Hair Problems and Homeopathy!

Hair fall is one of the commonest symptoms with which patients present to us. Sometimes it is an associated symptom of some other major disease symptom or it is the disease per say. I have not observed any age limit for this problem. Rather, the age limit is decreasing sadly day by day for hair problems. Earlier hair troubles usually used to start during mid thirties, but today many teenage girls and boys complain of some or the other hair problems. The major complaints about hair are hair fall, dandruff, alopecia aerata, premature graying of hair, brittleness of hair, split ends, dry scaly scalp etc.

Many times first question asked to us doctors in our clinics is- “Which oil or shampoo shall I use to grow nice and healthy hair?” Well, do these oils and shampoos really help your hair? At least these external applications are mere external and never lead to any inward nourishment, however their advertisements may boast. No wonder anti-dandruff shampoos lead to enhanced dandruff 2 to 3 days after shampooing. That’s why it is necessary that one treats any hair problem internally.

Also the increasing pollution, stress, night-outs, etc are some other factors that have aggravated the hair problems in many. Therefore, even if we suggest internal medication in homeopathy, we must also ensure that we educate the patient about right modes of living, natural lifestyle, and how to handle stress. Then only it will be what we can say as a “Complete Therapy”!

Factors important to consider before one starts hair treatment homeopathically-

(1) Root cause- In most cases of hair fall, some or the other cause can be traced, given the patient gives apt history to his doctor (Well, it’s certainly the duty of doctor to pursue the patient to give apt answers). The cause can be physical like some intermittent fever that could be traced back, child-birth, lactational phase, some chronic illness, some drug abuse, excess alcoholism, bad hygiene, some hormone treatment, etc. The importance of telling this is that, unless one knows the cause, complete hair treatment cannot be undertaken. And it is also important to note that if the causative factor turns into maintaining cause (like for example, in case of bad hygiene), no treatment can be of help. Depending upon the cause, apt homeopathic medicine and its dosage can be chosen, but in case of external cause, it has to be nullified before starting treatment.

(2) Internal factors- This is what is called as constitutional factor in homeopathy. Every individual is born with certain traits. Those traits need be identified and treated according to the physical characteristic and mental characteristic symptoms of the patient. It is imperative to ask questions right from the childhood of the patient to identify an unknown cause that may be the cause sometimes. Also the miasmatic study is extremely crucial in case of hair fall. Identifying difference between psoric, syphilitic, sycotic, and tubercular hair fall paves the way for better recovery and faster compliance from the patient.

(3) Hereditary factor- One of the commonest questions some patients ask is- “My Dad is a bald guy and he developed baldness in his mid-forties. Do I still have a chance not to develop baldness at such a young age with your treatment?” Important question indeed. Definitely certain hereditary or genetic factors play a crucial role in hair growth and maintenance. We often see nice long hair in a girl whose mother also has thick and shiny hair. Obviously the opposite is also true. The rule of thumb in such cases is that, if the homeopathic treatment is started immediately after you notice the start of developing baldness, better are the results. There have been cases of baldness successfully treated with homeopathy in middle age too, but such cases are few and we must acknowledge that. Start your treatment early and you certainly have a chance to have thick hair in your middle age when your Dad was a bald guy!

Let’s see some important homeopathic medicines that help in treatment of baldness-

1. Fluoric acid-

- Alopecia, tendency to develop alopecia in families

- Alopecia aerata

- Brittle hair

- Idiopathic hair fall

- Hair falls in spots, vertex baldness

- Hair tangles easily

- Buoyant attitude towards life

- Extreme irritability and anger

- All complaints aggravated by warmth and better by cold application etc

2. Phosphoric acid-

- Any sort of grief leading to hair fall

- Takes stress easily

- Early graying of hair (sometimes in childhood)

- Progressive thinning of hair

- Difficult comprehension of things

- Long-standing effects of mental agony and patient lives in the state of shock for long

- Extreme debility

- Craves juicy things

3. Phosphorus-

- Patchy baldness

- Dryness of hair and scalp, itchy scalp, dandruff

- Hair fall in handfuls while combing

- Alopecia aerata

- Frontal baldness

- Thin physique, long fingers, high cheek bones

- Weakness with excess emotional vulnerability and impressionability

- Extremely sympathetic persons who go out of the way to help others

- Hair fall after any hemorrhagic disorder

- Scurvy

- Fearful when alone

- Better in company

4. Graphites-

- Hair fall on sides

- Patchy baldness

- Itchy, humid eruptions on scalp that emit fetid odor

- Constipation associated with hair fall

- Chilly, fat patient with tendency to develop one or the other skin problems

- Menopausal hair fall

5. Mezereum-

- hair stick together

- fall in handfuls

- crusty eruptions on scalp leading to hair fall

- itchy scalp, dandruff

- psoriasis affecting scalp leading to hair fall

- sensitive to cold air, skin rashes, eruptions, crusts below which is yellow purulent matter

6. Sepia-

- Baldness menopausal

- Hair fall after delivery of the child with mental depression, leading to indifference later on

- Hair pains when touched because of extremely sensitive hair roots

- Irritability increased, with snappish attitude

- Pimply eruptions near the hairline on forehead

7. Silica-

- Baldness in young people

- Hair fall in frontal and forehead region

- Early graying of hair

- Chilly with excessively sweaty cold palms

- Nervous and anxious disposition

- Mild types

- Fixed ideas, highly impressionable

The above given are thus some of the most widely required drugs for the different hair problems. Apart from them, Psorinum, Medorrhinum, Natrum mur, Selenium, Lachesis (typical pregnancy hair fall), Merc sol, Kali carb, Lycopodium, Borax, etc are some other important drugs. Finally the necessity to figure out the exact constitutional remedy is the crux of long term positive result in cases of hair fall and baldness!

