The 7 'Commandments' of Homeopathic Healing

Do you ever go to a single appointment for a health issue with your doctor and then not go back to find out his/her opinion?  Do you consider that you know better how your treatment might be progressing than the specialist you have just paid to see? It seems with Homeopathy this can happen and it is easy to understand why. I want to share a patient story from my clinic last week and explain why this happens, so you do not make the same mistake. 

The Patient Experience Spectrum

There are two main types of patients in the Homeopathic practice spectrum of experience. At one end of the spectrum we have patients who are using Homeopathy for the very first time. They know someone who has had a good result using Homeopathy so they are prepared to come and give it a go so they have some faith that it might work for them but they do not understand it's philosophy. Then at the other extreme end of this patient spectrum are the regular Homeopathic users. They have had  experience with homeopathy and they always come back when they need it because they know it works and have a good understanding of how it works. 

The Importance of the Second Consultation

When Homeopaths prescribe for a patient who is new to Homeopathy there are some key things they need to convey. The Homeopath tries to convey some information about the process of healing that he/she hopes will occur if the medicine is correct. This is important because a new patient of Homeopathy has been conditioned by conventional medicine to expect the following:

• Immediate but sometimes temporary relief from symptoms
• Diagnosis or 'labelling' so they know where they 'FIT"

Although Homeopaths can be very good diagnosticians, we are not really interested in putting patients into boxes. The reason for this is because we are interested in the patient's individualistic symptomology. We prescribe for the individual, not a disease. Homeopathic medicines do not create side effects, so when we prescribe it is the healing process of the individual that comes into play and when seeing a patient for the first time this can be hard to accurately predict. 

A case example from my clinic

Last week for example I had an email from a patient for whom I had recently prescribed. The email suggested that because the patient had since our appointment determined through some testing that she was deficient in certain nutrients that she should "get this sorted" first. The subtext was that in the few days since the prescription, the most debilitating symptom (that she had had for over 3 years and tried countless health modalities - all unsuccessfully) and therefore the symptom of which the patient was most aware, had not changed. Luckily for me this patient was open to discussion and duly returned 10 more days later. The vital importance of this delay will become apparent so read on.....

The 7 'Commandments' of Homeopathic Healing

It seems that as Homeopathy is little understood in the general population it might help to use this case example to explain how Homeopathy heals and what it might look like for you as a patient.  The following are 7 pointers that will help you to understand how Homeopathic healing can work and what you can expect.

1. Homeopathy can effect deep and permanent healing

It does not palliate unless poorly prescribed and to effect this deep healing takes time. Sometimes the process of healing might take a path that does not fit with your preconceptions about what it means to get better before you reach your desired outcome. 

2. Homeopathic Medicines Do Not Heal You

They act as catalysts or stimuli to enable your body to re-balance and heal itself. This takes time and initial shifts from a deep acting Homeopathic medicine can be subtle at first.

3. Emotional and Mental Symptoms are Just as Important as Physical

When there is a long standing physical complaint or chronic condition the emotional/mental symptoms are always part of the symptomology that needs to be treated. So although you may be desperate for a response to your main physical complaint you may experience subtle emotional/mental shifts first. This is a very god sign that if you hang on in there your physical complaint is highly likely to ameliorate.

4. Homeopaths are Highly Skilled Case Takers.

Homeopaths spend 60-90 minutes at your first consultation because they are trying to really understand you as an individual and how your ill-health impacts on your life and from whence it may have come.

5.The Second Homeopathic Appointment is Crucial 

This is the opportunity for the Homeopath who has spent due diligence on your first consultation and prescribing for you to re-evaluate any objective assumptions that may have been made about your case and more importantly to see and evaluate how your healing has progressed. It sometimes happens that a patient returns with a misconception conception that no healing has occurred as their main symptom has not improved. Once in the consultation however and under the detailed questioning of the Homeopath, it becomes clear that there has been amelioration in many other areas and symptoms and that overall there is a significant improvement in their over all well being. Thus they go away smiling and encouraged. 

6.Time Needs to Pass Between Appointments

It would be much better for the pockets of Homeopaths to have patients return after a week for follow up appointments. Although this is sometimes appropriate more often than not usually 2-4 weeks are left between appointments. This time is crucial as the body needs time to respond to generate significant healing in chronic cases and if the Homeopath repeats a medicine too soon it can stop the healing process in its tracks. 

