Skipton Triathlon to Ironman: the Alternative Way

Ever since I joked in with a coach after a swimming session that I'd go from a sprint distance triathlon to an ironman distance it's been something I've come back to - I call it my 'Em does Ironman fantasy', and so far each time a member of our Triathlon club does an Ironman Tri I've had it... fortunately there's not been too many competitions as yet...

The fact I've not run for years, not ridden a bike for longer and am not competitive at all haven't quite put me off as yet - I am hooked on the swimming element (particularly in open water - although maybe I have to get beyond the enjoyment and drinking in the views and get on with doing it properly now and again).  I'm planning Skipton Triathlon next year which'll be at least a start...  Listening to other athletes did get me thinking about the alternative bit - could you do it without resorting to conventional medication for aches, pains and strains?  Doing what I do, I'm confident you could and thought would share a few of the remedies I'd put together in a kit for this sort of thing...

Arnica often features highly which you'll realise if you've read any of my other blogs.  This is probably the most well known homeopathic remedy of all and is wonderful for helping to ease bruising and soreness.  As a quick aside I've had times on a night I've dropped something on myself and been convinced I'd have a great big sympathy inducing bruise the next day - taken an arnica and there's been nothing to see in the morning - it really is amazing!  It is also brilliant to help with tiredness - great if you're travelling to an event to help with jet lag, and also good to just help you find that bit of extra energy at times when you're really flagging.  Great as a first remedy to take in cases of shock or accidents too.

Hypericum is most well known as being useful in injuries to nerve rich areas - such as trapping the fingers in a door, falling on the coccyx or lacerations from sharp instruments.  Pains are extreme and feel to shoot along the nerves - they're better for warmth.

Ledum is great for puncture wounds such as from insects, the area is swollen, blue and cold but feels worse for heat and better for cold.  It's also particularly useful in black eyes - great for those swimming mass starts.

Ruta grav is an excellent remedy for pain in the joints, ligaments, tendons, cartilidge and bones and can be really useful for injuries to the wrists and knees.  It's helpful for weakness in the joints or tendons and has been beneficial in cases of tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome.  Also can help to relieve low back ache and painful bruised feeling in the bones.  Worth remembering in repetitive strain injuries.

Rhus Tox is useful in sprains and strains with stiffness accompanied by restlessness.  The pains are usually around joints which ache and feel stiff and sore.  Pain is worse on first movement, with a tearing or stitching sensation but eases after continued movement.

Silica is the first remedy to think of where you need assistance in helping out splinters or other foreign bodies.  It can be helpful to assist in forcing out hard plugs of ear wax (especially after swimming) but do remember not to use if if you've metal pins, grommets, pacemakers or the like. It can also be used in helping painless wounds that are suppurating and slow to heal.

Last but not least, I thought I'd mention Aconite, not as a recovery but can be handy as a preventative for colds - if you take one tablet at the first sign of cold symptoms you may well be able to head off the cold - thus making competing more enjoyable.  It's helpful too for coughs and colds that come on quickly after being exposed to cold dry winds.

Taking remedies is a bit of an art in itself and I think an important thing to remember is that homeopathy works with the law of the minimum dose - take a pillule and wait, listen to your body - you may not need another tablet or you may wish to repeat once symptoms return.  If you've tried 3-4 doses of the remedy with no effects it's probably worth checking that the remedy is well indicated, it might be another would help you more.  Check out alternatives or speak to a professional homeopath to get more guidance. 

Olympic flag, Athens

Serious injuries and illnesses should never be treated without seeking expert advice. Use your instincts and common sense, if you are worried then call for help first and you can give the appropriate remedy whilst you are waiting for help to arrive.  If symptoms show no improvement or return always seek professional help.   

Happy prescribing!

Emma Colley RSHom BSc(Hons)

Craven Clinic, Skipton  01756 796690 or 07734 861297 www.homeopathyskipton.co.uk  em@homeopathyskipton.co.uk

Homoeopathy: Alternative or Complementary?

