaustion.
  • Magnesia carb –  Green, frothy and foul smelling diarrhea during teething – diarrhea lasts a long time.
  • Magnesia mur – Teeth are slow to cut through. The child may have a distended abdomen and be constipated.  The stools are often large and crumble.
  • Mercurius solubilis Copious salivation with slimy diarrhea or green stools with much straining on the toilet.
  • Podophyllum Painful diarrhea with screaming; stools often green. A child can grind whatever teeth have already cut through.
  • Silicea – Weak children with profuse salivation. Frequent or almost continued grasping at gums. Fever towards evening and heat in the head. Often has feet that perspire profusely – the perspiration can have a strong odor. Also, sweat from the head during sleep.

Toothaches

A handful of remedies can help during the majority of common dental emergencies. These first aid remedies can help alleviate pain or discomfort, at least temporarily, until proper dental measures can be received. These remedies are not intended to replace good dental care.

  • Belladonna – take every 30 to 60 minutes when the toothache throbs and is worse from touch or motion (chewing).
  • Magnesia phosphoricum –  when a toothache is worse from cold and better from warmth.
  • Coffea cruda – when the toothache is worse from heat and relieved by holding ice in the mouth.
  • Chamomilla – when a toothache is worse from any warmth, but not better from the cold. The pain is intolerable and makes the patient peevish.

Toothaches

Some people say toothaches are the worst pain ever. Why? A toothache is usually a sign of inflammation in the nerve root – the result of decay, tooth trauma, or gum disease. If you have a continuous toothache that prevents sleep, or a tooth that is very sensitive to heat, cold, or sweet things, see your dentist as soon as possible. In the meantime, try one of these remedies to ease the pain, but be sure to follow up with a dental exam:

  • Belladonna –  helps throbbing pain that is worse from touch or motion (e.g. chewing) and worse at night. The mouth may be dry. The person may be irritable, excitable, and feverish with a flushed, hot face.
  • Chamomilla – helps a toothache that is worse from any warmth (whether taking warm food or drink in the mouth or upon entering a warm room) but not better with cold. The pain in unbearable may radiate to the ears and is worse at night. The person is irritable and oversensitive.
  • Coffea cruda – helps pain that is worse from heat and relieved by holding ice or cold water in the mouth. The person may be extremely excitable and hypersensitive.
  • Hepar sulph – can help with an abscessed tooth as well. The tooth is hypersensitive to touch, and the pain is worse from the least draft of air and worse from cold. The person is irritable.
  • Hypericum –  can help in any condition where a nerve has been injured. Pains are excessive and sharp, shooting, tearing, or drawing. Tingling, burning, and numbness may also be present. This remedy can be used for pain and sensitivity after root canals or other procedures that impact the nerve or nerve tubules.
  • Magnedia phosphoric helps pain that is worse from cold, better from the warmth and warm fluids, and better from pressure; the shooting pains may feel like electric shocks.
  • Mercurius may help a toothache from an abscess or decaying teeth. The pains are tearing, shooting, and often extending to the ears. They are worse at night and worse from eating or drinking anything hot or cold. The person may have bad breath or a metallic taste in the mouth with excessive salivation.
  • Plantago can help a toothache that is hypersensitive to the lease touch, worse from cold air, and worse from both cold and warm drinks. The cheek may swell, the tooth may feel too long, and the person may have excessive salivation. Rubbing Plantago tincture directly on the affected tooth may also give relief.

For many, traveling is a pleasant, albeit sometimes stressful, undertaking. For some, however, the thought of getting on an airplane or leaving familiar territory can cause feelings of anxiety or even outright terror.

  • Gelsemium:  This remedy is perhaps best-knownto home prescribers as a remedy for those suffering from the flu. But it is also very useful if you are experiencing anxiety from anticipation—specifically, the type of anxiety where you have diarrhea, your mouth may feel numb, and you can’t think because of a kind of mental numbness.
  • Argentum nitricum: While those needing Gelsemium will experience symptoms of mental prostration, the Argentum nitricum patient will be more tremulous and impulsive. The travel anxiety makes them want to walk for relief. People needing this remedy often crave sweets and have a strong fear of heights.
  • Aconite: When travel anxiety spills over into a frank panic, Aconite often saves the day. The anguish is extreme—as if one is facing imminent death. The person is restless with extreme fear.

Trigeminal Neuralgia

People afflicted with trigeminal neuralgia endure not just the excruciating pain of the illness but also the uncomfortable and sometimes intolerable side effects of the drugs given to try to stop their pain. But the drugs don’t always work, so beleaguered sufferers turn to surgery—which may or may not help. Homeopathy offers a safe alternative!

Homeopathy can help with both the chronic condition and acute flare-ups. Remedies used to treat acute flare-ups may also help the person’s chronic condition—that is, it will reduce their underlying chronic tendency toward having trigeminal neuralgia flare-ups in the first place. In other cases, a different remedy may be needed to treat the chronic tendency toward flare-ups; if so, this remedy would be given after the acute flare-up had passed and would be aimed at more than just the trigeminal neuralgia symptoms. (Note: For the treatment of chronic conditions, seek the expertise of a trained homeopath.)

