Many of us know the discomfort and urgency of having an acute bladder infection. Homeopathy is a natural way to end the infection quickly without having to take antibiotics and risk a secondary infection.
Burning, urgency to urinate, and frequent urination are common symptoms of bladder, urinary, and kidney infections. In homeopathy, we pay attention to the peculiarities of a person’s symptoms before choosing a remedy to help relieve the infection. These little individual symptoms can hold the key to the correct homeopathic remedy.
If an existing client who is taking a constitutional homeopathic remedy comes in for treatment, I will first ask if he or she has had this illness before. If the answer is yes, I will ask the client if he or she is experiencing it in the same way as before. If so, the client is probably not having an acute infection, but what we call in homeopathy a “return of old symptoms.”
Return of old symptoms is the direction of cure as laid out in “Herring’s Law of Cure.”1 In homeopathy, as a person regains health, he or she will experience healing from the “innermost to the outer most”. We commonly think of the innermost as the mental/emotional level and the outermost as the physical symptoms, which may end in a skin symptom. Another manifestation of Herring’s Law is that one should expect to experience old symptoms in the reverse order from which they appeared. In this instance, I will ask the person to first try either repeating the current remedy or taking a weaker potency of the same remedy. In most cases, one or two doses will take care of the problem.
If the illness is a true acute, I will look for the peculiar symptoms to guide me to the correct remedy. Three common homeopathic remedies for cystitis are Sarsasparilla officionalis (wild licorice), Cantharus vesicatoria (spanish fly), and Berberis vulgaris (barberry).
Sarsasparilla is typically given to people who feel severe urethra pain at the end of urination. They will have a difficult time urinating while sitting and feel better when standing. The urine maybe slimy, flaky, sandy, and perhaps have blood. Their mood may be anxious or depressed from the pain.
Cantharus is given to those whose bladder symptoms have developed very quickly. The person will be in intolerable pain with a constant and tremendous urgency to urinate. There is stinging, cutting, and burning pain on urination. Urine is scalding and comes out in drops only after much straining. The person will be very restless, almost frenzied. Lying on the back and rubbing bring relief.
Berberis is a remedy for those who are experiencing pain along the urethra and especially at the opening where the urine leaves the body. Sharp, stitching pains radiate outward or downward and may come in “twinges.” The pains may move around to different parts of the body, and there may be a sensation of numbness or bubbling in the kidney area. Sometimes there can be low back pain or sciatica. Berberis may also be considered for kidney stones.
Bladder infections that continue for several days can become quite severe, so it is recommended to call your homeopath when you first experience symptoms. Most people who take the correct homeopathic for their symptoms find that their infections resolve quickly.
Sources:
1Constatine Herring, (1800-1880), Considered to be the Father of Homeopathy in America.
Myra Nissen, CCH
Copyright © 2010 –, Myra Nissen.
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This article was brought to you by Myra Nissen, CCH, RSHom(NA), Board Certified Classical Homeopath. Myra teaches women how to recognize their body’s unique needs and cues and uses Homeopathy to help empower women to take control of their bodies, health and well-being. Find out more, she regularly publishes articles with home care tips for health and well-being in several venues. Visit her blog www.myranissen.com/blog.