Recently, Manfred and I took our four children to a nearby pond to feed the fish with a few pieces of stale bread. Of course, a few pieces is never enough for little ones…I suggested they throw rocks in the pond as they’d cause a nice “ker-plunk” yielding just as much entertainment value. Our crying 3 ½ year old boy, M, wouldn’t believe me until he tested my theory and found it to be acceptable. I guess some nuts don’t fall far from the tree! I even showed the children how to skip rocks across the pond…well, I had the idea that I would show them…it was really Manfred who had all the skill that day!
AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION…
It was all the excitement of rock throwing that gave me the idea…I challenged the good Doc to see if he could throw a rock across the pond to the other side. I watched him throw the first few pitches and then I could no longer resist the temptation to try a few myself. Now, I grew up playing sports. I know better than to try to pitch without first warming up my arm and shoulder. What I didn’t know was just how rusty and fragile you become when you haven’t worked a muscle group in this way in almost 10 years!
I had a blast! I was a teenager again! I almost hefted a rock to the other side while Manfred scored 5 points! I had only thrown around a dozen rocks when we decided to call it quits. We walked home and once inside, I knew my shoulder and arm were going to be sore. Manfred and I each took a dose of Arnica montana 30C to help prevent soreness from overuse. A bottle of Arnica in liquid form* was already mixed as a standard component of our family remedy box which has our “daily/constitutional” remedies, symptomatic remedies and ones which are used for common first aid situations**.
* a 1/4oz or 1/2oz bottle filled with distilled water with up to 10% alcohol to preserve it.
** remedies such as Arnica, Calendula, Kali bichromicum, Arsenicum, Cantharis, X-ray, Cellular phone, WIFI and more, all in the 30C potency). We keep these in a metal box to help protect the liquid remedies from ambient electromagnetic radiation (but more on this some other time).
I went about my afternoon – made dinner, bathed all four children, put them to bed, folded two loads of laundry and took a bath. The next day everything went as usual. No more thoughts of our little adventure. On the second day, I noticed a mild pain on both sides of my neck. It originated in the trapezius muscle right around the C7 vertebrae (at the base of the neck, on the backside). Over the course of the day, the pain came and went, but gradually became more intense to a moderate throbbing with a moderately intense headache on the top where a baseball cap would sit.
That night, the pain in my neck, shoulders and head would not subside and I could hardly get comfortable enough to sleep. I tried several remedies (Bryonia, Ruta, Belladonna all in 30C in liquid), and finally Rhus toxicodendron 30C took the edge off enough to allow me some rest (in addition to the pain, I was restless, thirsty, warm, was wide awake and the pain was better from warmth). The next night, I was worse. I missed several hours of sleep because of my symptoms. By lunchtime the following day, I was nearly in tears. The pain in my neck was neuralgic and throbbing, radiating up into my head on both sides and down into my shoulder blades. My head ached so badly. I was sensitive to noise and light. And, my wrists ached to the point of throbbing. I took a dose Pulsatilla on the assumption that I was oversensitive to the pain and weepy – it didn’t help. I finally called on my homeopath!
THE HYPOTHESIS
Manfred listened to my symptoms and asked what remedies I had already tried. He reminded me that I had probably overdone it throwing rocks 3 days ago. He agreed with me that the neuralgia could be a pinched nerve since at this point it was much worse on the right side (my pitching arm). He suggested I first try a dose of Hypericum perfoliatum 30C. I took two doses, one every 15 minutes (the pain was pretty intense, hence the quick repetitions). It did take the edge off, but I knew I could get more relief from a “more similar” remedy (meaning one that caused symptoms resembling more closely the ones I was having). We decided to try Arnica 30C next in liquid, on the hypothesis that I had some swelling of the muscles from overuse, which was putting pressure on the nerve (and not that the nerve itself was inflamed).
SWEET RELIEF
I was so frantic that I had almost given up hopes that homeopathy was going to solve this one. But after the first dose of Arnica, I became sleepy and decided to lay down. I slept for 40 minutes (and as a mother of four, one being an infant, any amount of sleep during the day is a real gift!). When I woke up, I had no pain. In fact, I forgot all about it until I began writing this blog post – and that was 3 days ago when this happened!
