That excruciating pain in the Tail-bone !

We all are used to getting treated with allopathic medicines. Antibiotics, analgesics, anti-inflammatory medications, or anti-allergic tablets appear commonly in our conversation whenever we talk about treatment modalities. In there, the treatment is targeted more towards the diseased organ or tissue, thereby trying to eradicate the pathology.

Homeopathic system of healing, one of the most popularly practiced holistic healing technique around the world, differs from the modern medicine in many areas. The main aim of homeopathic treatment is targeted towards restoring the constitutional balance within, to aid in setting the body-equilibrium. It does not target the organs or tissues, unlike allopathy, but focuses on the inner balance of the health-equilibrium. It is achieved by carefully selecting an appropriately suited remedy for an individual patient, considering the various characteristics at the physical, emotional and intellectual sphere.

A professionally trained homeopath knows how to ascertain these qualities and arrive at the most-similar remedy selection by analyzing them.

This makes it a challenging situation to select the most-similar homeopathic remedy for each individual case. Though the clinical diagnosis happens to be same for two patients, the remedy selected might be completely different for both of them. Each case thus raises the interest-quotient and a homeopath needs to be highly alert not to miss any significant characteristic symptom from the narration of the patient.

Though causative factor ranks the highest in remedy selection process, one may come across a case that can demand overlooking the causative modality and prescribe on the characteristic particular symptom. This following case will demonstrate exactly the same.

Case introduction:

Mrs SM, a 44 years old lady, visited Swaroop Clinic for the complaint of severe coccydynia, which involves pain at the tail-bone. She was suffering for almost 8 years with that excruciating pain along the tail-bone. The pain had started after a fall on a hard surface while climbing down a hill. The pain was aching kind and on prolonged sitting in one position, for more than half an hour, she used to get intense burning in the affected region. It had made her difficult to travel long-distance. She couldn’t even sit comfortably in a movie-theatre, where the seats have sufficient cushioning, and thus could not enjoy movies or theatre performances which were her favourite hobbies. She have had taken treatment from few orthopaedic surgeons, who had prescribed her some analgesics, but without any significant relief. One of our patients had referred her to Swaroop clinic for trying homeopathic treatment for the first time.

Remedy selection:

Hypericum was selected considering the causative factor of fall and possible injury to the nerve-endings. Incidently, hypericum is one of the most commonly indicated remedy for coccydynia.

Follow-up:

The patient was prescribed hypericum in different potencies and repetition patterns but there was no relief at all. After exhausting all possible combinations of hypericum, the case was reviewed for the presence of any significant symptom.

Burning pain, which is not usually documented, caught the attention and guided us to the selection of Apis mellifica. It is a remedy prepared with honey-bees and just like the bee-sting; it too represents an inflammatory process.

Apis was selected on the basis of the burning pain that gets aggravated by prolonged sitting. Apis given in medium potency, thrice a day, relieved the pain completely within a month.

Osteoporosis And The Calcium Tablets Conspiracy

Almost 80% of the urban population across the globe has at least heard about osteoporosis till now. A significant number of them have already passed through the 'bone mineral density' test to check the bone-age of their skeleton. Most of the ladies who have crossed their forties have started taking calcium tablets to improve their bone health, after menopause. Don’t you feel doubtful about the entire pattern? Had any of your grandmothers taken any calcium tablet after her menopause? Had your grandmother faced any major bony problems, despite being highly active even at later age? Then what is at fault? You or your doctor who is prescribing you tablets that you buy blindly?

It is a common sense that if you lack in a certain nutrient, you can supply it by two sources – natural food source or artificial tablets that are synthetic. Obviously natural source will be best absorbed by the body and will supply some other essential nutrients as well along with the desired one. For example, if one consumes ‘ragi’ as a source of calcium, one can also get good quality proteins, iron and fibre as bonus package. Instead of taking calcium tablet, if you eat ragi-flour everyday in breakfast, it will not only provide you much better nutrition but will also cost you almost half the price of the monthly supply of those nutrients in tablet form. Plus, you don’t have to spend anything for the breakfast separately. As said earlier, the natural source will get absorbed easily and your body doesn’t have to strain for it.

