The philosophy of homeopathy, in many ways, parallels that of chiropractic. They believe that healing occurs from above, down, inside out, and in reverse order. Sound familiar? They also believe that the body speaks to us constantly -- and never ever, ever lies. That the best way to heal is to allow the body to do it by creating an environment conducive to its needs and potential.
As I've said to so many of my patients, I've never cured anyone of anything in my life -- I wouldn't know how. But I do attempt to create an environment within the body for it to take care of itself. When I adjust I'm just an instrument attempting to mobilize personally perceived and evaluated osseous fixations. The real healing, I believe, takes place when neural and vascular structures are relieved of aberrant biomechanics and consequently allowed to function at a more optimum level.
In a patient interview I try to have the patient express as many symptoms as possible. In other words, if the patient comes in with low back pain, this is all that he thinks they are coming to see you about. To the majority of the public a chiropractor "cracks backs" to take away the pain. If this were the only reason for me to be in practice I would have become a physical therapist. It was my belief, then as now, that structure affects function through the somatovisceral reflex. Indeed -- I am a physician who treats the function of the body through the maintenance of structural integrity by mobilizing osseous fixations.
Because of this belief, I've always felt it was extremely important to impress upon the patient that I ministered to the entire body and that a comprehensive case history was necessary. If and when the symptoms were ameliorated, both the patient and I could verify the possible validity of the therapeutic approach I used.
A comprehensive case history is also important in any natural approach to health -- particularly homeopathy. The allopathic physician, on the other hand, is too often inclined to think of the body as some kind of battlefield with symptoms nothing more than annoying signs that are to be suppressed by dangerous chemicals. The physician practicing homeopathy uses the "voices" expressed by the symptoms as a way of trying to eliminate the cause as does the chiropractor with a specific adjustment.
On one occasion a patient came into the office complaining of the omnipresent low back pain. He swore that it was the only thing bothering him and acted like I was a dentist who is involved only with teeth. To him it was the spine -- and I was to relieve the pain with a chiropractic adjustment.
After some prodding I convinced him that I wanted to know as much as possible. Haltingly he began to relate his many problems to me. He had recently been promoted to a position of great responsibility. For years he had been doing a good job and had been quite content in a rather low profile activity. Now, as a "reward," he was getting a well-deserved increase in wages -- along with a not too welcome increase in responsibilities. All this was causing my patient a good deal of anxiety. This stress, in turn, had caused him to go on eating binges with a subsequent marked increase in weight. He also complained that due to all the tension, he'd been getting a lot of headaches lately and had waves of nausea which he felt were caused by indigestion.
It seemed safe to assume that the recent increase in weight might have had a predisposing adverse effect upon my patient's lumbosacral spine and that adjustments along with exercises and dieting would be an effective therapeutic approach.
After a few visits he began to feel some symptomatic relief. Soon, however, we seemed to plateau. While the actual pain was in marked remission, he still had problems with indigestion. Since his original problem had been low back pain, he felt I had done the job he had come to my office for and he was happy. Needless to say, I wasn't. The last thing I wanted him to do was to get on all kinds of garbage to control the indigestion. Unless the patient is convinced that a spinal correction will directly effect a visceral response they're likely to fall into the chemical trap.
At this point I felt that the use of a homeopathic remedy would be propitious. His symptoms described a need for Nux Vomica which I prescribed at a 6X potency 4 qid. Within days he was symptom-free. All that was needed was a little extra boost from natural substances.
Other effective homeopathies for indigestion are Pulsatilla, when the symptoms include a coated tongue or heartburn after eating fatty foods, and Carbo Vegetabilis when the symptoms include belching gas with a painful distension of the stomach.
Remember again -- the body speaks to us every minute of every day and never lies. We must listen to its many voices, attempt to understand what it's saying and then try to answer its needs with as many viable, safe, and natural ways as possible. This is the language of a physician.
RHT