T-Relief, that is. I was annoyed when the company changed the name of Traumeel to T-Relief. No reason, I guess I just liked the name Traumeel. But today, I think the name T-Relief is far superior. 

I am riddled with osteoarthritis. It seems every time I have an x-ray done, I get confirmation as to why this or that place was stiff, sore or uncomfortable. My hands, wrists, knees, hips, ankles, feet — I’m sure there are more, but I haven’t had those black and white internal pictures yet. For the most part, my osteoarthritis is a non-issue. I credit bone broth and homeopathy (of course!) and exercise. If I don’t move regularly, my knees (right knee in particular) and hips get ornery. So, I make sure to walk frequently and for fairly long distances. Conversely, my hands and wrists can get sore if I use them too much. Go figure. (Actually, as I am thinking about it, perhaps that has to do with broken bones, as I broke a bunch of fingers and my wrist. Hmmm. I’ll have to noodle this further. I’ve never really given it any thought before.) 

I take absolutely no medicines or painkillers of any kind, aside from homeopathy. It is important to note that I have arthritis in many places, but I need to acknowledge that my arthritis is considered mild to moderate. (If you are suffering with severe osteoarthritis, homeopathy can probably still help, but I would recommend a more targeted homeopathic approach in addition to T-Relief.)

Occasionally, I wake up with sore hands. Today was one of those days. I grabbed T-Relief and put a small amount of the cream on my hands. Within less than 2 minutes, I had relief. True relief. No remnants of stiffness or soreness. None. That’s the moment I decided I prefer the new name of this homeopathic combination. (A few years ago I watched an older woman with pretty advanced arthritis use Traumeel and she said, “it’s like I put on gloves and I have new hands.” Yes! I can now relate to that! 

What’s in T-Relief and why does it help? Let’s take a look. Interestingly, this combination uses extremely low potencies: 1X, 2X, 3X, 4X, 6X and 10X. (For a refresher on homeopathic potencies, click here and ​here.) With these low potencies, the instructions of using it “2 to 3 times daily, or more often if necessary” make good sense*. 

Aconitum napellus or Aconite for short. Numbness and tingling can result when the inflamed joints press on nerves. Raynaud’s disease occurs more frequently in arthritis patients and it, too, can be helped by Aconite. “Red, shining swelling, very sensitive joints” (Murphy 2020) are helped by Aconite as are weak and lax ligaments of joints and sharp joint pains. Hip joints and thighs that feel lame. Trembling can also be associated with osteoarthritis and Aconite can help with this, too. 

Arnica montana. T-Relief takes, in my opinion, a scattershot approach (in a good way!) with their Arnica by including it in 1X, 3X and 10X potencies. One of these potencies is most likely going to provide some relief. Arnica is the go-to remedy for over-doing it, as well as experiencing a lame feeling. Limbs which ache as if they had been beaten. Aching as a result of exposure to cold and damp or muscular strain. Cramps, like writer’s cramp. Weakness in the hands, especially when grasping. Arnica is shown here and here and here to have anti-inflammatory effects.

Baptisia tinctoria is also excellent for aching, sore and bruised pains with great weakness. Wandering pains as well as stiffness and pain. 

Belladonna is well known for any ailment which is red and hot. Swollen joints, cramping pains. Spasms and shifting pains and the cold limbs which can sometimes result from arthritis. 

Bellis perennis, the common daisy, is amazing for aching pains, new or old. (If you are suffering from old injury pains, Bellis perennis may be your new best friend.) Sore joints as well as muscular soreness. A bruised, aching, sore pain. Tight wrists. Hip pains that are worse for exertion. 

Calendula officinalis. Calendula has been shown to be anti-inflammatory (and here, too) as well as being useful in repairing damaged tissues and when we get right down to it, what is osteoarthritis? “Osteoarthritis is a joint disease in which the tissues in the joint break down over time” (NIAMS 2019) so it makes sense that Calendula would be helpful in repairing not just superficial wounds, but also the deeper tissues. Like Belladonna, Calendula can also help with cold hands and feet. 