Personally, and I am aware that it's perhaps a personal preference, I like to think of it as complementary as opposed to alternative.  Alternative suggests by it's very name that it's this or that, whereas for me it's about what's the most suited in the situation. I don't want anyone knocking on my door with a broken leg, but please feel free to come back once it's been set and get a remedy to help the bone to knit together, reduce the bruising and help the healing process. 

Integrated medicine seems to me to be the only logical step forwards - to stop complaining about the weaknesses in different ways of working, focus on the positives and use what is appropriate.  I've seen incredible results using homeopathy with illnesses conventional medicine can do nothing but palliate, but that's not to say that there's not times I'm thankful conventional medicine is available too. 

 Homoeopathy (from the greek - Homo = similar; pathos = suffering) as a therapy works with your body as opposed to at times a more conventional way of working against it.  Like cures like is one of our basic rules  - what makes you sick can cure you (albeit in a potentised, homeopathic remedy). Matching the energy of what's making you ill to a remedy out there in nature may be one of our challenges, but done well it can create harmony and restore health leading to a more vital way of being.

Jan Scholten, a well known Dutch homoeopath says that the deepest level of healing is insight and having been working with homoeopathy for 9 years, I can see this and believe that the depth of insight from a well matched remedy can be astounding, liberating and freeing. 

There is much that homoeopathy can complement in conventional medicine, and once it begins to do so more frequently I believe we will all be able to move forwards as holistically healthy people and practitioners.

'I should'... but why?

I did my first proper open water swimming event at the weekend - fundraising for Homeopathy for Health in Africa and loved it. (Just here: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/emmacolley1 if you fancy sponsoring me.) Well I loved the second lap of the mile swim we did.  That was when I let go of the 'I should's and let myself fully experience the joy of being in the water, free, supported and in an area of amazing beauty (we were swimming in Ullswater in the Lake District). 

The first lap I was concerned with where I was in relation to everyone else, would I be last? I should be swimming faster... Would I be able to make it round twice? Did I want to make it round twice? Were people going to finish whilst I was still going round the first time? What was I doing all this for? On a conscious level I knew I was doing the event to enjoy, with no pressure or time constraint but interestingly it all crept through nonetheless.

I love open water swimming and often chat as I cruise along but on Sunday, swimming alone (OK I still did chat a bit to random people I met and the steward-y types) I had time for musing to myself on life, love, the universe - that sort of thing.  What came to me most clearly as I got on with swimming was the letting go of 'should's and the liberation and freedom that gave me.  It was with gratitude that I recognised this lesson again and am holding it close to me to observe the other 'should's I may still be hanging onto.

With freedom,

Em :)

Amber from Studio Pilates in Ilkley and I about to swim. Beautiful Ullswater in the background.

 It probably wasn't the best morning to practice extreme hula and Bellis Perennis 200C* helped with the sciatica that ensued from that meaning I swam brilliantly and got a personal best (OK it was always going to be a best being my first race) time too!

*Bellis Perennis, a homeopathic remedy made from the daisy is used in cases of muscle soreness and injuries to the deeper tissues - injuries to nerves with intense soreness.  It's an excellent remedy for sprains and bruises.  Used in sore joints, sciatica, sprains where they feel as though they are contracted as from an elastic band around the joint.

Homeopathy... it can send you to sleep...

and not just in that glazed over way when I know I've gone too far, got too passionate about something I'm very passionate about and really lost someone's attention span (I do try to do that far less in these days with much more distance from qualification although in the early days... well apologies to anyone who I went on and on and on at! In my defence, I'm just as passionate, well probably more so than then, I just try not to talk as much!)

I've been acutely aware of a lack of sleep for the past three weeks since I woke up the most terrified I've ever been to an incident in the middle of the night.  At the time (the following night anyway) I thought that I would return immediately to my usual sleep pattern which went something like - go to sleep, hear birds, open eyes, hello morning!  It was not to be so.  I was also at the time in the middle of a proving experiment (aware of the eyes glazing so to keep it short) where a group of healthy volunteers (usually homeopaths) under supervision take an unknown remedy and record the effects they experience.  I didn't really want to affect the proving by taking other remedies and was in a sort of curious place so observed on myself how a lack of sleep can be from a stress related incident. 

