NZ Homeopathic Coach

Measles is an infectious disease caused by the paramyxovirus. It is contagious so keeping your child/adult away from school or work  lessens the risk of spreading the virus. The symptoms can resemble the common cold or influenza until the rash becomes apparent at about 10 days.

Measles Symptoms :

• HEADACHE
• FEVER
• RUNNY NOSE
• SORE WATERY PUFFY EYES
• SENSITIVITY TO LIGHT
• COUGH
• SORE  THROAT

The Rash appears around the 4th or 5th day.     The Measles Rash is raised red small spots that are very close together when veiwed closely and appear blotchy at a distance.

WHAT CAN I DO.

• Keep patient in bed and comfortable .In a darkened room (especially if sensitive to light) .
• Eyes can be bathed  using cool boiled water to soothe always use a clean cotton swab for each eye and discard after use bathe from centre of eye outward.
• Make sure you give the patient plenty of fluids. Again be mindful if there is a temperature as there is a risk of dehydration. Small sips of fluid, often ice blocks appeal to children...

COMPLICATIONS .

• Otitis media (infection of middle ear) .
• Pneumonia.
• Encephalitis..can cause brain damage.

Any of these require a rapid medical response.

As with anything - commonsense wins the day so if  in  doubt  contact your GP or Accident and Emergency Dept.

REMEDIES...

• ACONITE.. Catarrh and high fever. Sore red eyes worse from light.Eyes and nose streaming.Dry barking cough. Itching,burning skin.Rash rough and Miliary. Mind: Frightened,Anxious,Restless Tossing. Worse: heat,light Better: open air,cold drinks,sitting up,Company.
• APIS Rash supressed or not fully expressed. Rash goes in and brain symptoms appear.Stupor with stinging pains. Crying.Cerebral Brain Crying. (cerebral crying is high pitched constant ).Urine scanty.Thirstless.Worse from heat,hot room ,hot fire, after sleep, Pressure,Touch.Better cool air. F/N if cerebral crying is one of the symptoms presenting give patient Apis and seek urgent medical attention
• BELLADONNA Rash bright red skin hot and dry radiating heat.Pupils dilated.Sore throat tonsils inflamed bright red.Sudden violent onset of symptoms Face red hot radiating heat. Thirstless,but craves lemons or lemonade.Worse motion,light, noise 11am-3pm.Better standing or sitting upright, pressure.
• BRYONIA Rash slow to appear or appears then disappears.Patient drowsy,pale, twitching face, chewing motion.Hard dry cough with tearing pain.Any movement causes patient to cry out with pain,mild delirium, wants to go home when at home.Instead of Rash -bronchitis or pneumonia, with Bryonia symtoms.Worse,slightest motion,light touch, night(9pm)deep inspiration.Better,rest firm pressure,lying on painful side, sweat
• EUPHRASIA when measle symptoms settle in eyes.Good remedy for the first stage of measles if other symptoms agree.  Streaming burning tears that excoriate skin around the eye,intense sensitivity and pain from light sunlight and artifical light.Streaming bland discharge from nose. Cough worse during the day.Chilly and cold.Sweat mostly on chest,at night during sleep.Worse evening,indoors,warmth, LIGHT.Better DARK ROOM.
• GELSEMIUM Chills alternating heat ,Chills up and down back,heat and sweat stages,long and exhausting,wants to be held as shakes so much during chills.Violent bursting headache,heaviness of eyelids , eyes appear half closed, muscular soreness-neck and shoulders.General sensation of Heaviness.Mind confused dazed dull.no thirst.Aids in bringing out Rash.Worse attempting to think,thinking of ailments,emotions,damp weather.Better profuse urination,continued motion,bending forward.Desires to be quiet to be left alone.
• HELLEBOROUS NIGER Sinking sensation ,sensorial life is suspended,paitent lies in profound stupor.muscular weakness limbs heavy and painful. Cold sweat>lips dry and cracked. Stupefying headache, rolls head, sensation of water swashing around in headMind slow in answering,staring,involuntary sighing. Worse 4-8pm,evening till morning, uncovering.
• PULSATILLA Sensitive,weepy, desires attention and sympathy.Changeable mental and physical symptoms.Chilliness even in a warm room, burning heat at night,heat felt in parts of body,coldness in other parts.Nose yellow mucus,mucus stopped up in evening abundant in morning. Desires open air.Worse Twilight,evenings,fatty food rich food,after eating,WARM ROOM,Heat.Better OPEN AIR, motion, cool applications.
• SULPHUR Purplish appearance of measles when skin is dusky,rash does not come out. Burning heat,uncovers feet in bed.Aversion to bathing.Thirsty would rather drink than eat. Redness of lips,skin burning with itching.Worse @11am, nighttime,warmth of bed, bathing,standing,stimulants.Better dry warm weather,lying on rightside.(Sulphur often follows Aconite in acute cases)  .

Here are a few Remedies that are well known for the treatment of measles. It is a good idea  if using Homeopathy to have a Homeopath that treats you and your family.

Hi

Im Shona.  I  will be joining Lynne as a Homeopath and Coach at homeopathonline.net. I have 30 years experience with homeopathy as I used it as my first call for acute illness and injury whilst raising a large family, the results were very satisfying, and subsequently I decided to become a Homeopath and have been in practice for 11 years.

As a mother of 9 children I have been well aquainted with the usual raft of childhood illnesses, mumps,measles, chickenpox,croup asthma ear infections,colds and influenza in its myriad forms not to mention the bumps and scrapes and broken bones and concussions that come with such a large family.These were all treated homeopathically were possible,as a result my children have had very little in the way of allopathic Intervention.

