You might be starting to think this particular homeopath has got a ‘thing’ for poop given the “TD” (Traveller’s Diarrhea) newsletter a short time back. You might be right! But I figure if Dr. Oz can do a national TV show on the topic and Dr. Joe Mercola can write his newsletter (complete with a color photo chart no less!) about ‘number 2,’ I can surely share the homeopathic scoop on poop. Plus, at the end of today’s newsletter you will find a handout that is almost 100% guaranteed to make you laugh. (What is it about this bodily function that makes a normally sane person laugh like a four-year-old?!)
In addition to the arrival of Dr. Mercola’s newsletter as inspiration for this newsletter, I did receive a synchronistic email from a very worried parent about an all too common occurrence: a change in diet causing severe constipation, eventually ending in a trip to the hospital. Traumatic enough to not be able to pass stool but then to have hospital intervention…well…it’s awful. Just ask anyone who has difficulty with bowel function and you begin to appreciate a ‘healthy movement.’ That part of this bodily function is definitely NOT funny.
THE SCOOP
With homeopathic remedies, you have vivid descriptions of physical symptoms that start from the very general (I feel warm all the time, I love cool wet weather, I hate broccoli, I love moving fast, I feel better/worse when I…you get the idea) to the mind symptoms that affect our emotions, dreams, and fears (think of drinking too much coffee and how you get a ‘buzz’ of creativity and ideas). From the top of your head to the tip of your toes and with every organ in between, homeopathic remedies each have their own distinct symptom ‘picture.’
When Dr. Hahnemann started his practice of homeopathy, he was able to keep all the remedy pictures in his head. Years of hands-on experience with a limited number of homeopathic remedies gave him the ability to recognize symptom pictures and to know exactly what remedy was needed for his patient at the time of illness. Eventually, though, there were far too many remedies, so other homeopaths began to take the homeopathic remedy pictures (a book of homeopathic remedy pictures is called a materia medica) and write up a ‘short hand’ kind of sentence to describe a symptom. This short sentence is called a rubric, and a collection of rubrics is then put together into a book called a repertory. These efficient organizing homeopaths then divided the remedy symptom pictures into sections of the body from Generals to Mind to Head to Face to Throat, all the way down to the ‘nether’ parts where you find some pretty distinctive descriptions of ‘poop’ under Rectum and Stool.
Once you get a ‘poop’ symptom, you can then look up the rubric under the appropriate heading and see what homeopathic remedies have this particular symptom. All of this information is meant for you to enjoy the handout at the end – intended to be fun and funny but also a memorable way to learn the importance of every symptom in an acute illness!
THE SCOOP ON POOP
As Dr. Mercola points out in his recent article on this very topic, stool can be an important indicator of changes in health.
One of the more common problems parents of small children face is change in stool with change in diet. I recall one baby, after being introduced to solids, developed a terrible case of constipation. Over-the-counter products have only a couple of solutions to offer (i.e. suppositories and stool softeners), and a quick check on the internet will give you some great advice on increasing fluid and fiber intake. But sometimes, kids can end up with some more serious, chronic situations of constipation that can be painful and frightening for them and for you. Before heading to prescription medications, homeopathy can offer some relief.
Here’s how to use your beginning knowledge of homeopathic rubrics with a situation just described in the above paragraph:
In the repertory under Rectum, there is a rubric called ‘Constipation, children, in’ and under that, there are sub-rubrics like ‘bottle fed, artificial food’ or ‘newborn’ or ‘nursing,’ just to give a few examples. Hard to believe that a nursing baby could be constipated, but it does happen. After the rubric, there is a list of remedies that are well-known for these symptoms. If it is obvious that some kind of food is making the situation worse (i.e. your child gets constipated after drinking milk), then you can look that symptom up as well.
Then you see there is another symptom: pain with the constipation. So again, you look that symptom up in your repertory. And then you discover that your child is behaving as if they have constipation, but when you look in the diaper or toilet, you see a soft stool. You would have sworn from the crying and complaining that you would have found something larger or harder as the culprit of so much pain. There is a rubric for just that symptom.
Then you have a look in the diaper or toilet and notice colour, size, odor (OK…a little graphic but really important) since every homeopathic remedy has a particular symptom picture that will cover every kind of ‘poop’ you could possibly imagine.
Once you combine the constipation symptom picture rubrics, you will likely see a homeopathic remedy emerge that has a similar symptom picture. When these symptoms, taken together as a whole, ‘fit’ your child’s symptoms, you will have a remedy that will likely help. If the remedy you choose does not seem to help, then call your homeopath and give them ALL the details! They will thank you…really! The more specific you can get, the better.
RESOURCES
Today’s remedy suggestions.
One of the best websites that many parents find helpful for looking up symptoms is ABC Homeopathy.
If you are ready to look up symptoms in a repertory, I would recommend Dr. Luc de Schepper’s The People’s Repertory – Your Guide to Safe, Effective Homeopathic Remedies.
You might also want to read over this week’s handout, with my thanks to Patty Smith (I just learned today that she recently passed away). Patty must have had a wonderful, witty sense of humor to write such a delightful article on homeopathy and poop using rubric language and real-life situations. Thank you, Patty.
Gentle Reminder:
This Thursday, February 21, 2013, is the last day to get the Early Bird discount for the 12-week Vaccine Free: Now What? teleseminar. Hope you can join us!
