Posted by Ken Oftedal

Homeopathic Childhood Remedies

While they are growing up children get into many situations where homeopathic remedies can be quite useful. You will see this once you have experienced amazing changes in a short period of time, even seconds. Many people have characterized the results as magical.

It is said that what is considered magic today becomes the technology of tomorrow. Try a thought experiment of returning to the 17th century and explaining TV, mobile phones, the Internet, planes, automobiles, etc. to a person you meet. You might end up in a castle dungeon, or burned at the stake.

Consider stocking up on some or all of these homeopathic remedies to help your child pass more smoothly through the possible childhood traumas listed below. Start with one you think will be needed.

Even though these pills are very small, they are quite effective when they correspond to the symptoms of your child. You only need to give one pill. Their function is to stimulate the body to heal itself.

An analogy could be to insert a pen drive in a computer for carrying out some diagnostics and running a repair procedure. In the case of a homeopathic pill, your body runs the diagnostic program indicated by the pill, and repairs itself.

Homeopathic pills are similar to keys. If a key fits the lock, it will open. So if the homeopathic remedy corresponds to the symptoms, then you get rapid results, if not, then nothing happens and no harm is done. You then can try the next possible remedy.

Homeopathy is not like orthodox medicine. It has different rules of the game.

Below you will find situations that commonly arise during childhood, with indications for remedies you can use to help your child get better rapidly.

Included are:

  • animal bites
  • baby colic
  • bee stings
  • bronchitis
  • chickenpox
  • earache
  • falls and injuries
  • mumps
  • measles
  • nosebleed
  • pinched fingers and toes
  • rusty nails
  • splinters
  • teething problems
  • tonsillitis
  • vaccination

Animal bites
If your child is bitten by a dog or other animal that can be infected with rabies, give Lyssinum 200C right away to protect against rabies. Follow up some hours later with Ledum 200C and Arnica 200C.

Baby colic (crying episodes for several hours a day)
For baby colic, give the baby one pill of Colocynthis 30C or 200C, then wait an hour or so to see whether there is any change. If no change, try again one more time, but no more.

Bee stings
After a bee or wasp sting, give you child Apis 200C once. You may have to repeat it some hours later, depending on how your child feels. Usually the pain will have subsided rapidly. Follow up later with Ledum 200C and Arnica 200C.

The remedy Apis 200C can prevent anaphylactic shock after a bee sting in those who are allergic to bee poison. If your child has this allergy, you should have Apis 200C available at all times. Just one pill will do.

Should your child have difficulty swallowing with saliva in the mouth, which could be due to epiglottitis (swollen epiglottis), give Apis 200C immediately before rushing the child to hospital.

Bronchitis
For bronchitis, give one pill of Antimonium Tartaricum 200C and wait an hour or so. If there is no improvement, try Oscillococcinum (also known as Anas Barb) 200C. If no improvement, call your homeopath.

Chickenpox (Varicella)
For chickenpox, give Rhus tox 30C, wait a few hours, then repeat. If there is insufficient improvement you can try Rhus tox 200C, and wait for some hours to gauge response.

The remedy Antimonium Tartaricum 30C or 200C can also be used here in alternation.

Earache
For earache, use Aconite 30C or 200C if the inflammation is recent and the ear is red, hot and painful. The patient in this case is usually thirsty, worse from cold and worse in the evening.

Give Belladonna 30C or 200C if the inflammation appeared suddenly and there are boring, violent pains. The face is red, swollen and hot, the ear swollen, with possible pus formation. Pain may extend to the throat. The child is not thirsty.

Give Pulsatilla 6C, 30C or 200C when there are sticking and tearing pains in and behind the ears. There will most likely be a “poor me,” wimpy attitude. Possibly there is a thick, yellowish green discharge from the ear. The ears feel swollen and closed, with lack of hearing. The 6C potency will clear the Eustachian tubes.

Give Chamomilla 30C or 200C if the patient is very sensitive and irritable, possibly angry, and there are intense stabbing, tearing pains in the ears. Your child is definitely better from being carried.

Give Rhus tox 200C if there is inflammation of the middle ear with a thick, yellow discharge and itching inside, possibly as if something were crawling inside.

Falls and injuries
Arnica speeds up the healing process after falls, operations, dental work, physical and emotional shock—anything that causes injury to your child.

Depending on the severity of the injury you give a pill of Arnica 200C once a day for a day or two until the pain and/or bruises subside.

Mumps
In mumps, give Jaborandi 200C once and await response. If there is testicular inflammation, give Pulsatilla 200C once.

