Homeopathy for children

Being responsible for your child’s health can be daunting at time.  You know that your local GP will help with major illnesses, but you don’t want to disturb him too much with minor ailments.  You might also prefer to use gentle remedies whilst a GP will often prescribe antibiotics, steroids or other remedies which are not without side-effects.

This could be the time when you decide to go to your local health food shop to look for some alternative.

When can you use homeopathic remedies?

In the case of children: asthma, eczema, allergies, hyperactivity, chronic infections or chronic digestive disorders can greatly benefit from homeopathic treatment from a qualified homeopath. 

However, as long as the symptoms to treat are not alarming, cough, cold, flu, earache, fever, diarrhoea, chicken pox and much more can be helped by homeopathic remedies without the need to call in the professionals.

How does it work?

Prescribing Homeopathy remedies is not based on a diagnosis, but on the symptoms experienced during the course of a disease. 

Some examples of symptoms are:

• sore throat, tummy ache, vomiting, fever, cough or a combination of these

• pain, what kind of pain, where, what makes it better or worse e.g. a hot water bottle pressed on a painful ear can make it better, a cough can get better in the fresh air or can be worse at night...

• thirst for hot or cold drink, changing appetite

• the emotions associated with an ailment, e.g. clinginess in a normally independent child…

This list is far from exhaustive but gives you an idea of what to look for when selecting a remedy.

Let’s take a case of earache to illustrate this:

• Aconite 30c should be administered if the pain started suddenly, after exposure to dry cold winds, and/or if the pain is worse at night. 

• Belladonna 30cwill be the remedy to use if the right ear is more affected, if there is throbbing pain with fever and/or the whole face is red. 

• Chamomilla 30c will be the remedy if your child has become irritable with the pain, and/or the pain is made worse by local heat. 

• Pulsatilla 30c will be the remedy if the pain started from getting wet, is better in open air and/or your child is weepy, clingy and requires constant attention.

You can easily find booklets on Homeopathy which will give for each complaint a list of suitable remedies according to the presenting symptoms. You can also attend a self prescribing course to help you gain confidence.