Arthritis - the homeopathic & herbal approach

Homeopathy and herbal medicine can be simple and very effective therapies for people with arthritis. Well-known UK homeopath, Ian Watson, found homeopathy to be so successful in helping people with musculo-skeletal problems (including arthritis) in his clinic, that he published a book on the subject (Aspects of Homeopathy: Musculo-Skeletal Problems).

There are many types of ‘arthritis’, including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis. There’s also rheumatism, fibromyalgia, polymyalgia, gout, gouty arthritis, Raynaud’s Disease. Then there’s “I have stiff knees”, “I’m aching all over but my Doctor says I’m fine”, “I’m not moving as well as I used to”, “the cold weather’s getting to me”, and so on.

What type do you have? Does it fit into a neat box?

To a homeopath or herbalist, a diagnosis of “arthritis” is just the start, not the end point.

There is no ‘medicine for arthritis’. Rather, the approach we take is to understand the unique physiological makeup of the person who has the arthritis and its characterising symptoms, as it uniquely expresses in that person. Bundled into this is assessing any causal factors: Is it an inherited familial trait? Is it the result of an old sports injury? Has it been triggered by hormonal changes during menopause? Does it happen before rain?

To illustrate the approach, imagine two people that have received a diagnosis of ‘osteoarthritis’. The first person experiences stiffness and pain in the morning upon waking, which gets progressively better throughout the day as he moves the joints and ‘limbers up’. For the second person, his arthritis symptoms worsen the more he moves; he only gets relief when he is still. This is just the start - the homeopath/herbalist then also looks for other unique, guiding symptoms and/or conditions that together define the overall pattern of illness. A medicine is chosen on the basis of this overall pattern.

For example, Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) may be prescribed for someone with rheumatic arthritis, who also experiences menstrual irregularities, faulty digestion and experiences migraines with changes in weather (especially before rain).

The following cases help illustrate how this works in practice

Years ago an old dairy farmer came in with debilitating arthritis in his spine. He was on a waiting list for surgery, scheduled six months down the track, but he was having great difficulty managing his pain during the wait (even with strong pain suppressant medication). His arthritis was the result of multiple old injuries, including a broken back, from earlier in his life. Homeopathic Symphytum, which is often indicated in injuries or trauma to the skeletal system (no matter how old), successfully provided the relief he needed to manage the pain until his surgery.

Another man presented to the clinic with painful osteoarthritis in his big toe joints, which had become progressively worse throughout his fifties. His toe joints had advanced osteophyte formation (bony bumps). He was worried because he had booked an overseas hiking trip with his wife later in the year, and already his movement was becoming restricted; was there anything that could be done? Conventional wisdom would say “not in such a case”; the advanced state of his joint deformation didn't fill me with hope that he’d be trekking ever again. His experienced of ‘osteoarthritis’ was as follows: pain and stiffness, worse in the morning upon waking, alleviated by heat and movement (gradually better as the day went on), much worse in cold weather and especially when it was cold and wet. His diet was good; there were no old injuries, no other major stresses in his life. I prescribed the homeopathic medicine Rhus tox to be taken daily. He came back to see me for follow a couple of months later and I don't know who was more surprised. Not only had his arthritis symptoms (pain & stiffness) considerably improved, but the osteoarthritic growths on his toe joints had reduced by 60%. He continued to take the medicine and comfortably completed his overseas trek later that year. I saw him again a couple of years later as the problem had started to worsen again - because he had stopped taking the medicine as he had felt so much better. Resuming the medicine got him back on track. This is a good example of how chronic conditions need to be worked with over time.

Natural Medicine for Pregnancy and Childbirth

Current statistics indicate that a growing proportion of couples, around one in six, find it difficult to conceive. The reasons for this are complex and varied, but a major factor includes chronic stress and tiredness, from people working harder and longer hours, and other stresses associated with modern living. Nutritional factors also play an important role. To fall pregnant and then sustain the pregnancy, you need to be relaxed!

