Do you have a first aid kit of homeopathic remedies?
I dare say that those of you with young children have spent some time at the bedside when they are sick.
What to do? Give TLC and Calpol?
But have you thought about homeopathy as an alternative?
The first thing you will need is a small first aid kit of homeopathic remedies. Forearmed is forewarned as they say.
These are shown in the picture and available from homeopathic pharmacies such as Helios or Ainsworths
You cannot phone a pharmacy in the middle of the night or Sunday (which according to some unwritten law is of course when your child takes poorly!).
Because there are many remedies, homeopathy can seem complicated. For First Aid, things can be kept simple.
You know when your child is sick because they are out of sorts.
Years ago I remember taking our young son to Disneyworld. He didn’t seem as excited as you might expect. Next day, up come the spots – chicken pox!
This demonstrates a pattern in childhood illness (ssh..Covid too): a period of incubation with no symptoms, then recognisable symptoms and finally convalescence. Most childhood ailments are like that.
However, do see your GP if your child is getting sicker – first aid, homeopathic or otherwise, is not for everything. Yet, even here homeopathic first aid can buy time whilst you seek help.
Homeopaths speak of a vital or life force. It is beyond the physical (meta-physical) and I wrote an earlier blog on this. In brief, it keeps us alive.
Children have loads of energy – you may have noticed – because their vitality is so strong. However, their immune systems have a lot of learning to do in order to cope with the world at large.
Homeopathy informs the vital force; gives it a helping nudge; educates.
On my shelf is this little book from the pen of the late and wonderfully initialled Dr RAF Jack. He was a GP in the Midlands in the latter half of the twentieth century.
Dr Jack supplied every family with young children on his list with a good starter first aid kit of just four homeopathic remedies:
Aconite, Belladonna, Ipecachuana and Chamomilla
He explained five features – sufficient to get the mother’s confidence:
(point 5 may may puzzle you? Quantity is not important in homeopathy, but repetition of dosing is. By analogy, imagine 2 people ask you to turn left at the same time, you will turn left once; but if the instruction is separated you will turn left twice – too many doses risks getting you in a spin!)
Let’s look at one remedy Chamomilla. That is the herb Camomile prepared homeopathically.
This is a remedy for PAIN, unbearable pain often associated with anger. Famously useful for the teething child with hot and red cheeks or one hot and red and the other pale and cold. The child cannot be comforted, asking for a toy and then hurling it across the room.
Here is a nice little image from Homeopathic Remedy Pictures:
A dose is usually one sugar pill, but as said above, quantity is not that important (except on your wallet). For a baby you can put a couple of pills in a small amount (5cm in a tumbler) of boiled cooled water – stir well and give two teaspoons.
Repitition depends on the seriousness. Maybe every 10-15 minutes to start with, but reduce to half hourly or longer if the symptoms start to improve. Do not continue to give the remedy once there is clear sign of improvement.
And if you see no improvement after a couple of hours, stop, it is the wrong remedy.
Next time we will look at Aconite and Belladonna – swords to ploughshares…
Disclaimer: I am a qualified professional homeopath and not a medical doctor. The NHS has many resources, and seeking the opinion of your GP is always of value.
Dibden Purlieu, Southampton