What is the sensation in your throat?

We are in the middle of the season of acute colds, coughs and flu however Strep throat infection is a bit different just because of its sudden development. So, what are some characteristics of Strep throat?

Strep throat can be caused by a type of bacteria called Streptococcus pyogenes and some strep throat strains might cause a rash resembling scarlet fever.

Typical symptoms of Strep Throat:
• Sudden high fever, headache
• Mild to severe soreness in the throat
• Redness in the throat with white patches
• Swollen lymph nodes in the neck and tonsils
• Difficulty in swallowing food or water with pain when swallowing
• Nausea and vomiting are seen in younger children
• Chills
• Loss of appetite

Other symptoms which may be presented are lower stomach pain, general discomfort, uneasiness or ill feeling.

How do I know if it is not Strep throat? If you have
• Cough
• Runny nose
• Conjunctivitis
• Hoarseness of voice

In homoeopathy, we do not need an accurate diagnosis because we base our prescribing on how symptoms present.

Tell me your symptoms!

What the homoeopath wants to know in an acute state is :
• how do the symptoms present?
• what sensations of the symptoms do you experience?
• how are your energy in general, what is your thermal state and your thirst compared to normal?
• what makes your symptoms better or worse (modalities of symptoms)?

Here is some information that a homeopath would like to know about your  possible Strep throat symptoms:
• How your fever started– with heat or chill, any redness, sweating, you want to be covered or not
• Soreness of the throat and swollen tonsils –one or both sides? is swallowing affecting it? How about drinks or food?
• How is the headache? What part of the head? Is it affected by light, movement, or smells?
• What temperature of drinks are you preferring at present?

Example case

A case of a female in her 30s
Presentation:
• Sore throat started 2-3 days ago, mainly on the left, with a sensation of a lump, and needles
• Empty swallowing hurts
• Fever with full-body chills followed by heat
• No energy this morning, fever of 103
• Red on the face, hot sensation inside the mouth
• No thirst but is forcing herself to drink, cold water makes it better
• Quite anxious and moving a lot, aversion to questions
• Headache in the temples and across the forehead
• Had lots of Strep throat in the past so knows the sensation

Remedies considered: Belladonna and Rhus Tox
The remedy prescribed: Rhus Tox,

Update:
• Lots of improvement on the first day
• No fever, throat felt better but still hurting
• Pretty well back to normal
.

Homeopathic remedies for a Strep throat

Belladonna symptoms have a sudden or rapid onset with redness of a tissue involved, with great sensitivity to touch and jarring motion. Pains are usually throbbing or pulsating. It’s a top remedy for Strep throat when the following features occur:
Throat:
• Dry, as if glazed. Red, hot and worse on the right side. Constricted, angry-looking, congestion.
• Tonsils are red and inflamed.
• The larynx is sore and very painful.
• Swallowing difficult, worse liquids.
Head: Throbbing pain with heat, and fullness especially in the forehead
Mouth: Dry, tongue red on edges, swollen strawberry tongue
Fever: Burning, steaming heat with icy cold feet. No thirst with fever.
Modalities: Worse: touch, jar, noise, draught, lying down. Better: rest, light covering

Aconite:
Very sudden onset, intense and often with great pain often after exposure to cold wind, sun or water. Also a remedy in case of ailments after experiencing a shock.
•Sudden marked heat and fever alternating with chills
•Heat and flushing of the face
•Pupils constricted
•Restlessness
•Thirst for cold drinks
•Cold extremities
•Fear of death

Mercurius Sol
The most prominent features of Merc Sol are swollen glands, with lots of saliva and a metallic taste in the mouth. Infection can start on one side of the throat.
• Sore, raw, burning throat
• Glands swell every time patient takes cold
• Tonsils enlarged
• Constant desire to swallow
• Stitches into the ear on swallowing
• Acute or chronic pharyngitis with dirty tongue and salivation
• Tongue imprinted with teeth
• Offensive breath
• Excessive saliva, especially at night in bed
• Hot and cold aggravate or they feel hot one moment and cold the next
• Night sweats
• General aggravation from perspiring

