Hayfever - When Is Homeopathy Like A Car? by Linda Lloyd

When you look at the three approaches like this!

THE SKODA - Cheap and Cheerful
If you want quick, easy and cheap, just go to your local chemist or health shop and buy Nelson’s Pollenna, a combination remedy containing Allium Cepa, Euphrasia Officinalis and Sabadilla Officinarum, chosen for their suitability in treating certain conditions and combined together for convenience.

Your alternative cheap and cheerful option is New Era Combination H for Hayfever and Allergic Reactions. It’s a combination of Mag Phos, Nat Mur and Silica tissue salts.
Advantages: readily available, easy to use, and – like a cheap car – it just might get you there!
Disadvantages: a bit of a hit-and-miss approach – there are at least a dozen remedies for hayfever and the combination you choose might not contain the one that will be of most benefit for your particular symptoms. You could end up disappointed and thinking “well, I’ve tried homeopathy and it doesn’t work” – which would be a great pity, because that’s closed off an avenue of assistance to you. It’s a bit like thinking that, because a Skoda didn’t get you all the way to Land’s End, all cars are useless!

THE HONDA – Middle of the Road
A better method is to take a more homeopathic approach and identify the remedy which matches your symptoms most closely. Whether you have a cold, sinusitis, allergies or hayfever – whatever you call it, it is the symptoms that will lead you to your remedy. Here are just a few examples of the homeopathic principle Like Cures Like when it comes to hayfever:

If you feel like you've been slicing onions instead of enjoying the spring flowers, Allium Cepa relieves burning nasal discharge, watery eyes, hoarseness, hacking cough and raw sore throat.
If your eyes are burning and your nose is running Euphrasia may help, especially if the only thing worse than the garden is a smoke-filled room.

As all autumn hayfever sufferers know, the bright yellow flower of Hydrastis causes (and thus cures homeopathically) thick, yellow, ropy mucus, even in the spring.

While the drying agent (sodium chloride) from which Natrum Mur is derived tends to leave passages dry and then wet as the body responds to the dryness, this remedy helps the body address dryness and cold watery but thickening mucus symptoms.
Advantages: Instead of making “cheap” your main priority, you have chosen the right car for your individual needs by matching the remedy to your symptoms, so this option is far more likely to work for you! Using homeopathic remedies to relieve hayfever symptoms lets you avoid the common side effects of “over the counter” medications like drowsiness. Homeopathic remedies are also completely safe for children and even babies.
Disadvantages: In choosing a remedy based on your hayfever symptoms alone, you will probably find relief from hayfever in the same way as taking aspirin will bring a fever down but doesn’t cure the ‘flu. In other words, you get symptomatic relief. This is known as “treating the acute”, and is not truly homeopathic constitutional treatment. You may be taking the right remedy for the temporary state triggered by allergens and irritants, but your underlying tendency to over-react to these substances will probably remain. This means your symptoms may recur so that you need to take the remedy frequently during an acute episode, and will need to repeat the exercise every year when the problem arises. But if that meets your needs and is what your pocket will stretch to, go for it!

THE ROLLS ROYCE – Represents Excellence
Okay, so you might not agree with my choice of cars, but you get the picture!

I (and many other homeopathic practitioners) offer a homeopathic programme which is designed to clear the underlying susceptibilities which lead to allergic reactions, as well as giving the substances to which you are allergic back to you in homeopathic form to re-acclimatise your body and help it to learn not to over-react to irritants. During this process, we will establish your constitutional picture and also treat any acutes as they arise.
Advantages: This long-term approach may require one or two repetitions in subsequent years but will lead to a noticeable reduction in symptoms this year, aiming for total remission. This is well worth doing for children, since this course of treatment should give them lifelong freedom, which means no worries when they’re older and sitting all those important examinations in the spring and summer when hayfever is at its worst. It’s a bit like having your Rolls Royce MOT’d now to ensure smooth running later!
Disadvantages: This is a course of treatment lasting several months which requires a little more commitment in the first place, but should pay off in the long run.

To receive the details of three scientific studies demonstrating that homeopathy works for hayfever, please email Linda.

ALLERGY MEDICATIONS: KNOW YOUR OPTIONS is also available from Linda. This additional information is free with no obligation. Visit Linda Lloyd's web site for more information on homeopathy.