Happy Guru-Pournima to all my beloved teachers! You are my Inspiration!

Happy Guru-Pournima to all my beloved teachers!
Guru-Pournima is the full moon day observed today to honor the teachers in your life those have enhanced your knowledge, groomed your attitude, and made you what you are!

Called up my beloved teacher Dr Sethia today morning and wished him, as I cannot personally go n meet him due to long distance travel. It's such a bliss to hear the words of wisdom from the person whom you admire so much. He is the homeopath who bred the seeds of ultimate knowledge of homeopathy in me and many other students of homeopathy.

I owe, however, many more things to Dr Sethia sir, who directly and indirectly bred the seeds of spiritual learning in me now almost 10 to 12 years back. He showed us how to live and lead a respectful life that brings grace to your family, friends, and humanity as a whole. He used to tell us so many stories while teaching us homeopathy, with his witty charm and in-depth knowledge.

Gurus or teachers have been given apt priority in any culture. In Indian culture, Guru is worshiped next to mother and father. Let's pay our respect to the builders of society- "Let's be grateful towards those helped you meet with yourself"!

Homeopathy for day to day Problems!

To err is human and we all commit many errors in our day to day life, the result of which is bodily and mental discomforts that we may encounter. Every person is the author of his health, as rightly said. Similarly every person can be a care-taker of his own body and health with mild homeopathic medicines. Yes, homeopathy can always be thought as the primary mode of therapy for smaller problems at home. Certainly one needs to know about homeopathic philosophy and principles before one starts prescribing even for family members and others.

But with practice and in-depth reading of homeopathic material medica, one can safely use homeopathic medicines, especially while traveling, at night when the doctor’s help cannot be sought, etc. This is obviously true in case of minor problems. For major ones, it is better to visit doctor as soon as possible.

Here are some of the problems for which you can help yourself-

(1) Minor cuts and bruises-

· Calendula- For minor cuts and bruises this medicine prepared from Marigold is truly the powerful healing agent. Give a single dose internally and you can also go for local application in case of cut. If you are using tincture, make sure you dilute it with water before using locally.

· Arnica- For cuts and bruises where the internal blow is prominent with soreness of the part; Arnica Montana is the remedy that tops the list. Arnica is a very powerful remedy also to stop excess bleeding and to prevent hematoma in case of mild to moderate head injury as well. In any case of head injury, Arnica is the baseline remedy that must be given in high potency as far as possible, to avoid future complications.

· Ruta- for sprains, this is the remedy to be thought after Arnica. Wrist and ankle sprains top the list, along with sore bruised pain.

· Rhus tox- This is one of the most frequently indicated remedy for sudden sprains due to reaching for high objects or lifting heavy weights. One also needs to differentiate between Bellis perennis while treating sprains due to lifting heavy weights. Pelvic soreness due to lifting heavy weights goes more in favor of Bellis perennis.

(2) Minor eye problems-

· Euphrasia- Mild or moderate conjunctivitis that feels better in open air calls for Euphrasia. Bland coryza (cold) and acrid lachrymation (burning eye discharge) are the key symptoms.

· Symphytum- Blow to the eyeballs leading to black eye is the key symptom of Symphytum. You will notice positive change within a single dose too fast.

· Ruta- Eyestrain with headache and painful hot eyes due to reading fine print or sewing, etc calls for Ruta. Bruised sensation and weariness of eyes are to be noted. Differentiate between Argentum nitricum though. Ruta is aggravated from cold, while Argentum aggravated by warmth, so you have the point to differentiate.

(3) Spasmodic dysmenorrhea-

· Mag phos- This is the chief remedy as far as mere pain in abdomen is concerned. For immediate relief, you can even try Mag phos 12X, tablets, dissolved in warm water. You may enhance the potency if sure of the similimum. ‘The girl bends forwards to press the abdomen to feel better’ is Mag phos.

· Viburnum opulus- This is one of the rarely thought but frequently indicated remedy for sudden onset of spasmodic dysmenorrhea. Very scanty offensive menses with crampy pains running down the thighs indicated Vib op.

· Belladona- Suddenly increasing and lessening pain goes in favor of Belladona. Hot, offensive, bright red and profuse bleeding is characteristic.

