End of April 2015, Andrew Lustig, who I worked with in Haiti in 2010, asked me to join his medical relief team in Nepal. I accepted without the least hesitation.
For those who are the least familiar with homeopathic medicine, on top of treating chronic and acute illnesses, it is well known for its efficiency and safety in treating a vast range of physical trauma and emergencies. It is broadly used for head, eye, muscular injuries, bones fractures, etc. Its capacity to reduce and heal inflammation, cure makes it a so very appreciated medicine in emergency relief.
However, a hidden treasure is often left to discover with homeopathy. It has this unique way of treating the person’s emotional health and bringing balance into the whole being, whether physical, physiological or emotional. We often forget, or don’t know how to deal with the fact that the body, heart and mind are intertwined. Well, one of homeopathy’s very basic theoretical principle is causality, or etiology. Here are a few example.
On a mountain top near Kothe, a few hours drive away from Kathmandu, I see a little boy in consultation with a bronchitis. My wonderful and knowledgeable colleague doctor believes the dust must have made him ill and he should get antibiotics. Which makes sense.
But as homeopath, in order to know which remedy is best suited for the boy, I must observe his physical state and symptoms, but overall, understand the causality. When, precisely, did the cough appear. He was very healthy before the earthquake, never coughed before, and cannot fight a little bit of dust and recover?
“Do you remember the first time you coughed ?” I asked.
“Yes, it was right after the earth shook. I was in the fields. I fell, stood up and started coughing.” he answered.
“What was it like for you when the earth shook ?” I asked.
“I got very scared.”
“Of what?” (very important question here, for the answer can determine the remedy he needs.)
“I got scared for my grandmother who was at the house. I got really scared she could be suffering. I started running and that’s when I coughed and could not breathe well. When I got near the house, it was demolished and she was under the rubble. She was dead.”
From a homeopathic point of view, what this little boy is suffering from is the shock and the pain of knowing someone’s suffering. This is totally related to a specific homeopathic remedy that I gave him right away. He took it every 10 minutes for 2 hours, in a bottle of water. Within two hours, his cough cleared up significantly and rapidly. The remedy will not only help him with the cough, but with his suffering heart, his deep sensitivity and his global health. That’s the depth of this homeopathic medicine. We left him some more homeopathic remedies and some antibiotics in case he needed them. But I am sure he didn’t.
A pregnant lady developed a UTI right after she lost her husband in the earthquake. I asked her how she felt, what it meant to her. The lack of support, being alone with her children, the abundant tears and helplessness. Both the causality and her physical symptoms indicated she needed the remedy Pulsatilla. A few doses and all the pain while urinating was gone in less then an hour. In a hotel I stayed upon my arrival in Nepal, a lady had lost family members and friends. She was in shock, could no longer sleep, developed constant major migraines, felt a constant trembling sensation inside. One dose of the right remedy for her and the next day all pain and trembling were gone and she could sleep peacefully. Working with homeopathic remedies means approaching people’s entire reality. Inside out. Not just the body, but the mind and the heart. For when the earth shakes, the whole being is shaken. The whole being needs to be taken care of and cured.
When we face a shock, stress, fear, anger, sadness, humiliation, separation from loved ones, failure, whatever we are particularly sensitive to, the vital energy comes out of balance and this imbalance allows physical or emotional symptoms to settle.
We give the symptoms a name, we categorize them, but what we actually suffer from is the very root cause, the causality that first took place.
Not all symptoms are related to emotions. This is clear for the homeopath. A headache can be caused by an injury, too much heat, or cold, too much sun, alcohol, food, reading, studying, side effects of some medication… or a vast range of emotions… and depending on the very cause, the homeopathic remedy someone needs will vary.
Homeopathy addresses this vital energy and brings it back into balance. When this is done, the body has the intelligence to cure itself and finds the way to do it globally. Physically, physiologically and emotionally.
Its capacity to cure deeply and permanently is very moving to me. Every day, I thank life for putting this medicine on my path.
Ingrid Schutt, classical homeopath
Montreal, Canada