Those early years were a good training ground for me as an acute prescriber and stand me in good stead as a Homeopath.My interest is in Family health, and what constitutes Good Health and Well Being in the individual.

The practice of homeopathy is always about finding the right remedy for your client, this normally entails an in depth consultation where the client tells his or her story in there own words and at the end or during the Homeopath asks a few questions, the information is then used to make an analysis and the remedy is selected.

I have been a Practioner for approx 27 years now and it is  easy to forget that it is still a new experience for some people!

I was having a discussion with a new client who has a child that has come down with the "flu"

She said that she felt a bit lost when it came to describing the symptoms that I might need to decide on a remedy.  We went through  a few of the following suggestions as guidelines

Use all your senses:

• What is the colour of the skin/lips/tongue
• Expression  - anxious/confused/frightened
• Position+mood -  quiet still lethargic restless irritable
• Voice + breathing   -  raspy quiet fast shallow deep slow
• Pain - with younger children this can be a bit of a challange  but pointing to the spot can give an indication. We have also become used to NOT describing our pain. Any description can give information some of the basic  are  -sharp, burning, squeezing
• Air - this can vary greatly some want to be covered and warm some moving   fresh air
• Perspiration - is it heavy,where on the body,does it have an odour and if so try to describe it.
• What make things better or worse. This is very important to the selection of the remedy and it is often surprising what the individual will give you (go away,leave me alone. Please  dont leave me. The light hurts my eyes. I am thirst/not thirsty)

An interesting excersie is to simply go through and think of as many descriptive words as possibly for the above. These are the words that will help individualise the remedy. Everyone can have the same strain of flu but we often find that people  have different symptoms and it is that which we prescribe on.

Well still raining and constant grey skies, with water dripping everywhere we could develop a muddy vision of the world :)

But on the upside it is not very cold!

For alot of winter ailments that develop in this type of weather a great remedy is GELSEMIUM. ( yellow jasmine)

GELSEMIUM is a vine that drapes itself over any structure that will give it support  - trees,bushes, fences etc. This is reflected in the symptoms that we see.

The limbs feel heavyand there is hardly the energy to hold them up or move them.Eyelids droop and it is almost is  impossible to keep thim open. Hot and cold chills run over the body and the face is a dusky pink with a besotted or confused expression.

The central nervous system has borne the brunt of the infecting organism and the mental faculties  show this weakness in confusion and stupor.The lethargy affects them on every level.

Often they are not thirsty.

We are all aware of how important it is to maintain fluid levels and this is especially true when we are unwell. The difficulty is that this is the time when we often do not feel like drinking. There are Electolyte solutions that can be purchased to help maintain these levels. My experience has  been with young patients that the taste puts them off.

A simple  solution I have found is the following receipe

600ml of cooled boiled water

1/4 tspn honey

pinch of salt

Even just  getting a 1/4 tspn every five minutes in very sick children can be enough to help but if possible  at least  100ml within  a 30 min period

The  Flu season has  got underway and it appears that H1N1 is  definitely one of the major  infuences.

The symptoms of swine flu in humans are similar to the symptoms of seasonal flu and may include:

• Sudden onset of illness
• Fever (greater than 37.8 degrees Celsius)
• Runny nose/cough/sore throat
• Chills
• headache and body aches
• Fatigue
• Some people have reported diarrhoea and vomiting.

There are  a number of remedies that  correspond with the above

Bryonia  Baptisa  Gelsemium Eupatorium Rhus Tox

I have had a number of cases recently and very few required the same Remedy

A man with all of the above  got very bad tempered just wanted to be left alone and while he did not drink very often when he did it was a large full glasses that was completely drained. The headache was "as if I have a hangover" 

Bryonia 200c   helped with a speedy recovery

When there are lots of muscle aches and pains Eupatorium and Rhus Tox are very important remedies.

Along with the most appropriate remedy basic  hygiene is important. Below are some suggestions

• stay home and let a relative or friend know if you are at home alone
• rest in a separate room that has good ventilation and is away from other members of the household
• don’t share anything that may spread flu
• drink small amounts of fluids often and keep your mouth clean and moist by cleaning teeth regularly
• gargle with a glass of warm water and/or suck on sugarless hard sweets or lozenges for sore throats
• use saline drops or spray to help unblock nasal passages. Collodial Silver drops or spray are very useful
• keep bedding and nightwear clean and dry if you are in bed
• shower or bath regularly, or use a cloth to wash with warm water and soap and make sure you wash your hands often for at least 20 seconds, drying them well afterwards or use antiseptic rubs
• apply skin balm or moisturiser to prevent your lips, nose and surrounding skin from drying out and cracking.

If you don’t feel like eating or drinking:

• try light fluid-type nutritional snacks such as chicken soup or perhaps yoghurt
• don’t worry if you can’t handle food, but keep taking fluids, try an ice block or jelly.

If you aren’t drinking enough, you may be dehydrated. You may:

• have no urine or very little, which will be a dark yellow colour
• feel confused or drowsy
• have dull eyes
• have dry skin that will have lost its elasticity (it won’t spring back when you pinch it lightly)
• If you find it hard to breathe:
• sit upright

I have just returned from a weekend seminar,held in Hamilton NZ, with renown homeopath Deborah Collins.   I would initally like to thank her for reigniting my enthusiasm with her approach and  sharing the information  that  she has gathered

Life