TOOTH PAIN
SENSITIVE GUMS
DENTAL WORK
EMOTIONAL CHALLENGES
DEPRESSION
ANXIETY
SKIN DISORDERS
RASHES
DIAPER RASH
CRADLE CAP
ECZEMA
WARTS & PLANTERS WARTS
ACNE
HERPES
COLD SORES
GENITAL LESIONS
SHINGLES
SCARS
CHILDHOOD ILLNESSES
CHICKEN POX
CROUP
MEASLES
RUBELLA
MUMPS
WHOOPING COUGH
*SPORTS/MUSCLES
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the creator of all life who inspired me with this idea and who has provided everything on this planet that we need to lead healthy and harmonious lives. My love and thanks to Bill, for his encouragement and faith in me, and to our understanding children, Justin and Willa. I send love and gratitude to my mentor, Loisanne Keller, O.M.D., who came into my life when I faced horrendous challenges and offered unconditional love and wisdom. Many, many thanks to my spiritual sister, acupuncturist Sara Charno, whose knowledge graces these pages, and to Carol Boyce, for her contribution to the homeopathic sections of the project and her painstaking efforts to make this project the best that it could be. A special thank you to Ron Schultz and Terry Duffy at Learning Arts Publications for helping to make the Remedy Box a reality and to our editor, Sheila Berg. I would also like to thank Dr. Maria Dolores Diaz, Dr. Willard Dean, and Dr. Shirley Scott for their contributions to the Remedy Box, and to Dr. Robert Kovan who started me on my path.
I want to acknowledge all of my friends and family who offered their help and support, especially Dorothy Pier, Joanne Yeck and Tom McGreevy, John Green, Janet Dick, Suzanne Fuqua, Allison West, Jolanta Widuch, Tere Clouse, Lannie Loeks, Joe Juster and Laura Carver.
Thank you all.
INTRODUCTION
Carol Boyce, BSc, MCH, RSHom
Registered Practitioner of Homeopathic Medicine
Senior Lecturer, College of Homoeopathy, London, England
As a health professional, I have witnessed an exciting trend in recent years. A rapidly increasing number of people want to take a more active part in their own health care. They want to be able to deal with minor acute illness, accidents, and injuries in a simple, safe, and effective way. They want to begin to take responsibility for their well-being, to look at how they live their lives and where necessary, to make changes. They have a desire for choices, a need to do something helpful when they or their loved ones are sick. There is a move away from helplessness and overdependence on the medical profession. The market has responded to this desire with the reflourishing of alternative medicine. However, all too often, these possible options seem just as complex, shrouded in mystery, and as apparently inaccessible to the lay person as orthodox medicine can seem. The lay person remains at the mercy of the “experts,” experiencing frustration and a sense of powerlessness.
If this has been your desire and your experience, you can relax. You need look no further than Amy Conway’s Remedy Box. The clear guidelines and straightforward information found on the Remedy Cards make the process of home prescribing for minor ailments simplicity itself. The accompanying book is written in a friendly, accessible style that includes a wealth of advice and experience Amy has collected over the years. For anyone with children, the opening paragraph will be all too familiar.
The range of choices for dealing with minor ailments at home using gentle, natural methods is enormous and immensely satisfying. Merely having the cards in your possession is empowering. You now have options. As you become familiar with the material, your increased confidence will help to allay much of the fear and anxiety that surround being ill. Empowerment of the patient is, I believe, a fundamental aspect of the healing mechanism.
Good health is a precious thing. It underpins everything else we do and literally who we are in the world. I wish you improved health and well-being and the satisfaction of taking increasing control of this most important area of your life.
• CHAPTER ONE •
What Is The Remedy Box?
“I’m hot,” my four-year-old daughter said as she climbed into our bed.
I touched her cheek. Burning hot. I checked her throat. Red and swollen.
I groped my way through the darkness to my kitchen, where herbal potions and homeopathic remedies lined the counter. I scanned the labels. Consumed by fatigue and anxiety, my mind went blank. Which remedy worked best for fever and sore throat? Garlic? Arnica? Isatis?
Frustrated, I stumbled through the house to find my books while my daughter’s screams grew to glass-shattering decibels. I knew the perfect remedy—I had studied homeopathy and Chinese herbs for years—but in this stressful situation, I had less than perfect recall.
“Hold on, hold on.” I plunked my arsenal of home health care books on the bed. My eyes could barely focus, let alone search through five tables of contents to locate a remedy.
I looked at my daughter’s flushed face and glassy eyes and thought that there had to be a better way.
Then the idea came to me. The Remedy Box. Index cards organized by symptom with a corresponding remedy. Quick, easy to use.
When faced with a minor illness, I could go to the Remedy Box and find safe, natural remedies using folk, homeopathic, or Chinese herbal remedies. Most of us have remedies right in our homes—onions, garlic, potato, basil, honey, and lemons—which don’t require a prescription.
With the expertise of a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist, a homeopathic practitioner, and reliable source materials, I have assembled Remedy Cards for over sixty minor illnesses.
The Remedy Box is not intended to replace medical care when it is warranted. The intention is to provide readers with a simple, efficient system of caring for themselves and loved ones in a nonemergency, first aid situation using natural remedies. If however, symptoms persist, seek the advice of a health professional and always contact your health care professional for chronic conditions.
MAKING THE TRANSITION FROM WESTERN TO ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE
You will know when it’s time to make the transition to alternative or “complementary” medicine. You’ve had a thorough medical checkup and ruled out a serious condition. You’re relieved, yet your physical problem or problems persist. Various doctors have prescribed various pills. You still don’t feel well. Every doctor you see (there have been plenty) spends ten minutes with you and leaves you more confused. No one has addressed you as a whole person, you feel you are composed of various parts, like a car. A feeling of dissatisfaction prevails. Now is the time to switch to alternative medicine in which practitioners treat you holistically, as a whole person, assessing both your mental and physical conditions.
Many