Chamomilla The Materia Medica does have some guidance regarding Chamomilla assisting when ankles give way, when there are pains in the hips and loins and numbness and stiffness of hands, particularly when grasping objects. However, I think Chamomilla’s biggest contribution to this combination remedy is its ability to soothe irritability and anger. Not being able to easily do, or do at all, what you want to do, inevitably leads to irritability. If Chamomilla can help soothe a teething toddler, it can help a grumpy old arthritic person! 

Echinacea also addresses cold hands and feet as well as aching, weakness and pain in general. 

Hamamelis virginiana is another good pain remedy. It is indicated in very sore muscles and joints and it is one of the most highly indicated remedies for varicose veins which have been found to be associated with osteoarthritis (Sisto et al. 1995). 

Hypericum perforatum is another excellent nerve remedy as well as a good remedy for when the joints feel bruised. It is also a highly indicated remedy for pain in general, especially radiating or shooting pains.

Millefolium is a pain remedy, not terribly specific to arthritis with the exception of sprains and strains of joints. (Remember, T-Relief is not specifically formulated for arthritis, it is for pain, in general.)

Ruta graveleons is a big remedy for bruised pain, particularly in the bones and shows an affinity for joints, ankles and wrists. Cracking in joints. Knees which give way. Pains in the bones of feet and ankles. Pain and stiffness in wrists and hands. 

Symphytum officinale is for bone pain and more importantly, complaints and pains of cartilage. Aching hip pain as well as joint pain, generally. See here and here for research on Comfrey, AKA Symphytum.)

As you can see, T-Relief is a beautiful combination of low potency homeopathic remedies to assist in the relieving of mild to moderate arthritis pain.

P.S. Don’t be surprised if you rub some T-Relief into your hands and find relief in your knee. Once the remedies are in your system (in this case via the skin), you will likely find relief all over, not just where it was applied.


Julia Coyte, CHom
Classically Practical homeopath


#wellnessawaits


* It’s always important to read the directions and use according to manufacturer’s recommendations.

REFERENCE LIST

Arthritis National Research Foundation, 2021. Does arthritis cause numbness or tingling? [online]. Arthritis Research | Arthritis National Research Foundation. 

Carmona-Terés, V., Moix-Queraltó, J., Pujol-Ribera, E., Lumillo-Gutiérrez, I., Mas, X., Batlle-Gualda, E., Gobbo-Montoya, M., Jodar-Fernández, L., and Berenguera, A., 2017. Understanding knee osteoarthritis from the patients’ perspective: a qualitative study. BMC musculoskeletal disorders [online], 18 (1), 225. 

Grube, B., Grünwald, J., Krug, L., and Staiger, C., 2007. Efficacy of a comfrey root (Symphyti offic. radix) extract ointment in the treatment of patients with painful osteoarthritis of the knee: Results of a double-blind, randomised, bicenter, placebo-controlled trial. Phytomedicine [online], 14 (1), 2–10. 

Jurca, T., Józsa, L., Suciu, R., Pallag, A., Marian, E., Bácskay, I., Mureșan, M., Stan, R. L., Cevei, M., Cioară, F., Vicaș, L., and Fehér, P., 2020. Formulation of Topical Dosage Forms Containing Synthetic and Natural Anti-Inflammatory Agents for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Molecules [online], 26 (1). 

Marzotto, M., Arruda-Silva, F., and Bellavite, P., 2020. Fibronectin Gene Up-regulation by Arnica montana in Human Macrophages: Validation by Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay. Homeopathy [online], 109 (03), 140–145. 

Murphy, R., 2006. Nature’s materia medica : 1,400 homeopathic and herbal remedies. 3rd ed. Blackburg, Va.: Lotus Health Institute, November.

Murphy, R., 2020. Nature’s materia medica : 1,400 homeopathic and herbal remedies. 4th edition. Blackburg, Va.: Lotus Health Institute, November.

NIAMS, 2019. NIAMS Health Information on Osteoarthritis [online]. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. 

