Podcast 127 — Effective Homeopathic Remedies for Back Pain

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IN THIS PODCAST, WE COVER EFFECTIVE HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR BACK PAIN:

01:00   Introduction

02:29   Back Pain Caused by Kidney Issues

03:29   Back Pain From Dehydration

05:18   Homeopathic Remedy for Back Pain: Rhus toxicodendron

07:26   Homeopathy Is Not a Supplement

08:27   Homeopathic Remedy for Back Pain: Symphytum officinale

09:46   Homeopathic Remedy for Back Pain: Arnica montana

10:51   Homeopathic Remedy for Back Pain: Bryonia alba  

12:14   Homeopathic Remedy for Back Pain: Mag phos

            Advanced Disease and Back Pain

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

Joette’s Learning Center

Gateway to Practical Homeopathy®: A Guided Study Group Curriculum

Joette's Study Group, Find Your New Study Group Friends

Joette’s Mighty Members

The Academy of Practical Homeopathy®

Joette Calabrese on YouTube

Kate:

This is the Practical Homeopathy® Podcast, episode number 127, with Joette Calabrese.

Joette:

Hi, I’m Joette Calabrese, and I welcome you to our health care movement — yours, mine and the countless men and women across the globe who have re-taken control of their families’ health with Practical Homeopathy®.

So, for the next few minutes, let's link our arms as I demystify homeopathy — what was once considered an esoteric paradigm — into an understandable, reproducible, safe and effective health care solution available to all.

This is the medicine you've been searching for — my unique brand of homeopathy, PRACTICAL Homeopathy®.

INTRODUCTION

Kate: (01:00)

Hi, I am Kate, and I'm here today with Joette.

Joette:

Hi Kate and friends.

Kate:

Hi. We want to thank you — all of our listeners —for taking the time to be here with us today. This is so important, and we commend you for taking these steps towards deepening your knowledge with homeopathy. This will help protect you and your family and your loved ones. So, welcome!

Joette:

Knowing how to use these medicines will keep you not only on par with what's going on in your family on a day-to-day basis, but as you age, it keeps you relevant.

“Grandma, what do I do for a back that aches?” “Grandma, my ear hurts. What should I do?”

That's where we want to be. We want to be in that position as we age.

Kate:

All right, so today we're going to talk about back pain. So, Joette, let's just dive right in. Tell us about what we can do when we have the pain in our back. And maybe it's something that's just mildly irritating, or maybe it's something debilitating that stops us from our daily lives.

And I also want you to talk about thinking outside the box and what might be causing the back pain. Because sometimes, it truly might just be muscles or something with our spine, but it could also be some other things. So maybe let's start there.

BACK PAIN CAUSED BY KIDNEY ISSUES

Joette: (02:29)

Yeah, let's start with that because it could be the kidneys. If you know where your kidneys are — and you should know where they are — it's the rather lower back right around the waist on either side. And … could be kidney stones. Could be kidney colic (which doesn't really tell us much of anything. It just tells us that there's pain in the kidney or kidneys). Could be a kidney infection, and that's something that we don't play around with. You want to make sure that that gets attention right away.

But you can also get back pain — I know this is going to sound strange to some people — from eating foods that are not good for you. Some people are so sensitive to wheat that if they eat a sandwich, they get back pain. And that doesn't mean that they've had it all their lives like that. Could have just been developed since they were given antibiotics. Because antibiotics are often the cause of food intolerances — subsequent food intolerances — after their use.

So, it could be any of those.

BACK PAIN FROM DEHYDRATION

Joette: (03:29)

And interestingly, years ago, I was in my thirties, and I was nursing one of my babies. I don't remember which one it was. And so, I did not drink enough water. I know I didn't because you lose your thirst sometimes. And when you're nursing, you really have to pay attention to drinking a good amount of good water.

And so, I went to the chiropractor, and he adjusted me. And I was going about twice a week, and the pain was really … wasn't excruciating, but it certainly was a nuisance-plus.

And so, every time I went to him, he would adjust me, and I would feel a little better. And it was fine, but then I'd have to go back again. It was going on like this for weeks, many weeks. And then, one day, I got a newsletter that I used to subscribe to.

In those days it was snail mail. And in the newsletter, it said, “Back pain. Are you sure you're not dehydrated?”

So, I thought, “Wow, that's awfully simple.” And so since I'm nursing and perhaps the reason … maybe that is it … because I don't drink much water at all.”

