​Even if it doesn’t, any time is a good time to begin work on strengthening your core health and basic immune response. Understanding how it all hangs together, what pulls it apart, and what part your own family inheritance and medical history play in it can pay dividends. Along with that, using individualised homeopathic remedies to tackle chronic ailments and any viral illnesses sooner rather than later will mean facing winters with much greater health confidence.

Contact me to begin investing properly in your present and future health.  

The current 'no-cut' policy of local authorities in relation to grass verges and banks, shrubs and open grass areas has positively increased the incidence and severity of hay fever. As grasses, weeds and shrubs are left to complete their growth and come to flower there is a huge rise in pollen volumes around us. And if you add a prolonged sunny spell, with no rain to clear the air, it becomes a daily grind with discomfort. 

It really doesn't have to be that way though. Homeopathy has been successfully weeding out this physical pest for a couple of hundred years now. If you treat with appropriate epigenetic remedies during the dormant season, before the first pollenators get going, you're already calming the physical over-sensitivity to the  environmental factors that is the cornerstone of hay fever reactivity.

Followed up with symptom-specific remedies in the active hay fever season, you can genuinely keep the condition at bay in the first couple of years of prescribing without the use of anti-histamines, pollen blocks, and the need for shares in Kleenex. And you'll then find yourself becoming less and less prone to symptoms in subsequent years.

If you're interested in taking charge of your symptoms and ultimately getting rid of them, contact me to be included in my hay fever patient group.

Some past patients' testimonials:

"I've been meaning to write to you for weeks. My lack of hay fever this year has been awesome, thanks to you I simply have no or v little symptoms. I have taken the top-up (remedy name removed) twice and that has worked; I am cycling loads and feel sooo much better, less tired and blocked up. Thank you so much." Mr MH, Rousdon

"Really good result - I can go for a long walk with the dog wherever I like now without feeling under siege from things like rape seed, timothy grass and the other culprits." Mrs JH, Woodbury

"It's amazing - it worked so well. My hay fever is at its worst in autumn, particularly clearing up in the garden, but that's completely sorted now. Thank you. "Mrs SH, Budleigh Salterton

​When a homeopath has a full, nuanced picture of what's amiss with an individual patient then the probability of finding the best remedy match for him or her is very high. That way we can leave behind the rudimentary prescribing of one-size-fits-all drugs, and effect much better long-term cure and alleviation.

With that in mind, I'd like you to know how to get the best result for the money invested in homeopathic consultation and treatment. Whilst I may be experienced in remedy prescription, you are the expert on you, and we need to forge a fruitful link between these two fields of knowledge. Understanding which details a homeopath most needs to know about your symptoms and states helps this hugely.

Aside from relating to the person in front of me as a whole human, as a homeopath I structure my remedy choices around five basic points. These are Sensation, Location, Extension, Modalities, and Concomitants.

Sensation is about exactly what you feel bodily, or experience mentally or emotionally, and all the details and nuances of such sensations or emotion.

“It hurts”, “It’s painful” or “I feel stressed/ anxious” gives me very little to work with; but (e.g.) “It’s a pulsing/ aching/ burning/ stabbing kind of pain”, or (e.g.) “I’m anxious about (e.g.) criticism/ rejection/ failure… etc” is much, much more useful.

Location is about exactly where, inside or outside the body, you are experiencing symptoms.  E.g. 'My knee' needs to be differentiated left or right, front or back, above or below, inside edge or outside edge, internal or external.  

Extension: does the sensation/ symptom you experience travel to anywhere else? E.g. up, down, along, across, inward, outward, toward  you/ into your...

Modalities are the lynch pins of remedy choice. A modality is something that makes an ill person or a particular symptom better or worse; or it’s a circumstance that causes an increase or decrease of a symptom.

Bodily we could be talking about (e.g.) sleep or lack of it, better or worse on waking up in the morning, particular times of day or night, temperature, fresh air or lack of it, humidity or dryness, forms of weather, seasons of the year, phases of the moon, the effects of food and drink, how we dress, how we move and hold ourselves, sounds, smells, tastes, textures, light and colour, pressure or lack of it – anything and everything that can affect a human body.