Measles
For measles Pulsatilla 30C or 200C is an excellent remedy. Give once and await response.

Nosebleed
Millefolium 30C is good for simple nosebleeds.

For recurrent nosebleeds with profuse bright blood give Phosphor 30C.

Give Ferrum Phosphoricum 6C for nosebleeds that occur for no obvious reason.

Pinched fingers, toes
For pinched fingers the standard remedy is Hypericum.

Use whatever potency you have, a lower potency such as 6C, 12C or 30C is convenient, but any will serve.

Hypericum is the specific remedy for injury to nerve-rich tissue. It also comes as a cream, which you can apply to the site of injury.

Rusty nails
If your child steps on a rusty nail, give Ledum 200C immediately. It will prevent your child from getting tetanus (lockjaw). The remedy is quite powerful, it has even been seen to stop lockjaw while a rigid jaw was setting in.

Ledum 200C is the remedy for any puncture of the skin from whatever cause, such as insects, snakes, needles, etc.

Splinters
For splinters, thorns and spines from animals give Ledum 200C first. Then use Silicea 6C or 30C. This will drive the foreign body out of the body. You may need to repeat 6C every day or 30C twice a week.

It is not recommended to take Silicea if the patient has implants such as pacemakers, metal parts, etc. in the body as it will attempt to drive such out.

Teething problems
With teething problems, use Chamomilla 30C or 200C first, especially if there is unbearable pain. One cheek may be red, the other pale and the child feels better from being carried.

Try Belladonna 200C if the child is irritable, restless, flushed and delirious.

With slow teething in chubby children who sweat at night, use Calcarea Carbonica 200C. This remedy follows well after Chamomilla.

With red gums, excessive sweat and saliva, green stools, give Mercurius Solubilis 30C.

Tonsillitis (very sore throat)
For tonsillitis give Mercurius Corrosivus 6C or 30C, especially if the tonsils are red, possibly with white spots. Repeat if necessary.

If the lymph glands of the upper neck are quite enlarged and sore, give Phytolacca 6C or 30C. (Phytolacca 6C taken for some months regularly will clear the lymphatic system.)

If the sore throat is due to a sudden fever after exposure to cold, give Aconitum 200C. This will most often stop the onset of flu.

Vaccination
After every vaccination your child receives, you are advised to give Thuja Occidentalis 200C to reduce side effects and any possible later complications such as allergies, autism, attention deficit, multiple sclerosis, auto-immune disease.

See my article Homeoprophylaxis: homeopathic immunization—safe and 90% effective on this blog.

This applies especially if your child is upset, complains, gets a fever and/or muscle pains after a vaccination.

For greater detail regarding the treatment of childhood traumas, see my book Family Homeopathy and Survival Guide, which you can buy from this blog under Products, eBooks.

You can find remedies for other acute problems on the lookup database at: http://tinyurl.com/zs45vuf

You can purchase the remedies indicated above at your local homeopathic pharmacy or from the following websites:

In the US: www.homeopathyovernight.net
In the UK: www.helios.co.uk

Local pharmacies in Caracas are:
Farmacia Belladona, Centro Javier, behind Centro Comercial San Ignacio
Farmacia Elice, Calle Elice, Chacao
Farmacia La Roca, Av. Francisco Solano López, Sabana Grande
Farmacia El Ingenio, Centro Comercial Bello Campo
Farmacia Rio de Oro, Cumbres de Curumo

References:
See the post: How to Take Homeopathic Remedies on this blog.

See the Articles menu tab on this blog:
Homeoprophylaxis: homeopathic immunization—safe and 90% effective, by Ken Oftedal.

What Is Classical Homeopathy, by Ken Oftedal.

E-Book: Family Homeopathy and Survival Guide, by Ken Oftedal, which you can purchase from this blog under Products, eBooks.

 

How to Take Homeopathic Remedies

There should be no taste in your mouth when taking a homeopathic remedy. Therefore, you should not eat or drink anything (except water) at least fifteen minutes before and after taking a remedy. This also applies to smoking and tooth brushing.

Nor should there be any strong smell such as from perfume, incense, etc. present in the room, nor perfume or creams on your hands when handling the remedy container.

Avoid touching the remedy with your fingers as this can neutralize it. Use the bottle cap of the remedy, or some other means to launch the tablet onto the tongue.

Allow the remedy to dissolve on your tongue. Wait at least 15 minutes before eating or drinking anything. Then you can eat and drink as normal.

The remedy is normally a small tablet (globule) of lactose, so it will have a slightly sweet taste.  There are no chemicals except a tiny trace of alcohol. It contains information that stimulates the body to heal itself.