7. Homeopaths Treat you Gently

If a Homeopathic medicine is prescribed in a potency that is too high for the patient, there is the potential for a strong aggravation of symptoms. This is unpleasant for the patient and is not good news for business either! Homeopaths therefore start gently when they have a new patient and it is after the response to the medicine has been gauged at the second appointment, that the Homeopath can then tell exactly what potency will be exactly right for maximum speed of healing without further distress.

In summary, Homeopaths work gently and deeply to catalyze your body to heal. It does not do this 'to you' and as such the healing is led by your system. This takes time so patience is very important. If you are confused, or unsure of your progress, talk to your Homeopath and make sure you attend your second appointment. 

Case Update

My patient did attend their important second appointment 10 days after she was wondering if she should return. In that intervening time she experienced some significant and encouraging shifts in her case and symptoms and was highly encouraged. From my perspective she has made a great start and I am very confident that her case will continue to progress and she will be totally symptom free in due course.

Happy Homeopathic healing to you all! 

 

© Sam Adkins 2011

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This article was brought to you by Sam Adkins The Homeopathic Coach who teaches families about healthy living and natural remedies using homeopathic medicine. An internationally renowned expert, her helpful articles are regularly syndicated online.  She publishes the ezine Homeopathy @ Home to provide free Homeopathic tips, tools and resources to educate and inspire you to use Homeopathy at home. Get Sam's BLOG.  

OUCH! Sunburn, Burns and Homeopathy

We all love to have fun in the sun without the pain of sunburn. It's incredibly important to do things that make you feel good, not to mention the amazing health benefits of the immune boosting vitamin D that we can get from being in the sun. But what do we do when we have a little to much?

This article looks at all types of burns including sunburn and explains what you can do homeopathically to ease the pain and inflammation and assist with healing.

There are three types of burn

• 1st degree resulting in redness of skin and pain
• 2nd degree where there is redness, pain and blistering
• 3rd degree where all the layers of the skin have been burnt

You might assume if it has never hapened to you that you can't get more than first degree burns from the sun. My sister fell asleep on the beach when she was a teenager and had a strip of very white skin at the top of her bikini  inadvertently exposed that had never been in the sun. When she awoke she has 2nd degree burns right along this strip! BIG OUCH! It was weeks before she could lie on her back.

 

Seek Medical Help

With 3rd degree burns it is absolutely vital that medical attention is sought immediately.

 

Whatever the degree of severity of the burn, seek medical help if it covers an area that is larger than the palm of your hand; or if there is infection or pus present.

Things you can do

1. Bathe/immerse the burn in cold water for 10-20  minutes or until heat subsides
2. Be safe in the sun and avoid prolonged exposure 
3. Cover the burn area with a sterile dressing
4. Do not puncture blisters if present



The Best Homeopathic Medicines for Burns

Homeopathy can really make a significant difference with burns and sunburn. Choose your medicine from the selection below 

 

Arnica

Give Arnica first for the shock of the burn or scald in 30th (2 doses 15 minutes apart)

or 200th potency (1 dose immediately). First choice remedy for sunburn too.

Urticaria Urens

Follow the Arnica with Urticaria Urens if it is a minor 1st degree burn. Give 30th potency each 15 minutes until pain subsides, or as needed.

Cantharis

This is a very good medicine for the pain of burns/sunburn and use this if the pain does not respond to Urticaria urens within 30-45 minutes. Give it in the 30th or 200th potency every 15 minutes until pain is reduced, then as needed.

Causticum

Use Causticum for 3rd degree burns after Arnica 200 has been given for up to 3

doses 10 mins apart. Follow with the Causticum 200 every 15-30 minutes depending on how the

patient is coping.

Phosphorus

If the burn is due to electric shock give Phosphorus 30 or 200 every 15 minutes until pain

improves.

Homeopathic Burns ointment

This is a very useful adjunct to oral remedies. Use for first degree burns only and you will be amazed at the rapidity with which the pain lessens and healing takes place.

So take care in the sun this summer and look after yourself!

Happy Homeopathic Prescribing!

© Sam Adkins 2010

Would you like to include this article in your newsletter or website? 

You can as long as you include the following blurb with it:

This article was brought to you by Sam Adkins The Homeopathic Coach who teaches families about healthy living and natural remedies using homeopathic medicine. An internationally renowned expert, her helpful articles are regularly syndicated online.  She publishes the ezine Homeopathy @ Home to provide free Homeopathic tips, tools and resources to educate and inspire you to use Homeopathy at home. Get Sam's BLOG.

  

Are you Acid or Alkaline?

Do you know the difference between acidic foods and alkaline foods? Do you understand what role PH plays in our health? As a big eater of alkaline foods I wanted to share with you an excellent guest post from author and naturopath Lisa Guy.