(Remember that these remedies are indicated for acuteness of symptoms. To fight the tendency to dysmenorrhea and hormonal imbalances, one has to seek expert homeopathic advice and constitutional treatment)

(4) Colds-

· Sabadilla- When the symptoms are acute and sneezing is profound, Sabadilla is the choice of remedy. Watery and profuse nasal discharge is characteristic.

· Dulcamara- Windy weathers and rains leading to coryza may call for Dulcamara. Dryness of nasal mucus membrane despite having colds is characteristic. Wants to cover the nose to keep it warm!

· Belladona- When the symptoms are acute after the localization, Belladona may be indicated. The person goes in rains or cold weathers and catches up cold with dryness itchy throat the next day; Belladona is the remedy many times. Headache and feverishness associated with colds and suddenness of symptoms are to be noted.

· Hepar sulph- Usually indicated after 2 to 3 days of starting cold and cough. Rawness of throat is the chief symptom that gets aggravated by least cold. Just a single dose acts as anti-infectant in most cases.

(5) Cough-

· Spongia- Dry irritating cough with breathlessness calls for Spongia. Night aggravation must be considered and give just a single dose.

· Ipecac- If there is sputum production with irritating cough with clean tongue but nauseating feeling, Ipecac may be of help.

· Antim tart- In children where there is chest congestion with excessive sweating and sour food aggravation, Antim tar is of help. Especially when the child gets cough after eating sour citrus fruit, Antim tar is the remedy in many cases. If the chest is wheezy and cold aggravates, Antim ars may be thought.

· Drosera- Excessively irritating cough that ends in vomiting may need Drosera. It is a very potent remedy indicated even in whooping cough. Give just a single dose in 30C potency and see the marvelous results when indicated.

(6) Constipation-

· Nux vomica- Distended abdomen after meals with ineffectual urging for stools calls for Nux vomica. Patient wants to go for stools recurrently without satisfactory feeling after defecation calls for Nux. There might be associated hyperacidity without the actual vomiting.

· Bryonia- Dry hard stools absolutely without an urge to stools calls for Bryonia. Assiciated with excessive thirst.

· Magnesium mur- Constipation in infants and children. Knotty scanty stools in children during dentition calls for Mag mur.

· Plumbum- Should be considered in chronically constipated. Hard, lumpy, black stools with spasm of anus. Constricted feeling at anus calls for Plumbum.

(7) Diarrhea-

· Nux vom- It may be surprising for beginners in homeopathy that Nux vomica is one of the chief remedies for both constipation and diarrhea. The principle symptom is the unsatisfactory urging to stools. And upon this very symptom, this remedy can be used for both the problems.

· Aloe soc- Watery stools after beer consumption and they are so forcibly passed that at times passed without notice.

· Pulsatilla- Rich fatty food leading to diarrhea with rumbling in abdomen calls for Pulsatilla. Fruits aggravate during diarrhea or they may be the cause. Stools of varied colors.

· Chamomilla- Esecially indicated in children when the child has excessively offensive, greenish, watery stools with crampy pain in abdomen. Extreme irritability must be looked for before prescribing.

· Croton tig- Summer diarrheas with nausea and forcible yellow stools calls for Croton tig. Better on taking hot water is the principle indication.

· Podophyllum- Profuse watery stools with prostration may need Podophyllum. During dentition too it is indicated when no two stools are alike.

Antidote Remedies in Homeopathy: a List!

Here is a comprehensive list of some important homeopathic medicines and their antidote remedies. One needs to pay attention to the Remedy-Relationships when it comes to Homeopathic Prescribing.

But one also has to understand that there is no set rule for utilizing these relationships in practice. With clinical experience, one understands that there are many remedies that despite sharing an antidotal relationship with each other follow well in some cases. Again individualization is the key. Further, the remedy relationship, especially the antidotes and inimical remedies should be remembered in case of sensitive patients with high susceptibility.

