In a health discipline that has been denegated for so long by the medical profession and consequently to their media lackeys who influence the public perception of us, it sometimes seems a little strange that we should foster such intolerance within our own midst.
Few things are more unfortunate than a closed mind and never more dangerous than when present in the healing arts. Hardly is an article printed on homeopathy then some closed-minded individual writes a letter about how stupid homeopathic medicine is. Why? Oh, he read a book or an article or heard somebody once and knows all about it. Which makes about as much sense as judging the value of chiropractic from the comments of an AMA tract or on the basis of a particular adjustive procedure.
Most of the time you take uneducated comments and swat them away like flies off an educational pastry. But then some comments seem so pathetic that they serve as fodder and cry for answers. Recently, we published a letter from someone who equated homeopathy with "mindless mysticism" because I listed homeopathic remedies which were said to have a salubrious effect upon specific areas of the spine. In answer, we must remember that chiropractic to many (myself included), is based in great part upon the hypothesis that structural integrity affects organic function through such mechanisms as the somato/visceral-viscero/somatic reflex and that there are specific segments of the spine and indigenous neurovascular structures which can affect specific organic functions. The osteopathic medical profession has stated that a cardiac problem can often be diagnosed and treated through the palpation and manipulation of the upper thoracic spine -- so we are not alone.
Accepting the premise that a viscero/somatic reflex could predispose associated muscular segments to hypertonicity with consequential associated osseous distortions and neurovascular congestion, then we can accept the possible resultant pain from such distortions. If specific homeopathic remedies are directed toward specific organs served by specific neuromeres then specific sections of the spine could possibly be specifically structurally benefited. As long as the word "possible" is used with any therapeutic procedure, it deserves an unbiased attempt at application. So much for swatting flies.
Probably one of the most effective uses of homeopathic remedies is in the treatment of allergies. In the classical homeopathic sense, one would use the symptoms only as a way to reach the organic cause of a problem. There are times, however, when quick symptomatic relief is desired and the symptoms are treated for their effect alone.
A number of years ago I received a call from a young lady who worked for some surgeons at the Dartmouth Medical Center. She was allergic to her cats and to dust and couldn't get rid of either.
For years she would work around her house wearing a surgical mask giving her only minimal protection. Hearing that I practiced homeopathic therapeutics, she made an appointment for an evaluation. At the time I had a part-time practice in my home which was a log cabin back in the Vermont woods. On the day of the appointment there was a virtual blizzard, and for a while I thought she wouldn't make it. An hour after her appointment time she called to say that she was stuck in a snow bank but that she was determined to make it because she was so desperate for relief. Over the years she had tried everything and now I was the last resort.
At this point I could feel the pressure to first help her as an individual, then prove the value of homeopathic remedies, and finally to forcefully demonstrate homeopathy's effectiveness before the medical personnel she worked with.
With all her problems, I decided on a quick solution. Knowing the elements the patient believed caused her allergic reactions, I decided to have a nosode made directly from the dust and from the hair of her cats. She was quite skeptical about the whole arrangement but decided to continue due to her frustration and commitment to improve at almost any cost.
Within a week I received a small packet of dust and some hair from her different house animals. The mixture was introduced into some homeopathic tablets.
It wasn't long before she excitedly called to tell me how well she was feeling and that, for the first time in years, she was able to perform her household chores without a mask or much resulting discomfort, to the amazement of the surgeons she worked for. If this be "mysticism," I want more of it.
At this point I wish I could tell you what homeopathic pharmaceutical companies could make these types of preparations for you, but "DC" cannot openly endorse any specific business enterprise. My best advice is that you might contact:
The Chiropractic Academy of Homeopathy
604 South Pickwick Street
Sprngfield, Missouri 65802
Whenever I hear of the bigotry within our profession, I'm reminded of the former head of the AMA's infamous "Committee on Quackery," who admitted, under oath, that in the decade that he headed the committee he had never been to a chiropractor, visited a chiropractic school or even seen anyone adjusted -- yet just knew that chiropractors were quacks.
The "mysticism" comes not with homeopathy or chiropractic but rather within those people who feel they have the unique power to judge something they know nothing about.