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Homeopathy For Infections
by author Stephen Malthouse, MD

Using antibiotics for infections has its downside; antibiotics don’t fight viruses, which account for 70 to 80 percent of infections. If a bacterium causes an infection, then killing the bug alone does not address the predisposition that led to the infection in the first place.

This is a common mistake in treating children with ear infections - the inflammation keeps recurring until tubes are inserted in the child’s ear by a surgeon. Similarly, a recurrent sore throat, bronchitis, or abscess will keep reappearing until the patient becomes less hospitable to the bug.

Acute infections, whether they are viral, bacterial, or parasitic, can often be treated with homeopathy alone or in conjunction with an antimicrobial drug. Homeopathy stimulates the patient’s immune system to throw off the infection - the patient becomes too healthy to entertain an infectious guest.

Homeopathy uses natural substances that are repeatedly diluted and shaken; the number of times determines the potency. Potentization unleashes the medicinal qualities of the original substances and makes them far more powerful than their herbal or mineral counterparts.

Echinacea and vitamin C, although modestly beneficial in boosting the immune-system response, are lightweights compared to homeopathy.

Because homeopathy is based on potency, not amounts, special dosages do not need to be worked out for children.

The disease pattern dictates the choice of the correct homeopathic remedy. For example, an infection that feels better with warmth and has stitching pains in an irritable patient would be treated with the remedy Hepar sulph. In contrast, an infection that feels better with cold and throbs with pain in a slightly delirious patient would require the remedy Belladonna. The need to individualize the treatment makes homeopathic prescribing more challenging, but also makes good sense. Even with the same diagnosis (e.g., influenza), people often express different symptom pictures. Homeopathy uses not only the diagnosis, but also the various symptoms to zero in on the needed remedy. Once a potency or strength is chosen (e.g., 30C), the pills are dissolved under the tongue at regular intervals and tapered off with improvement.

A small home kit with a few remedies will cover many cases of infection. Homeopathy enhances conventional treatment by boosting the person’s healing response, and will achieve a better result, faster and more complete, with fewer recurrences. Parents can safely start homeopathic treatment for their children while waiting for the doctor to return their call.

PDF Table of Homeopathic Remedies

Stephen Malthouse, MD, practises homeopathy in Victoria, BC.

Source: alive #257, March 2004