[absynthguzzler]

Hmmm , here's a personal episode . Some might change their opinions on alternative medicine.

Dad had a major electric shock during a wedding ceremony when he was trying to move one of them huge Almonard Fans. The incident lasted close to 18 seconds and whilst the entry wound was found around his right wrist as he tried to grab the stand and the exit wound was on his left thigh. Luckily , dad lost his balance and fell down and this fall helped disconnect the fan. There was practically no one in the hall when dad had this grueling shock coz it was still prior to the function .

After 3 days of intensive care , it was found that his right arm had severe internal damage and most of the nerves and muscles had been charred. The arm was supposedly rotting from the inside and there was nothing the doctors could do apart from an amputation . The electric shock path had missed the heart by just a few inches . In addition to this , we were also told that the ulnar nerve has been twisted and fallen out of line and the nerve is getting "pinched internally" and is not helping the healing. Dad couldn't pick or lift even a sheet of paper , leave alone a pen .

After recieving this kind of news , we decided to get opinions from the best of the best. Paid a visit to Wellington Hospital , London and the diagnosis was the same . Within 30 mins after seeing the reports we were told .................... " anything we attempt on your dad would be an experiment, the ulnar nerve operation has been attempted few times and its been a failure so far" .To be told that the treatment would be an experiment and my dad would be a specimen before they amputate the arm anyways was not what we hoped .

We decided to give acupuncture a try and their treatment was temporary , meaning we would have to check in and check out every so often . With that ruled out since staying out of India wasn't an option , we decided to go for Ayurveda .

A few strings were pulled and we finally got admission in Arya Vaidya Shala , Kottakal for treatment . Diagnosis was done , no specific treatment was spoken about by the Wodiyars and asked us to just check ourselves in for 2 weeks. Dad's complete diet was changed , mixed with severe doses of kashayams that could make anyone's face cringe in displeasure of the smell and taste . 3-4 hours of body massage every day , and insane amounts of hot oil of various types was used. Gunny sacks filled with hot rocks and what not , basically poor dad became the likes of a shirt in a dhobiwala's hands going about his business. The routine was gruesome , the treatment was doubtful to our eyes , the arm was not paid attention to at any particular point even after umpteen requests to know whats happening inside , the concoctions made to swallow were pukish but within 2 weeks of all this, my dad started noticing that he's regained a wee bit of strength in his fingers and was able to reuse his arm in minor areas like being able to squeeze a sponge ball and stuff .

From being asked to be an experiment in English Medicine and loose an arm in charity , to being able to get the feeling back in his arm through Ayurveda surely has been an amazing and happy ending and an eye opener for us. 6 months down the line , everything is back to normal and life's not changed but for my respect to Indian Science and its Research .

[gavinimurthy]

Originally Posted by kalpeshc

Now its the difficult task of finding the right doc. How does one go about selecting a 'good' doctor?

I will open a seperate thread to answer this question. It will be quite elaborate and will touch upon the various shades of present day homeopathic practice.

Originally Posted by kri$hna

So, I hear a lot of guys telling, we should avoid coffee & tea while using homeo medication. Is that true ? and why ? I take atleast 1 cup of coffee & 1 cup of tea everyday ... so i just want to know the facts right

You need to stop coffee or tea if you are addicted to it to such an extant that you get symptoms like head ache if you miss it at the customary time.

You must report this fact to your homeopath so that he wil include this too in his analysis and see that the medicine covers this aspect too and will make you comfortable despite the coffee.

On the other hand if you can miss your coffee/tea without any problem except for the craving , there is no need to stop taking it.

Enjoy your normal food while homeopathy take cares of you.

Murthy

[nairrk]

Originally Posted by Samurai

This thread is for sharing positive and negative experiences with alternatives. If you are a non-believer and only want to argue or insult people who are using alternative medicine, don't click on reply button. It is that easy.

