Homeopathy Ayurveda
August 13, 2009 | 
Author Since children react in general very quickly to treatment, any homeopathic remedies can usually be given in fewer doses than might be the case with an adult. If the symptoms are less acute, or in any case for young children, try the 6c potency first; in more acute circumstances give the 30 c potency. As soon as the symptoms are less pronounced reduce the frequency of the medication, or stop it altogether. If in any doubt about the right potency, get professional advice. Homeopathy is a wonderful system of treatment for children, with no problems of taste to overcome, and the range of remedies is very wide. Here are some typical remedies for childhood ailments:
Aconite: Give at the earliest onset of symptoms, very good for ailments brought on by catching a chill, getting wet and so on. The child may be upset, with a hot, dry skin and a thirst for cold water, and restless at night.
Argent nit: For agitation and anxiety perhaps when anticipating some event; the child is fidgety and restless. This remedy is strongly indicated if the child has a craving for sticky, sweet foods or ice-cream, but gets an upset stomach, nausea or even vomiting after eating.
Arnica: This is the remedy for shock, given after any minor bump or fall. It can be excellent to give before, and after, a visit to the dentist, to reduce tissue damage or bruising, and to help the healing process.
Arsen alb: For the child who gets fractious after any exertion, easily gets a stomach upset or mild food poisoning, and wants to be carried. Usually, the picture for indicating this remedy is one where the child is peevish, wants to go from one person to another, and gets very thirsty, taking frequent, although small, sips of fluid.
Belladonna: For sudden onset of symptoms, associated with great redness of the skin and face. All symptoms tend to be violently acute, there may be over-excitability or a bad headache. This is a good remedy to give a child who has had too much sun.
Chamomilla: For whining, cross and irritable children who can only be calmed with constant soothing and attention. In granule form, often at a very low potency such as 3 c(that is, diluted at one part in 1,000), this makes a highly useful remedy for infants who are teething.
Pulsatilla: For mild-natured children, who are easily moved to tears, yet can be obstinate. They often fear the dark, and generally liked to be fussed over and cuddled. If the child’s temperament is suited to Pulsatilla, then this remedy should be given no matter what the physical ailment.
Sulphur: For the child who demands things quickly, and sulks if they do not come immediately. Babies get hot easily, kick off the bedclothes, demand feeding often. This is a remedy that is often used in skin conditions, such as eczema or psoriasis, and suits children with rough, scaly and itchy skin.
Caution
Some of the plants used in homeopathy are poisonous, for example Aconite(Aconitum napellus) and Belladonna(Atropa belladonna). Do not try to use them as herbs!
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Homeopathy-Ayurveda
As a full system of medicine, homeopathy is much more recent in its development. It owes its modern origins to Samuel Hahnemann, a German physician, who formulated homeopathic theories in the late eighteenth century, although the principles were almost certainly known for hundreds of years before. Essentially, symptoms are seen not as negative effects of illness but as the attempts of the person to resist disease. Hahnemann tested a treatment for malaria on himself by taking many doses of quinine; after some time he induced malarial-like symptoms, and came to the conclusion that quinine worked precisely because it created these reactions in a healthy person; it mimicked and supported our own healing responses.
This led to the principle of “like curing like”, and hundreds of homeopathic remedies have since been tested by giving them to healthy people and recording the responses. These “remedy pictures” are then applied to see which one fits the symptoms of an ill person. The other major point of difference between homeopathic and conventional medicine is that when a remedy has been identified as being appropriate to encourage the individual’s self-healing mechanisms, it is then prescribed in minute amounts. Hahnemann had found that by diluting his remedies in a special way he was able to get a quicker effect, and he understood these dilutions to work on a more subtle level than simply obtaining a physical reaction.
One of the common scales for measuring the dilutions is the centesimal scale- that is, diluting the remedy in the ratio of 1:100. For a liquid this means one part of the remedy is mixed with 99 parts of a diluent, usually either alcohol or water. This is called a lc dilution; this is then shaken in a special way, or succussed, and one part of this is added to 99 parts of the diluent to make a 2c dilution, and so on. As you can see, levels of extreme dilution are quickly reached, and so the remedy cannot be said to be acting physically in a conventional way, and indeed an important part of the “remedy picture” is the emotional reactions that are produced. The personality of the patient is a significant factor in choosing a remedy. Paradoxically, the more dilute the remedy, the more effectively it works.
A homeopathic practitioner may well use a very diluted remedy, to address an imbalance in our basic constitution, if there is a very clear picture that matches the individual.
For self-help treatment choose either the 6c or 30c potencies. For mild problems try taking the 6c dilution(normally remedies are available as tablets or pills, with directions for taking them with the container they come in) 3 times a day for up to 5 days. In more acute conditions, take a 30c dilution in the same way.
In short-term, really acute conditions you can take up to 6 doses of either potency at 3-hourly intervals. Continuing to take the remedies for longer, however, may result in an aggravation of symptoms, as you “prove” the remedy in the same way that Hahnemann did. If in any doubt, and in any case if there is no response within this time, always see a professional homeopath.
Homeopathic remedies are made from a number of substances, plant, animal or mineral, and diluted in a special manner