Here is the list--

1) Acid fluor X Silica

2) Acid nitricum X Sulphur

3) Acid phos X Staphysagria

4) Aconite X Belladona

5) Aethusa X Nux vomica

6) Allium cepa X Nux vomica

7) Aloe soc X Nux vomica, Lyco

8) Amm carb X Hepar sulph

9) Antim crud X Hepar sulph

10) Apis X Lachesis

11) Arnica X Ignatia

12) Arsenic alb X Sambucus

13) Arum tri X Bell, Puls

14) Aurum X Cuprum, Spigelia

15) Baryta carb X Zincum

16) Belladona X sabadilla, Opium

17) Bismuth X Nux vom

18) Borax X Chamomilla

19) Bryonia X Senega, Chelidonium

20) Cantharis X Apis

21) Carbo veg X Lachesis

22) Chamomilla X Colocynth

23) China X Bryonia

24) Clematis X Croton tig

25) Colchicum X Ledum pal

26) Collinsonia X Nux vom

27) Conium X Acid nitricum

28) Crot hor X Lachesis

29) Cuprum X Nux, Merc

30) Dulc X Kali carb

31) Ferrum X Hepar

32) Gels X Dig, China

33) Glon X Nux vom

34) Graphites X Nux

35) Hypericum X Cham

36) Ignatia X Cham

37) Iod X Graph

38) Kali bich X Lach

39) Kali brom X Zinc

40) Kalmia X Bell

41) Lach X Led, Acid phos, Opium

42) Lyco X Causticum

43) Mag carb X Nux, Rheum

44) Medo X Ipec

45) Mezereum X Acids (all)

46) Natrum mur X Phos

47) Nux Mos X Gels

48) Oleander X Sul

49) Petrol X Cocc

50) Plumbum X Kreos, Hyosc

51) Pod X Coloc

52) Ran bulb X Anac

53) Rheum X Cham

54) Rhod X Rhus tox

55) Staphysagria X Ambra

Duty of Homeopathic Doctors Towards Society!

Every person born on this earth has certain duties towards his family, his society, his nation, and his genre as whole. No person is born without a purpose here, or so one should believe. Homeopaths are certainly one such section of the society that are born with some special purpose. Being a doctor is itself a job of responsibility. Moreover they have their well-defined faculty to help mankind.

Homeopathic treatment is aptly called as a mode of scientific and artistic mode of treatment. This is a system of medicine that solely recognizes its patients as individuals. This individualistic approach further adds responsibility on the shoulders of homeopathic doctors. How? Let's see.

(1) As we (homeopaths) treat individuals and not mere their diseases, we owe a lot to the society in face of changing societal norms. Homeopaths are the weapons that can modify the person's emotional and mental disposition along with changing his physical well-being positively.

(2) Homeopaths firmly believe that enhancing the person's immune responses towards infectious and non-infectious maladies is the best possible thing to do in order to avoid future recurrences and complications.

(3) As the preventive and therapeutic approach of homeopathy towards epidemic diseases is well-proved over centuries, it is the duty of homeopathic physicians to treat the people suffering from epidemic diseases with the help of apt homeopathic remedies and enhance the herd immunity as a whole.

(4) In case of treatment of children with homeopathy, homeopaths have added responsibility. Convincing the people about treating their children with mild yet potent homeopathic medicines is not an easy task. When the whole world is falling for frequent use of antibiotics that weakens the immune system, it is not easy to make people understand the importance of homeopathic treatment. However, once you give positive results with your medicines, people will definitely get back to you for future problems. There are thousands of parents those thank homeopathic doctors for bringing normalcy to their child's health and avoiding grave health problems in future.

(5) It is important to comprehend that homeopathic medicines we are treating the body, mind, and soul of an individual. Therefore, the doctor has to be careful in effecting positive influence on the person on all planes and modify his attitude too while doing so with the help of efficient counseling.

Finally one should understand that being a doctor is not merely for gaining fame and wealth. This may sound cynical in today's materialistic world. But remember God has given us this special task of modifying the world of illness into the world of happiness and peace! Isn't it our duty to use our skills carefully?

Oh Migraine again? Homeopathy can CURE it!

Ask the severity of symptoms to a migraine patient and he or she will make such a face that you know everything without them telling you. When a patient with migraine arrives in the clinic, we immediately know the diagnosis if he or she arrives with the symptoms. Well, the terrible throbbing pain migraine gives has been experienced by numerous people and scientists have estimated that the number will be on rise due to our hopeless lifestyle adjustments.

Though we know that exact cause for migraine cannot be found out, we know that there are many trigger factors and stress works as one of the strongest trigger factors. Eating patterns also seem to be working against the disease these days. Instant foods and food with lot of preservatives also seem to enhance the frequency of migraine attacks. Yes, it is called a migraine attack because of the severity with which it starts and progresses. Also high blood pressure (hypertension) seems to be one of the trigger factors.

