Before you all disregard me as being a totally gullible fool
. . .
I used arnica in pregancy and for my kids based on many sources, and lots of internet research (not always correct I know, but not always wrong either, if you take a balance from many different sites).
Parents of other kids suggested it when Sam was about 18 months old, and it became another tool to help when he did things like slip over in his little car, bashing his chin and forcing his new lower baby teeth into his upper lip and gum, or when he fell over and hit his head on a table leg, which initially looked like it was leaving a dent in his head. Mainly because he had to calm down to take the tablets, but he really didn't have anywhere near as much bruising and therefore as much pain as you would expect from such injuries.
I actually trained as a paediatric nurse, so do have a reasonable medical background. I'm not liable to run off with every kookie and off-the-wall suggestion, but, and it's a reasonably big but, I do believe that current knowledge and practices don't cover everything.
However, I also have my limits. A colleague at work petitioned me on a regular basis when she found out that I was taking Sam for his MMR. She had a background in homeopathy, and tried to convince me that medicating Sam in this fashion, if he ever got ill, was the best way to go. She swore that neither of her kids had had any kind of vaccinations and they were strong and healthy, as she'd treated everything homeopathically. Due to my background though, I'm well aware of the statistics. I'm purely stating my own beliefs here so don't want to offend anyone with opposing views, but . . . . .
Nothing about the research into MMR and autism really convinced me. Even if there was a link, which was, and still is to my mind, unproven, the chances were still incredibly small. However, the chances of an unimmunised child getting one of these diseases and suffering the nasty or fatal side effects are much greater.
The thought of only having homeopathic remedies to protect my child - na-ah. To alleviate symptoms of mild bruising or swelling is one thing. To believe it can prevent or cure major illnesses and diseases is another.
If it's taken alongside conventional medicine - even if it's just a placebo effect - maybe there is some merit in that, as the placebo effect in itself can be quite powerful. But on it's own - I'm certainly not convinced.
So, although my brain
is often stuffed with fluff
, there is some rationale there too