Second line common-sense is – just think about... after the menopause, do you feel the ladies stop eating calcium containing foods? No! They don’t. Then why to provide it from outside if the food already has calcium. The actual connection of the menopause and the calcium loss then after is related to the impaired absorption due to poor physical exercise or digestion, and lack of vitamin D which is the most essential element for the absorption of calcium from the food that we eat. Has any of the doctors discussed this? And if he has discussed this, has it concluded with prescription of yet another tablet to buy, containing vitamin D?

Vitamin D can be produced by your body when we get exposed to sunlight. If it is available free of charge, why do we have to buy it in a sachet? Spend quality time in sun, of course without applying the sun-screen creams which will block the vitamin D production.

Another factor is lack of exercise. The more we exercise, and with consistency, more will be the need for these building blocks. This need will stimulate and improve the natural absorption.

Thus next time your doctor prescribes something either for calcium or vitamin D, think about the natural sources – from your daily food, cereals or morning walk. The more you go close to nature, the better will be the health. Don’t make your pharmacist and doctor rich un-necessarily. 

Treating Your Child’s Nut Allergy With Homeopathy

Introduction:

There are two types of patients who present with nut-allergies. A majority of those who are allergic to either tree-nuts or peanuts (which are legumes) while remaining show allergic response to both peanuts as well as tree-nuts. 

There are so many varieties of tree-nuts viz. Almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, pistachios, pecans, brazil-nuts, and cashews. A child that is allergic to tree-nuts usually shows sensitivity to all these varieties but the intensity may vary for a particular variety.

You don’t always have to eat the nut to manifest the allergic reaction. Just handling or smelling the nut too can induce a severe allergic response in an individual.

What exactly is a nut-allergy?

Nature has provided us with an innate defence system that fights infections – we call it our immunity. In an allergic individual, this natural immune system reacts in an inappropriate or disproportionate manner to the proteins inside the respective nuts. These proteins are considered as harmful substances and that leads to release of histamine (an allergy chemical) in the blood stream.

What are the symptoms?

Release of histamine can lead to different types of signs and symptoms, with varying intensity.

• Cough with wheezing
• Breathlessness along with tightness in the throat
• Stomach-ache with Nausea and vomiting or Diarrhea
• Itching in eyes with lachrymation (watering of eyes)
• Skin rash - Hives or wheals
• Swelling of the lips
• And the most severe reaction called anaphylaxis

Is there any natural cure?

As for the rest of the allergies (dust, milk, egg, or fragrances), the patient can outgrow them over times. This does not seem to be happening in case of nut-allergies. Usually they tend to stay lifelong in most of the people.

The treatment:

As the famous saying goes, ‘prevention is better than cure’. It is completely true for the nut-allergies. One needs to keep himself away from the nuts. If your child has got a nut-allergy, you must keep a keen watch on the foods he has to ensure that they do not contain even the slightest amount of the allergen. But it becomes practically impossible to avoid it completely. 

A small amount of nuts are present in cookies and chocolates, which are very difficult for the innocent little ones to avoid. Smaller ones can’t understand why they should not eat a chocolate if all their friends can enjoy them in any amounts.

In case ingested, anti-histamine medications can help to reduce the manifestations. Most of the times, patients need to carry these medicines with them to use in case of an unwarranted attack.

Homeopathic approach to nut-allergy:

Let it be almonds or peanuts or cashews, these nuts do not trouble every individual on earth. In fact, most of us relish these nuts for their wonderful taste and nutrient-value. Just imagine a Christmas cake without almonds, won’t it taste incomplete?

The problem is not with the nuts, but with our immune system. It is our defence mechanism that is acting erratically with the substance which otherwise is harmless for the rest of the population. Thus the treatment should be directed towards treating our over-reactive immune system.

Homeopathy does exactly the same. A constitutional treatment approach helps to rebalance our health leading to cure from its root-cause. Homeopathic consultation involves an interview in which the data of physical, mental and emotional symptoms along with medical history is collected. This data is then analyzed and evaluated to understand the essence of the imbalanced state of the individual. This process leads the homeopath to find the specific remedy for the individual. 

Homeopathy works by enhancing the body’s natural ability to heal itself. Action of individual specific homeopathic remedy leads to gentle stimulation and restoration of imbalanced “vital force” to balance.

Each case is analyzed separately for an individualistic remedy selection. There are more than hundred medicines that can be used for the same. It is the skill of a professionally trained homeopath to select the best suitable one for your case.

