Understanding Child in Homeopathic Practice

A healthy child builds up a healthy family and eventually a healthy nation. Parents often fret and frown over their child’s state of health and the safest mode of treating its ailments. Most of the chronic ailments that children suffer from are due to compromised immune system. The immune system becomes weak due to poor diet, pollution and most often drug overload. In order to heal the slightest attack of cold or ear infection a child is given a heavy dose of antibiotics. These help to overcome the acute phase but make the immune system weak leading to increased frequency of disease attacks. Their damaging effect on the immune system is directly responsible for the dramatic rise in chronic health problems and allergies.

Natural nutritive forces and holistic systems of medicine such as homeopathy can support the immune system. Giving your child generous high quality diet along with homeopathic medicines at the first sign of infection improves their chance of overcoming the disease before it takes serious hold.

Homeopathic system of medicine aims at promoting and preserving health by reinforcing body’s own natural healing capacity. The treatment helps in activating defense mechanism and stimulating immune system. This makes homeopathy the best mode of treatment for treating children. It is safe, harmless and easy to administer to children. Homeopathic remedies are capable of treating a wide range of ailments from everyday coughs and cold to more chronic cases such as ear, nose and throat problems, asthma, eczema, digestive disorders, chronic fatigue etc. Many emotional imbalances such as low confidence and self esteem, guilt, grief and anger can also be treated as the remedies work by tackling the underlying causes of these states of mind. They accomplish this by triggering the child’s own healing ability. As a result of homeopathic treatment, the symptoms gently disappear rather than become suppressed.

Now in order to prescribe the similimum and cure the child it is very important for a homeopath to understand the child as an individual. Pediatric case taking is more of an art than a science, but its understanding involves the same basic knowledge as is involved in adult case taking.

Children get bored quickly; they cannot accurately describe their complaints. Understanding and examining them is a patient and time consuming affair. However time can be minimized if you spend a few cursory minutes gaining the confidence of the child’s parents and the child’s confidence in you.

Thus, pediatric case history involves a comprehensive and diligent approach. A homeopath should observe the child, then interpret after careful observation and confirm the symptoms by questioning the parent. The children and their parents will literally tell you their remedies. Even though the parents are usually most concerned about recurrent physical symptoms, the emotional and behavioral dynamics guide us to the remedy.

The homeopath must be attuned to the interactions between parent and child. The child’s response to the parent’s telling of the case will reveal a great deal. This observation of the child’s behavior will often lead to the remedy. The parents’ affect in handling the child is the first step in this observation. Understand what the parents are conveying to the child through their language and tone. Children learn how to act in the world from their parents. It is not uncommon for children to need the same remedy as one of the parents. It is also of utmost importance to see how the child reacts to the parents; is he aggressive, submissive or feels insulted. Sometimes his reaction to the environment he is subjected to, indicates the choice of remedy.

Now the next thing to be considered is the child; firstly observe his underlying personality and temperament. Issues like shyness, obstinacy, playfulness can be known by interviewing parents. These can be further confirmed by observing the child’s manner during the interview and direct questions about his usual behavior. This history is important to differentiate these ongoing personality traits from reactive symptoms. These impressions about his temperament will often point us to a group of remedies which can be confirmed by further case taking.

Next is a detailed interrogation about his complaint and about him as an individual.

Observe the child, his habit, the way he sits, his look; whether he is restless, slow, obedient, diffident, sensitive, irritable etc.

Note the generals (specifically, change if any during his diseased state): Diet, Cravings, Aversions, Thirst, Sweat, Sleep, Position of sleep, Bowel and Urine habits, Thermals etc.

Family economic status: adequate diet, nutritional status.

Religion (for history of consanguine marriages)

Story about the child: Mother’s description of the pregnancy, labor and birth. His developmental history (learning to walk, talk, teething etc.); his vaccination history; disease history, if any; marked history of mental or physical shock/trauma etc.

Family history of skin disease, respiratory complaints, carcinoma, psychiatric complaints, STDs etc.

Behavioral analysis: his response to failure, competition, scolding, grief etc; response to strangers, new siblings. How does he handle being left alone, the dark, sad stories etc?

Talk to him about his friends, family, pets, school, neighborhood, games etc. Sometimes useful information is obtained during this conversation with the child. It is difficult at first, but once you build up a friendly rapport with him things become easier. It is important to know that some children can be boastful, dreamy or misleading in their narration, so remember to cross check their versions.

Last but not the least, have an observant look for objective symptoms. The skin, tongue, chest, abdomen, head, hands and feet can at times give a tell-tale sign.

A proper analysis of the above stated details helps the homeopath to understand the child and eventually find the indicated constitutional medicine. Cure in pediatric case demands, limiting or stopping the drugs, prescribing the constitutional remedy and treating acute episodes cautiously and judiciously. The aim is to support the immune system through nutritious diet while the constitutional remedy is acting.

The resultant effect is a healthy and strong child free from diseases – the dream of every parent. Thus Homeopathy provides an effective solution to all the pediatric challenges.

Keeping in view the rise of health problems in childhood and the ceaseless parent concern we have devoted the present issue of Homeopathic Horizon Ezine to Pediatrics. We have tried to make the issue as informative as possible along with case discussions and historical papers. Hope you enjoy it.