You are 100% correct- nowhere mentioned that one should leave allopathy and follow homoepathy (alternative medicine - anything other than allopathy comes under alternative medicine). Only trying to explain the good experiences about it and there seems no need for straightaway insult.
I too fully aware of homoepathy and magnetology and 100% believe in this medicine/practise.
Any doubts/clarifications can be exchanged in this forum but better not taking things in the offensive way? (some one who do not like this topic may skip and go to the next topic?)

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Samurai

This thread is for sharing positive and negative experiences with alternatives. If you are a non-believer and only want to argue or insult people who are using alternative medicine, don't click on reply button. It is that easy.

That's not how it happens in T-BHP, right? If someone says Maruti 800 is better than BMW 3 Series, we don't say people who disagree with this, please don't click on the reply button.
As long as you are arguing (debate is probably a better word) without insulting the other person, it should be fine, right? I don't believe I insulted any body in this thread.

Originally Posted by Samurai

Don't take things out of context. Gavinimurthy already clarified that you misquoted him.

In his original post, he said that homeopathy is his hobby. Then he was asked if it's legal to treat people without having a degree in homeopathy. He replied

Similarly the homeopathic learners too start with minor problems and gradually take up more complicated cases as their confidence builds up. Of course they should have enough acquired knowledge about the diseases and should know when to seek outside help when needed.
So as long as one knows his limitations there is no harm in trying out homeopathy on one's own to start with and later with their family. Reading and discussing with homeopaths helps a lot in getting confidence.

Read the above - it's pretty apparent what it means - it means "it's ok for people to learn about homeopathy on their own & treat themselves & then even their family.

Originally Posted by Samurai

The homeopath we consult happens to be MBBS doctor with MF(HOM) LONDON. So he understands both side and uses either treatment as he deems fit.

I didn't comment anything about you at all.

[bblost]

Originally Posted by absynthguzzler

After recieving this kind of news , we decided to get opinions from the best of the best. Paid a visit to Wellington Hospital , London and the diagnosis was the same . Within 30 mins after seeing the reports we were told .................... " anything we attempt on your dad would be an experiment, the ulnar nerve operation has been attempted few times and its been a failure so far" .To be told that the treatment would be an experiment and my dad would be a specimen before they amputate the arm anyways was not what we hoped .

Going OT with personal experience.

In 1995 I met with a foolish accident in my house. Fell on my glass top center table. The glass broke and cut thru my Ulnar vein, artery. My Ulnar nerve was also cut albeit partially. The doc said it was hanging on by a whisker.

The surgery lasted close to two hours. I was operated in a small nursing home in Chennai (Adyar) called Kalyani Nursing Home by Dr Raju

Needed to wear a plaster cast for almost a month.
Then some basic physiotherapy for 2 months. This involved shocking my hand with a burst of voltage.

For a long period of time the left part of my palm gave weird sensations. Cold water would feel like fire and so on.
Sometimes weather changes causes a mild burning feel.

Its 15 years since my Ulnar was operated successfully.

[tacho]

Originally Posted by gavinimurthy

This is the typical skeptic's view. They make comments like these without really understanding what is homeopathy. In all probability they never tried homeopathy.

I am obviously not going to get into an argument with you since it's against the rules. Just for the record, I tried homeopathy in the past.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by absynthguzzler

From being asked to be an experiment in English Medicine and loose an arm in charity , to being able to get the feeling back in his arm through Ayurveda surely has been an amazing and happy ending and an eye opener for us. 6 months down the line , everything is back to normal and life's not changed but for my respect to Indian Science and its Research .

You didn't ask for double blind studies before risking your dad to Ayurvedic medicine? Some would call that reckless.

Honestly speaking, most of us try modern/allopathic medicine first. Only when it doesn't give results or has no answers, we look at Ayurveda or Homeopathy. Often it works, that is what we want to share in this thread. Thanks for sharing your experience.

Originally Posted by carboy

That's not how it happens in T-BHP, right? If someone says Maruti 800 is better than BMW 3 Series, we don't say people who disagree with this, please don't click on the reply button.
As long as you are arguing (debate is probably a better word) without insulting the other person, it should be fine, right? I don't believe I insulted any body in this thread.