At Swaroop Clinic, we have cured many cases of food allergies (including nuts) with this approach. Those children can now enjoy all their favourite food items without having to worry about allergic reactions. They don’t have to get a nod from their mother to eat the cookies they like the most.

Treat Alopecia Areata With Homeopathy

Homeopathy is one of the holistic healing technique, which involves treating the individual patient with highly diluted substances, given mainly in pills or tablet form. It aims at triggering our body’s natural system of healing. Due to this unique way of healing, it not only relieves the symptoms but also heals you from the root-cause of the disease.

This article answers few questions about the role of homeopathy in treating alopecia-areata, which affects the hair growth in patches leading to bald areas on scalp or beard.

What is alopecia areata ?

It is a dematological condition in which hair are lost from a specific area of the scalp or beard to form small bald patches. The undelying skin looks unscarred and apparently normal.

These patches are of different shapes but round or oval are the most common ones. In most cases the condition does not progress beyond a few bare patches, but at times it can spread entirely over the scalp leading to Alopecia totalis.

What are the causes ?

It is often considered as an autoimmune disease, where the body's own defence cells attack healthy cells of hair-follicles leading to hair loss.

Genetic link - if you have a close family member with the disease, your risk of developing it increases slightly.

How common is it ?

Alopecia is quite common with at least 3-5 percent of population suffers with it at least once in lifetime. it affects both sexes equally, but is more common in males.

How does it manifest ?

The hair tend to fall out for a short period of time and the patches are mostly seen on one side of the scalp. The hair tend to pull out easily along the edge of the patch where the follicles have already been attacked by the autoimmune process.

It does not form any complications or symptoms (like itching or burning) further, but the cosmetic angle is the most significant distress for the patient.

What is the role of homeopathy ?

Based on their specific symptoms, a homeopath will match the most appropriate medicine to each patient and can prescribe an individualistic medicine suitable for your own ailment.

Medicines such as calc fluor and silica have been the most commonly used ones along with the constitutional assessment.
It may take few weeks or at times a couple of months, but homeopathic treatment definitely cures this ailment from the root-cause. Compared to the side-effects of local corticosteroid injections, Homeopathy offers a safe and effective alternative.

Homoeopathic Treatment for the Benign Positional Vertigo

The most common cause of vertigo is 'benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV)'. If you are suffering with BPPV, you can experience a sudden sensation of spinning inside your head.

BPPV is characterized by brief episodes of mild to intense dizziness. The acute episodes of benign paroxysmal positional vertigo can be triggered by specific changes in the position of your head, such as looking up or down (just like you do while drying washed clothes), and by lying down, turning over or sitting up in bed. If it gets progressed, you may also feel out of balance when standing or walking.

The clinical presentation:

The most common symptoms of BPPV are

• Dizziness
• A sensation that the things around you are spinning or moving (vertigo)
• Feeling of light-headedness
• Unsteadiness leading to loss of balance
• Blurred vision that accompanies the sensation of vertigo
• Nausea and vomiting (just like one experiences during car-sickness)

The triggering factors that bring about the episodes of BPPV can vary from person to person, but are almost always brought on by a change in the position of your head. An attack of BPPV can come and go. The symptoms may last for less than one minute.
What happens inside to cause BPPV?

The inner ear that is directly connected to the brain is one of the most important organs of balance. Inside the inner-ear we have a tiny organ called the vestibular labyrinth. It includes three semicircular canals that contain fluid and fine, hair-like sensors that monitor the rotation of our head. If the semicircular canals become over-sensitive to the changes in the head position, it would normally not respond to, one starts feeling dizzy.

Risk factors

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo can affect you at any age, but it becomes more common as the age advances. At least 40% of the population above 60 years of age can experience BPPV at least once in lifetime.

Tests and Investigations

Since it is primarily a functional disorder, most of the imaging can turn out to be negative. Despite that doctor can ask to go for a Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to rule out other causes of imbalance, mainly organic causes like cerebellar tumors or an acoustic neuroma which is a non-cancerous tumor of the nerve that carries sound and balance information from the inner ear to the brain.

Homeopathic Treatment:

Homeopathy believes in restoring the lost balance within the semicircular canals through its deep-acting medicines. It not only relieves symptomatic affection but also prevents the recurrence of symptoms in future.

The common homeopathic remedies that are used in cases of BPPV are:

Conium:

It helps the vertigo of the aged and that arising from excesses an all over use of tobacco.