The homeopathic remedies below are those used most often to relieve an acute flare-up of this painful condition.

  • Aconite – Pains appear suddenly and are worse on the left side. They are accompanied by ­restlessness and an anxious look on the face. Pains are intense and are accompanied by anguish. Pains may come on after exposure to or may be worsened by dry cold winds.
  • Arsenicum –  Pains feel drawing or burning, as if from ­needles. They are ameliorated by warm applications and aggravated by cold air; they may be worse after midnight. The person is anxious, restless, and thirsty.
  • Belladonna –  Pains are right-sided with a red face. Muscles of the face may twitch with pains, which are severe and intense. Pains are worse with drafts and motion, especially when chewing. Pains appear and disappear rapidly and may worsen at 3 p.m.
  • Bryonia – Pains are worse with the slightest motion, so the person cannot speak or eat. They are ameliorated by cold and pressure and lying on the painful side. The person has dry mouth and lips, and is likely very thirsty.
  • China –  Pains are mostly left-sided. The skin on the face is sensitive to any light touch or draft, as well as to motion and can be worse with noise. Hard pressure ameliorates the pain. Attacks may come on at the same times every day.
  • Colocynthis –  Pains feel tearing or ­stitching, mostly on the left side. Pains are better with ­pressure, rest, and warm ­applications. Location of pain may be worse around the eye. Attacks can be worse in the evening around 10 p.m.
  • Magnesium phosphoric –  Pains worse on the right side, worse if the body gets cold or if the area is exposed to cold, especially cold wind. Pain is better with warm applications and can be better with pressure. Pains come on like lightning.
  • Pulsatilla –  Pains are worse on the right side, with a drawing or tearing sensation. They are worse from chewing, warmth, and lying on the painful side. The mouth feels dry, but the person does not drink. Pains are ameliorated by cold applications and open air.
  • Spigelia – Left-sided pains, worse from stooping or moving the head, from noise, during perspiration, from cold water and air, and from chewing. Lightning-like pains come on from morning until sunset. The person has a flushed red face on the affected side, and pains come on at certain times of the day.
  • Verbascum – Left-sided pains with a pinching sensation as if parts were being crushed by tongs. Pains brought on by clenching teeth, change of temperature, pressure, open air, and motion. Pains involve the chin and lower jaw.

Ulcers

The handful of remedies below are often successful in helping people find relief from ulcers. A consultation with a homeopathic professional is recommended for the treatment of chronic ulcers.

  • Arsenicum album –  indicated in individuals who are meticulous to a fault, chilly, restless, and obsessed about their health. Their ulcer symptoms are worse from stress and anxiety. The pain may be described as a burning sensation, better from heath and from warm food and drinks.
  • Kali bichromicum – useful for people who like to go into great detail with everything. They also seem to look at the world in “black and white” and have high moral values, referring often to duty and rules. Sharp, knife-like pains that radiate to the loin, with a sensation of a specific sore spot in the stomach, may accompany their ulcer. The individual also feels as if the entire digestive process has stopped and feels worse immediately after eating.
  • Mercurius corrosivus –  suits anxiety-prone, restless individuals who may develop delirium and stupor during illness. These people may feel detached or disconnected from others. Often indicated in chronic, long-standing ulcers with severe pain and sometimes with bleeding, it may be chosen to address ulcers that have gone untreated or have been inappropriately treated.
  • Mercurius solubilis –  for people who pine for solidity and harmony. The ulcer may give stabbing pain. People who need this remedy are chilly but also sensitive to heat; they may have weak digestion, with continued hunger. There may be a continued urging or a “never-get-done” feeling on defacating.
  • Natrum phosphoricum –  for individuals who find it difficult to delegate; they are friendly and caring, but highly self-reliant. They may find it difficult to speak about their problems. Effective in ulcers with sour burping and vomiting.
  • Nux vomica for workaholic people who drive themselves crazy with stress and dietetic excess. They are known as go-getters who thrive on challenges – most often entrepreneurs or managers. With the ulcer, they may have abdominal bloating and flatulence. Dietetic overindulgence triggers emotional stress and sleeplessness, often leading to peptic ulcers when the body can no longer cope with the individual’s hectic lifestyle. May be most effective when taken in the evening.
  • Phosphorus –  Best for people who love being the center of attention. These people are oversensitive, artistic, expressive, and affectionate, and give more than they can manage. Their desire for attention can make them dependent on others. Their ulcers tend to be accompanied by flatulence or a distended, bloated feeling in the abdomen, with cramping pain. They feel better from cold food and drink, although they may vomit once it warms up in the stomach.
  • Robinia – homeopathic antacid”. Addresses peptic ulcers with hyperacidity. Person might have frontal headache accompanied by sour belching and greenish vomiting.