We are a car forum, debating about cars is what we do. If somebody says Maruti 800 is better than BMW 3 series, he could be right from VFM or city driving point of view, which is fine. What happened in this thread is that homeopathy users were insulted outright. But we don't allow members abuse others just because they have a different opinion. I know you haven't insulted anybody, but others who did have been infracted.

If the non-believers are not able to comment without insulting, they better not comment.

[TaureanBull]

I was suffering from a strange disease about 3 years back. I would have flush on my face (as if face is radiating heat) and the face would become warm like it becomes after one runs few kms. Eyes too warm. I tried a lot of allopathic medicine but did not get rid of this disease. Few even advised me to see a Psychologist . One of my relative advised me to go a homeopathic doctor who had given some good treatment for his daughter's asthma problem. I went to the doctor and to my surprise he immediately diagnosed the problem. It was a simple cold (sinusitis) in which the mucus had dried up in the sinuses. After one month of medicine I was as fit as ever.

@Mod : I had asked Murthy an innocent question. If it does not invite a moderator action and does not start an unwanted debate, I want to ask the forum the legal position on practicing this particular medicine without registration in India. This is purely for knowledge sake. If you feel it may start an unhealthy debate please delete the post.

[nairrk]

Afaik, practising any branch of medicine without registration is illegal in India. But, in villages there are many small treatment places where these kind of treatments are going on and some of them are good and some are doing only for money. Many people learn such practises from their father or grand father (its a family profession like) and people still believe them. important is - it is low cost medicines so as poor people can afford (dignose done purely on listening the symptem of the desease from the patient - no xray or blood-urine test done).

[gavinimurthy]

When childern fall while running abrasions may occur on the hands, legs, knees and other places. There may be blood oozing out. There is a very good mother tincture available in homeopathic shops called calendula.

Mix about 10 drops in half tumbler of water. After thoroughly washing the affected area with plain water, apply this tincture with a soft cloth and let it dry on it's own.

There will be no pain after half an hour and by the next day morning you can see that the wound is already healing. No need to go for antibiotic ointments.

Try it out next time and see the amazing results yourself.

This is not strictly homeopathy. The therapy's correct name is phytotherapy. However many people view it as part of homeopathy and many homeopaths practice phytotherapy too.

Murthy

[Dreamy]

Let me put my 2 cents to this without insulting anybody nor any system of medicines.
Homeopathy is practiced by qualified doctors who also go through same education as any MBBS doctor except MBBS students read about pharmacology and homeopathic students about there medicines which again is in different strength unlike allopathic medicines.
All system of medicines excels in treating some disease. i mean all diseases are treated by different systems of medicine but some system excels in treating some disease, some medicines of homeopathy for Eg Thuja is used by dermatologist to treat warts , mind here its used in a same strength as used in homeopathy.
Dear moderators i have tried to put in my words without offending anybody, if you feels this post doesn't suit here please delete

[carboy]

Originally Posted by gavinimurthy

When childern fall while running abrasions may occur on the hands, legs, knees and other places. There may be blood oozing out. There is a very good mother tincture available in homeopathic shops called calendula.

Mix about 10 drops in half tumbler of water. After thoroughly washing the affected area with plain water, apply this tincture with a soft cloth and let it dry on it's own.

There will be no pain after half an hour and by the next day morning you can see that the wound is already healing. No need to go for antibiotic ointments.

Try it out next time and see the amazing results yourself.

Murthy

Calendula has antibacterial properties just like an allopathic antibiotics.
A lot of early allopathic antibiotics are also derived from natural substances - fungus & other bacteria.

Pencillin - the first antibiotic - comes from fungus.
Over time, bacteria mutated to became resistant to Pencillin & other natural antibiotics & hence synthetic antibiotics needed to be created.
Based on this it's very likely that if Calendula starts getting used widely, bacteria will surely mutate to develop resistance to it & it would stop working.

Antibiotics are the wonder drugs which changed the world. Before pencillin was discovered, people used to die from infections or needed amputation etc.

Other than Calendula, there are many other natural antibacterials (other than pencillium etc which are already used in allopathy).