You know, it never fails to amaze me how powerful and effective homeopathic remedies can be when you take the right remedy. Here I was, thinking I had done some major damage with a pinched nerve, expecting several visits to the chiropractor, and all it took was one dose of a remedy from my home remedy kit and I had fixed the problem – SIMPLE! No bodywork, no anti-inflammatories, no missed work, only minimal missed sleep! This is why we tell all of our clients to buy a Homeopathic Self Care Remedy Kit (we sell them, call us) and give them Our Acute Materia Medica*** to study for when they have a acute/self-limiting issue come up. A good book on self-prescribing is a must****.
*** A Materia Medica is a list of specific symptoms each homeopathic remedy causes and therefore what it can be used to treat
**** Our favorite is Maesimund Panos’ book called “Homeopathic Medicine at Home”
Think of how much time, missed work or school, trouble, pain and suffering you can save yourself, your family members and even friends when you have your own homeopathic remedy kit and a little homeopathic prescribing knowledge? And if you don’t have the prescribing knowledge or you can’t resolve it on your own, you know who you can call in your time of need!
I love your story. I use homeopathic remedies with my kids and family. Your story shows that sometimes it is not easy to select the right homeopathic remedy. But when you find it, the healing effect is nothing short of miraculous!
I can relate. First, since I’ve been introduced to homeopathy over 7 years ago (when my husband, Jeff, entered school to become one) I never looked back. I can now treat myself with minor situations but mostly rely on Jeff.
In fact, it was Jeff that introduced me to Manfred (by reputation) when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. He worked with me wonderfully and successfully and we have yet to meet face to face. Don’t let geographic distance keep you from working with a homeopath. Their way of saying “stick out your tongue and say ahh” is to actually talk with you, ask you question, listen, ask some more. Quite different from Western medicine.
I like homeopathy and used this remedy to my family and friends.Your story will help to make the homeopathic remedy popular.
I wake up around 3-4 am with a mild discomfort on my right side of abdomen right under the rib cage. I feel gas but cannot pass it. I take an acid or Colon Enzymes or Baking soda mixed in lemon water. It helps pass gas and then I go back to sleep. I had endoscopy, colonoscopy, CAT scan and ultra sound. Doctor found three polyps in my colon but pathology report says they were benign. However; I still wakes up and doctors don’t seem to know what the problem is. I also urinate 3-4 times during the night. It disturbs my sleeps and I am tired during the day. I am allergic to eggs. I get stomach ache after I eat them. I am allergic to aspirin. I get sever stomach ache. I am also allergic to Bananas. I get upset stomach and discomfort after I eat a banana. I am also intolerant to lactose.
I went to see a doctor today for my shoulder pain and he thinks it is a pinched nerve in my neck. I am just wondering if my stomach problem has to do anything with my pinched nerve. I also want to mention that I sit on computer very long every day. Can it cause some problem with my abdominal muscles?
I am desperately seeking some help because I am not having a good night sleep for the last two years. Can you help or suggest something?
I am interested in this.
Hi
My mom is suffering acute pain on her left side of her calf.mri shows acute nerve compression at l4-5.the spine surgeon suggests surgery. Mum is 75 and we’re concerned about a surgical procedure. Can homeopathy help in such acute cases of compression?
I have pinched nerve and I have tingling on my left leg continuously. I am taking gabatentin four capsule at night but no help since Jan 2018.
When you took liquid arnica 30c for your pain, how much per day? In pill form is it 3 pills? Is the pill form as strong as liquid. How much liquid per day? My son has neck and wrist pain from typing at computer all day.
Hi Christian, how r u , i m from karachi, pakistan ,but now live in lahore, i had pinched nerve problem in cervical ,thoracic,and lumber, 16 years before i had spine coccyx injury, then i had sciatic nerve problem , then cervical and now intervostal nerves r painful , i went to chiroprator for adjastment of my spinr bc my spine allighment is disturbed by injury, my right body is downward from left , i taje arnica so manytimes, i m also a homeopath dr , but i m so painful ,kindly suugest me remedy, guide me , which remedy i take, i shall be v thankful to u ,
My mom is 62 years old. Her spinal nerve is compressed at L1-L2 and at L5. Please suggest remedy for her. How much time will she take to recover? She is on bed and cannot sit nor stand.
She is also suffering from spine tuberculosis, L1-L2 are partially collapsed due to this disease, which was diagnosed on 21 November,2016. She is taking hypericum perforatum 200 (empty stomach once daily), causticum 200(once daily at night), rhus tox 200 (three times in a day) and BC 19 tablets (three times in a day) for spinal nerve compression from 6 August, 2017.