Urinary Tract Infections (UTI)/ Cystitis/ Bladder Infections

Urinary tract infections (UTI), also known as bladder infections or cystitis, are a common problem for women. Symptoms of a UTI include a burning pain before, during, or after urination; a frequent and urgent need to urinate, although only small amounts of urine may come out; and cloudy or bloody urine. A person with a UTI may experience pain or tenderness in their lower abdomen or back, fever, and a sense of being ill.

Allopathic physicians treat UTIs with antibiotics. These control the acute infections quickly but do not prevent repeated infections. A person with a UTI should be under the care of their health professional, but they may not need to take antibiotics immediately if they follow good self-care guidelines and use homeopathic remedies appropriately.

A woman who begins to experience burning or frequent urination should immediately begin drinking more liquids to dilute the bacteria and flush them out. Cranberry juice or other acidic juices (not sweetened with sugar) can also help prevent a bacterial infection from the beginning.

In addition, homeopathic remedies can be helpful. Below is a list of remedies that are frequently used for UTIs:

  • Aconite –  during the earliest stages; first have difficulty passing urine, then burning pain during urination develops with general symptoms of fear and anxiety.
  • Apis –  severe burning and stinging pain in the urethra before, during , and after urination with a sensation of swelling in the urethra; violent urging to urinate, but must strain to pass urine, and it come out in only tiny amounts; abdomen sensitive to slightest touch; burning and stinging worse from heat and at night and better from cold.
  • Berberis – pains during or after urination; cutting, or shooting pains from the bladder to the urethra or from the urethra to the pelvis, thighs, or back; pains worse from motion; pain in kidneys or ureters (tubes from kidneys to bladder) that worsen from pressure, motion, or jarring.
  • Cantharis – most commonly used remedy for UTIs; frequent strong need to urinate, with much burning during urination; urgent need to empty bladder, and may lose urine even while rushing to the toilet; urine passes in small amounts; may feel urging just after or even during urination; tremendous burning, cutting, or stabbing pains in urethra and bladder before, during, and after urination, or whenever the urge to urinate is felt; restless, frantic with severe pain; sexual desire may be increased.
  • Mercurius –  burning, uncontrollable urge to urinate; dark urine passing in small amounts; burning pain worse when the patient is not urinating; burning may also be severe just before, when beginning or at end of urination; worse at night.
  • Nux vomica burning or pressing pain in bladder during urination, pain in urethra before or during urination, sometimes with a strong urge to move bowels; needle like pains in urethra extending toward bladder; may occur after excesses in eating, alcohol, coffee, or drugs.
  • Pulsatilla pain not as intense as with Cantharis or Apis, but has significant smarting and burning; worse lying on back; urine may pass in dribbles, and may be involuntary at slightest provocation (cough, sneeze, laugh, surprise).
  • Sarsaparilla: the most severe pain in urethra is at the end of urination; pain may not be burning; pay need to stand to urinate freely.

A whooping Cough

Whooping cough cases in the U.S. are rising at what the CDC describes as “an alarming rate”. If your child develops whooping cough, consider one of the following remedies:

  • Arnica – Every coughing spell is announced with crying.
  • Arsenicum –  When there is great prostration with waxy paleness and coldness of the skin.
  • Belladonna The child gets very red in the face with every coughing spell.
  • Bryonia – Worse with motion. A cough worse after eating or drinking with vomiting.
  • Carbo veg – Great exhaustion after every coughing spell, with blueness of the skin, hot head and face. Patient wants to be fanned.
  • Causticum – A very dry cough remains a long time. Does not get entirely well.
  • Chamomilla  – The cough is dry; the child is very fretful, must be carried to be appeased, one red cheek.
  • Coccus cacti –  Every coughing spell is terminated by spitting of large quantities of ropy mucus.
  •  Cuprum – With every coughing fit, the child coughs itself into a cataleptic fit – it appears as if the child were dead.
  • Drosera –  When the child is worse, particularly after 12AM, with high fever, cough in violent spasmodic spells as if it would suffocate, sometimes bleeding at the nose and mouth.
  • Hepar –  When the cough seems complicated with croup; worse towards morning; the cough sounds croupy and it seems as if the patient would choke.
  • Ipecac –   Strangling with a cough till blue in the face.
  • Lachesis –  Child always awakens in a coughing fit; it seems very faint and weak.
  • Mercurius –  The child sweats very much at night. Can bleed from nose and mouth with each coughing spell. Either by day only or by night only, the child ALWAYS has double coughing spells, which are separated by intervals of perfect rest.
  • Nux vomica  Hard dry cough with constipation.  Worse after 4:00 PM.  The child becomes blue in the face and bleeds from the nose and mouth.
  • Pulsatilla  Child is weepy. A cough very loose, with vomiting of mucus; diarrhea; a cough worse at night.
  • Sepia – a Cough always much worse in the morning when it is loose and terminates in an effort to vomit.
  • Squilla – During a cough the child sneezes, waters at the eyes and nose; the child constantly rubs its eyes, nose and face with its fists during a cough.

References

Homeopathy

Loading

If the article is helpful, please Click to Star Icon and Rate This Post!
[Total: 0 Average: 0]

About the author

Translate »