Sisto, T., Reunanen, A., Laurikka, J., Impivaara, O., Heliövaara, M., Knekt, P., and Aromaa, A., 1995. Prevalence and risk factors of varicose veins in lower extremities: mini-Finland health survey. The European Journal of Surgery = Acta Chirurgica [online], 161 (6), 405–414. 

Staiger, C., 2012. Comfrey: A Clinical Overview. Phytotherapy Research [online], 26 (10), n/a-n/a. 
‌​

Ladders are deceptively dangerous. A few years ago a friend fell from a 2-story ladder and suffered horrific injuries resulting in numerous surgeries and the lingering potential loss of a limb. Today I learned of another friend who fell off what was described only as a tall ladder. I’m told he broke 3 ribs, his nose and his arm and required some stitches in his face and was knocked unconscious. I can’t even imagine the pain he is enduring.

Without further information of what sorts of interventions he has been given, here is what I would suggest, homeopathically speaking, to help find some relief after such a major accident.

When something like this happens, you have to address the most serious aspects first and in this case that would be the injury to the head.

He has apparently not suffered any brain damage, thank goodness. With a knock to the head like that though, I would start things off with a dose of homeopathic Arnica montana in as high a potency as you have available. Arnica is the first homeopathic remedy to think of after an accident in general and more specifically following an injury to the head. Arnica is one of 2 highly indicated remedies for head injuries. (Nat sulph is the other remedy to consider in this scenario.) Arnica is reputed to help with shock: Traumatic shock, shock from blood loss, shock from fractures, surgical shock and even mental shock. Arnica is also known to help with all these types of pains in general, including the pain from all the broken bones as well as the inevitable bruising* that will follow.

Broken ribs. 3 of them! Homeopathic Bryonia alba is known as the “grumpy bear” remedy. A Bryonia pain is virtually always aggravated by motion (Morrison 1993). When it hurts to move. When it hurts to breathe. When it hurts to even move your eyes. When you hurt that much, you’re gonna’ be grumpy. Bryonia is also an excellent remedy for the pain from broken bones, which, of course, hurt when you move them.

For the stitches, homeopathic Calendula would be where I would start. Calendula is amazingly soothing in addition to its ability to help heal wounds*. Calendula can be taken both internally as well as used topically (by dissolving some pellets in water and then soaking cloths or bandages in the solution and applying them to the area).

*For research showing the benefits of Calendula and wound healing and Arnica for bruising,  check out my research page.

His loved ones are suffering right along with him. Ignatia amara may help to address the worry and the fear they are enduring. Aconite might be in order if they witnessed the fall, to help with that shock, especially if the image keeps re-playing in their mind.

How often to take the remedies following an injury varies and is dependent on the severity of the injury and the resulting pain. Let this pain be your guide. The worse the pain, the more frequent the administration of the remedies. With the remedies suggested above, I would do the following:

Arnica: Immediately following the injury and repeat as necessary until the person is calm. Following that, begin alternating Arnica and Bryonia every hour until the pain is significantly lessened. (Note: this may need to be more frequent at the start.) 

Calendula 30, twice daily. Re-apply the topical Calendula dressings as they begin to dry out until no longer needed for pain and the risk of infection has passed.

After the initial few doses, wait for the pain to return before taking another dose. Do not take the remedies if there is no pain. If the pain returns, that is the time to take the remedy.

Support remedies to be considered:
​Calcium phosphorica 6x (Calc-phos) and Calcium Fluoride 12x (Calc-fluor) are tissue salts (cell salts) which can be taken daily, or even twice daily, for bone support.

For the loved ones:
Aconite immediately and repeat until they are calm and that initial shock has subsided.
Ignatia, twice daily until the stressful situation has stabilized.

Be mindful of deceptively dangerous contraptions!


Julia Coyte, CHom
Classically Practical Homeopathy


#wellnessawaits  #homeopathycanhelp

Sources:
Morrison, R., 1993. Desktop guide to keynotes and confirmatory symptoms. Nevada City, Calif.: Hahnemann Clinic Pub.
‌

One could be forgiven for finding confusion that results from heel pain. Stress fracture? Arthritis? Tendinitis? Achilles tendon issues? Bursitis? Maybe. A common cause of heel pain is plantar fasciitis.