Hepar Sulph: Sore throat with pus or hawking mucus with a sensation of something stuck in the throat.
• Sensation as if a fish-bone were lodged in his throat
• Breathing is short and suffocating, forcing a patient to sit up
• Production of tenacious yellow-coloured mucus in the chest
• During fever there is an icy coldness of the face and feet
• Can have fever blisters around the mouth
• Swelling of the tonsils and glands of the neck
• Wheezing in the larynx and a painful small spot in the larynx
• Feels worse in dry cold weather and better in damp weather
• Cold clammy, often sour, offensive, sweat
• Sensitiveness to open air, with chilliness and frequent nausea

Rhus Tox: it’s not a typical remedy for Strep throat however certain features resemble Belladonna with much more restlessness. 
• Sore throat with swollen glands
• Sticking or stinging pain in the tonsils, left side
• Sensation of dryness in the throat, hot mouth
• Chills followed by heat
• Extreme restlessness with continued change of position
• Headache on the forehead
• Face swollen and red

Other possible remedies:
Phytolacca, Merc Iodus Ruber, Ailanthus gland, Calc Iod, Streptococcinum

What about recurring states?

The recurring states are:
• Possibly inherited which means we have susceptibility to some imbalances or weakness of specific organs
• Might be caused by suppressions e.g. by the use of allopathic medicines

Whatever the cause homoeopathy can help with recurring states by using remedies like nosodes, miasmatic remedies or detox methods. You can read more about reccuring states in my previous blogs:

RECURRING INFECTIONS- UTIs ASSOCIATED WITH KIDNEY STONES

RECURRING INFECTIONS- ADENOIDITIS 

RECURRING INFECTIONS- TOENAIL FUNGAL

Working closely with a homoeopath helps to rebalance and break the cycle of recurring infections. Are you ready for your journey with homeopathy?

Let’s speak about homeopathy!

Have you experienced a urinary tract infection?

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) can occur suddenly and they might be quite uncomfortable. Have you struggled to choose a remedy for acute UTIs? There are a few different homoeopathic remedies that can be useful.
This is a flow chart which can help to choose the correct remedy for acute UTIs:

Remedies from the flow chart – distinguished features

Here are the remedies from the flow chart to choose from, that may help with acute urinary tract infections:

ACID NIT– Scanty urine, dark in colour. Burning and stinging sensation. Better movement, worse in the evening and at night.

ARGENT NIT– Burning pain and itching. Divided stream of urine. Better in fresh air and cold, worse in warmth and at night.

CANTHARIS– Scalding urine passes drop-wise. Constant desire to urinate. Better by warmth, worse by drinking cold water.

CAUSTICUM– Involuntary passage of urine when coughing, sneezing or excited. Better in the warmth and heat of bed, worse cold air and movement.

LYCOPODIUM– Pain in the back before urinating ceases after flow. Much straining. Polyuria during the night. Better being uncovered, worse heat or warmth of the room.

NUX VOMICA– Irritable bladder, frequent passage of small quantities of urine. Better in the evening at rest, worse in the morning and in the cold.

SARSAPARILLA– Urine dribbles, bladder distended and tender. A child often screams before and while passing urine. Better in cool dry air, but worse at night and after urinating.

STAPHISAGRIA– Burning sensation during urination. Better warmth and rest at night, worse emotional upset and tobacco. Women- after intercourse.

Urinary tract infections are usually related to our emotional state and looking into the totality of the symptoms allows homoeopaths to prescribe homoeopathic remedies to regain balance.
Are you having any recurring states you need to balance out?
Let’s speak about homoeopathy!

Homeopathic home prescribing- Top Tips.

In my last blog, I touched a bit on home prescribing and potency. It’s important to elaborate more on other aspects of home prescribing.

What can I treat with homeopathic remedies at home?

