Picnic Perils

It was one of those crisp late-summer mornings, when no matter how deep in the city you live, the air is still somehow fresh. We packed up the family and headed to the park with picnic, lawn games, and blankets in hand. At the last minute, I remembered the homeopathic first aid kit.

Just as I had expected, we needed homeopathic remedies during our picnic. While we were playing on the grass, four-year-old Sandra fell and severely bumped her knee. We were sure she would have major bruising, but quite miraculously she didn’t, thanks to repeated doses of Arnica 30C and Bryonia 15C.

Later, despite sunscreen, my eight-year-old son, Peter, complained of soreness–his skin had started to appear red. We dosed him with Urtica urens 9C, a homeopathic remedy made from stinging nettle, taken internally for a sunburn that does not blister, but feels hot, and burns and itches.

Then, while my wife, Darryl, and I packed the car to go home, my middle child, six-year-old Kate, played quietly by a tree. Her question didn’t resonate with me until it was too late. “Mommy, what are these little holes in the ground? Wasps are crawling in and out of them.” We then heard an alarming screech. Without even running over to her, I knew Kate had been stung.

“Darryl, get out the first aid kit again!” I yelled. “Grab the Apis 6C! Give Kate three little pellets in her mouth right away.” Within minutes of doing so and after some drowning tears and a lesson not soon forgotten, Kate was back to her playful self. We gave her Apis 6C every 15 minutes until the pain and swelling went down. Apis is a safe, hyperdilute form of homeopathic bee venom—the same venom of the bee that just stung.

Just as with vaccines and radiation therapy for cancer, in which a controlled dose may help slow cancer, whereas too much radiation causes it, homeopathy is based on the theory that like cures like. Homeopathy is a time-tested system that honours the body’s ability to heal itself with a small push from nature. In this case, Kate was given homeopathic bee venom to help her immune system deal with the inflammation caused by wasp venom, a similar reacting agent to bee venom.

During one simple picnic, we needed four homeopathic remedies. With kids along, it’s a good thing we packed the first-aid kit in our picnic basket.

Picnic Remedies

Carry these homeopathic remedies with you on picnics and other outings:

• Apis 6C
• Arnica 30C
• Bryonia 15C
• Urtica urens 9C
• epinephrine autoinjector such as EpiPen® if you know your child has a bee or wasp allergy