Treetea oil is also a good topical antibacterial. Unfortunately, inspite of being natural, it's highly toxic - so it cannot be taken orally - can only be used topically.

This is my biggest grouse with herbal medicine supporters - the claim that alternative medicine is free from side effects - there is no basis for this claim.

Natural substances can be toxic, harmful & have side effects.
Snake poison is natural & so is poison ivy. Forget these things, take a simple thing like a potato or wheat. Eating a potato or wheat without cooking them can cause serious problems.

My wife is a firm believer in the efficacy of Ayurveda - she has used it for many years very successfully. However, 2 years back she had a serious side effect from an Ayurvedic medicine. Because of this she no longer takes any Ayurvedic medicines except those which she has taken earlier & knows that it doesn't give her problems. The said medicine was prescribed & manufactured by Aryavaidyashala Kottakal.

Lot more Allopathic medicines are derived from Natural Stuff.
The French Lilac plant is an excellent anti-diabetic. It's reduces blood sugar. Unfortunately, it has a side effect - it can cause lactic acidosis sometimes which can even lead to death.

Metformin is an allopathic medicine which is produced by studying the French Lilac plant - it's as effective as the plant in reducing blood sugar, but the chances of lactic acidosis is highly reduced with Metformin as compared to the plant.

A very new injectible medication for Diabetes is Exenatide(Byetta). Exenatide is made by studying the saliva of a poisonous lizard called the Gila Monster & isolating a hormone from it.

Oxycodone which is a superstrong allopathic painkiller - used in cancer patients & patients suffering really bad pain in USA & many other countries - comes from the poppy plant (morphine). Unfortunately not available easily in India (patients need a license from the Govt to get this medicine). This is because of a side effects - it is addictive when used for a long time!!

Codeine is another allopathic drug which is derived from the poppy plant.

Nicotene is another natural substance. We all know how additive it is. But it's not the harmful part of the cigarette - tar is.

Nicotine has quite a few good properties. It can used to treat Parkinsons, ulcerative colitis & some kinds of epilepsies etc (as an aside smokers have less chance of getting Parkinsons as compared to non-smokers because of this). But it has a bad side effect - it's additive.


My point being - natural substances also side effects. And allopathy has both natural & synthetic medicines.

[TaureanBull]

I hope preventive medication also falls under the scope of this thread. I would like the forum members to contribute on the preventive medications they know. I know a few:-

1. Pranayam helps in preventing sinus related diseases.

2. Green tea burns cholesterol. It reduces stress and a very good anti-oxidant. (note taking without milk and preferably with honey).

3. Hibiscus tea also burns cholesterol and studies have proved that it reduces blood pressure levels by up to 20 (say from 150 to 130) after regular use for three months. It is not recommended for persons with low BP levels.

@Mod : I hope its in the preview of the thread. Else request you to merge with an appropriate thread.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by TaureanBull

I hope preventive medication also falls under the scope of this thread. I would like the forum members to contribute on the preventive medications they know. I know a few:-

1. Pranayam helps in preventing sinus related diseases.

For people with chronic sinusitis, the best way is a yoga technique called Jal Neti ->

YouTube - Neti (Jal Neti)

It's not as difficult or bad as it looks - I have tried it for fun, it was not difficult or uncomfortable. It's unforcomforable with plain water, but if you use slightly lukewarm water with a little salt (isotonic solution), it's not at all unconfortable. I was able to do it the first time I tried it.
This has helped many chronic sinusitis sufferers all over the world,
even those with sinus polyps etc. This is so much a proven technique, that a lot of websites have sprung up which sell you jal neti pots etc.

Latest studies also shows that using Ringers Solution instead of salt water for doing the Jal Neti is even more effective.

[phamilyman]

Another personal experience of mine is with sujok - Welcome to the world of sujok. The only official and authoritative organisation of International Su Jok Therapy Association under Prof. Park Jae Woo is the link of the Indian expert. One can order books/items from there and the impact has really been great esp in backpains. Its good for lots of office colleagues with lower back / cervical pains!