Basic homeopathic remedies – Arsenicum

Arsenicum (Arsenicum Album or Arsenic), the chemical element, is a very effective remedy for vomiting and/or diarrhea after eating bad food, i.e. when you have contracted food poisoning.

The typical situation is that you eat or drink something (especially in a country or region you have not been in before) and then some hours later, or the next day or so you feel nausea and start vomiting, often shortly followed by diarrhea.

This can have serious consequences if action is not taken promptly. You may wind up in hospital for some time – weeks even.  In a foreign country that can be costly – missed plane, no insurance, poor treatment, etc.

Here is where Arsenicum comes to the rescue.  You of course are prepared and have Arsenicum 200C in your homeopathic remedy kit that you always carry with you without fail. So you take a pill of Arsenicum 200C and soon your problems fade away.

If your vomiting and diarrhea should persist, you can repeat the dose after a couple of hours. Remember to drink sufficient liquids to replace your losses due to diarrhea.

In severe, intractable cases, you can make use of the plussing technique.  You dissolve one or two pills of Arsenicum in a plastic cup of clean water, preferably mineral water as contaminated local tap water can have been the causative agent of your illness.

Then you use a plastic spoon to stir five times before taking a sip of the remedy water. Stir each time before you take the remedy. This stirring increases the potency slightly (the reason it is called plussing), thus intensifying the effect of the remedy each time.

You can stir five times and take a sip as often as every five minutes, or every 15 minutes, or every half hour, etc., depending on the severity of your ailment. Do this until you feel better and then stop taking any more of the remedy.

The reason for using plastic is that you will be throwing the cup and the spoon away after use, since these utensils will be permeated with the vibration of Arsenicum forever and a day, thus giving anyone who uses them a tiny dose of Arsenicum, possibly leading to some minor short-term symptoms of Arsenicum, but only if the utensil is used by this person frequently.

If you don’t have Arsenicum 200C, you can use the potency 12C or 30C – not lower – possibly needing to repeat the remedy more often, but only repeat if you are not getting any better, or if you got better but it did not last. The plussing technique described above is a very efficient method whatever the potency you have available.

Many chemical elements such as arsenic have been made into effective and non-poisonous homeopathic remedies by means of the process of homeopathic dilution and dynamization developed by the brilliant German doctor Samuel Hahnemann, who originated homeopathy about two centuries ago – of which more later.

How to Use Arnica

arnica

Arnica in homeopathic potencies is the trauma remedy par excellence. This remedy is a great place to start if you want to learn about the healing effectiveness of homeopathic remedies. Having some handy with you at all times, many opportunities will arise for you to use it and see rapid results.  

The potencies 30C, 200C, 1M and 10M are most frequently used. How these potencies and their derived creams are made is explained in great detail in my eBook Family Homeopathy and Survival Guide, which you can buy on this blog site under the Products tab. The Spanish version will soon be available on my Spanish blog listed under the Links tab.

Arnica can be obtained from online homeopathic pharmacies, a couple of which are listed under the Links tab of this blog site.

It should be noted that Arnica will not interfere with normal medication. The pill which has a diameter of about 1 millimeter does not contain any chemicals besides milk sugar (lactose) and a tiny fraction of preservative alcohol.

What it does contain is information that stimulates the organism to greatly accelerate trauma self-healing. If this seems incredible, so is electricity – just give it a go and try it.

Treatment with Arnica after a traumatic encounter with an escaped gorilla might even convince a diehard skeptic. Arnica gives a turbo boost to the body’s inborn healing powers, provided directly from the pharmacy of Nature. Mountain goats eat the plant after suffering falls.

Below are described a number of situations with treatment suggestions where this marvelous natural trauma remedy will ensure great relief. Treatment suggestions are given.

Injuries
Give Arnica as the first remedy after an injury. It will reduce bruising, swelling, pain and promote rapid healing.  Use the potency 200C or 1M. Arnica can be repeated once a day for some days, as necessary.  

If the injury is really severe, Arnica 1M can be repeated a number of times every 15 minutes or so. Use your judgment.

I recall the case of an oil rig worker who had fallen from a height of 10 meters a decade before he came for treatment. He had been suffering from debilitating physical pain ever since the injury. After taking Arnica 10M every day for a month he experienced great relief.

Injuries remain in your body for the rest of your life, better to alleviate them with Arnica, before you have to use crutches.

