Stress-free treatment for a sick child

Dr Ludmila Vassilieva (MBBS, MD, PhD, GP, Homeopath) is a certified doctor specialising in homeopathy. Having practised medicine for over 25 years, she is the first licensed homeopathic doctor in Dubai. She writes a fortnightly column for Tabloid. Today: Homeopathy for children

Homeopathy aims to heal illnesses in a way that causes the least harm and discomfort to children


Every parent has faced the worrying and frustrating experience of dealing with a sick child. Alleviating their discomfort and pain then becomes your top priority, which in turns involves administering medicines to your child.

Homeopathy aims to heal illnesses in a way that causes the least harm and discomfort to your child. Unlike antibiotics, homeopathic pills do not hamper digestion, lower resistance power or produce allergies. Moreover, homeopathic medicines do not harm even if taken long-term.

The pills, sweet in taste are readily accepted by children. They are never bitter and cause no nausea. Plus, they are so easy to take that they can be given to even one-day-old neonates.

Homeopathy and holistic medicine recognises that the human body is equipped to resist disease and heal injuries.

When disease or illness takes hold, especially in children, my first instinct is to determine what can be done to strengthen the natural bodily resistance and healing agents so that they can act against the disease more effectively and bring the body back into balance.

Common children's ailments and diseases are largely the result of an imbalance in metabolism and lack of immunity. Homeopathy is a safe and effective treatment that focuses on strengthening the child's immune system and balancing his or her metabolism rather than alleviating the child's specific symptom.

As a homeopathic doctor, I treat people. For example, when I see a child with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), I treat the child with ADD not the ADD itself. Each child is unique, and it is that uniqueness that results in homeopathic prescriptions that are written differently from those in conventional medicine. If parents speak about their child's inability to sit still, difficulty in concentrating and other symptoms of ADD, this behaviour would certainly be taken into account, but in combination with the child's other problems which may include a history of scarlet fever in earlier childhood, a strong fear of birds, recurrent nightmares and no one coming to the rescue, or a particular food craving.

I try to understand the uniqueness of the patient, in this instance the child. What needs to be treated is the specific pattern of symptoms that the child presents.

Only that one homeopathic medicine — from over 2,000 homeopathic medicines used to treat ADD/ADHD — that specifically matches the child's unique symptoms can help him.

Homeopathy can offer effective solutions for children with clingy behaviour, difficulties sleeping, behavioural problems, learning disabilities, fears, shyness, excessive anger, skin conditions and reactions to vaccines.

It is highly effective in the treatment of acute diseases in childhood, yielding rapid results in a gentle manner by stimulating the child's immune system rather than suppressing it.

During the teenage years homeopathy can help with the hormonal changes of puberty and the acne that often appears at this time.

But primarily, it can assist with the emotional upheavals which frequently occur as girls make the transition to womanhood.

In conclusion, while children experience similar problems ranging from teething, colic, colds and skin problems in their younger years to acne, emotional disorders and problems related to puberty in their teens, the homeopathic approach recognises that every child is different.

Therefore a child's behaviour and his or her reactions must be carefully studied before a homeopathic medicine is selected.


How a child was healed

At one month Esraa had her first outbreak of eczema. Like most parents, Esraa's parents took her to the paediatrician who prescribed cortisone cream to be applied topically to the affected areas. While this initially relieved symptoms, it was not long before the skin condition re-emerged spreading to the child's arms and legs.

Over the next several years, her father, Abdullah Ahmed, took her to various paediatricians and dermatologists around the world, all of whom continued prescribing similar ointments and creams, and eventually antibiotics. After continued efforts, both allopathic and alternative, Esraa's parents were resigned to the fact that there was no cure for their daughter, until they met me in February 2003.

Upon initial consultation, I asked Abdullah about his daughter's stomach and digestion and determined that Esraa, now 10, had been suffering from constipation since her early years, and assuming this was normal, she never complained. As a result, she was not eliminating toxins from her body causing her body to react negatively through the manifestation of eczema.

I prescribed some homeopathic medication and a natural diet free from refined sugars and carbohydrates. Within the first five to seven days, Abdullah couldn't believe that for the first time in 10 years, Esraa's itching had diminished.

Over the next several months, she achieved 90 per cent recovery. "All the doctors I had seen told us the eczema was not treatable," said Abdullah.

WHAT IT TREATS

Homeopathy can help common childhood problems like:
• Colic; fever; teething; common colds; sleep disorders; eczema; psoriasis; fungal infections; growing pains; arthritis; acne; emotional disorders; poor concentration; bed-wetting; gastritis; headaches; bruises; injuries; burns.


— Dr Ludmila Vassilieva can be contacted at the Holistic Healing Medical Centre in Dubai