Patient gets a sensation when looking steadily at an object as if turning in a circle.

Vertigo on rising up or going down stairs, with great debility and inclination to sleep.

Associated with a numb feeling in the brain as if stupefied, worse turning over in bed.

Ferrum-met:

This remedy suits anaemic vertigo, which is worse when suddenly rising from a sitting or lying position.

It comes on when going down hill or on crossing water, even though the water be smooth.

Has a vertigo worse when looking at running water.

Cocculus:

Has its principal action on the solar plexus, and vertigo which is connected with digestive troubles suites this remedy

Helps the neurasthenic type with occipital headache and lumbo-sacral irritation.

Along with vertigo there is a flushed face and hot head, worse sitting up and riding in a carriage; it is also worse after eating.

This remedy also can help those who have a car-sickness.

Rhus tox:

It helps in all those cases of vertigo, especially in old people, which comes on as soon as the patient rises from a sitting position.

Usually accompanied with heavy limbs is probably caused by senile changes in the brain.

Causticum:

Is suitable to vertigo preceding paralysis.

There is a tendency to fall forward or sideways; there is a great anxiety and weakness in the head.

Vertigo and weakness in the head. It corresponds, therefore to the vertigo of organic brain diseases.

Argentum nitricum:

Vertigo, with debility and trembling, is curable by this remedy when there is much mental confusion and a sense of expansion.

It seems as if houses would fall on him when he is walking through the street.

It also suits vertigo from diseases of the brain and eyes.

Also helps the case of tinnitus.

Although these six remedies are used most commonly in cases of BPPV, individual case may need a totally different remedy. A consultation with a homeopathic physician will always help to solve your individual case. Self-medication is not advised.

What To Eat Or Not To Eat If You Have Gout

Gout is a rheumatic disorder that results from an overload of uric acid within the body leading to formation of urate crystals that get deposited in the body tissues, especially the joint spaces. These crystals trigger a recurring inflammatory response within the joint - making it a chronic and progressive disease.

A patient suffering with gout shows raised levels of uric acid in the blood. Uric acid is a breakdown product of purines that are present in quite a number of food items that we eat. Apart from manifesting as painful arthritis (gout), the abnormality in uric acid metabolism can also lead to formation of kidney stones and blockage of the kidney-filtering tubules, leading to kidney failure. 

May it be gout or asymptomatic hyperuricemia, dietetic modifications to reduce the formation of excessive uric acid is the key to effective management of the case. This article will throw light on the food items that are associated with uric-acid formation in the body.

In some people, though, laboratory investigations reveal raised uric acid levels in the blood (hyperuricemia) but they do not show any manifestations of gout. This state is termed as asymptomatic hyperuricemia. In homeopathic language, we call it a uric-acid diathesis. It represents a pre-disease state, that if not taken care of can lead to disease in no time.

May it be gout or asymptomatic hyperuricemia, dietetic modifications to reduce the formation of excessive uric acid is the key to effective management of the case. This article will throw light on the food items that are associated with uric-acid formation in the body.

Let's start with a good news... although most of the seafood is termed under prohibited section, shrimp, lobster, eel, and crab are considered relatively safe to consume for the patients suffering with gout.

But a bad news for you is Beer should be avoided completely by a patient suffering with gout. Beer not only increases your uric-acid level, but also makes it more difficult for your body to clear urate crystals from your system. Though wine is considered comparatively safe, it is better to abstain from any kind of alcohol by a patient with gout.

Though all kinds of meat is not created equal when it comes to purine content, one must be selective. White meat is generally better than red, but it is okay to eat some types of red meat once in a while.

Sugary drinks - beverages sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup, such as non-diet sodas or “fruit” drinks also come with a label of NO with them. The artificial sweetening agents in the diet-sodas can lead to increase in uric acid concentration.

Among the vegetables - Asparagus, cauliflower, spinach, and mushrooms are higher in purines than other vegetables. But the good news is purines from vegetable source are easier for body to excrete out.

Having said this, there are many types of foods that may help you against gout. Low-fat dairy foods, complex carbohydrates, coffee, and fruits, especially citrus fruits are highly recommended for a gout patient. You should also be sure to get 12 to 16 cups of fluid daily, which does not necessarily have to be only water (although it shouldn’t be beer!)—you can choose non-sweetened juice, tea, and coffee too. Any kind of fluid / food that keeps your blood and urine flowing is good for you.