So, I started to … I actually flooded myself with water for a day, which is not a good plan to do on a regular basis. But for that first day … and by the second day of drinking a good deal more water, the pain went away. It was simply melted away and never came back. After having suffered from that for many weeks, if not months.

So, we want to always look at what is the simple way of looking at something. If your garden looks wilty, you might want to water it. If the tomato plant looks like it's not doing so well, perhaps it's not enough water. Perhaps it's the shade, that you planted it in the wrong place. Perhaps it's crowded by other tomato plants.

Whatever the reason is, let's use common sense first. And then we can move from there to, “Okay, what can we do homeopathically?”

HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR BACK PAIN — RHUS TOXICODENDRON

Kate: (05:18)

Good. So, there are many remedies that we could think about for back pain, but maybe just talk about a few of them so our listeners have a place to start.

Joette:

Of course, it depends on which part of the back. Is it lumbar? Is it cervical? What started it? At what point did it begin? You want to try to think of that because sometimes it's as simple as, “Well, ever since we started sleeping on that new mattress, I've had that problem.” Or “Ever since that plane flight when my neck was crooked, and I fell asleep there, it's been uncomfortable or stiff or painful ever since.”

So, we do want to look at the possibility of the etiology, meaning what could have caused this in my day-to-day life?

Kate:

And sometimes it might even be that “Oh, I tripped, and I just stepped the wrong way and moved my back and just did something to those muscles when that happened.” And we really need to think about that because in the day — the day that we're having that pain — we may not remember that that happened.

So, it's always good, like you said, to look back and what was happening or what happened the day before. “What have I been doing? Have I been drinking water? Have I been all of a sudden exercising? What's going on in my life?”

Joette:

Are my exercises more rigorous? Am I eating more wheat? And again, I don't want you to think that wheat is a bad food. But for some people, it is. It's like a poison of sorts. So, you want to take that into consideration as well.

So, what I find is that often there are two or three main remedies here that are most commonly used.

One of them is when the person gets up in the morning, and their back is stiff … or it's more painful, or they feel crooked, or they feel old. Those first few steps are very uncomfortable, if not frankly, painful.

And then once they limber up … “I must stretch. I have to stretch. And so, if I don't stretch, then my back bothers me.” That generally is a call for the remedy Rhus tox. And so, it's Rhus toxicodendron … for short, it's Rhus tox. And we can use that in a 30 or a 200, and we can use that a couple of times a day until the pain goes away.

HOMEOPATHY IS NOT A SUPPLEMENT

Joette: (07:26)

Now, let me also say this: that when I say we use a medicine twice a day, it's not like a supplement or a vitamin where you take it forever. No, these are medicines. Homeopathy is medicine.

So, when we take a medicine for a specific condition, when the condition is resolved (or at least quite nearly resolved), we don't keep taking it. We stop and allow the body just to carry on from where it was before and allow the medicine also to carry on.

Now, if it comes back again, we're not going to say, “Oh no, it's back again!”

Instead, we say, “Oh, cool. Oh, this is really great. It's back again. I know exactly what to do because I did it last time. I go right back to my Rhus tox 30, twice daily, until the pain is resolved once again.”

So that's the first medicine.

HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR BACK PAIN — SYMPHYTUM OFFICINALE

Joette: (08:27)

The second medicine that is very common that can be used even alongside Rhus tox is Symphytum, S-Y-M-P-H-Y-T-U-M … Symphytum 200C. And that, too, may be used twice daily. And that is an overall muscular and bone and joint pain. So that covers a lot of different kinds of conditions related to the back.

And sometimes, we can actually use Symphytum 200 mixed with Rhus tox, meaning taking them in the mouth at the same time, twice daily.

I don't know that we need to go that far. If what I've described is that feeling very old and wretched on first movement and then getting better as the person limbers up. If that is there, then Rhus tox is probably the medicine for that particular condition.

Kate:

So how would one know if they should use the Symphytum AND the Rhus tox?

Joette:

I would use Symphytum and Rhus tox mixed together when it feels like Rhus tox is sort of helping, but it's not doing enough. It's a little improved. It was a screaming 8 every day. Now, it's down to a 5, so it's not moving it along enough. Then, I would add Symphytum 200 along with Rhus tox 30.

HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR BACK PAIN — ARNICA MONTANA

Joette: (09:46):

Now, there's a medicine that is very useful for back pain from having picked up something that's too heavy, lifting the sofa, or working too heavily in the gym, or digging in the garden too vigorously. Then we're going to use something like Arnica.

