Stiff elbows, creaky wrists, crackly knees... suffering from arthritis swelling and pain is not the way we planned to spend our middle and later years. And as if the pain, swelling and restriction isn't enough, the side effects from the drugs can cause entirely new symptoms and diseases. Just reading the small print of arthritis drugs is enough to give one a case of anxiety disorder.
Yet, there is an alternative of grand proportions....homeopathy. Homeopathy is the gentle medicine that has offered relief from joint pain and slowed the progression of this disheartening disease for the last one hundred years or so. If properly utilized, homeopathy can address the inflammation, pains, sleeplessness, lethargy and despair. It can even eliminate future problems and bring joints to their normal state if caught early enough.
Take Carolynn for an example. Carolyn is a knitting enthusiast. As a young girl, her mother taught her to knit everything from scarves to ponchos and ever since that time, mother and daughter have enjoyed their hobby together. When Carolyn's right thumb began swelling with pain last fall, she commenced taking analgesics a few times a week. Soon she discovered that it wasn't enough when she had a knitting project at hand, so she doubled the dose and began taking this amount daily, especially when the weather was damp. Within three months she experienced abdominal pain and blood in her stool. When she mentioned this to her doctor, the first thing he asked her was if she was taking aspirin or the like. After leaving the doctor's office with three new prescriptions, one for the abdominal bleeding, one for inflammation and another for joint pain, it was clear to Carolynn at that moment that she needed to find an alternative method for the mess she was in. On the way home, with swollen hands and a sharp pain in her abdomen, she recalled that only last week her neighbor mentioned that a homeopath had cured her husband of tendonitis. "Hmm", she considered, "I wonder if an inflammation of joints is treatable with homeopathy?"
Carolynn met with a homeopath a week later and after taking the remedy for only three days, she felt measurably improved. The blood in her stool and abdominal pain were gone in about ten days and her thumb was no longer painful within the first week. Even the swelling was reduced. More unexpected was her hip that had also been bothering her nightly in bed for years, was no longer sore and achy. She was so accustomed to it that she never even thought to mention this to the homeopath. And now it was distinctly missing. This, in turn, restored her sleep to the way it was when she was younger. The most astounding relief came from her feet. She had always suffered from pain and other sensations in her heels anytime she walked too far. Yet now this pain, too, was nearly gone.
It was difficult to imagine that the little pills she took that had no side effects, were non-addictive and cost under $20, could make such a difference in her well being. Her knitting was not only done without pain, but she found that the dexterity she had lost years ago, also returned.
The homeopath informed her that she should take Rhus tox once every two weeks. After the second appointment, no follow up appointment was scheduled because she was no longer in pain. Wow! No pain and no meds! Carolynn was so delighted, she scheduled an appointment for her mother, Maddie, who also suffers from arthritis.
Maddie, in her eighties, has had arthritis ever since she was in an automobile accident nearly twenty years ago. She has taken steroids for the last three years, however, she recently read on line that steroids can cause bone loss. There was no coincidence, she thought, that she had recently broken her hip from a minor injury. It indeed seemed too extreme a break from such a minor fall. And it was the x-ray technician who made the correlation between the drug and the onset of her osteoarthritis. Why hadn't she been warned by her doctor? She wouldn't have taken the steroids had she known the consequences. Now she was hopeful that her daughter's homeopath could offer another way.
Her visit to the homeopath was not unlike Carolynn's. She learned that homeopathy has no side effects, is gentle and could be used in tandem with her anti-inflammatory medication. The best part was that she could soon reduce the medication s as her joint pain improved. And that's just what happened. The homeopath prescribed Arnica montana for Maddie, for the residual pain in her hip from the fracture. She had to admit the pain was lessened and the shaky feeling that had become a part of her daily life since the break, was also resolved. Two months later, Maddie was given another remedy, Sanguinaria for the chronic joint inflammation and pain in her neck. It was like a miracle! It took a few weeks, but soon Maddie was free of pain altogether! She told her friends and neighbors; anyone who would listen. From time to time, Maddie returns to her homeopath for what she calls a "tune up". Each visit is an opportunity to get another health issue resolved. Soon her sleep was restored, too. What used to be a nightly struggle, became deep uninterrupted sleep followed by a desire to spring into action upon arising. Life simply got easier without the little aches, pains and disturbances.
It is said that health is freedom. Freedom to pursue what each of us is meant to do. Homeopathy provides and respects the individual differences between us and offers a safe, drug free solution to debilitating disease and puts the body in order. It politely tames the disease so that it no longer exists. For both women, there's no longer a concern that knitting will be painful or will be put aside because of joint pain. Now Carolynn and Maddie go for long walks, often to the local knitting shop to get inspired for the next project. Then they walk home - the long way. They swing their arms with comfort and ease, each with a satisfied grin as they head home to wield their needles for their new knitting venture and a life worth living.
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