Real and unreal skin ailments! And Homeopathy!

What does this title suggest? We all know that skin is the largest external organ and any skin ailment visible is considered as objective skin disease. Objective symptom is called as the sign of the disease and is thought to be a reliable source for accurate diagnosis in any case as per the conventional mode of treatment. Then how can there be unreal skin ailments?

Well, unreal skin ailments are the diseases stuck in the minds of patients. As a practitioner, we daily come across numerous acne cases. Some cases are really bad where we need to intervene medically but some cases are such that externally we see negligible lesions but the patient describes them as if he or she has acquired some life-threatening malady. This is when I call them unreal skin ailments. But that does not mean unreal skin ailments need not be treated. Rather in most cases of ‘unreal skin ailments, quite deep acting homeopathic medicines are required to remove that psychological block in these patients.

Even some back flower remedies like crab apple revolve around the same philosophy. You cannot overlook the psychological overlay in any skin disease, it says. Among various organs in our body run by the psychosomatic balance, skin tops the list. First organ to depict the psychological or mental disharmony is skin. Yes it is true that everyone’s propensity to develop symptoms in certain organ is pre-determined by genetic factors but in majority of cases, skin is the organ affected first (if not along with other organs).

Homeopathic philosophy substantiated!

Homeopathy gives maximum importance to subjective symptoms. Rather, mere objective signs have no value in homeopathic prescription. “Mind” is the organ that selects accurate remedy in homeopathic material medica. Or we can say homeopathic physicians give maximum importance to mind because of its close relation with all other organs. Unless you seek complete review of the person as regards his mental and physical sphere, the homeopathic case taking is incomplete.

No wonder Dr Hahnemann rules out the possibility of external application in almost all skin diseases in homeopathy. As the skin disease in never external, use of external application may never serve its purpose. Even the skin infections occur due to innate inability of vital force to repel that infection. And therefore unless you free this vital force of the deranged internal forces, perfect cure will not be achieved and the skin infection will recur if you suppress it with temporary external application (even if homeopathic).

The person may have psoriasis, lichen planus, vitiligo, warts, eczema, skin ulcerations, or any other potentially serious lesion. Homeopathic constitutional therapy can help the patient find consistent relief without the need of any steroid application.

We can say that the real and unreal skin ailments as we described earlier are often overlapping. There might be signs but only the characteristic symptoms (subjective feeling) of the patient will guide to the accurate remedy and help you impart perfect cure!

Treat Enlarged Adenoids with Homeopathy!

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Not many know that adenoids are part of body’s natural immune system. ADENOIDS is not a disease. Many patients come to us saying their child has adenoids or so they are told by surgeon who wants to operate the child and remove his adenoids. Firstly let’s understand that adenoids are body’s natural weapons against infections and foreign invaders. They function n our body like a protecting mechanism and are one of the first lines of defense.

Adenoids are a mass of lymphatic tissue situated in the posterior nasal cavity where the nose bends into the throat.

They are made up of lymphoid tissue. Like other lymph glands, white blood cells circulate through these adenoids reacting to the foreign invaders of the body. All have adenoids at birth; slowly they start shrinking in size and by adulthood, in most people they disappear. Thus, we can very well sense that during the childhood, adenoids are an important tissue if we want our children not to suffer from frequent infections. Therefore, removing adenoids is never the primary option when there is some problem with them.

Apparently the only indication to remove adenoids is sleep apnoea, in which the airway is completely obstructed in a child due to excessively enlarged adenoids when the child gets breathless and blue in face at night, which makes him sleepless.

Clinical features-

In a child where adenoids have increased in size, he is said to have adenoid face. The features include an elongated face with short upper lip, prominent incisors, elevated nostrils and a high arched palate. The child continuously breathes through mouth. Some children with adenoid swelling may breathe through mouth only during night.

How Can Homeopathy Help?

As homeopathy strengthens the immunity of the child through its classical constitutional medicine, a child with adenoid swelling is no exception. However, taking a detailed history of the child, his family history, miasmatic study by considering his birth and conception history is imperative in selecting the right remedy. As with any acute exacerbation of chronic case, firstly it should be the duty of the homeopath to relieve the child of his acute problems due to enlarged adenoids. Only after the child is made capable of receiving a constitutional dose by settling his acute issues, one can go for the constitutional drug that will not only put an end to recurrent tonsillitis (if present) but even shrink his adenoid swelling. Most children regain back normal face structure and reduce mouth breathing after being put on the homeopathic therapy.

The most important remedies that need to be differentiated while treating swollen adenoids are Baryta carb, Agraphis nutans, Calcarea phos, Calcarea carb, Hydrastis, Bromium and Tuberculinum. Tuberculinum as an intercurrent nosode is quite frequently used in the cases of adenoid swellings. However, one must also consider Medorrhinum if the sycotic family history is predominant. For acute complaints arising due to adenoids, one can use remedies like Belladona, Hepar sulph, Merc sol, Wyethia, etc.

In short, in every case of adenoidal enlargement, one must first try maximally to fix the case with the homeopathic medicines. In more than 90% of cases, homeopathy helps. While reducing the child’s adenoid growth, homeopathy prepares the child well to face future health problems and prevents many future complications!