Sometimes the headache may be associated with nausea, vomiting, giddiness etc. These symptoms may precede the migraine attack. The migraine is also seen more among women than men. The gender difference may be related to complex emotional disposition in women.

Treatment of migraine:

Conventional migraine treatment (Vasograine or similar drugs) treat the migraine attack successfully. But, these medicines most of the times act temporarily and they cannot lead to permanent cure. Moreover the tendency to frequent migraine attacks cannot be subdued with these medicines. Some people say that continuing these medicines for longer periods may be necessary, but still definitive proof of cure due to it is not seen.

This is the reason we recommend homeopathic treatment for migraine and we have found that homeopathic medicines help not only control overt symptoms of migraine during attacks but they can also alleviate the recurrence problem.

After we start with homeopathic medicines, the symptoms start diminishing in their severity. Initially the patients usually say that the attack that used to come every other day is now coming once a week or so. Slowly but surely, this frequency reduces further. With the aptly chosen homeopathic intercurrent medicine, patient gets totally cured. In my clinical practice, I have seen number of cases getting cured within 1-2 months without any recurrence (or very mild recurrence rate) further.

No doubt the role of constitutional medicine is great as far as the complete cure of migraine is concerned. This is the medicine that is decided by considering the physical, mental, and emotional picture of the patient. No doubt, apt and detailed history of the patient is crucial for finding the right constitutional remedy for him. Remedies like Natrum mur, Lycopodium, Tuberculinum, Natrum carb, Acid Fluoricum, etc top the list when it comes to migraine. But only a homeopathic expert can finalize the decision about medicine!

Homeopathy- What does it have to offer mankind?

Homeopathic system of medicine is fast becoming popular not only as alternative system of medicine but as mainstream treatment mode. There are many people those are going to homeopathic doctors directly instead of going to them as the last resource. Basically homeopathy is one of the oldest medicinal sciences discovered by the master mind Dr Samuel Hahnemann more than 200 years ago. But still today, homeopaths follow the principle of nature depicted in the Organon of Medicine by Dr Hahnemann.

Many people know homeopathy by its eternal principle of "like cures like". It is the principle of nature and the remedy selection is thus based on it. People practicing homeopathy do not go or shall not go beyond this principle, otherwise they cannot cure the patient, but just suppress the disease. With the vast options homeopathy has for suffering humanity, we should know how to apply homeopathy in order to help humanity as a whole.

Let's see some important things homeopathy has to offer:

(1) Most chronic ailments find their cures in homeopathy. Arthritis, liver problems, kidney stones, asthma, allergic rhinitis, hemorrhoids, prostate troubles, gall stones, fissures, migraines, spondylosis, sciatica, after effects of head injury, various gastric problems, etc. Certainly there are very few ailments in which homeopathy does not help. Rather, when a homeopath works on the basis of symptom similarity, he can treat virtually any disease, rather patient suffering from that particular disease.

(2) In face of various infectious diseases, homeopathy has great role to play. The diseases like hay fever, swine flu, and chikungunya have shown us recently how homeopathy can tackle such nasty epidemics with its remedies. One must understand here that homeopathy could face severe criticism and still emerge unabated due to its effectiveness and result-oriented cures.

(3) Homeopathy is termed as surgeon's knife. The problems like abscesses, fissures, kidney stones, and appendicitis have found cure in homeopathy, where modern medicine would deal only with surgical intervention. Even for conditions like dispelling out a foreign body, homeopathic medicine helps one avoid surgery.

(4) Homeopathy offers study of human beings. Yes, it is one of the most important factors that go in favor of homeopathy. It is not a science that treats maladies. But it is the science that treats the persons suffering from that disease. And it always considers the problems individually. Homeopathy does not say it will have same remedy for a typhoid fever of two different people. Depending upon the varied symptoms and signs the patient presents with and depending upon his or her constitution, the homeopathic remedy selection differs.

(5) Homeopathy has offered a gift of natural medicines to mankind. The drug dosage is absolutely minute and just enough to cure a disease and never leads to cumulative effect in the system of a person. Therefore, there are no side effects with the homeopathic medicines. No wonder people like to follow homeopathic remedies those do not burden them with nasty chemicals and heal naturally.