Likewise for a personality, the effects (e.g.) of being alone, being accompanied, being observed, having to speak or present in front of others, travel, travelling a different route, doing tests or exams, meeting deadlines, new things or places, being made responsible, not being allowed to be responsible, experiencing conflict, disappointment, loss, gain etc etc.

Concomitants are states, circumstances, or things that happen along with or because of the chief complaint or illness. E.g. nausea, 'butterflies', or diarrhoea or constipation, or feeling shaky or numb when anxious; loss of voice, appetite, or sleep with strong emotions; irritation, humiliation or particular anxieties with illness; muscle weakness with a non-muscular condition;  heat and perspiration, or chills and perspiration with headache, menstruation etc etc. 

So have a ponder along those lines the next time you're looking for homeopathic assistance. It will all be for the best outcome.

Despite the apparent newness of 'Long Covid' in the world, pretty much every alternative healthcare practitioner - homeopath, acupuncturist, herbalist, nutritionist, etc etc etc - recognises the symptoms reported as typical of 'post-viral syndrome', with aspects of ME or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome thrown in - and will already have come up against each of these in their practice.

​The thing is, there are only so many things that the human body can do by way of symptoms in post-viral syndromes, and historically it's the alternative healthcare practices that have the greatest success and best protocols and tools to use in alleviating them. Rest is very important in convalescence, but so is appropriate medicine.

Long Covid seems to be presenting as a more complex or deeply entrenched state of post-viral syndrome, and that complexity is best met with a holistic approach. As a practitioner of homeopathy I'm most concerned with achieving the best outcome for every patient, and if that includes referring on to a different discipline that I believe will have something useful to offer in any individual case, I will do this. However, I know from my experience in practise and that of other practitioners that homeopathy has a great deal to offer individuals laid low by post-viral states.

A return to your best health is worth experimenting on and fighting for, and homeopathic medicine can be one of the strongest allies in regaining this. If you're interested in taking a positive step toward better post-viral health then contact me soon to introduce your case, or that of someone you care for or care about. There is no fee for a short conversation, and no obligation to take treatment. 

How’s your weather?

Does it tend to feel blue, black or grey inside your head and emotional heart?
Are stress, anxiety or depression the wallpapers of your daily life? 
Do you experience your physical health suffering if your mental health is not good?
Do the effects of past events still derail you from time to time?
Or do you simply feel out of kilter with yourself and the world, some or all of the time?
 
It doesn’t have to be like that.
 
A core part of my years in homeopathic practice has been spent in holding a safe, non-judgemental and compassionate space to help individuals free themselves from the drag factor of any or all of the above. I have been very happy (and at times astonished!) to see just how well homeopathic medicine can help people who are ready to heal to become whole again.
 
Homeopathy is a fundamentally natural resource that has always worked through our ‘psycho-neuro-endo-immunological effects’. This is the inseparable mix of thoughts, feelings, nerve impulses, hormones and gut activity that is the driver of a person’s health and wellbeing - it’s science, you can google it. Homeopathic medicine is subtle and dynamic enough to reach deeply but gently into a person and trigger the ‘re-wiring’ needed in mental and emotional states to start the return to a better experience of being, and a better relationship with the self.
 
Sometimes its effects can seem quite dramatic –

“Almost overnight I began to feel more confident in social situations, happier in general, and much, much cooler. I continued to take the recommended dosages, the positive effects continued, and have remained up to the present day. I'm not saying I never blush or get hot anymore (it would be a bit odd as a human if I didn't), but it is certainly a lot more controlled and I feel a lot happier in myself.” (1)

Other times, it can take a little more work over a little more time –
 
“.. I began a recovery journey towards a healthy self - one which had lain buried under years of fatigue, sadness, depression, addiction, shame and general self-neglect.” (2)
 
Whichever way it falls for you, homeopathy really can help in shaking off the black dog, calming the tremors in psyche and soul, clarifying and strengthening the core self. The place where it feels okay to open your eyes in the morning and face the world with calm, confidence, and a truer sense of self may be closer than you think.
 
“I am feeling better, definitely better. The consultation was good, really useful; but it really wasn’t until about three days after taking the [remedy name removed] that I woke up and realised that I felt different. Calmer. Seeing things much more clearly. Not reaching for my inhaler the second I opened my eyes. My situation still isn’t easy – really not easy! - but I feel better. I can cope. And it’s going to change; I’ve got the backbone to do it now.” (3)
 
If you would like some natural, gentle but dynamic help with states of stress, depression, anxiety, or the after-effects of trauma, for yourself or someone else that you care about, book an appointment today.
 