Plantar: relating to the sole of the foot. Fasciitis: inflammation of the fascia, the thin, fibrous tissue that surrounds muscles or other organs. The “itis” means it is inflamed.

Plantar fasciitis is a painful experience. Every step. Standing too long. Those first steps when you get up from sitting or get out of bed in the morning. When I was suffering from it, I was seriously contemplating what my life would be like when I could no longer walk. That’s how bad the pain was.

I tried the Banerji protocol for Plantar fasciitis: Symphytum 200c mixed with Rhus tox 30c, taken twice daily until better. 

I took it twice daily for a long time. It wasn’t getting better.

Then, I had an x-ray done. Aha! I had heel spurs. The internet will tell you that heel spurs are not (necessarily) what causes the pain, it’s the plantar fasciitis that causes the pain. They figured this out because once upon a time they used to do surgery to remove the bone spur, but I guess that didn’t fix the pain so they decided that heel spurs aren’t painful.

I disagree. Why do I disagree? Because when I took the remedy for bone spurs, Hekla lava 200c, my pain lessened by 80% within about a week.  After many, many weeks of taking the plantar fasciitis remedy and getting nothing, and then trying a few other remedies to no avail — this was amazing progress.

Could it have been that the Symphytum/Rhus tox combination finally kicked in and did what it was supposed to do? Maybe. Or, it could be a causal relationship between the two conditions. It could be that the plantar fasciitis causes the bone spurs or it could be that the bone spurs some how causes the plantar fasciitis. Heel spurs (aka plantar calcaneal spurs) are present in 45%-85% of those with plantar fasciitis (Kirkpatrick, Yassaie and Mirjalili, 2017). I don't think they have figured all this out yet.  

When you look at the remedy Hekla lava and how it was discovered, I’m going to give it the credit for reducing my pain. 

Hekla (sometimes spelled Hecla) lava is named after the Hekla volcano in Iceland. In the 1800s, a London physician noticed that the sheep grazing a short distance from the volcano had bone deformities (exostosis) of the jaws. They surmised that the finer ash from the volcano was actually the culprit. So, like cures like. The ash of the Hekla volcano causes exostosis of the jaws. (Exostosis: benign outgrowth of cartilaginous (made of cartilage) tissue on a bone.) The potentized (the dilution process used to make homeopathic remedies) Hekla lava can assist in removing the exostoses.

I have not had a follow up x-ray to see if the heel spurs are gone. I don’t care, because the pain is gone. But, this story is a good indication of how conventional medicine and homeopathy can work nicely together. According to the Internet, the main answers to these painful foot problems in conventional medicine are: rest, icing the foot, orthotics, physical therapy, anti-inflammatory medicines, cortisone injections and surgery. To each their own.

If you are experiencing foot or heel pain, contact me to see if homeopathy might help you.

For more information:
1. on the proving of Heckla lava
​2. Kirkpatrick, Yassaie and Mirjalili, 2017: The plantar calcaneal spur: a review of anatomy, histology, etiology and key associations.

Graphic content warning. If you’re squeamish, you can start at the 3rd paragraph.

Back in February of this year, I did a doozy. In hindsight, I perhaps shouldn’t have been handling a knife. I was having an “off” day. But, life goes on and I was preparing dinner and slicing a sweet potato. Turns out I sliced a nice hunk off the pad of my left ring finger!

That was shocking, I tell you. The blood was profuse. My finger was throbbing with pain. Part of my finger remained on the blade of the knife. My husband happened to be on the phone with his cousin/doctor who informed him that there was not much that could be done since there was no skin left to reattach. I paced around with my arm straight up over my head to hopefully staunch the bleeding, but it didn’t help much.

Start here, if you're squeamish.
I am happy to say we have a good first aid kit at home* and my husband and son went to work to get me bandaged up. Meanwhile, I went to my cupboard and took Hypericum 30x which happened to be sitting in the kitchen cupboard from the last time one of us had some dental work done. The pain very quickly abated. Hypericum is well known homeopathic remedy for its positive effect on nerve rich areas and “lacerations with intolerable pains.” That fit the description of what was happening for me, I assure you.

