Finding the best homeopathic remedy involves lots of details. Coughs can be notoriously difficult to find the right remedy, there are so many remedies with similar symptoms. However when you have a chesty cough with phlegm have you ever thought about the taste? I was reading Boenninghausen’s Lesser Writings a while back, and he had a whole section
It’s June and officially the beginning of winter. I’m already seeing an increase of colds so here is what you need to know to keep you and your family healthy this winter. First of all, let’s talk prevention, the fundamental building blocks for health and wellbeing: lifestyle, what we eat and how we treat our bodies. nutrition is the first
As a country we’ve been pretty focused on petrol recently, so let’s turn this focus to the homeopathic remedy. It’s a remedy that has a major affinity with the skin, particularly for extreme dryness and cracking of the skin. The skin can be rough and itchy, may become red and raw looking and injuries (or where it has become scratched)
In a few weeks I’m off to the New Zealand Homeopathy Conference in Wellington, which is a fantastic opportunity to hang out with other homeopaths, as well as listen to a range of speakers on different topics. One speaker at this year’s conference in both New Zealand and later in the year in Australia, is Vanessa Young, author of The
There is a current outbreak of diphtheria in Western Australia and the Northern Territories, and as such even in New Zealand we’ve been hearing about diphtheria. So here is some more information about the disease for you so you are better informed and feel more prepared. Diphtheria is caused by the bacteria Corynebacterium diphtheriae, which produces a toxin causing severe
I grew up on the original Star Wars movies and have fond memories of watching them as a family when they would come on tv. I have also had a Star Wars marathon with my children, and really enjoyed watching them again many years later as an adult. So to celebrate International Star Wars day I thought I would prescribe
I’ve been debating posting about it this week, because it’s a weighty and polarising topic. As a pharmacist I am required to support public health measures. Vaccination is one public health measure. When we consider public health and prevention of disease over history, our most effective measures have been sanitation and raising the general health through lifestyle. There’s a reason
While it is still early in the year, if you have school aged children and need science fair ideas, planning ahead makes things so much easier. The last thing anybody needs is the stress of a last minute need to a) find a project, b) carry out an experiment, and c) get it all written up in time and presented
When I went to the 25 year celebration of the Auckland Pharmacy School last year, I was casually speaking to one of my pharmacy lecturers and mentioned that I had presented a poster at the HRI conference in Greece last year, and her response was “I didn’t know there was research in homeopathy”. It feels like a very fitting theme
Is homeopathy evidence-based medicine? This is a question I have been asked, particularly as a Pharmacist also practicing homeopathy. As part of my study in the paper Quality in Healthcare, we have been looking at evidence based medicine, and asked to reflect on our understanding and use in practice. So I decided to consider what evidence-based medicine actually means, and
I had an itch the other day, and just assumed it was a mosquito bite. However when I was still itching a few days later I actually looked and realised it had the tell-tale circular shape of ringworm. First of all, ringworm is not actually a worm or a parasite. It is a fungal skin infection that can be easily
I asked recently about what people would like to know more about, and got a diverse range of answers, many chronic conditions in different areas. I will get to them, but before I do I thought about a foundation post, that I can refer back to and that actually ties so many chronic conditions together: the nervous system. In homeopathy
Nux Vomica is one of our polychrests, a remedy with a wide sphere of action, and an excellent remedy to have in your first aid kit! Nux Vomica is the poison nut- it is made from the seeds of the Strychnine tree. The tree is found in India where the bark and seeds are used as fish poison. Nux Vomica
I had a teenage client recently tell me that taking a homeopathic remedy should feel like it looks on a video game- you get a health potion and you are revitalised. Unfortunately, homeopathy is usually a lot more subtle than that, and the results come over time. So I thought I would discuss some of the ways that you can
There are different schools of thought for New Years Resolutions- that they can be a tool for growth and change, or that they can be overly ambitious and set up for failure. It does depend on how you design these though- if they have no details, no way of checking in and being accountable, and no plans for achieving it,
I cannot believe how fast this year has gone. I make sure I spend time every year looking back at what I have done, reflecting on what went well and what I could improve on. This allows me to make realistic and useful goals for the following year, focusing on both personal and professional growth. I read once that the
A few weeks ago I shared a post about Cannabis Indica and Cannabis Sativa, one of the interesting thing when I was looking at the two remedies, was the note from Roger Morrison that he could only find 3 documented modern cases of cannabis sativa, compared to 36 modern cases or case reports for cannabis indica. This was really interesting
It’s that time of year again, it’s warming up and the sun is out – making sunburn a real risk. This is the time to start using the remedy Sol. Sol is made from sunlight- and while there is a Northern Hemisphere version, Sol Britannica, we use Sol Australis, from Australia, Southern hemisphere, which is much more intense than the
At the moment we have an outbreak in New Zealand… of fear. There is a lot of effort going into scaring the population about measles and its complications, and pushing MMR vaccination. My personal opinion is that vaccination is a personal choice- and if you consider all of the risks for the disease and the vaccine, and you choose to
There are two remedies from cannabis in our homeopathic literature: Cannabis Indica and Cannabis Sativa. Cannabis Indica is what we call marijuana, while Cannabis Sativa is hemp. John Henry Clarke notes in his Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica that they are botanically identical, and that Cannabis Indica is East Indian Cannabis Sativa, what is different is the soil and climate
Every year as a Pharmacist I need to identify two goals to focus on for my Continuing Professional Development. This year, I chose to look at Medicinal Cannabis, as we are dispensing more CBD and THC, and I recognised I didn’t know much about it. For me, writing helps me learn and assimilate the information I have found out, so
My children have been obsessed with this movie and the songs for weeks. Despite hearing the music on repeat every hour of the day, it took a wet day for me to sit down and watch the move for them. I’ve always been a fan of musicals, so animated K-pop movies are not that big a stretch and I really
Everyone is talking paracetamol, after USA President Trump made a statement that paracetamol in pregnancy increases autism risk. It has freaked a lot of people out, and I want to discuss more about this. First of all, paracetamol is metabolised in the liver, and requires glutathione to detox it. Glutathione is one of our important antioxidants and is needed to
Last year I looked at three remedies through the lens of Te Whare Tapa Whā. If you would like to read about Phosphorus, Nux Vomica and Sulphur you can find them here: https://www.homeopathbarbara.nz/homeopathic-remedies-through-a-te-ao-maori-lens/ This year I have chosen three other remedies that I use often, and have taken a new look at them. This is a snapshot of each remedy and