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» Hay Fever, from Families Magazine, Jul/Aug 2005
» Homeopathic Help for Babies, from Families
Magazine May 2004
» Article on Homeopathy from the Dacorum Gazette
Lifestyle Magazine, Sep 2003
Halt Hayfever Hell Homeopathically: from Families Magazine, Jul/Aug 2005
Hayfever can be miserable; itchy burning eyes, accompanied by sneezing and other irritating symptoms. In our youth hayfever would only affect one or two in a class, and be over before school was out for the summer. Now everyone seems to suffer, with pollen counts given out on the TV as a matter of course. The 21st century has brought with it an environment that is highly polluted. Farmers are growing, and spraying, more than one crop in a season. No longer does hayfever affect a few for a short time. The season can now extend right into October and November due to leaf mould and fungi spores. Over the counter preparations such as anti-histamines, may make you drowsy. Long-term use, year in, year out, may lead to depleted adrenal glands in later life and further weaken their ability to cope with the allergy. So what is the alternative?
Homeopathy is a complete system of medicine that is entirely natural. It can be applied to any condition or disease, and it works by stimulating the body to heal itself. It is also possible to eradicate hayfever altogether, when treated by a qualified Homeopath, who addresses the underlying susceptibility to allergic reactions. However, in the meantime, if you know a sufferer, it’s worth giving one of these proven remedies a go. Readily available over the counter, homeopathic remedies will not interfere with any prescription medicine. Simply match your symptoms as closely as you can to one of the remedies listed below, and take according to the instructions on the bottle. Simple!
Arsenicum Album 6c
Burning eyes, tears, and dislike of light. Thick watery burning discharge from nose,
causing a redstreak over the top lip, and wings of nose. Burning throat, asthma,
and fears suffocation. Feels restless, worried, exhausted by symptoms. Worse soon
after midnight.
Allium Cepa 6c
Burning eyes, smarting, light sensitivity, Begins sneezing Fluent watery discharge,
stuffy nose, Tickling in back of throat, coughs in cold air. Symptoms feel better
in open air and begin on the left and goes to the right side. Sensitive to flowers
or peaches. Worse every August, particularly when getting out of bed.
Gelsemium 6c
"Heavy" swollen eyes. Sneezing, watery discharge from nose. A sore throat, like
a lump in the throat or like "Stream of scalding water up to the left nostril".
Feeling apathetic, listless, giddiness, trembling. Hot face, great tiredness
"Heavy" in limbs. "Flu" feeling.
Natrum Muriaticum 6c
Watery bruised feeling in eyes. Squirming in nostril like small worm. Sneezing
violently, watery discharge from nose. Coughing makes the eyes water more. Loss
of taste & smell, cough from tickling in throat pit. Feels depressed &
touchy. Feels better at the seaside. Much worse in the sun. Desire for salty
things.
Nux Vomica 6c
Smarting, light sensitive eyes. Worse for bright light, and noises. Stuffy nose,
causing obstructed breathing. Itching in the inner ear extends larynx & throat.
Heated face, as if hot iron near it. Feels irritable, and very grumpy -
"crosspatch". Can have a headache, migraine type. Very sensitive to the cold.
Kali Iodatum 6
Profuse acrid tears causing smarting, swelling of the eyes. Sinus pain in the
forehead. Sneezing, acrid discharge from the nose. Red, swollen throat, that
feels raw. Violent cough, worse in the mornings. Feels better in the open air,
but worse in cool air. Has a violent thirst and feels as if there is no relief.
Generally a hot-blooded person.
Sabadilla 6c
Eyelids are red, and burning. Watery eyes. Lots of sneezing that comes on in
spasms, with a runny nose. Nostrils feel stuffed up, difficult to breathe through
the nose. Accompanied by a sore throat made better by warm drinks. Sometimes
there are severe pains in the forehead. Feels chilly, even on a hot day. Can
be very sensitive to the smell of garlic.
Shirley Hiscock, LCPH, MHMA, Registered Homeopath and mother of two, runs her busy homeopathic practice, Health UnLtd, where she successfully treats adults and children alike for various allergies and hayfever. Appointments are held at Berkhamsted Chiropractic Clinic. For more information call her at Health UnLtd on 07973 367384 or for appointments call 01442 863800.
Homeopathic Help for Babies (Families Magazine, May 2004)
Baby's home, the family's complete, the nursery is beautiful, and things should be idyllic. Things however are not all well in baby paradise. Maybe baby is having trouble breast-feeding, maybe he writhes around uncomfortably and in disarming distress after a bottle-feed. Perhaps your nipples are sore or you’ve gone down with mastitis and to top it all your baby won’t sleep. Perhaps you’re a few months down the line and your baby has had endless cold or cough after cough, and has a wheezy rattling sound in his chest that won’t shift on anti-biotics. These are typical problems that parents have to put up with, with little help from experts. However, the good news, according to registered homeopath Shirley Hiscock, is that homeopathic help is at hand, which doesn’t involve constant trips to the doctors.
Homeopathy not only offers a method of maintaining health and preventing illness. It is a subtle but effective therapy that can correct small imbalances long before the appearance of a particular disease. Much illness can be "nipped in the bud" and the patient swiftly restored to health before a more serious disease appears.