In-home, prescribing we can treat ailments that you would normally treat without seeing a doctor, like coughs, colds, indigestion, food poisoning, and many others. Using self- prescribing we can treat states which are not long-standing but occur acutely and should go away within days or a week.

How to choose between remedies?

Sometimes we struggle to differentiate between remedies. It is important to observe a few key things:
– what makes our symptoms better or worse,
– what has changed since the acute state started. (thermal state, thirst, energy)
– the more peculiar symptoms it may help to choose the remedy
Based on this information we can try the remedy which resonates the most. If no improvement after 3-4 doses reassess and move to the next remedy. Click on the link below for a previous blog on What outcome you may expect when you take a homeopathic remedy.

What is a more important remedy or potency in an acute state?

If we are not sure about potency or we only have a remedy in one potency that will be a good choice rather than trying to get ‘the specific’ potency. The body will most likely respond and the potency can be changed if needed it. In acute states potencies of 30C or lower are great. Also, 200C is used in acute states.

When to change a remedy in the acute state?

The acute state normally changes, so reassessing is needed if we do not see the improvement after 3-4 doses after taking a remedy. Sometimes remedies cause partial improvement and that should be noted it.

How do I take homeopathic remedies?

There are various ways of taking a homeopathic remedy. You can take it as a homeopathic pill or tablet on your tongue. Crushing the pill or tablet and dissolving it in small water is possible. You can also put a couple of pills in a bottle of water and shake and drink now and again.

Is water dose better than dry remedy on the tongue?

It’s very individual how we react to remedies. Often in the acute state, we may benefit from water doses just because we may repeat the dose more. We also need hydration during the acute state so that’s another benefit.

Do I need to wait after having food to take the remedy?

Homeopathic remedies absorb in mucus membranes of our mouth so for the remedy to work in full respect having a remedy in a clean, mouth before or after the remedy is important. Strong smells directly around remedies will lessen how the remedy works so for the benefit of treatment keep away food and drinks around the homeopathic remedies. (water is okay).

I hope these few tips help a bit with home prescribing. Let me know if you have any questions about home prescribing.
Let’s talk about homeopathy!

Homeopathy – potency and dose and how to prescribe homeopathy at home.

I get lots of questions about homeopathic potency and dose. What homeopathic potency to use? What is the dose? How many pills to take?
Well, let’s have a look together and see if we can understand more about this subject.

What is homeopathic potency?

Potency is an indication of how many times the homeopathic remedy was diluted and potentized.

Dilution depending on the scale used might be 1:10 for X (D) potency and 1:100 for C potency.

Potentising is done after each dilution and each dilution changes the potency by 1, meaning if you want to achieve potency 6C you need six steps from the Mother tincture (extract of the original substance) to make it. At each step, you are potentizing the remedy by banging it on the resilient surface. You can watch the video on What is homeopathic potency here?

Common centesimal and decimal potencies are:
Low: 3X, 6X, 12X, 30X, 5C or 6C, 9C, 12C or 15C
Medium: 30C, 200C
High: 1M and higher like 10M, 50M. Also LM potency.

Potency discussion

Potency is best described by comparison. If you can compare potency to a stone thrown into the water well.
The lower potencies are like smaller stones which will give a shorter and weaker sound when reaching the water’s surface. They have a short effect and therefore need to be repeated.
Continuing this comparison high potencies is like bigger stones that have a more significant and longer sound when reaching the water’s surface. This creates a longer effect and no need for a quick repetition.

How deep we want to get into the patient’s symptoms also determines potency choice. If we treat more physical symptoms we want to use lower potencies. How low? It all depends on how long the symptoms present and if try to support them on the organ level.

In the case of emotional and mental symptoms, we want to go higher in the potency, especially if the trauma which caused the symptoms happened a while back.

Other things to take into consideration are the energy of a patient, and how intense are the symptoms presented by the patient. If they penetrate the physical body or emotional state too? Maybe the patient has dreams associated with trauma which indicates that symptoms went deep into unconsciousness and quite high potency is needed to penetrate them.