What is Your Acid/Alkaline balance?

 

The body has an acid-alkaline ratio called the pH. Maintaining a healthy pH is extremely important for good health, well being and prevention of disease. When we talk about the body's pH it's not stomach acids or the stomach's pH but the pH of the body's fluids and tissues. The body continually works on balancing its pH and when this balance is compromised we become more vulnerable to illness and disease. 

 

Our diets play a big role in keeping our body's pH in check. Acidosis or over acidity is very common in today's society due to our poor diet reliance on acid-forming foods such as processed sugary foods, animal products and soft drinks; and not enough alkaline-forming foods such as enough fresh wholesome foods like fruits and vegetables.

 

Acidic and Acid-Producing Foods are Different!

There is a difference however between acidic foods such as lemons and acid-forming foods. Lemons are acidic because they contain citric acid, however when they are digested they become an alkaline-forming food.

 

During the process of digestion, foods change their chemistry. Whether a food is alkaline or acidic

My Happy Baby Clinic Colleague - Lisa Guy depends on its mineral content and the residue that remains after the food is digested. Energy is derived from foods by oxidation, which produces a residue or ash. Some foods leave an 'acid ash' (from acid forming foods) and some leave an 'alkaline ash' (from alkaline forming foods). Foods that commonly contain alkaline minerals, and leave an alkaline ash are fresh fruits and vegetables. Whereas foods that contain minerals that leave an acid ash are commonly foods high in sugars, saturated fats and meats.

 

Your Optimum Diet Balance

 

For optimum health and prevention of disease your diet should be more alkaline than acidic, 80:20 ratio of alkaline to acid forming foods is recommended.

A healthy body should be slightly alkaline and have an adequate alkaline reserve to call upon to meet the demands of eating too many acid-producing foods. If this reserve is depleted however your health can be compromised. Calcium and other alkaline minerals such as phosphorus and magnesium will be drawn from the bones, teeth or other vital organs to help neutralize the acid and remove it safely from the body.

Mild acidosis can contribute to a range of conditions including cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, immune deficiencies, acceleration free radical damage, premature aging, and osteoporosis. Acidic environments also encourage the growth of fungus, bacteria and viruses.

 

The best Alkalizing Foods to Eat

 

Include plenty of alkali-forming foods in the diet including fresh vegetables, legumes and fruit (including lemons, grapefruit, apple), nuts and seeds (almonds, brazil), millet, buckwheat, spelt, unsweetened soy and almond milks and cold pressed oils such as flax, avocado, olive and coconut. Chlorella and spirulina are also alkaline foods.

 

The Acid-Producing Foods to Avoid

 

Limit acid forming foods to 20% of your diet such as meat, poultry, wheat, peanuts, milk, sweets, processed foods rich in sugars and fats, take away foods, soft drink, alcohol, margarine, vegetable and hydrogenated oils.

 

Top Tip

Drinking alkaline water is a great way to help neutralize an acidic body. Alkaline water contains more oxygen than regular water.

 

Happy Health and Homeopathic Prescribing!

 

If you want regular homeopathic inspiration from The Homeopathic Coach, visit her new blog and join as a member to be the first in line for new tips and offers as they are released! 

 

© Sam Adkins 2010

Would you like to include this article in your newsletter or website? 

You can as long as you include the following blurb with it:

This article was brought to you by Sam Adkins The Homeopathic Coach who teaches families about healthy living and natural remedies using homeopathic medicine. An internationally renowned expert, her helpful articles are regularly syndicated online.  She publishes the ezine Homeopathy@Home to provide free Homeopathic tips, tools and resources to educate and inspire you to use Homeopathy at home. www.thehomeopathiccoach.com 

 

 

Do YOU resist Pain?

This morning I woke at 5.30am with a migraine headache. Ostensibly it was not the best start to my day but now as I write this post at 10am I know what a powerful gift my morning migraine was to me today. This post is about three crucial concepts, - Resistance, Acceptance and Letting go, or allowing. It is about how awareness of how to apply these three simple concepts, can change your life.

 

Years ago I used to get many migraines. For those who know have experienced a migraine I don't need to say anything else; for those who have yet to have one I ask that you do not even focus your thoughts there, as thoughts become things you know! Nowadays, I only have migraines when there is something in my life that I need to pay some attention to, an energy I need to shift or a door I need to open.

