A Mother's Guide to Raising Healthy Children--Naturally (58 page)

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Authors: Sue Frederick

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Page 163

Another may have thick yellow mucus, congestion that blocks up one side of the nose and then switches to the other, or a sore throat or a cough; be lethargic and clingy; and want acidic liquids like orange juice. Both children have a cold, but each one's pattern of symptoms is quite different.

The proper homeopathic medicine reflects your child's entire pattern of symptoms, including his mental and emotional state, not just the generic illness. When your child has a cold, she may become anxious and fretful, clingy and weepy, or irritable and want to be left alone. Her mental and emotional responses may vary, but reappear consistently as her typical response no matter what the ailment. As the overview of specific homeopathic remedies below clearly demonstrates, these elements of your child's personal response to illness are not only considered, they are also important factors in the choice of the appropriate homeopathic remedy. In fact, recurrent body-mind patterns, which include the physical, mental, and emotional symptoms a person habitually exhibits, make up what homeopaths describe as a constitutional type. The remedy that best helps the body bring this constellation of symptoms into a healthy balance is called a
constitutional remedy.
Knowing your child's constitutional remedy is effective in treating both acute and chronic symptoms and enables you to better understand and help your child.

Since Hahnemann's day, literally millions of experiments (called
provings
in homeopathic jargon) have been done on hundreds of plant, mineral, and animal substances, and the results checked and rechecked thousands of times and recorded in homeopathic resource books called a repertory and a materia medica. A
repertory
contains lists of every imaginable symptommental and emotional as well as physicalalong with the homeopathic medicines known to cure it.
Materia medica
is Latin for ''materials of medicine," and this resource contains a list of homeopathic medicines, each followed by a description of the symptoms it is known to treat. Not surprisingly, these resources are both detailed and complex. If you are merely searching for a remedy to help your child deal with a minor complaint, you will likely be successful consulting the brief repertory in this appendix or the Parent's Natural Home Health Kit in Appendix B. If you wish to determine your child's constitutional remedy, you may wish to consult with a homeopathic physician (see Finding a Competent Homeopathic Physician, below).

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Homeopathy Today

Today homeopathic medicine is widely practiced in Europe. England's royal family has been under homeopathic care since the 1830s, and 42 percent of British physicians refer patients to homeopaths. One-third of the French population uses homeopathic medicines; 32 percent of French physicians prescribe them. One-fifth of all German physicians and 45 percent of Dutch physicians consider homeopathic medicines effective.

State-of-the-art scientific research on homeopathic medicines continues to demonstrate their effectiveness. In the September 20, 1997, issue of
The Lancet,
a highly respected medical journal, a team of German and American physicians and scientists published a review of eighty-nine clinical studies evaluating the efficacy of homeopathic remedies. These studies covered a wide variety of ailments, including asthma, hay fever, ear infection, upper respiratory infection, influenza, migraine headache, rheumatoid arthritis, sprains and strains, diarrhea, indigestion, post-surgical complications, varicose veins, and childbirth. The results? Patients given a homeopathic remedy were 2.45 times more likely to have a positive result than those given a placebo.

Finding a Competent Homeopathic Physician

Many N.D.s (naturopathic doctors) and other holistically oriented physicians utilize homeopathy. To find a physician or other health care practitioner who specializes in homeopathy, check with the following national organizations for a list of qualified homeopaths in your area:

Homeopathic Educational Service
2124 Kittredge St.
Berkeley, CA 94704
Telephone: (415) 649-0294

International Foundation for Homeopathy
2366 Eastlake Ave. E, Suite 301
Seattle, WA 98102
Telephone: (206) 324-8230

National Center of Homeopathy
1500 Massachusetts Ave. NW, #42
Washington, DC 20005
Telephone: (202) 223-6182

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How to Take Homeopathic Medicines

Homeopathic medicines are usually in the form of small, white medicated pellets, most often in a lactose (milk sugar) or sucrose base. The pellets come in different sizes (#10 looks like tiny confectioner's sprinkles; #35 looks like a white version of the little silver balls used to decorate holiday cookies and cakes; others look like small aspirin tablets). Dosage normally is on the bottle label, but, in general, dosages are 5-10 cake sprinkles, 2-4 spherical balls, or 1-2 tablets.

Store homeopathic medicines in a cool, dark place, away from strong odors (camphor, eucalyptus, perfume, etc.), and away from electromagnetic fields (heating pads, electric blankets, microwaves, computers, televisions). Do not refrigerate.

To take the remedy, tap the appropriate number of pellets into the cap of the bottle, then pour the pellets
directly
into the child's mouth, under her tongue. Do not place the pellets in your hand or in any other container first. The remedy should be allowed to dissolve slowly under the tongue, although it will probably still work if it is chewed. No food (even chewing gum) or drink should be taken thirty minutes before or after a dose, and no strong odors, such as those from toothpaste, mouthwash, or throat lozenges, should be in the child's mouthit should be empty and naturally clean.

The following also should be avoided, as they may interfere with or antidote a homeopathic remedy:

·
Coffee
even decaffeinated coffee sometimes interferes with remedies. Chances are your young child is not a coffee drinker, but your teenager may be and should avoid it, especially if he is sensitive to its influence.

·
Highly aromatic substances
camphor eucalyptus, Ben-Gay, Vicks, Noxzema, Tiger Balm, deep-heating rubs, liniments, and cough lozenges should be avoided.

·
Drugs
both prescription and over-the-counter drugs are designed to take over various bodily functions and block or mask symptoms, whereas homeopathic remedies work by encouraging the body's healing response. Medicinal herbs and large doses of vitamins also should be avoided.

·
Dental work
drilling and anesthetics interfere.

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·
Electric blankets and heating pads
these create an electromagnetic effect that sometimes interferes.

Homeopathic Medicines

The following twenty-five remedies provide you with homeopathic alternatives for most any common childhood ailment.

1. Aconitum

2.
Allium cepa

3.
Anas barbariae
(marketed under the name
Oscillococcinum
)

4.
Apis mellifica

5.
Arnica montana

6.
Arsenicum album

7. Belladonna