 A quick and positive response to homeopathy can often open the door for people to discover further benefits of this marvelous modality. Last fall, we were at a gathering and somebody mentioned having been stung by a bee the day before. She had a hard, hot, red, painful lump on her leg, just above the knee. Well, I always have homeopathic remedies with me, so I offered a dose of Apis mellifica. Not long after, the site was a little softer and a little less painful. We repeated the Apis. She was pleased. I sent her away with the tube of Apis. A few days later I heard from her that she had been stung again. “Those little bee pellets of yours really work. I’m impressed! The bees have been vicious and I’m keeping this nearby.” Is Apis the only remedy for a bee sting? Nope. For further information on what other homeopathic remedies may help if you’ve been stung or bitten: Summer Fun #3: Flying Things, Wasp Attack 1 & 2. Apis mellifica is a homeopathic remedy made from a crushed honeybee and processed or, potentized into being a medicine which can help bee stings. Technically, in this instance, Apis would be considered Isopathy, not homeopathy. Homeopathy is “like cures like” and Isopathy is “same cures same.” Click HERE for more information. Isopathy, from the Greek, “equal or same suffering.” Isopathic remedies are made from the actual substance which is causing the allergic reaction or illness. We saw the example of Apis for the relief from the physical complaints of a bee sting, other possible isopathic uses would be potentized (for the sake of this discussion, potentize will refer to turning a substance into a homeopathic remedy) substances to help relieve allergies, (e.g. potentized cat hair to lessen the effects of cat hair on a person allergic to cat hair). The Journal of Asthma has a study evaluating isopathic treatment of allergic mice. For further basic information on Isopathy, click here. Where else does the potentized honeybee (the homeopathic remedy Apis mellifica) come in handy? The quick way of remembering how Apis can help is to think about what happens when one is stung by a bee: swelling, fluid-filled, hot (sensation as well as feeling worse from hot), burning pain, stinging pain and redness. Back to homeopathy (as opposed to isopathy)… when you have a condition resulting in one or more of those symptoms, Apis mellifica may be helpful. For example:
One other very important thing that may possibly happen when one is stung by a bee is an anaphylactic reaction, resulting in swelling of the airway, tongue or throat, causing trouble breathing. If you find yourself in this position, get to the hospital immediately and administer Apis frequently while waiting for the ambulance or while on the way to the hospital. The blossoms are blooming, the bees are busy gathering pollen and I will catch you next time with some more homeopathic nuggets. Julia Coyte, CHom Classically Practical homeopath #wellnessawaits Further Reading & Reference List:
Coyte, J., 2021a. Wasp Attack, pt 1 [online]. CLASSICALLYPRACTICAL.COM. Coyte, J., 2021b. Wasp attack! part 2 [online]. CLASSICALLYPRACTICAL.COM. Coyte, J., 2021c. My Little Bag of Wellness : the homeopathic remedies I carry with me [online]. CLASSICALLYPRACTICAL.COM. Coyte, J., 2022. Summer Fun #3: Flying Things (mainly) [online]. CLASSICALLYPRACTICAL.COM. Homeopathyplus.com, 2023. What Is Isopathy? | Homeopathy Plus [online]. Homeopathy Plus. Mayo Clinic, 2021. Anaphylaxis - Symptoms and causes [online]. Mayo Clinic. Mazloomi, E., Ilkhanizadeh, B., Zare, A. and Shahabi, S., 2020. Evaluation of the efficacy of isopathic immunotherapy in the treatment of allergic asthma in BALB/C mice. The Journal of Asthma: Official Journal of the Association for the Care of Asthma [online], 57 (6), 670–679.
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 Spring has sprung around here and it has brought along with it some nasty little bits of pollen blowing around.
Homeopathic remedies can help in the sniveling, dripping moment; and, done correctly, they can help uproot the problem in the long term. Often though, the remedy that helps acutely is not necessarily the remedy that will help to address the underlying cause. For this, I recommend working with a professional homeopath. If you are suffering the itching, burning eyes or the nose running like a faucet, check out my previous articles: “Allergies are Back” and “Hayfever” for some homeopathic remedy ideas. Julia Coyte, CHom Classically Practical homeopath #wellnessawaits  Homeopathy has been continuously in use since its founding by Samuel Hahnmann in the late 1700s. Just think about that. This safe, gentle, inexpensive and very powerful medicine has been used all around the world for 225 years and in many circles, this amazing modality is virtually unknown. Perhaps some of its obscurity lies in the fact that the term “homeopathy” contains the word “home.” In my opinion, this linguistic trickery plays a significant role in the confusion surrounding homeopathy. People assume “homeopathy” is the same thing as a home remedy. Nope. Not the same. Not even close. “Hom” from Greek homoeos, meaning “one and the same.” As in…Homophone: same pronunciation, different meaning. Homonym: same spelling, different meaning. Homogenous: of the same kind, alike. Homeomorphism: an instance of topological equivalence. Homocentric: having the same center. Not home*, as in home-based or home-made. Perhaps we should switch to the British spelling, homoeopathy. That may help clear up this little problem. Homoeopathy broken down is Homoeo: “the same” and pathy: “suffering." Various pathys… Hydropathy: the treatment of illness through the use of water. Naturopathy: a system of medicine that avoids drugs and surgery and relies on natural remedies. Osteopathy: a system of medicine traditionally based on manual therapeutic