 

When we experience pain on the mental, emotional or physical level, we have a strong tendency to resist it. We don't want it, we want it to stop and we effectively push hard against it. This of course, focusses our attention on the pain we are experiencing and we all know what that does! If we can instead accept the moment, or accept that we are expereincing pain, then we soften ourselves into a place where we can start to move towards letting go. For me, my migraine brought choices:

Shall I hold on until I have identified what is behind it?

Shall I let it go first?

I want to share with you how I dealt with it as I hope this will provide some powerful learning as this lesson can be applied in so many situations.

 

How I Stopped Resisting

I got up and showered and recognised firstly exactly where I was at:

• In a lot of physical pain and nausea
• Annoyed because I have to do list as long as my arm to day and patients to see
• Worried that my day was not how I had planned it so how was I going to get everything done?

I called a bodyworker I know well who fitted me in for a brief table session before his early morning clients. As I lay on his treatment table I concentrated on forgiving myself for creating this migraine and on accepting the pain in my head and the nausea. From there I drove straight to the beach as it is my favorite place, took off my shoes and put my feet in the water.

The beach was almost entirely empty. The sand was so white and the colour of the sea was so beautiful that it gave me an ache of gratitude deep in my chest for the world we are so fortunate to live in. I breathed some powerful cleansing breaths and reached a place of total acceptance. From this point I  could truly move into letting go.

I played with the experience in the moment:

• of being me
• feeling the sand on my feet and the cool water (it's winter!)
• the sound of the early morning birds
• the sound of the wind in the trees  
• the feel of the winter sun on my face

Just Let Go

I let the migraine go in the space of about 10-15 minutes of just BEING, along with any resistance I was holding that allowed me to create it. I forgave myself again and experienced gratitude for myself for providing such a great reminder lesson of how this process works.

Now this was just a migraine and sometimes, for deeper and more difficult issues, this process takes hours, days, months; but it is still the same process and consciousness along the way will ease your path.

 

It is neither easy nor difficult to move through physical, emotional, ,mental or spiritual pain. It just IS and I hope that by sharing this three stage process you will bring consciousness to your life choices around it next time you feel stuck. 

Sending gratitude to everyone who is truly engaged in this wonderful life!

© Sam Adkins 2010
Would you like to include this article in your newsletter or website?
You can as long as you include the following blurb with it:

This article was brought to you by Sam Adkins The Homeopathic Coach who teaches families about healthy living and natural remedies using homeopathic medicine. An internationally renowned expert, her helpful articles are regularly syndicated online.  She publishes the ezine Homeopathy@Home to provide free Homeopathic tips, tools and resources to educate and inspire you to use Homeopathy at home. www.thehomeopathiccoach.com

Why am I so tired? Chronic Fatigue Part 1

Chronic fatigue is often a term given to individuals with a set of symptoms that cannot be labelled as anything else. It is a somewhat tricky label to have, because it carries with it a sense that you are in it for the long term and often individuals hear discouraging statements such as "You never really get over it - you just learn to manage it". 

 

I am writing a series of articles to try and shed some light on this tricky health problem, not only because there are many suffers out there, but also because I received this chronic fatigue diagnosis myself many years ago and had to successfully negotiate my own way to health.

 

What is Chronic Fatigue?

Chronic fatigue is, in my opinion, a catch-all label that covers many different conditions. Most chronic fatigue sufferers actually have functional disturbance in many systems in their body. Although this makes it complicated to diagnose and treat, it also is an opportunity for health, because often most of the problems are related to functional pathology rather than tissue pathology. This means that when you find out what is miss-functioning you can work out to put it right and response is often very good. 

 

Follow the 5 Steps 

In my experience as a practitioner, a condition such as Chronic fatigue, with its many underlying issues, needs five main steps to enable recovery to be possible:

 

1. Careful, clear diagnostics from a good natural therapist who understands this problem, OR a conventionally qualified medical person who has specialised in this very condition. The reason for this will become clear later on in this article.
2. Nutritional supplementation and dietary support.
3. Homeopathic constitutional treatment to trigger the body's healing capacity.
4. Mental/emotional support.
5. Active rest and exercise programs.

 

As there are many reasons for chronic fatigue, this article will focus on one of the underlying endocrine issues that often present with it - Adrenal Exhaustion. Subsequent articles will look at self help, nutritional support and detoxification, and active rest and exercise.

Adrenal Fatigue or Exhaustion

Very common in cases of chronic fatigue is Adrenal Exhaustion. Let's firstly look at what the adrenals are and what they do. 

 

What are the Adrenals Glands?

