For Women

Words: Dr Deborah OLENEV

One of the most important elements to guide the homeopath to the appropriate remedy is the mental and emotional state of the patient. Each remedy has its own mental and emotional range and curative effect. Remedies that we use to treat ailments from grief, for example, were found to produce the emotion of grief to a great extent in the ‘provers,’ enrolled in proving a remedy. If a woman has developed health problems after grief, or from disappointments in love, a homeopath would be able to administer a remedy where grief is uppermost, like Ignatia amara, and expect improvement in all areas of her life.

Another emotion frequently encountered is the feeling of being forsaken, or unloved. Pulsatilla has this symptom to a marked degree. The prescription would have to be supported by the characteristic general symptoms of the remedy as well, Pulsatilla individuals are thirstless, warm-blooded; they have amelioration from cold applications, aggravation from rich foods, with wandering pains.

Versatile Medicine

This extraordinary healing art is also able to address ailments that come on after physical trauma, such as blows to the head, or the trauma of childbirth. Arnica montana is one of our great trauma remedies; it bears the distinction of being the remedy most responsible for popularising homeopathy.

In instances where a woman has been unable to regain her health since an acute illness, homeopathy can perform wonders, restoring the vitality that had been lost with remedies such as Gelsemium sempervirens and Acid phosphoricum.

Sometimes a remedy has to be selected that can address inherited conditions as when there is a history of cancer, tuberculosis, or syphilis in the family. This is where homeopathy outshines all other therapies, because it can free individuals from inherited disease tendencies.

Homeopathy can offer good health to women in all stages of their lives from infancy through old age. It is beneficial for the full range of emotional, mental and physical problems that a woman is likely to experience; it can help her through the transitional and developmental milestones of her life.

For the female child, homeopathy can help with clingy behaviour, difficulties with sleep, behavioural problems, learning disabilities, fears, shyness, excessive anger, skin conditions, reactions to vaccines and many other frequently encountered problems. It is unsurpassed in the treatment of childhood acute diseases, yielding rapid results in a gentle manner, by stimulating the child’s immune system rather than suppressing it.

During the teen years, homeopathy can help with the hormonal changes of puberty and the acne that often appears at this time, but it can primarily assist with the emotional upheavals, which frequently occur as little girls make the transition to womanhood.

Later in life when a woman gets pregnant, or has a hard time conceiving [homeopathy can help with problems of infertility], it can assist with difficulties frequently encountered, such as morning sickness and depression. By treating the mother during pregnancy and making her as healthy as she can be, we can insure that the baby will be born healthy and free of inherited diseases. By treating throughout pregnancy, we also assist the mother to go through childbirth, safely and joyfully.

Hormonal Issues

The homeopathic healing art is beneficial in helping women overcome the effects of hormonal shocks to the system, which can occur after a difficult birth, abortion, hysterectomy, and the use of birth control pills. Sepia officinalis, a remedy made from the inky juice of the cuttlefish is a commonly prescribed remedy for women who have lost their spunk after a hormonal shock. Just as the cuttlefish spreads an inky cloud around itself, so the woman needing Sepia envelops herself in a cloud of gloom. She feels emotionally flat, and has an inability to express love, or display affection to her husband and children. She loses her sex drive and wants to be left alone, feeling too tired to cope with housework, and from weakness resents any demands on her time and energies.

This therapeutic science is extremely beneficial to women during menopause. Remedies such as Lachesis muta are able to help women pass through this transition with relative ease. As the remedy initiates a healing process, symptoms such as hot flashes, insomnia, lack of energy, weepiness, and anxiety begin to gradually disappear in such a subtle fashion that the person is unaware of how they passed.

Homeopathy is truly a friend to women. It is a comprehensive system of medicine which is able to meet the needs of women in all facets of their lives, and through all of life’s transitions. By strengthening the immune system and helping to balance the mind and the emotions, homeopathy can help women achieve the higher purposes of their lives, and feel their very best.

Dr DEBORAH OLENEV, CCH, RSHom [NA], is a Classical Homeopath based in Mountain View, California, US. She treats people from all over the world via phone and video conferencing. Dr Olenev has had a passion for homeopathy for nearly forty years and has been in private practice since 1991. She has a vast knowledge of homeopathic Materia Medica, and integrates homeopathy with herbal medicine too. She is the owner of First Aid Cream, where she teaches about and sells homeopathic first-aid creams. She has several years of experience treating autistic children and people of all ages for all manner of health conditions.