I also right away took a dose each of homeopathic Aconite and Arnica to address the shock and some Phosphorus for the bleeding. With my finger wrapped up well and propped on a pillow for the night and a couple of doses of Hypericum 200c in me, I miraculously got a pretty good night’s sleep. I took very good care of myself and my poor, sore finger for the next few days, but I still managed to develop an infection. I did an on-line call with a physician who prescribed both an antibiotic and a silver ointment. I filled the prescription for the antibiotic (just in case) but I chose to first treat the infection using only homeopathy, which I successfully did. (I did use the silver ointment for a couple of days because it needed something between the wound and the bandaid.)

I continued with the Hypericum 200c and then I added Arnica routinely after learning about a study showing the positive effects of Arnica on tissue development and healing. Once the skin had grown back, I used Helios’ Healing Cream for a few more weeks. This cream is made from tinctures of Calendula and Symphytum with Thiosinaminum 6x and Vitamin E oil.

Calendula has a long history of wound healing in the herbal world. (Follow these links for a review of Calendula’s wound healing properties in canine dermatology and a study on Symphytum’s beneficial effects on human skin fibroblasts.) And here for a 1910 article talking about the fact that “thiosinamine is not a new drug” and has been used in treating scars since way back when.

It’s been 6 months and I am happy to say that with the help of homeopathy, the skin grew back on my finger — you really have to look at it in the right light to see the circle of scar tissue. It is tender now and again if I knick it or pinch it but, all in all, I am pleased with how this potentially disastrous situation turned out.

NOTE: This is how I decided to treat my injury. I am not recommending anyone who suffers a similar fate to do it this way. Emergency rooms are there for this very reason.

* If you don’t have a good first aid kit at home, I suggest you get on that. Most of the readily available kits are pretty lame, in my opinion. The big kit we have at home I created over the years after researching what may be needed in an emergency. Recently, I found really good kits from My Medic. I keep one of these in the RV and have been very pleased with it. I do not have any affiliation with this company, I just like their products. https://mymedic.com

A stiff neck is more than a pain in the neck. A stiff neck can ruin your day and your sleep! Grumpiness sets in. Driving is difficult and forget reversing out of your garage — that’s not even an option! The fatigue from the missing sleep sets you up for more stiffness and holding your neck in a position to keep the pain (somewhat) at bay can cause other muscular problems to follow.

Bad pillows. Too much computer work. Old injuries. Long drives. It doesn’t matter what has caused the pain. 

Torticollis, the official name for a stiff neck, can result in pain, neck spasms, and the inability to turn your head. Traditional therapy may include heat, physical therapy or wearing a neck collar.

The Banerji’s have provided another homeopathic option. Symphytum 200c mixed with Rhus tox 30c is the Banerji Protocol for this pain. Drop a couple of pellets of each of the homeopathic remedies in your mouth at the same time and let them dissolve. Repeat twice daily, or even more frequently as indicated by the pain and discomfort.

Symphytum officinale, also known as comfrey or “knit bone” is a well known homeopathic remedy to assist in bone fractures, but it is also very helpful for backaches/pain from overexertion and injuries to cartilage, ligaments, joints and tendons — with excessive pain. 

Rhus tox is a go-to homeopathic remedy for joint pains that are worse at first movement. If you’ve had a stiff neck, you know that initial turn of the head can be excruciating, a symptom indicating that Rhus tox is a good fit for this condition. 

I have had clients who have experienced relief in seconds from this homeopathic combination, but not everybody’s pain will resolve that quickly. What you’re looking to happen is a little less stiffness; a longer period of time before the stiffness sets in again and ultimately a return back to a normal swivel and unhindered activities.

Not all stiff necks are a simple fix and may need further homeopathic investigation. If you find yourself in that position, contact me and set up an acute appointment and we’ll see what we can do to get you on your way again.

And, like any condition, if you don’t have quick resolution, have yourself checked out by a medical professional.