Homeopathic dose

What’s a dose in homeopathy? A dose is one pill, one tablet, or 1-2 drops of liquid remedy at a time. That’s when you buy remedies in a homeopathic pharmacy because the remedies have potency manually put on.

Other manufacturers often use something called a spraying technique. That means some of the pellets/tablets may not have potency on their surface so it’s better to follow whatever the manufacturer recommends.

Home prescribing

So, what potency to choose when you prescribe at home?
It is safe to say that 30C or lower is good potency to start from. There is a rule in homeopathy that you can always increase the potency if that’s needed. Most of the homeopathic essential kits come in 30C potency. It’s worth having some remedies in 200C too.

A great example is when you have an acute accident. In case it happens that your finger got caught between the doors and you feel like screaming from pain then definitely taking 200C potency is very appropriate. An acute accident produces a lot of energy and to match this energy it’s important to choose the potency which resonates the closest.

Another example is where remedies in 200C potency are recommended is to support child delivery and newborns. Newborns present with the high energy of vital force so higher potencies often resonate better.

Frequency of dose

In an acute state, remedies are given quite often. If an accident with a finger between the doors just happened, you want to give remedy even every 15 minutes for 3-4 doses.
Then you reduce the frequency according to the intensity of the symptoms. In acute states frequency of 3-4 times is often needed. You can watch the video How to take homeopathic remedies here.

Homeopathy to the rescue.

If you tried home prescribing and the symptoms do not change or improve after 24-48 hours is worth changing a remedy or seeking advice from a homeopath who can look at the symptoms from a different angle. You can read a blog about what to tell a homeopath here.

In acute state symptoms often change quickly and remedies also may need to be changed. The chronic states are deeper and slower in resolution, and they require time to see improvement. You may low and high potencies in chronic conditions while working with a homeopath who can support a fine-tuning of your vital force. You can find a blog about homeopathy in different states here.
How do you feel now about helping balance your health with homeopathy?
Let’s talk about homeopathy!

Hello autumn!

The northern hemisphere entered a bit of chilly weather, and colds and flu have started to occur. Are you prepared with some useful remedies on hand?
Homeopathy has some useful remedies in case your colds or coughs start kicking in!

Homeopathic solutions

Merc Sol:

Sore throat with burning pain with swelling of glands (every time the patient takes cold).
Aggravation from heat and cold. Heat and shuddering alternately. Thirsty, desire for cold drinks.
Fluent, profuse nasal discharge, excessive saliva, especially at night. Generally worse at night.

Phosphorus:

Oppressive breathing, worse for the least motion.
Hard, dry, tight-racking cough or easy sputum, salty, sour, sweetish, cold, bloody. A desire for ice-cold drinks, popsicles, or ice cream.
Worse: cold air, exertion, talking, laughing, lying flat or on the left side.
Better: sitting, lying on the right side, cold drinks. Wants a company, to support her. Excitable.

Aconite:

Sudden onset- first signs of colds.
Worse from dry, cold wind. Great thirst, usually for cold drinks.
The main remedy for the early stages of croup. Worse around midnight. Restlessness.

Kali Bich:

Sinus infection. Nasal discharge or post-nasal drip is thick, stringy, and often yellow.
Productive cough with thick or green stringy sputum in bronchitis or asthma. Croup. Chilly and worse from the cold. Desire warm drinks.

Hepar Sulph:

It is a very useful remedy for treating swollen glands and frequent infections.
Painful ear infections in children who can’t bear cold air drafts. Slight exposure to cold brings on a painful and hoarse dry cough that’s worsened by drinking cold drinks.
The cough is usually loose with rattling and wheezing sounds. Difficult to cough up any mucus.

How to find the right remedy?

Finding the most indicated homeopathic remedy can be tricky at the times. It requires observation of your symptoms, sensations, and symptoms’ modalities (what makes the symptoms better or worse). You can read more about what to take into consideration when looking for a remedy  here.

How are you supporting your health with homeopathy?

Let’s talk about homeopathy!