It would be great, also wonderful, for surgeons and homeopaths to come and work together, for the sake of suffering humanity — in other words, for the benefit of patients.
What inspired me to write this article is, that, a little nine-year-old girl named Olivia had surgery to cut and stretch the ligaments in her legs. Olivia was born with a condition called spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy. This condition prevented her from being able to extend her legs, so that they were permanently bent. This made it difficult for her — even to use the toilet. Her parents had to carry her to do the basic functions she needed to, but because she was getting bigger, she was getting too heavy for her parents to carry — so something had to be done. Hence, the surgery.
The surgery for Olivia was performed. Both legs were put into a cast and separated by a rod. For the first time in her life, Olivia’s legs were straight. The surgery resulted in a lot of pain for Olivia. The anaesthesiologists were unable to find a pain medicine that would work for her. She was not responding well to the opiate-derived pain killers that were being used.
My daughter called and asked me what could be done to alleviate Olivia’s pain, because her misery was extreme. On the second day after the surgery, I recommended that she be given a single dose of the homeopathic Ruta graveolens 30C. Her mother texted the photograph after three hours following the Ruta dose, where she is looking peaceful and calm. I prescribed Ruta, because it is a great homeopathic remedy for injuries to ligaments and tendons.
Olivia was brought home in an ambulance, four days after the surgery, since she could not bend her legs to fit in a car, and is now at home with her family, healing from her surgery. Olivia’s parents gave Olivia two puppies to play with and help her heal. Zoe, her mother, says that Olivia is in the process of healing and is feeling better and better each day. Occasionally, they give her a quarter of an over-the-counter [OTC] pain pill. Now, 3-4 months later she is having physical therapy and her recovery is going well.
Olivia lives with her mother, father, two siblings, two puppies, farm animals, and many friends on a commune started by my son-in-law, Jimmy, and my daughter, Nastassia, in the Sierras de Rochas of Uruguay. “Olivia is beautiful girl with a heart of gold and a smile that lights up the room… Her parents are hardworking people who do good work in integrity and contribute enormously to our community, producing a wonderful range of organic dairy, yogurt, cheese and meat products as well as bake bread for the families in the community.”
Why Should Surgeons & Homeopaths Play Ball?
The obvious answer is that we [each] have a role to play, and our respective expertise helps improve the quality of life [QoL] of our patients.
Here is a summary of some of the most commonly needed homeopathic remedies for post-surgery recovery.
Arnica Montana. Following surgery, Arnica is useful for shock, trauma, bruising and to reducing pain and bleeding.
Bellis Perennis. This remedy is known primarily for its positive effect on soft tissue injuries, or surgery to the soft tissue, such as the breasts and abdomen, but it has many other uses as well.
Calendula Officinalis. This is a remedy I put in the surgery packet for people, and ask them to take after the pain has subsided, and for the last stages of healing from the surgery. Calendula is for wound healing. It helps promote scar-less healing, and prevents infection.
Hypericum Perforatum. This is the remedy for injuries to areas rich in nerves, such as fingertips, toes, the spinal cord, the coccyx, neck and head injuries. It is helpful in abdominal surgery. It is also good after forceps delivery, animal bites, painful haemorrhoids, and dental trauma. When you have pain extending up, or down, along the course of the nerve from the site of the injury Hypericum can be helpful. Hypericum should not be given prior to surgery, because it can interfere with the anaesthesia.
Ledum Palustre. Ledum is good for puncture wounds, splinters, ailments from vaccination, insect bites, animal bites, gout, arthritis, abscesses, and some painful conditions that are ameliorated by cold applications.
Ruta Graveolens. Ruta is good for injuries to ligaments and tendons, for overstrained injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow, eye strain, hardened, or thickened areas, or nodules, over the bone periosteum, or tendons, back problems, herniated disks, jaw fractures, dental trauma, prolapsed anus, ganglion cysts and after joint surgery. This is the remedy I prescribed for Olivia.
Staphysagria Macrosperma. Staphysagria is known as the surgeon’s ‘best’ friend in homeopathy. It is good for pain at the site of the incision. It is good for trauma caused by sharp objects, like the surgeon’s knife. It is also good for situations where the round tendons are stretched.
Symphytum Officinale. The genius of Symphytum is for the mending of broken bones, and the treatment of bone diseases, ranging from inflammation of the bones, or osteitis, to cancer of the bones, or sarcoma.
Urtica Urens. This is the useful homeopathic remedy for burns. It also has a reputation in helping with gout, lactation issues, allergic hives, insect bites and some itchy conditions.
Points To Ponder
Before you ever take a homeopathic remedy on your own, you should understand the rules of repetition and ‘how much’ to take of the remedy. In Olivia’s case, I instructed the family not to repeat the single dose of Ruta 30C that she took. A single dose of a 30C potency remedy holds on average for 10-12 weeks; it can also hold for a year and longer, and be curative. A single dose of a 30C remedy can do its healing work, and uncover the next layer that needs to be addressed. This will lead you on to the next remedy you may need for healing.
Yet another important thing to understand with surgery, or injury, and recovery is that the remedy will often promptly take away the sensation of pain, but this does not mean it has had time to complete the healing work, which may take weeks, or months, to unfold.
If you think that you, or your loved one, are healed, just because the pain is gone, change back to your constitutional homeopathic remedy, or another first-aid remedy too soon, then the pain from the injury, or surgery, may come back, because the work is not complete.
This is why I told Olivia’s mom not to repeat, or change, the remedy, unless she noticed clear evidence that the remedy is relapsing — meaning a return of the pain symptoms, or other symptoms that had improved.
Well, the best thing to do is more than imperative: consult a professional homeopath for safe, effective, short- and also sustained long-term results.
