Well, it is that time of year again.  We are getting calls on our Clinic line for help with the flu, colds, ear infections, sinus infections, sore throats and fevers.  So let’s say you give us a call, worried about your aching bones, wondering whether you have a simple 24 hr. bug or something more serious.  What should you do?  Well, the answer to that question is different for everyone, but I’ll tell you what I do for myself and for my patients.

The first thing I do is relax, and take a quick scan of myself and my regimen, which incidently, is the first jurisdiction of Heilkunst Medicine.  Do I need more fluids, what has my nutrition been like lately, did I get caught in a cold wind or draught?  I’ll generally start by taking 3-4 doses of vitamin C and zinc if my throat is sore or I feel congestion coming on.  Sometimes colds will start with a series of sneezes.   If I pay close attention to my body’s signals, I can generally nip it in the bud with basic regimen to augment my already strengthened immune system.  I have saved myself from engendering a more complicated cold or flu with a simple hot bath with epsom salts and an early night on many occasions.  However, if these sustentive measures don’t resolve symptoms, and a fever or vomiting sets in, it may be time to look into medicine.

This is the second jurisdiction of Heilkunst medicine and it is when I hit the books.  One of the first ones I ever picked up to start using homeopathic remedies for the treatment of colds and flues with my own family was Everybody’s Guide to Homeopathic Medicines by Stephen Cummings and Dana Ullman.  It is a great tool and I still use it today.  The other one I recommend is Phyllis Speight’s Homeopathic Remedies for Ears, Nose and Throat.

Using resources such as these, I will begin to narrow down the symptoms.  If it is a fever with intense heat, of the head and face, but the body is cold then I know that the homeopathic remedy is Arnica.  If the heat is intense, and the face and ear are bright red and the fever came on quickly around midnight, the remedy is Belladonna.  If the liver is enlarged with intermittent fever, then it needs Nitric Acid.  Generally, we’ll use a 200 CH or a 1M.

Often we can discern the medicine that is right for us by piecing together, phenomenologically, what has been going on in our lives.  Anthroposophic and Orgonomic therapies are the third jurisdiction.  That big word starting with “A” in the last sentence literally means “the study of man”.  At Arcanum Wholistic Clinic we pride ourselves in being Sherlock Holmes and Watsons when it comes to identifying the cause of symptoms as expressions of a deeper disease process.  It is our ultimate responsibility to source out the etiology or cause for the flu, cold, ear infection, sinus infection, sore throat and even fever.  Sometimes these issues are easily explained given the seasonal predisposition to the genetic miasm afoot.  As an example, Malaria lurks at the beginning of November throwing up symptoms that look very much like the flu accompanied by fever, aches, and delirium are all part of its tale of woe.

On occasion, the cold can be indicative of unexpressed grief, a sinus infection, too, can be telling of unexpressed need for additional support, and a sore throat can be just a front for something needing to be expressed, like a secret or some kind of resentment.  Sometimes even just voicing it to yourself can be enough to tip the scale of consciousness in your favor.  The reason we want to source out the cause is to lower the incidence of re-infection and to allow for the remedies to wholly complete their resolution for cure on your behalf.  Sometimes my stuck little state of mind will block the full resolution of the disease.

For example, a child with a Pulsatilla-like cold will have thick yellow mucus, be whiny and clingy and suffering some dizzyness.  We can provide the correct remedy, a cool room (a patient in a Pulsatilla state will prefer cooler open air) for example, but if that child’s basic needs for affection are not being met on a daily basis, then the chances they will re-infect with the same symptoms or worse, start to develop others.  Also, if the patient has a sore throat, but has not been able to express that she desperately needs to tell her husband that she is no longer happy in the marriage, chances are the symptoms won’t be wholly eradicated until the environment is addressed and more conducive to her health and well-being.

The problem with symptoms is that you can run, but you can’t hide – and for the ultimate success of curative remediation, we need to be accurately hooked into to all three jurisdictions of Heilkunst medicine, as outlined above.  If we try to nail it just with medicine alone, it is a bit like a tricycle trying to operate effectively with only one wheel.  The back end will leave significant tracks in the dust and it will be tough to make it to your destination.  Believe me, I know.  I’ve tried it!

If you are looking for preventative treatment for any of these ills, this is the area we speicialize in – give us a call.  We have every medicine to prevent any flu either created in the past, present or future.  With bioenergetics, there are no limits to what we can effectively treat on the basis of law, like cures like.  Also, let us know if you would like us to come out to your home and teach a class on basic Homeopathic prescribing.  We can also do a tele-class via teleconferencing.  Wendy, Jeff or I will gladly come out if you can gather 7 – 10 people together for a couple of hours and we’ll happily teach a course specifically on seasonal afflictions such as colds and flus.