techniques aimed at restoring physical function through the body’s ability to heal itself. Homoeopathy is based on the premise of “like cures like.” If nausea is your ailment, a remedy based on a substance which causes nausea in its crude form is the cure. Tobacco when consumed raw causes nausea, vomiting and malaise (Hulzebos et al. 1998 and Trapé-Cardoso et al. 2003). Homoeopathic tobacco known as Tabacum, is one homoeopathic answer to nausea, vomiting and malaise. Another easy example of like cures like is Allium cepa, red onion. When you chop an onion, what happens? Your eyes burn and water and your nose runs. Thus, Allium cepa is one homoeopathic answer to colds and allergies when you experience these symptoms. The counterpart to homoeopathy is allopathy. Greek allos, “other” and pathy, “suffering.” Allopathy: treatment of disease by remedies that produce effects opposite to the symptoms. If fever is your ailment, an antipyretic (anti, “against” and pyretic, “feverish”) is the allopathic answer. Antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, beta blockers, proton pump inhibitors. The point of this article is not to knock home remedies. There is a lot to be said for gargling with salt water for a sore throat; eating probiotic yogurt for tummy issues; sipping homemade chicken soup for a cold. These are all amazingly helpful ways to address symptoms. However, they are NOT homoeopathic medicines. Homoeopathy works with your body, not against it. Homoeopathy treats the person, not the disease. Homoeopathy uses the symptoms your body provides as a guide to find the correct homoeopathic remedy to gently stimulate your body. Homoeopathy does not force the symptoms away by using something to stop or block a symptom (anti-medications as listed above); homoeopathy uses similar medicines or remedies to nudge your symptoms a little further in the same direction that it is already headed in order to stimulate your immune system to kick in and correct itself. As Dr. Robin Murphy said recently in one of his last lectures, (and, I paraphrase), “The body knows how to repair itself. Homoeopathy is the vital force repair man.” Julia Coyte, CHom Classically Practical homeopath #wellnessawaits *If you’re interested, here’s a link to in an in-depth discussion of the etymology of the word “home” by the author of Word Origins and How We Know Them. Reference list
Etymonline.com, 2021. homophone | Etymology, origin and meaning of homophone by etymonline [online]. www.etymonline.com. European Committee for Homeopathy, n.d. Benefits of Homeopathy [online]. The European Committee for Homeopathy. Hulzebos, C. V., Walhof, C., and de Vries, T. W., 1998. Accidental ingestion of cigarettes by children. Nederlands Tijdschrift Voor Geneeskunde [online], 142 (47), 2569–2571. Liberman, A., 2015. Our habitat: the etymology of “home” [online]. OUPblog. Trapé-Cardoso, M., Bracker, A., Grey, M., Kaliszewski, M., Oncken, C., Ohannessian, C., Barrera, L. V., and Gould, B., 2003. Shade Tobacco and Green Tobacco Sickness in Connecticut. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine [online], 45 (6), 656–661. Venes, D., 2017. Taber’s cyclopedic medical dictionary. Philadelphia: F.A. Davis Company. Once upon a time, when somebody sneezed or coughed, we all assumed it was either a cold or allergies and we really didn't think very much about it. Now, if you're in public and you have to sneeze or (heaven forbid!) cough… hold it in -- don't even go there!
Allergy season has returned to our neck of the woods. Headaches. Sneezing. Runny noses. Blocked up sinuses. Tickling in the throat. Yuck. Let's look at a few homeopathic remedies that might be of assistance. Allium cepa is a go-to remedy for runny noses which burn and eyes that water blandly and can present with a dull frontal headache. Arsenicum album -- for burning discharge from the nose and the eyes and eyelids may be puffy. Here's a potentially important piece of the allergy puzzle with this remedy: Complaints return annually. (While this is more of a classical homeopathic approach to allergies, Arsenicum album can certainly be applied in a practical or therapeutic way, as well.) Euphrasia focuses on the eyes. Opposite to Allium cepa, Euphrasia has a bland runny nose and burning eyes. The eyelids may also itch and burn. Natrum muriaticum can have a profuse watery discharge from the eyes and the nose and what comes out of the nose may have an egg white consistency. Taste and smelling may be an issue as well as a tickling in the pit of the throat. Nux vomica -- obnoxious, relentless sneezing as well as irritation in the nose and eyes. Grumpiness might just be a part of this picture, too. Sanguinaria can be very helpful for sinus issues and facial pain and headaches from the blocked sinuses. Wyethia also has the runny nose and sneezing, but it also has the peculiar symptom of an itchy palate -- requesting your tongue's assistance in rubbing back and forth trying to scratch that itch. There are many, many homeopathic remedies to address the many, many allergic symptoms. If you need help deciding what remedies may best suit your symptoms, or if you are prone to allergies in general, homeopathy can help to strengthen your system and lessen this burden. Contact classicallypractical.com to see if homeopathy can help relieve your seasonal allergies now and in the future. Julia Coyte, CHom Classically Practical Homeopathy #homeopathycanhelp |
Julia Coyte, CHomI am passionate about homeopathy and I love sharing this passion. Having a working knowledge of homeopathy shouldn't be kept a secret. If people have the ability to help themselves, their children and their friends when they have minor ailments, life just gets better for everyone. That is the purpose behind Ruminating on Remedies. Archives
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