Homeopathy for Cervical and Lumbar Spondylosis!

Most patients come to homeopathy for spondylotic changes in their spines quite late. Rather, they come to us when the conventional medicine people say that they just have to resort to exercise and wait for the favorable change in spine to take place. Also they come to know from them that the spinal changes can just be kept latent by exercise and cannot be reverted back. No wonder most patients come to us in utter despair, pain, and a kind of loathing of life, as in some of the severe cases, life becomes miserable due to spondylosis pains.

The spondylosis changes are mainly observed in cervical (neck) region and lumbar (lower back) region. Let's see what the symptoms patients present with are-

Symptoms of cervical spondylosis-

1) Pain in nape of neck, shoulders, sometimes extending to arms and lower part of head.

2) There might be tingling and numbness in arms and hands even in severe cases

3) Giddiness often accompanies

Symptoms of lumbar spondylosis-

1) Lumbago or lumbar pain especially on lifting anything heavy or bending forwards

2) Sudden pains that makes patient to cry with pain at times

3) Inability to walk with erect gait

4) Tingling and numbness in lower extremities

How homeopathy helps to get rid of cervical and lumbar spondylosis?

Homeopathic medicines help one conquer the spinal changes with brevity. Most importantly, each case of spondylosis is different in the eye of a homeopath. He will not give a single medicine to all cases of spondylosis unless checking rigorously the signs and symptoms of the patients. The onset of spondylosis, the probable causative factors, family history, other joint or bone diseases, factors that aggravate or ameliorate the pains, the symptoms that are present along with the main trouble, etc are all the important points a homeopath must not ignore.

But this does not mean a homeopath will not give any medicine for immediate relief. There are many acute remedies for cervical as well as lumbar spondylosis. Depending upon the symptom similarity and other factors mentioned above, the homeopathic doctors prescribe remedies like Lachnanthes, Hypericum, Bryonia, Rhus tox, etc for immediate relief from the pains of spondylosis.

But along with acute remedy for instant reduction of pain, the homeopathic doctors' constitutional prescription alleviates the suffering completely. Certain intercurrent remedies, nosodes, etc are also used in order to impart lasting relief.

A Small Note on Injury Medicines in Homeopathy

Homeopathy is an all-encompassing mode of therapy. It caters the needs of thousands of patients worldwide and heals their maladies naturally. The minutest dosages of homeopathic medicines help one conquer any disease, as the medicines heal the person taking medicine and not just annihilate his symptoms.

Certainly homeopathy has huge scope for various diseases including some nasty chronic ailments. But this certainly does not mean that homeopathy has no scope for acute maladies. Rather, even in case of injuries, homeopathy has got huge scope to alleviate the suffering as well as to prevent complications.

There are homeopathic remedies like Arnica Montana, Hypericum, Symphytum, Ruta graveolens, Rhus toxicodendron, Chamomilla, Ignatia, Ledum pal, Cantharis, Calendula and many more those help in various types of pains and injuries. Certainly the individualization must be done here too.

If you are of the opinion that Arnica and Calendula can help in every type of injury and/or pain, you may never be able to give effective results. The symptoms of the above mentioned drugs must match with the symptoms of the patient; only then one can feel better in shortest possible time. Even there are remedies that can help to counter the effects of burns, long term complications of head injury, and symptoms of muscle catch.

When there is exact matching of symptoms, one gets results within few minutes too. This needs to be emphasized in order to bust the myth that homeopathic medicines are slow to act. The mode of action of homeopathic remedies is through nerves. And the nerves are the faster carrying media than blood. Therefore, one needs to apply the homeopathic principles scrupulously in order to get faster results.

There have been many cases those have responded immediately to well-chosen homeopathic remedies. Moreover, in cases of chronic head injuries, where no other treatment option helped to annihilate the mental symptoms and emotional imbalance of the patient, homeopathic remedies have helped to get the homeostasis back and the person could carry out his day to day activities without any problem.

Remember homeopathic system of medicine is based on well-grounded principles and human proving data. The medicines that are given for treating various diseases have been tested prior not in animals but in healthy human beings. That is why we can trust these medicines and also embark upon the life that is full of happiness and satisfaction. With nothing to fear from due to its minute dosages, one can get fully recovered or cured with these miraculous drugs.