With an incredible amount of energy considering I was having between 4 and 6 hours sleep a night I had lots of fun and played with different ideas - a great impromtu party, fab bonfire and midnight hula hooping under the stars, experimented with where I slept (tent, different houses), when I went to bed (later was much more fun!) and generally how I coped.

There were definately some differences but nothing really lasting enough to get properly back to how things were before.  So back to what I know and love.  Homeopathy has long been used in insomnia and sleep disturbances and also mindful meditation which I'd spent my second month in my 13 challenges of the year practicising and had really enjoyed as well as finding it beneficial (one amazing side effect would have to be the increased amount of spontaneous joy I experienced - a bonus for anyone!).

There's over 800 remedy pictures in the homeopathic materia medica that show some extent of sleeplessness, and that's just after a quick scan - there could well be loads more.  Homeopathy has always worked with individuals - prescribing a remedy most effectively is when their characteristics are taken into account and the remedy prescribed is based on these symptoms and not a more generic picture.  So I would suggest that if insomnia were a chronic issue that it would be worth seeing a Homeopath for consultations and work together on improving sleep.  For more temporary insomnia or sleep disorders it may be worth trying remedies yourself at home, and it is for this that I'm approaching the remedy suggestions following.

Aconite 
The homeopathic remedy Aconite napellus is indication in many types of nervous and panic disorders - particularly useful here where insomnia caused by pain and fears. People needing this remedy may be woken from their sleep by anxiety, panic or fears and may sleep walk.

Arsenicum album
Arsenicum album is made from elemental arsenic. The person needing this remedy can be very tired but too restless to sleep. They are often anxious about small things, and wake unrefreshed. Those needing Arsenic wake frequently during the night and may have many dreams, for instance dreams of storms, fires, and darkness. They may experience a burning sensation under the skin.

Belladonna
Belladonna is made from the Deadly Nightshade. This remedy helps those who are very restless and are woken up by their nightmares. They may also experience jerking while sleeping and may be drowsy in the evenings with much yawning at this time. They may experience a pounding in the blood vessels of the head or be kept awake by hearing the blood pulsing in their head. Their dreams are anxious and vivid: of fires, robbers and assassins. They may also wake with a headache.

Calcarea phosphorica
Calcarea phosphorica is a mineral remedy that can be helpful to children who wake from growing pains in the legs. Any aches in the bones and joints that prevent sleep may be helped by this remedy, in both children and adults. Those needing this remedy have difficulty getting to sleep because of the pain and discomfort and then have difficulty waking from sleep. They can wake frequently during the night as well.

Coffea

As it sounds, a homeopathic remedy made from coffee.  People who will benefit from this as a remedy may be experiencing over sensitivity of nerves - making them over exciteable and over sensitive.  Pain, noise, touch and odours may be intolerable to them.  They may be suffering from the ill effects of fear, fright, over tiredness and would often be showing great restlessness.

 

Nux Vomica

Often indicated where someone works hard and plays hard - seen frequently in people who stay late at the office under a lot of mental strain then go and party hard to feel better.  They may turn to alcohol, rich stimulant food and sedative drugs then suffering the next day from them.  (It is a commonly used hangover remedy too)  There may well be digestive disturbances and twitching may also be seen.  They are likely to feel chilly.

 

This is just a few remedies which may be helpful in sleep disorders, there's lots more and feel free to get in touch for anymore advice - do Duck Duck Go (my new Google!) search Mindful Meditation and I also have previous blogs mentioning it:

 

'Slow down - you're moving too fast...';
Thoughts on joy...

Let the Waves Pass

I'm a big fan of stopping, appreciating the moment and not getting lost in the past or future. Or at least I'm working on it anyway!  

Sweet dreams!

 

 

 This blog is not intended to replace medical advice or to help with diagnoses in anyway. Always contact your Doctor if you require medical assistance.