Healing for the superwoman

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

With its emphasis on the whole person, homeopathy can be the modern woman's life solution


Superwoman! No longer is she a cartoon hero we strive to emulate; she is real and most of us know her more intimately than we would like to admit. As modern women in today's society we face enormous stresses and pressures, juggling work and family responsibilities with the expectation that we will feel clear-headed and energised at the end of a working day. We run faster, work harder, nurturing those around us and checking things off our "to do list". But there remains a deep longing in many of us. The superwoman myth has a lot to answer for, since its unfortunate victims often end in grief with many of them feeling overburdened, stressed, exhausted, sick, and unsurprisingly, often resentful.

If we turn to conventional medicine we may be offered a drug to calm us down, to help us sleep or even to balance our "mood swings." We may be given diuretics to deal with fluid retention or painkillers to ease the pain. And while these remedies may alleviate our symptoms, the side effects of such medication may lead to other health problems ranging from fatigue and lack of vitality to digestive disorders and possible addiction. The root of the problem often goes untreated leaving us feeling lost and helpless, on a continual merry-go-around that we cannot stop. So how do we put the brakes on this continuum? For such "superwomen," it's truly amazing how we can help everyone around us but not ourselves! We think we are balancing everything but in reality we have lost the crucial balance and essential harmony of our own minds and bodies.

Homeopathy can help women, with its emphasis on the essential importance of treating the whole person and bringing our emotions, mind and body back into an optimum state of equilibrium. Women in particular tend to suffer from problem areas of their bodies being compartmentalised so that they can be managed in chunks.

For example, if we have problems with our menstrual cycle, we may be treated by a gynaecologist whereas if we are experiencing emotional trauma, we see a psychiatrist; or if the problem is hormonal, we head to the endocrinologist. Homeopathic medicine has at its heart the concept of the vital importance of holism and like other holistic healing therapies, homeopathy is not concerned with suppressing individual systems, but seeks to stimulate the body's own self-healing potential.

Because homeopathic remedies work by stimulating the body's healing system to regain a sense of balance, problems involving hormonal imbalances and the menstrual cycle respond well to homeopathic treatment. When treating a patient for PMS (pre-menstrual syndrome), after a detailed initial consultation with the patient, I selects the most appropriate remedy that covers the range of symptoms experienced, ranging from fluid retention, breast tenderness and headaches to irritability, weepiness, mood swings.

Homeopathic treatment is also effective in treating problems associated with menstruation such as heavy bleeding, prolonged, painful and absent periods. It is quite common for women who have experienced debilitating menstrual cramps for many years to have pain-free menstrual cycles after treatment.

Women with uterine fibroids can also benefit from homeopathy and treatment may prevent the need for a hysterectomy. Infertility conditions can be overcome with the use of homeopathy. It has been known to help couples conceive even when there is no known medical reason for the infertility.

Furthermore, homeopathic treatment is safe and effective during pregnancy. It can help with symptoms of morning sickness, heartburn and constipation. More women use homeopathy during labour and childbirth, and homeopathic treatment can be helpful after delivery, or during breast-feeding.

For women experiencing menopause, it can be a natural transition with homeopathy. Part of the holistic approach to menopause is that it is a natural stage of life. It is a process that can be embraced and enjoyed, like all other stages of womanhood.

Seventy per cent of patients feel a definite improvement in menopausal symptoms while using homeopathic medicines, and because of the controversy surrounding oestrogen hormone replacement therapy (HRT), women can look to homeopathic treatment as a safer alternative to hormone replacement therapy, or alongside it.

The journey through menopause can take many years, and each woman's symptoms will be different. The classical homeopathic approach is the most appropriate in matching the correct remedy to each woman's unique symptom pattern. Common menopausal symptoms are hot flashes, sleep disturbances, depression, anxiety, loss of libido, headaches, backaches, fuzzy thinking, vaginal dryness, mood swings, and irritability.

However, every woman is an individual and while there are many remedies to consider, the correct remedy can only be determined after a thorough medical consultation with a homeopathic doctor. The range of women's conditions that may be treated with homeopathy is very wide, including cystitis, migraines, fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, arthritis, anxiety, depression, insomnia, eczema, gallstones and kidney stones.

From the perspective of the "fragmented" woman, running in twenty different directions, we can view homeopathy as advantageous, stressing as it does the need to get our whole person in balance.

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