Homeopathy 2: No sniffles this winter with natural remedies

Many people struggle with colds and flu during the winter months. This is unnecessary, if you know how to naturally boost your body’s own defence mechanisms to keep you healthy and strong.

Micro-organisms live inside and around us all the time. Yet when your body is strong, they won’t harm you. Your body’s own defence mechanism, your immune system, will keep you well. However, any stress to our system, whether emotional, physical or mental, creates ideal conditions for micro-organisms to flourish and proliferate.

Stressors which weaken the system include toxicity, trauma, pathogens, mental and emotional factors (fear, anxiety, anger), electro and environmental pollution, poor nutrition, heredity factors, poor living conditions, lifestyle issues, lack of sleep, excess physical or mental labour, and extreme environmental changes (temperature, altitude, damp, dryness, etc.) First comes the stressor, which creates the ideal breeding ground for dis-ease, later comes the illness. Only after an internal or external stressor has disturbed our vital force, will bacteria or viruses thrive.

Symptoms are healing mechanisms

Natural or ‘green’ medicine recognises our symptoms as the body’s healing mechanisms, which the genius self-healing system produces in response to an underlying cause such as a virus. These healing mechanisms should therefore not be suppressed but rather encouraged, so healing can be completed.

There seems to be a lot of confusion between colds and the flu. So what is the difference?

The common cold

Viral infection that causes inflammation of the mucus membranes lining the nose and throat, resulting in symptoms which are generally confined to the nose and throat.

Symptoms:

• Headache
• Watering eyes
• Stuffy or runny nose or post nasal drip with tickling cough
• Sneezing
• Sore throat; scratchy or tickling throat
• Hoarseness
• Listlessness
• Chills

Influenza

Viral infection of the respiratory tract.

Symptoms:

• Sore throat
• Blocked or runny nose
• Sinus inflammation or congestion
• Headache
• Fever
• Chills
• Muscular aches, stiffness
• Bone pain
• Loss of appetite
• General weakness and fatigue

Some influenza strains may also include gastric / digestion disorders such as:

• Nausea
• Dizziness
• Vomiting
• Diarrhoea

Most initial symptoms of a cold and flu will clear up without treatment within a week to 10 days. However, in some cases where the body struggles to overcome these common symptoms, infection may spread beyond the nose and throat areas, leading to secondary symptoms of:

• Laryngitis or loss of voice
• Chest infection; bronchitis
• Sinusitis
• Ear infection

How to get over the common cold and flu

• To maintain a strong and healthy immune system, always reduce stressors to a minimum.
• To further boost the system, always ‘feed a cold and starve a fever.’
• Avoid extreme temperature change, damp, cold or harsh environmental conditions,
• Take a good daily dose of vitamin c, zinc and fresh citrus fruit / drinks.
• Drink plenty of water to assist the body’s detoxing mechanism.
• Get lots of rest.
• Use natural/’green’ medicine to boost your body’s healing mechanisms.

All homeopathic remedies can be used as a prophylactic to prevent illness wherever the general symptoms of a dis-ease are known, such as in the Common Cold or Flu (Influenza).

If you don’t want to bother with an accurate diagnosis, Genie from There’s a Remedy for That has made up special combinations to help protect your family against colds and flu this winter. This is a special for our readers: R380 (value R500)

Don’t wait until you fall sick with sniffles, colds and flu. Homeopathy boosts the immune system by stimulating the body’s own healing mechanisms and strengthening the body’s natural resistance to dis-ease. Take prophylatically (as a preventative measure) or at the first onset of symptoms.

Winter Medicine Chest Special Offer INCLUDES:

Cold, flu & viral infection formula: (Symphony range) Take at the first sign of colds, flu or any viral infection to relieve symptoms and speed up recovery. Can also be taken as a prophylactic to strengthen immunity and prevent colds, flu and viral infections. This formula includes Aconitum, the first remedy for colds / flu. Start taking at first signs of cold/flu to nip it in the bud. Also helpful for cough, croup, fever, loss of voice, runny nose, hayfever, eye inflammation, sore throat.

Oscillococcinum: Keep Oscillococcinum on hand because it works best when taken early. Take at the first signs of flu-like symptoms. Oscillococcinum was first studied in France during the 1987 flu epidemic caused by an H1N1 virus and has been shown in clinical trials to help reduce the severity and shorten the duration of flu symptoms.

Gelsemium: Choose this remedy if you have fever with flu symptoms including tiredness; weakness and heaviness of the body; hot skin with chilliness, shivering or shakiness; general achiness with headache and heavy sensation in the eyes. Use if you are feeling feverish and tired, with general weakness and heaviness of the body; hot, dry skin with chilliness, shivering or shakiness; general achiness with headache and heavy eyelids - you can hardly keep your eyes open; you feel exhausted all the time and must lie down; No thirst.

Asthma & wheezy cough formula: Use this formula to relieve shortness of breath, breathing difficulties, laboured breathing, wheezing, spasmodic cough, where the chest feels tight & constricted.

Cough formula - wet, phlegmy cough: Assists by producing an efficient rhythmic cough by relieving a phlegmy, rattling cough. Phlegm may rattle in the chest and be difficult to cough up. Respiratory tract may be overloaded with mucus, with a tendency to swallow or desire to spit out mucus after coughing. Phlegmy cough may also be described as loose, gagging, choking, noisy, explosive, tenacious or difficult to raise. NOTE: A cough is a healing mechanism which should never be suppressed, but rather encouraged and completed.

Earache, inflammation & infection formula: For symptoms of earache and ear infection, which may be accompanied by severe pain, inflammation and/or discharge from the ears. Assists with blocked Eustachian tubes, glue ear, and all ear troubles. Ears may be blocked, with throbbing noises and deafness, possibly accompanied by fever. Excruciating pain and infection of the middle and /or outer ear. Ear infection may also be accompanied by glandular swelling.

Tonsillitis & sore throat formula: Helps to relieve symptoms associated with tonsillitis and sore throat, such as severe pain, inflammation and infection, fever, enlarged tonsils, difficult swallowing, loss of appetite. May be accompanied by swollen glands, runny nose, earache and other cold and flu symptoms.

Homeopathy is an affordable, gentle, non-toxic and highly effective system of medicine. It is used all over the world and is growing in popularity in South Africa. Homeopathic medicines are completely safe and have no unwanted side effects. Homeopathic remedies are easy to administer, affordable and help with physical, mental and emotional conditions.

• See the official website for more remedies.