One client who suffered debilitating anxiety, as she failed to fall pregnant one cycle after the next, was told by her GP “stop trying for three months while we run some tests”. Relieved, she fell pregnant that week.

Physiologically, the hypothalamus in the brain not only plays a role in regulating the endocrine (hormonal) system, it also forms part of our emotional response system. Natural medicine interventions can greatly assist couples to fall pregnant, and then safely support the pregnancy through its stages, from fruition to childbirth.

Areas where natural medicine can assist the fertility/ pregnancy/ childbirth cycle include, but are not limited to:

Infertility (= not yet pregnant ) – addressing causative factors and obstacles, whether:

Physical – for example insomnia, low sperm count, poly-cystic ovarian syndrome or other reproductive issues that interfere with fertility; or

Emotional, Mental – for example stress, anxiety, depression, tension, negative self-beliefs, poor body image.

Miscarriage – especially where there is a pattern of miscarriage and/or a history of miscarriage in the family;

Morning sickness – there a number of safe, effective herbal and homeopathic medicines that can assist when chosen according to the woman’s specific symptoms;

Health maintenance during pregnancy & preparation for labour – there are a number of herbs in particular (e.g. Raspberry Leaf) that can be safely used to enhance the health of the mother and foetus, and optimally prepare both mother and child for labour. Different herbs are indicated at different stages of the pregnancy.

A Story to Share with you

To help illustrate how natural medicine can help I wanted to share a case with you.

A woman who had recently conceived then miscarried fell into an intense, debilitating grief. Those around her did not understand, as it was their perception that it was “just a miscarriage”. To her, it felt like nothing less than the death of a child. She felt she could not conceive again until she resolved her grief, anxiety and depression.

A homeopathic medicine indicated in this particular scenario acted quickly and deeply, to help her to resolve her grief and move on. She fell pregnant within three months without further trouble.

She is now a mother of four young children (and that’s another story …).

Take Care.

Gerry 

Homeopathy in the Cross Hairs

Did the recent news reports about homeopathy catch your attention? Recent headlines have variously described homeopathy as, “A Waste of Your Money”, “Useless for Human Health” and perhaps most discouragingly as “A Total Joke, Doesn’t Work”.

Of all the complementary and alternative medicine modalities, homeopathy is possibly the most polarising. Perhaps it’s because of homeopathy’s unique tenets such as ‘like treats like’ where, for example, homeopathic onion is used to treat the streaming watery eyes of hayfever. And the even more challenging principle that the more you dilute a substance the more ‘potent’ it becomes, to the point that most homeopathic remedies are diluted beyond the point where any of the original substance is left. That’s quite a stretch for those that retain a working knowledge of high school chemistry and a lack of imagination.

What generated the uproar and scathing headlines about homeopathy was the recent NHMRC’s (Australia’s peak medical research body) draft report on homeopathy that found there was a lack of quality evidence to satisfy its panel of experts that homeopathy was effective.

The problem for me with this interim finding is that I personally have had many positive encounters with homeopathic medicine and I’m not alone. There must be hundreds of thousands of Australian’s who, like me, have used homeopathic arnica on their bruises and been astounded at how quickly their body has recovered. It’s impossible to dismiss this and other positive experiences as a highly effective placebo as many good-natured sceptics would like us to do. 

So what to make of the NHMRC’s finding? I would suggest if the current level of evidence is not suitably persuasive then we must be looking in the wrong places for the evidence. The panel of experts did not include anyone with expertise in homeopathy, which indicates to me that not understanding how something works might be part of the problem.

Whilst the drive towards evidence-based medicine is something everyone should celebrate, I would urge caution with interpreting this draft report as conclusive. Whilst clinical trials in pharmaceutical drugs are driven by huge profits in patents the same opportunities don’t exist in homeopathic medicines.  Nevertheless, the report does challenge homeopathic researchers on limited funding to produce the kind of clinical trials the NHMRC will take notice of so that even the hardest headed sceptics have good cause to question their assumptions.