And Arnica montana can be used in a 30 or a 200 … and that's from having been overused, maybe even abused. So, when we abuse the back by overusing it, then Arnica montana 200, twice daily, is an excellent medicine.

Now, let me also point out that Rhus tox sometimes comes into play in this kind of a situation as well.

But, in general, if someone has overused their body, overused their back, too strenuous an exercise program, et cetera, we often use Arnica 200 all by itself, twice daily, until very much better.

If there's no improvement in somewhat short order — days, maybe even a week or so — then it's time to reassess and look at something else.

HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR BACK PAIN — BRYONIA ALBA

Joette: (10:51)

Now, there's another medicine that I favor for back pain, and that is, again, when the body is overused. And if Arnica doesn't help, then we go to Bryonia.

Now, Bryonia has a very distinct kind of pain. It's the kind of pain that hurts only on movement — not first movement and better on limbering up, like Rhus tox; not overall pain, like Symphytum — but rather pain that is very specific.

Every time the person moves, it hurts. And a movement could be as simple as coughing. The person coughs, “Oh my gosh, there's that pain.” Or when they get up out of bed, there's pain. And they continually have pain throughout the day. It does not relieve from limbering up.

So, that's Bryonia. And I like Bryonia in a 30 and, again, twice daily.

And these medicines, what's so lovely about them is that what I'm describing here is kind of for an acute situation, having slept on the plane the wrong way, or having overexerted themselves in the garden, or et cetera, et cetera. But these medicines are just as valuable for a chronic condition. This back pain could have been going on for weeks, months, maybe even on and off for years. It matters not. These are still the same medicines, the same frequency, the same potency.

HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR BACK PAIN — MAG PHOS

Kate: (12:14)

Joette, what about Mag phos? Could that be useful for back pain as well?

Joette:

Yes. Mag phos — Magnesium phosphoricum [Magnesia phosphorica] — is particularly valuable when we find that the person wants to have heat exerted or pressed up against the back. And the more pressure exerted with the heat, the better the person feels.

So, someone might say, “I feel a tremendous pain in my back, and if you would just hold that hot water bottle right there and press it really hard, that could help me feel a little more comfortable.” That is a call for Magnesium phosphoricum [Magnesia phosphorica] or Mag phos.

And that can be used in a 6 or a 30 and used two to three times a day if it's a chronic condition. If it's an acute, you could take it every 15 minutes for the first hour and, after that, every hour that follows that.

Kate:

Yeah, and then you would gradually space that out as the condition improves.

Joette:

Just like any medicine, you don't take it “just because.” You take it … well, actually, I should say, there are a lot of drugs that are given “just because” you hit a certain age.

So, let's put it this way, if you're going to be taking a Tylenol for a headache, you're not going to take it twice a day, every day forever more. It's a medicine. It's a drug. It's intended to take care of the condition and move you on to your life.

That's the same as homeopathy, generally speaking — and there are extenuating circumstances occasionally. But generally speaking, we're going to use the medicine until it's no longer needed. And then we're going to open it up and use it less frequently … less frequently. Still okay? Okay. Even less frequent than that.

So, instead of maybe three or four times a day, you're going to go to twice a day. And as it improves, okay, now only once a day.

Okay, now how is it? Okay, it's gone. Great. Then we stop. We halt the use of the medicine, and then we resume it as needed in the future, should it arise again.

Kate:

There's also a blog that you had written in 2023 called “Advanced Disease and Back Pain.” So, that's another good reference for those of you who want to read more about back pain and see some of this information written down in a blog.

So, today's podcast was short and sweet, but I think we covered a lot of remedies, and I'm sure this is going to help you or someone that you know. So, thank you so much Joette for the valuable information that you shared today.

Joette:

Thank you, my friends. Thanks, Kate.

It's my honor to share many lessons on this simple method of using homeopathy for free —without affiliates or advertising — here in my podcasts, but also my blog posts and Monday Night Lives.

But it's critical that you learn how to use these medicines properly. These podcasts should serve as only the beginning of your training. Peruse JoettesLearningCenter.com to find fun study group opportunities and in-depth courses developed by subject.

So, with the proper training, you can join the thousands of students before you in developing the confidence and competence to protect the health of your family and loved ones with my brand of homeopathy, Practical Homeopathy®.

Kate:

You just listened to a podcast from internationally acclaimed homeopath, public speaker and author, the founder of The Academy of Practical Homeopathy®, Joette Calabrese. Joette’s podcasts are available on all your favorite podcast apps.

To learn more and find out if homeopathy is a good fit for your health strategy, visit PracticalHomeopathy.com.