Thursday, May 21, 2009
Homeopathy and Children
Christopher Johnson, ND
ThriveNaturopathic
www.ThriveNaturopathic.com
Since it’s inception in the early 19th century, homeopathy has been favored by mothers in treatment of their children’s ailments. In that era, it was seen as an alternative to the violent and dangerous methods of allopathic medicine. Over time, homeopathy’s popularity increased, with the awareness that it was not only gentler and better tolerated by children, but more effective as well.
Today, despite advances in the safety and efficacy of allopathic medicine, homeopathy still stands out as a powerful and gentle way to treat kids. Homeopathy can work wonders in simple ills such as cold and flu, as well as more severe childhood conditions, such as ADHD, autism, developmental disorders, and epilepsy where allopathic methods are often of limited value. And unlike conventional medical treatments (whose effects are rarely studied for more than a few years), homeopathic remedies have a centuries-old record of both safety and efficacy. Remedies that were used by founder Samuel Hahnemann are often successfully used to treat “new” diseases and conditions.
Homeopathy is a true gift to the pediatric population. Not only can it treat serious disease, but perhaps just as importantly it can treat the more subtle imbalances that result from the physical and emotional traumas (minor and major) which are part of every childhood. In my office, it is absolutely commonplace to work with middle-aged adults whose problems are traceable to traumas from their childhood/adolescence. Homeopathy can nip these troubles in the bud before they lead to decades of suffering.
Because it can stimulate the body to heal itself in a complete manner, homoeopathy holds the promise of actually increasing the health of children throughout their lives, not just reactively suppressing symptoms – a point noted by renowned homeopath George Vithoulkas, MD, “In my 30 years of practice I have seen children who were treated homeopathically for a long period of time and who have developed and become healthier than their siblings…I continually observe that children who have been treated well with homeopathic medicines usually exceed in height their parents and siblings who have not been similarly treated. This simple observation shows how deeply homeopathy can affect the body…”
Christopher Johnson, ND is a naturopathic doctor specializing in the use of homeopathy and nutrition to treat a broad range of disease in both the adult and pediatric populations. He is owner of Thrive Naturopathic. Visit his website: www.ThriveNaturopathic.com for more information.