 
[1] Mr WN-S, age 26, presenting with social anxiety accompanied by extreme flushing/blushing. Now a happily married father of two.
 
[2] Ms JS, age 48, presenting with anxiety/depression, cystic ovaries and fibrocystic breast disease. Now free of her physical ailments, not dominated by anxiety, depression and low-self-esteem, and able to work consistently in her own business.
 
[3] Mrs YM, age 46, presenting with asthma and anxiety. Now living her best life, free of the relationship that had impacted badly on her for years, progressing in a job she loves, dealing well with pressures and stresses in her life, and barely touching her asthma inhaler.

Help for headache & migraine sufferers

Headaches and migraines are, at the best, pants - a real drag, a total downer. And at the worst they are private head and body sized hells. But it doesn’t have to be that way - it really doesn’t. Whether it’s a tension, migraine, menstrual or cluster headache, or pain related to trigeminal neuralgia, homeopathy will almost certainly have a drug-free way of dealing with it.

On my bucket list since gaining my licence to practice homeopathy, I have had the ambition to cure chronic headaches or migraines in as many other people as I can.

This was prompted by my own decades of migraines being stopped, once and for all, by the similimum (best matching remedy) for my case. I wasn’t just free of pain and nausea after taking it, I felt absolutely well. And since then I genuinely have not had any of the three day long periods of nausea, vomiting, extreme pain and visual disturbances that regularly derailed my working and family life.

An instance of helping another person in this way occurred last autumn. A thirty-nine year old man presented, suffering with severe and prolonged stress headaches, occurring several times a week for the previous four years. He was cleared of his ailing with a mere two doses of the simillimum for his case. He’s been happy as the proverbial sand boy since, coping perfectly in his demanding job and in his personal and family life: symptoms sorted, job done. The painkillers are now languishing in the medicine cabinet at home instead of riding around the world with him being "snacked on like peanuts" throughout the working day. I’m sure his liver and kidneys are also much happier.

If you’re content with palliating your headaches or migraines with painkillers and anti-emetics, even anti-epilepsy medication in some cases, then please do carry on keeping yourself as comfortable as you can.

But if you have the desire to actually undo this knot, this tripwire in your state of health and well-being, then I cannot recommend strongly enough a full consultation with an experienced, registered homeopath.  You can book an appointment today.

If you have IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), or are living with symptoms that you think might come under this definition, then you’ll know exactly how much this condition creates discomfort, stress and even embarrassment in your life, as well as undermining your personal sense of confidence, dignity and security. But it can be sorted out, and it's something that I regularly do in my homeopathic practice, and with great pleasure, as the results can be quite transformative for the individual.

What’s not considered much in orthodox diagnosis or treatment is the individuality of each case: IBS actually has many potential different causes so, homeopathically speaking, it has many potential different cures. Your IBS might have stress and tension as its only trigger; but it could also be the case that your suffering stems from problems of malabsorption ('leaky gut syndrome'); or damage from anti-biotic overuse; or the aftermath of gastroenteritis; or food or substance poisoning; or parasitosis; or candidiasis - and on. A homeopathic consultation works to identify the different ‘layers’ making up your condition, as well as identifying your dominant constitution, and will prescribe appropriately for each aspect.

If you have some idea of the triggers for your own symptoms, or know that it’s a case of ‘never been well since’ that has contributed to the difficult and uncertain state of your stomach and gut, try homeopathic treatment with me to actually sort out the condition rather than simply alleviate it. And if you have no real idea about where it started and what drives it, then homeopathic and naturopathic remedies can still be aimed at your specific symptoms, be they reflux, stomach pain, digestive discomfort, bloating, wind, colic, diarrhoea or constipation.

So if you’d like to actually sort out this condition rather than merely managing it, email or message me to book a FREE fifteen minute chat to introduce your case and find out how homeopathy could help you.