The Adrenal glands are small glands located on the top of each kidney. They are 3 x 1 inch and have two parts: the outer cortex and the inner medulla. The outercortex produces three types of hormones: 

 

• Mineralcorticoids such as aldosterone which conserves sodium ions in the body and influences water balance
• Glucocortoids - mainly cortisol which influences blood glucose levels amongst other things
• Gonacortoids (sex hormones) - androgens in men and estrogens in women (and to a lesser extend men). 

 

The Inner medulla produces two hormones which are secreted in response to stimulus from the sympathetic nervous system. These are epinephrine and norepinephrine. They are usually secreted in response to stress.

 

What is adrenal fatigue?

Adrenal fatigue (which can also be called Non-Addison's hypoadrenia or sub-clinical hypo adrenia), is when your adrenal glands cannot produce sufficient hormones to meet the body's demands. You can easily understand how prolonged stress can exhaust the adrenal medulla's ability to keep up with epinephrine production, but sometimes the causes behind adrenal under function or exhaustion can be very complex and involve other parts of the endocrine system, mineral and nutritional sub clinical deficiencies, as well as other complex factors. 

 

For the purpose of this article, I want you to be able to understand IF adrenal exhaustion is potentially YOUR problem and how you can find out.

So what are the Adrenal fatigue symptoms?

 

• excessive fatigue and exhaustion 
• frequent infections/low immune function 
• non-refreshing sleep/sleep issues 
• overwhelmed by or unable to cope with any stress 
• feeling rundown or overwhelmed 
• craving salty and sweet foods 
• food/environmental allergies 
• you feel most energetic in the evening 
• low stamina, slow to recover from exercise 
• slow to recover from injury, illness or stress 
• difficulty concentrating, brain fog 
• poor digestion 
• premenstrual syndrome or difficulties that develop during menopause 
• consistent low blood pressure 
• extreme sensitivity to cold

How can you get a diagnosis?

Endocrinologists are unable to diagnose this problem as the tests they rely on are only able to diagnose adrenal failure such as Addisons disease where the adrenals are close to shut down. Your natural health practitioner such as your Homeopath or Naturopath will be able to send you for a salivary cortisol test 

which examines the profile of cortisol in the saliva at 4-6 hourly intervals throughout the day. Often the shape of the profile is a good indicator that the adrenals are struggling, rather than the levels being consistently low. For example, a low reading on waking and a relatively high reading at night is a common profile for adrenal exhaustion. An under active thyroid gland, especially if prolonged can also put a strain on the adrenal glands and so this should ALWAYS be tested in addition; because without sufficient thyroid hormones the adrenals hormones cannot archive their aims. 

 

Self-Help: What you can do

If you have been diagnosed with adrenal exhaustion there are some steps you can take immediately that will help.

 

• Support your adrenals with a natural adrenal extract. Depending on your country, compounding pharmacies can make an adrenal extract that can temporarily supply your body with some of the hormones it normally produces whilst your adrenals can have a rest. Think of it like plugging in an appliance to the main electricity instead of running down the battery. Sources vary from country to country so try Google first. 
• Set yourself a sleep routine: Your body is struggling so you need to provide it with a routine that supports it. The adrenals have a natural low around 2-3pm so if you are not at work, it is essential that you lie down and rest BEFORE this time. 1.30pm  is ideal. Meditation is optimal but as long as you lie down and relax it will definitely help. More on rest/exercise routines for health recovery in a subsequent post!  
• Eat to support your adrenals: One of the role of the adrenal hormone cortisol is to influence your blood sugar levels. If you eat the wrong foods infrequently, your system will require cortisol to enable it to access glucose. Eating small, frequent protein meals supports the adrenals by lessening the demands made on them. 
• Avoid stimulants such as  Caffeine in chocolate,coffee, tea, Red Bull etc, gurana, and any other known stimulants must be avoided at all costs. These cause your adrenals to over produce hormones unnecessarily and are a short term fix causing more strain.

 

In part 2 of this Chronic Fatigue series I will look further at the steps you can take to get well from this condition.

  

Happy Homeopathic Prescribing!

 

 

  

If you want regular homeopathic inspiration from The Homeopathic Coach, visit her new blog and join as a member to be the first in line for new tips and offers as they are released! 

© Sam Adkins 2010

Would you like to include this article in your newsletter or website? 

You can as long as you include the following blurb with it:

This article was brought to you by Sam Adkins The Homeopathic Coach who teaches families about healthy living and natural remedies using homeopathic medicine. An internationally renowned expert, her helpful articles are regularly syndicated online.  She publishes the ezine Homeopathy@Home to provide free Homeopathic tips, tools and resources to educate and inspire you to use Homeopathy at home. www.thehomeopathiccoach.com