Accidents
After a serious accident, such as a car accident, or a great fall, give Arnica 1M or 10M several times (at intervals of 5, 15 or 30 minutes) until the patient improves.  For less serious accidents, potencies of Arnica such as 200C and 30C, or lower, can be used. (However, I have often been surprised at the rapid healing with low potencies such as 3C.)

Operations
After operations, Arnica 1M or 200C once a day for several days will greatly accelerate recovery.

Women will get back on their feet rapidly after childbirth if they take Arnica daily for a few days – using 1M if the going has been rough. Alternate days with Staphisagria 200C to heal cuts and lacerations or a Cesarean. Homeopathic Silica cream will reduce scarring.

Medical doctors would do well to use Arnica in treating concussions. Rapid results will be seen with the potencies 200C and 1M.  Some intensive care units are already doing this in conjunction with a homeopathic practitioner or doctor.

Hospitals treatment would be greatly enhanced with Arnica available and in use, especially in intensive care units.

Dental work
After dental work, taking a pill of Arnica 200C or 1M once or twice some hours apart will do wonders to eliminate pain and discomfort, especially after tooth extractions. Follow up with Staphysagria 200C in dental operations.

Sports
After martial arts events or boxing matches, wrestling, challenging competitions, sports injuries, exhausting races, sprains and falls, etc., repeating Arnica 1M or 10M once a day for some days, followed by Arnica 200C a day or two will restore your form.

Players in team sports such as American football, soccer, rugby, lacrosse, etc. will find Arnica quite useful for minor to severe injuries after games. Kicked shins, sprains, rough tackles, concussing headers, jarring falls, sharp elbowing, etc. all take their toll on the body and if allowed to accumulate can suddenly cut a career short.

The Armed Forces will find a great ally in Arnica – the fighting soldier’s remedy.

Emotional shock
Arnica is the perfect remedy to relieve the shock suffered by victims of robbery, rape and beatings, which are so prevalent these drug-laden days. Here high potencies such as 1M and 10M should be used, although 200C will probably do.

For shock due to the loss of a loved one, Ignatia 1M might be the best first remedy to use. See my blog post on grief and sadness remedies. As you will see in that post article, Arnica, Natrum Muriaticum and Ignatia constitute a formidable emotional trauma trio.

Body pains
Arnica cream is quite effective for healing body pains and bruises after having been pummeled (such as after martial arts events or boxing matches) – so long as there is no open wound where it is applied. Use the cream several times a day, as needed.

Remember that old injuries respond well to the application of Arnica cream.

Animals and plants
Animals also respond well to Arnica – as do plants. A couple of pills can be dissolved in their drinking bowl, or sprayed onto the tongue with a plastic syringe.  The same types of situations and potencies for humans also apply to animals.

If you see a tree that has been excessively pruned or mangled, dissolve some pills of Arnica in a bucket of water and pour it on the roots. Maybe a star will twinkle for you that evening.

Basic homeopathic remedies – Aconite

Aconite

Aconite (Aconitum Napellus), is a plant called Monkshood or Wolfsbane. It grows in mountain regions where furious cold, cutting winds frequently blow. The situations of people who benefit from this remedy are characterized by tension.

Aconite is used for curing a cold in the making — a beginning sore throat — that is coming on due to exposure to an external cold wind, an air conditioner in a room, a fan or a cold draft — basically, getting chilled. This exposure is often followed by entering a warm room or area, or even repeatedly being exposed to a cold and then a warm area.

Give Aconite 200C or Aconite 1M once and the sore throat will dissipate and no cold symptoms will manifest later on. The remedy is quite effective, but, of course, you need to have it on you — in your acute remedy kit that you always bring along wherever you go for your own use or the benefit and education of others.

Aconite is also an important remedy for intense fear — especially for long-term phobias — where there is a known object of the fear, such as in fear of dogs, fear of flying, fear of entering a tunnel, etc., whatever it might be, so long as it is a specific intense fear and not a general anxiety.

For best results, give one pill of Aconite 1M once to the patient, just once. The fear will gradually evaporate, the length of time depending on how deep-seated the fear is. Repeating the remedy later “just to make sure” or “to speed up the healing” will counteract the healing process. Homeopathic remedies are not taken the way normal medicines are.

For fear of flying, give Aconite a day before the flight or just before boarding the plane. Here the potency 200C can also be quite effective. It should be noted that the remedy Argentum Nitricum 200C might be preferred for fear of flying should the patient be a talkative, nervous type.

For intense fear prior to delivering a baby, give Aconite 1M.

The intense fear of soldiers going into battle will be greatly alleviated with Aconite 1M.

Aconite is also useful prior to making a parachute or bungee jump, or any type of activity that brings on intense fear.