Cases from my files:

Mr BP, age 87:
This gentleman had suffered IBS symptoms for over thirty-five years, after several bouts of food poisoning occurring in rapid succession in a single year had made him extremely ill. He never fully recovered, and conventional medicines never settled his indigestion and abdominal symptoms, which in old age included constant slight faecal incontinence. After one week on the best indicated remedy for his history and symptoms, his gut came good, and remained that way: “It’s the best state my poor old tum’s been in for years.”

Mr ML, age 42:
This chap had enjoyed travelling extensively throughout India and south-east Asia in his twenties and thirties, and had accepted regular bouts of ‘Delhi belly’ as part and parcel of the experience. When it came time for him to settle down to life in the UK, however, his gut simply didn’t settle along with him. Persistent bouts of diarrhoea for over a decade had left him very thin and “feeling seedy all the time”. Six weeks after beginning treatment with me he emailed to say that his gut was now “regular rather than riotous”, he was feeling well, sleeping better than he had done in years, and beginning to put on some much needed weight.

Mrs DB, age 69:
Acting on a friend's suggestion, she contacted me for help with lifelong digestive problems. These would regularly have her up in the wee small hours trying to ease the pain in her abdomen, and “actually frightened to go to the loo sometimes” because of chronic bouts of severe constipation, despite having been vegetarian for many years: “Diarrhoea seems like a treat in comparison.” Very shortly after homeopathic treatment began the abdominal pains disappeared, allowing her to sleep through the night, and her gut was functioning regularly and easily for the first time in over twenty years: “…having a poo is my favourite thing to do now! My husband thinks I’m mad, going off to the loo with a happy smile on my face … but it’s so much better. Soooo much better than before. I’m no longer afraid.”
 
Mrs SS, age 63:
This very caring and hard-working woman presented with four and a half years’ of chronic, unpredictable, painful and explosive diarrhoea. A combination of traumatic stress, work stress, and several prolonged courses of antibiotics for chest and urinary tract ailments in the two years preceding the start of her IBS had created ‘a perfect storm’ in her gut. Two rounds of homeopathic remedies and appropriate probiotics saw her ditching the incontinence pants, travelling around in the course of her working day without fear of having to suddenly stop to relieve herself “anywhere and everywhere”, and undertaking a long (and long needed) cruise holiday with her husband. “He can’t believe the change in me – I’m a new woman!”

Grumpy
               Sweaty
                            Weepy
                                        Weary
                                                   Achey
                                                              Leaky
                                                                        and HOT ...

… I’m only half joking.

But seriously my dears, ‘The Change of Life’ doesn’t have to be a grim tale about a wicked witch of a hormonal system with HRT as the only real help around: there are good fairies and other allies in the form of complementary and alternative health care practitioners like myself, a homeopath who’s been through it herself, and who can help you along the way.

Menopause issues almost always need a layered approach, because those ruddy hormones, combined with the effects of our life and previous body history, can affect us on every level in a variety of ways. So each woman has different menopause care needs at different stages of this natural transition. But you can get through the forest safely and come out happily on the other side.

If you’d like some help in getting through your menopause as naturally as we know how, and with a little more grace and style than can be the case, email or message me to book a FREE fifteen minute chat to introduce your case and find out how homeopathy could help you.

Cases from my files:*

Mrs SG - desperate hot flushes were keeping her awake all night, with a horrible knock on effect on life and work during the day - “It feels like I’m losing my mind!”  In her particular case a mix of Oophorinum*, Sepia* and sage as a herbal supplement let her function well again, enabling her to get through a part-time professional training course, as well as working in her financially responsible day job.

Mrs SR – This woman experienced daytime hot flushes so bad she had to stop driving and get out of her car - “Sweat just pours off of me! I have to take a change of clothes with me wherever I go!” This was accompanied by real states of rage – “I think I could murder someone in that state, I really do.”  Tuberculinum*, Lachesis* and Nux vomica* brought her back to normalcy.

Mrs SM-J – Menopause began with months of heavy, increasingly constant flooding which was brought to heel with the remedy Folliculinum*, after Trillium* and Sabina* hadn’t quite done the trick.

