By Dr. Joseph Kellerstein, ND
When a parent’s sleep is shattered by the shrill cries of a child suffering with an earache, there is only one thought -- relief. We anxiously wait for morning when the doctor’s office will open so that a prescription for antibiotics can be secured. But what happens when the scenario repeats itself? Do we graduate to more powerful drugs? Perhaps it is time to rethink the problem? There have been safe, effective holistic treatments available for over two centuries.
One such treatment option is homeopathic medicine. This system views the whole pattern of changes in a sick person as the blueprint for the medicine that will propel the system towards healing. In this way, suffering itself is actually the body’s precise language in asking for help. Let me illustrate with some brief cases.
Case 1. Jason, 6yrs old has a sad expression. As mom gently prevents him from taking a book from my desk, he reflexively strikes her. Jason has been up several nights now with ear pain and fever. Normally quite easy going, when sick he is irritable and does have this tendency to hit. On observing, I notice one hand is covering the affected ear. Mary explains there is no tolerance of the slightest breeze to his ear. Even during sleep he will lie on the ear to protect it from the cool air. In fact, he is chilly in general and likes being bundled up since this illness. It is awful to see the intense suffering and spasms of pain.
The pattern of change is clear. There is sadness and chilliness but what especially draws our attention in this portrait is the tendency to strike and the marked sensitivity to both pain and to the slightest draft. The remedy Hepar Sulph (Latin for a complex mixture of calcium and sulphur) is well known to work in these circumstances and quickly cured after a single dose.
Case 2. Lori is a 5 year old cherub: blonde hair, blue eyes and rosy cheeks. All through the interview she clings to her mother. Cautiously glancing my way the first few minutes, she then begins to relax. Lori has recently been consuming large amounts of ice cream and rich desserts. The last few evenings a fever has come on with considerable ear pain. She rocks back and forth, weeps piteously and wants to be held constantly (which seems to help relieve the discomfort).The ear problem is accompanied by a head cold with the production of copious yellow, thick mucus. Lori asks to go for long walks in the fresh cool air which seems to soothe.
Weeping, wanting to be constantly held, rocking with pain, thick yellow discharge, desire for creamy foods and pain better walking in the open air tell us that purple windflower-(Pulsatilla in Latin) is a needed medicine.
Lori responded within hours but got another otitis two weeks later. I had missed something. A homeopathic medicine is a spark that initiates healing. Relapse compels a closer look for any block to cure - often tied to stress or lifestyle. I wondered if this young lady was having difficulty with the rich foods, especially dairy. We discussed dietary change with the family. Issue resolved.
Experience has convinced me that we are often attracted to the very foods that will perpetuate our illnesses. The homeopathic interview involves investigation of diet, cravings, aversions, thirst and the timing as well as mode of eating (rapid slow etc). I devised a very useful ‘thought experiment’ where I ask the patient to imagine making a ‘magic duplicate’ of each meal for a week. The meal is eaten and the duplicate goes into a wheelbarrow. At the end of the week we both dig into the wheelbarrow-what is it we are going to see the most of? If there is a suspicious prominence of some product or food type, I ask the patient to avoid that food for a short time and then re-introduce it, observing any worsening of symptoms. This procedure of elimination-challenge should be done only under supervision of a physician.
Each homeopathic remedy corresponds to its own picture of illness and each is unmistakably unique. Let’s do a few more remedies in earache.
Chamomilla. This is a fussy child when ill. The mindset is one of ‘I don’t know what I want but I want it now’. He is having acute pain and is shrieking. A favorite toy or food is demanded and the harried parent delivers it only to have it thrown away and a new demand issued. This patient is never calm. Often the facial coloring holds valuable clues. Here we might see one cheek red and hot (the affected side) while the other is pale and cold. Pains are worse evenings and warm applications are rejected. This same picture is often found in teething difficulties.
Dulcamara. The key feature is a sensitivity to weather change. Illness will occur with sudden change from warm to cold damp weather. Pain is worse at night.
Although modern wisdom has it that catching cold from becoming chilled or getting wet is nonsense, there are individuals for whom it is a reality. People who will benefit from this remedy get sick with colds and earaches especially toward the end of the summer when days might be warm and evenings suddenly turn cold.
Metallicum Album. This child is most likely suffering a miserable cold. There is plenty of nasal discharge and after repeatedly wiping it away with tissues the area under the nose and above the lips is getting red and raw. Nights are difficult with waking after midnight most often around 2 a.m.Once up, they refuse to be alone. There is a kind of restless anxiety which plagues them when unwell. They will not settle and may get up to pace.
Mercurius Solubilis. Another version of the miserable cold, with plentiful discharge and rawness under the nose. Cannot stand too much variation in temperature, needs it just right. Easy perspiration. Chilly and thirsty. Sensation as if water is flowing out the ear. These patients will drool during sleep. The tongue will look flabby and breath is very offensive.
This brief parade of images must seem very strange. Modern medicine has trained us to reduce disease to a diagnosis. Treatment is based on the diagnostic box ‘infection’.
Homeopathy takes a different view. Disease is life thrown into disharmony. It is expressed through unpleasant patterns of feelings and function. These patterns come to life as disease portraits and can be perceived by the trained observer. Each portrait will correspond to a well researched medicine that has been used time and again over the last two hundred years.
There has been a wonderful tradition in homeopathy where doctors would offer training in first aid and acute prescribing to families. This of course reduces dependence on the prescriber.Over my years in practice I have had the privilege of seeing quite a few moms become excellent homeopaths.
A well chosen remedy triggers an enhanced healing effort without toxicity or side effect. The result is profound. A centuries old medicine, in many ways centuries ahead.
>> more information from the National Center for Homeopathy