Founded over 200 years ago by German doctor, Samuel Hahnemann, the fundamental principle of homeopathy that governs the selection of a particular remedy is the principle of "like cures like", which means that a substance that can cause a disease can also relieve it. For example, coffee can keep you awake at night, yet given in potency, that is diluted and vigorously shaken many times, coffee (the remedy coffea tosta) can be used to aid insomnia. By diluting and vigorously shaking the substance in a process known as "succussing", the medicines become more effective and reduce the likelihood of unwanted effects. "This makes homeopathic remedies extremely safe and can be administered to absolutely anybody, including pregnant women and even the smallest of babies" adds Shirley, from her practice, Health UnLtd, based in Chesham and Amersham.
"Homeopathy treats the patient as an individual and to this end a detailed picture of the patient is built up by the homeopath in order to assess the case correctly." Says Shirley. "Take sleepless babies, those who won’t be quietened unless they are carried over the shoulder, need a different remedy to those who can't be pacified by feeding. There are remedies that can help a baby recover from a difficult or prolonged labour where there has been much moulding of the head or if they’ve been subject to a traumatic delivery. Babies, who regurgitate milk as soon as it's been swallowed, need a different remedy to babies who are slow feeders and fail to thrive. Very young babies with colic, too young for over the counter medicines can be helped with homeopathic remedies that can ease trapped wind, and aid indigestion."
"By addressing the baby's problems with homeopathic remedies, not only will symptoms decrease or disappear, but also the child will move to a great state of health and vitality," claims Shirley.
If you wish to make an appointment with Shirley you can contact her at Health UnLtd, 01494 794671. Or for appointments: at Berkhamsted Chiropractic Clinic, 01442 863800.
The Dacorum Gazette Lifestyle Magazine, September 2003
The old playground adage "coughs and sneezes spread diseases" isn't far from the truth in today's modern school environment. As the days get damper and colder, with children starting back in warm stuffy classrooms, the usual bouts of this and that do the rounds and our children's immune systems soon bear the brunt. The national average of 1 in 8 child asthma sufferers may experience a deterioration in their symptoms due to the increase in leaf mould at this time of year, making a new term a trying time for many children.
New schools and routines can affect children's sleep patterns and social behaviours and can trigger physical or emotional symptoms such as shyness, difficulties in making friends, inability to concentrate or hyperactivity. However as concerned parents there is something you can do to ease your children through the trials and tribulations of new school terms, and new bugs, without resorting to a trip to the doctors.
Homeopathy is a natural and holistic therapy that was founded some 250 years ago by a German doctor, Samuel Hahnemann. It works on the basis that, given the right stimulus, the body is able to overcome virtually any disease. This is known as "the law of similars" or "like cures like". For instance coffee, or Coffea in Latin, is a stimulant that can cause insomnia. Coffea may be used in minute homeopathic doses to relieve that insomnia. But what relevance does it have for our children today?
"Well, today's children are bombarded by all sorts of pressures, not just increased pressures by government and school to perform well, but also the pressures put on our systems by poor diets, dehydration, and environmental toxins," says local Registered Homeopath, Shirley Hiscock of Health UnLtd in Chesham. Not only does this affect our children's immune systems, but also many conventional medicines such as antibiotics or steroidal inhalers, whilst necessary at times, can have further detrimental effects on their health. (Overuse of antibiotics can upset the digestive system, or give rise to thrush or candida. Steroids can affect a child's entire endocrine system, by suppressing growth, thinning bones, and suppressing the adrenal glands, which has been linked by scientific studies to anorexia, seizures, abdominal pains and recurrent vomiting and nausea.)
Shirley Hiscock, who has lived in the Dacorum area all her life, and has a clinic at Beamac Health, Bovingdon, and a drop-in session at Hubert Figgs Chemists in Berkhamsted, discovered homeopathy during her second pregnancy when she suffered a debilitating illness called hydronephrosis. "My options were hospital and intravenous anti biotics for the last trimester or 10 weeks of oral antibiotics. Luckily for me Homeopathy resolved my problems and the results were so fantastic that I decided to undertake the four-year Practitioner course at the College of Practical Homeopathy in London." This not only included in-depth study of the remedies used (there are some 2000 of them), but also anatomy and physiology and a rigorous clinical training.
"Conventional medicine, because it treats symptoms and not the person, makes no attempt to discover the actual cause or causes of disease for a particular child i.e. why a child and not a sibling develops a recurrent cough at a specific time in their life. The answer lies inside the child, and in the way he or she interacts physically end emotionally with the world."
"By taking a careful case history, and observing the child's state of health, including the impact of stresses and traumas, diet and environmental influences, I can build up a picture of the underlying causes of ill health. By addressing them with homeopathic remedies, not only will symptoms decrease or disappear but also the child will move to a greater state of health and vitality."
"Homeopathy isn't useful only during periods of ill health. It also offers a method of maintaining health and preventing illness. It is a subtle but effective therapy that can correct small imbalances, and used through childhood can help children pass through puberty into adulthood with the greatest of ease. This make homeopathy relevant for all the family, from the very youngest to the eldest, it can even help the family pets."
"I am absolutely convinced that there is more we can do for our children to help them cope with the ever-increasing pressures of school. Through diet, adequate hydration and rest, with the help of remedies when needed, we can put our children in a really strong position of health and vitality in time for them to meet the rigours winter and the school year."