Mrs SC – A late menopause brought this very caring woman terrible mood swings, of which she felt deeply ashamed: “My daughter said ‘You get so angry mum, you can be really scary at times’.” On top of this she suffered with a maddeningly itchy rash of tiny blisters around the soles and insteps of her feet (pompholyx). “I have to go out to the car for privacy to scratch them as hard as I need, sometimes till they bleed.”
Anacardium* was the right remedy for her mental and emotional picture; it partially helped her skin symptoms, but Rhus tox* finished the job. At her last appointment she met me with a big grin on her face and said “I don’t need to see you anymore.”

Happy patient = happy homeopath.

*NB – each of the remedies named above were chosen as specifics for the whole set of symptoms and sensations that each of these individuals presented. They should not be taken as general recommendations for use with similar symptoms.

These are all names for the most basic form of homeopathic treatment, and these remedies can be a wonderfully effective (and very cost-effective) self-help tool. Many of my elderly patients have known about and used these remedies from childhood, when “Mother would always give us a few doses when we went down with something.” Did they work? is always my question, and “Oh yes: I wouldn’t still be using them if they didn’t” the usual sort of answer.  

Like these ‘wise old birds’, I’ve learned over the course of my life that quite a bit of what gets taken to our hard-pressed GPs can be dealt with perfectly well through the use of complementary and alternative health care. The individual needs to find out through experience what’s most useful to use, and also to gain a sensible idea of what to bring to homeopathic or standard medical attention. 

Where a relatively minor ailment or condition is occurring in a relatively uncomplicated way, it is well worth trying the appropriate single tissue salt or combination before seeing a homeopath or doctor. If the tissue salt makes a difference, but doesn’t complete the cure, then seek out homeopathic advice and a further, more individualised prescription, unless you would then prefer to consult with your GP. As far as is known, tissue salts don’t work against or interfere with any other medication, or homeopathic remedies taken in potency. 

The Tissue Salts
There are twelve individual tissue salts, created from the minerals identified by biochemists as the inorganic material needed by our bodies to function properly at a cellular level. Developed by the 19th century doctor and homeopath W. H. Schuessler, these remedies are effectively a refined system of mineral supplementation for the cells of our bodies. They are referred to as tissue salts, cell salts, mineral salts or Schuessler salts. Their homeopathic potency is usually 6x, the ‘x’ denoting the fact that the dose is a ‘material’ one, i.e. contains particles of the actual substance itself. 

 As well as being available individually, tissue salts are also available in combinations aimed at particular conditions, with a letter of the alphabet assigned to each combination. Single salts and combinations are available to anyone over the counter of health and wholefood shops, as well as from homeopathic practitioners and pharmacies such as Helios, Ainsworth and Galen, and from many other online sources.   

Self-prescribing
As with any other kind of self-prescribing, the individual needs to understand the limits of what they are using and the necessity of seeking professional help if particular symptoms don’t clear up or get worse. The individual should also be aware of so-called ‘Red Flag’ symptoms – the signs that something serious may be developing or have occurred. This is not mentioned in order to scare, but to inform you: taking responsibility for your own health does not mean abandoning good sense or standard medical care.

When to consult a homeopath
Not surprisingly, long entrenched or mixed states of ailing – ‘symptom complexes’ - need some professional knowledge and judgement applied to them, as well as a different class of remedy. This is particularly so where the individual is finding that standard medication, or the use of multiple prescriptions and/or supplements, isn’t actually sorting out their ill-health or managing a chronic condition as well as might be hoped for.  

Again, standard medical care should not be abandoned willy-nilly; but the individual has a right to the pursuit of better health and well-being, which can include the choice of complementary or alternative medicine. You should be able to use a health practitioner such as a homeopath to work in conjunction with your GP or consultant. I will stick my neck out at this point and say that it is generally the sign of a better educated, experienced and more enlightened doctor if he or she is open to patients being fully informed about their own condition and wanting to take responsibility for it, and accepting that the form of medicine in which they are qualified may not have all the answers. (It was this kind of NHS GP who recommended using homeopathic medicine to restore the health of my second child after she became semi-permanently ill in the wake of her first set of vaccinations.) 

To sum up
‘Suck it and see’ is my motto: tissue salts cost very little compared with many other forms of medication; they are easy to take; and can be taken by anyone at any age or stage, including pregnant women and infants. They represent only one small part of homeopathic medicine's capabilities, but they are very much worth a try for the uninitiated; and worth getting to know better for those with some experience of their benefits.