There's one homeopathic remedy I wouldn't be without in the summer and that's Ledum palustre- or Wild Rosemary - great for bites, stings, black eyes and more.
There are other remedies I often use for insect bites and stings: Apis mel made from the sting of a honey bee and Urtica Urens made from stinging nettles. But Ledum really comes into its own where the skin has been pierced by a sharp object or the injury is dusky and puffy.
How to identify different bites and stings.
The way to tell the difference is in the presentation of the wound. Apis mel is helpful for stings where the pain is so maddening the patient will be highly agitated. This sting will often be white in appearance and white hot, much worse for heat and swollen up so much the skin is stretched tight and hot. This also works well if there has been an allergic reaction to the sting. Urtica Urens is great for nettle stings but also urticaria, hives and anwhere there are raised welts. Skin is redder with bubbles of fluid under the surface.
Know your ledum
When someone comes to me with a wound knowing how it was caused speeds up remedy selection. If it's an insect like a wasp, bee, mosquito or tick I know poison was injected into the skin with a needle-like barb.
This also applies to snake bites, and dog or cat bites where sharp pointy canines have pierced the skin. Likewise an injury caused by a nail or needle will also respond well to this remedy. The wounds resulting from these are often red and puffy and the colour can often be quite dusky and blueish like a bruise.
How to avoid a black eye.
When my son was kicked in the face scrambling up a hill I gave him arnica for the bruise but Ledum has an affinity for eye injuries and when the injury switched from a healthy red to a more dusky puffiness I gave him ledum. I watched as the two colours - the red and the blue shifted across his lids until I felt it was safe to leave him. When he woke up in the morning he was raging. His eye looked completely fine. Very slightly puffier but no discolouration at all.
It's worth noting he was a 10 year old boy and I gave him arnica within minutes of the incident and repeated it whenever he re-started crying with pain. Children respond super quickly to remedies and I think if you took the arnica and ledum once the black eye was established it would speed up the healing but is unlikely to have so astonishing a response.
If I was a supermodel, actress or rugby player I would definitely want these two remedies close to hand.
Are you clear about bites, stings and black eyes? If in doubt - I can sort you out!
I spent a long time reaching for the wrong remedy with bites and stings but knowing to look out for the tight whiteness for Apis, the dusky puffiness for Ledum and the blisters for Urtica has vastly improved my success in getting it right first time
Sometimes, if it's a bad wound, injury or sting the 30c potency available in the kits doesn't quite hit the spot and then it would be better to use a 200c. If you don't have that to hand, then you can repeat the 30c whenever the symptoms return, even if that's after 5 minutes.
If you're not sure, I have been practicing homeopathy for over a decade but more importantly have delicious blood and rotten luck! I have been bitten, stung, fallen over and attacked by lots of wildlife so have had lots of practice at selecting the right remedy for this. I have a 15 min free call option on my website which you can book if you have an acute injury with an option to leave a donation to British Exploring Society.
Have you ever used homeopathy to help with a bite, sting or black-eye? If so please share your experience - and if you think this blog might be helpful for your friends, please share on social media.
Comentários