Health Conditions
ealth challenges—we will try not to define them as "problems"—are grouped in categories by age/life stages, gender, body system or action. The use of herbs, regarded as "medicine of the people" for millennia in all cultures, and homeopathy, a gentle, effective system used around the world for some 200 years, will be demonstrated for common ailments. The use of herbals and homeopathy requires the patient pays close attention to her body (or her child's) and chooses medicine for the particular symptoms of an ailment at that time. (With over-the-counter medicines and pharmaceuticals we tend to buy into the notion that one-medicine and one-dosage fits all, and we've been taught to "trust the doctor" so we are not inclined to pay such close attention to what these medicines do to our bodies.)
Colds, for example, move through stages of development: early stages with sneezing, runny nose, sore throat through to a "ripe" cold with thick nasal discharge. And individuals' colds develop differently, requiring varying medicines. Headaches (in the Women' s Health section), too, have widely varied causes, and homeopathy aimed at the specific symptoms gives immediate relief and healing, safely! The body is a dynamic, ever-healing organism, so herbal or homeopathic medicine is adjusted, changed, or stopped as the body corrects itself over the course of an ailment; the timeframe for adjusting treatment could be hours, days or weeks.
The remedies discussed in these sections are only a small cross-section of the herbal or homeopathic medicines available to treat these conditions. This website cannot provide all the necessary information on how and when to harvest herbs and how to prepare them. Commercially available herbs that are certified authentic and safe are offered in the WMB Shoppe. Homeopathic medicines have been manufactured under the code of the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the U.S. since 1832; kits of homeopathic medicines are readily available from US and European sources and available in the WMB Shoppe. Books available in the WMB Shoppe are complete sources for self-care and guides as to when to see professional practitioners. As visitors to WomensMedicineBowl add their experiences in self-care to our "gathering at the well," your recommendations, after consultation with WMB's panel of healthcare practitioners, will be added to these sections.
The herbs and homeopathic medicines suggested in this section are those most commonly prescribed by experienced practitioners. If you are uncertain of the cause of an ailment, see a healthcare practitioner for a diagnosis; if the cause is clear or you have previous experience with the ailment, herbal or homeopathic treatment is a gentle way to take care of yourself. DO NOT STOP ANY PRESCRIPTION DRUG without consulting your M.D.; doing so could have very serious consequences.
