📖 Chamomilla (HMT) Introduction

Chamomilla is prepared from a bushy plant growing wild amongst the crops of wheat and corn. It has been used to treat various diseases. In particular, it is useful to tone up th e uterus weakened after childbirth. Many people use its leaves as tea. In homoeopathy, the fresh plant, along with its flowers is ground and mixe d in alcohol. This is ideal to treat hypersensitive and irritable children who happen to be very stubborn and who lose their temper easily. They become furious over trivial matters and are very difficult to handle when sick. Nothing calms them down. They will ask for something and once their demand has been met, they throw away the object. They will demand to be taken to some place, and having reached there, they will question as to why they were brought there. They are very rude during an outrage. One of the reasons for this is, that the Chamomilla patient happens to be more sensitive to suffering than normal people. His ailments are related to nerves and emotions. Chamomilla is ideal to treat people of an extremely sensitive nature. Outwardly, they may be very ill mannered, but deep down they are very sensitive . Usually they are silent, yet can explode ove r a trivial matter and become very tense. On the face of it, they are quiet and lazy. Chamomilla, given in high potency, provides prompt relie f to such a patient. While his emotions come under control, the other medicines get a chance to work. It must be remembered that Chamomilla patients with extreme mental anguish will not respond to other remedies unless the mental state improves as all of the body’s energy is focussed in one direction. A patient may apparently be of the Chamomilla nature, but may not exhibit its complete set of sympto ms and thus may not benefit from Chamomilla. It is not always necessary that the working nature of a remedy and the constitution of the patient be a complete match. The physiology of the human body is ve ry elaborate and intricate, therefore one particul ar remedy may need to be followed by many more. Chamomilla is ideal for the treatment of hypersensitive patients exhibiting mental anguish causing jerking and twitching (tonic contractions) of the muscles. The patient feels as if caught in a vice. The entire neuromuscular system is in disarray. Chamomilla is somewhat similar to Coffea, Nux Vomica and Opium. The patients of Coffea and Nux Vomica are also of ve ry sensitive nature. The patient of Opium is apparently listless, carefree and stuprose, but deep down he is very sensitive. The Opiu m poisoning makes the patient very irritable and restless. When given in a larger quantity, the first reaction caused is un consciousness, then mental anguish and irritability followed by state of withdrawl. In addition, some symptoms resemble those of Chamomilla. On that basis, some Opium patients are of a furious nature, they like to be left alone and are silent. Anything can provoke them and make them very irritable. Chamomilla offers immediate relief in children who develop convulsions due to any ailment and fever (their nature being that of Chamomilla). Chamomilla is very useful in the treatment of dysentery of children, when the stools are sticky and of green colour, as if grass has been mashed into them. Ipecac is also a very good remedy in this situation. The st ools are of a similar kind but the constitution is quite different. In Chamomilla, heat brings relie f to most pains, except for the neuralgic pain of teeth, face and th e jaw, which respond favourably to cold. Nerve endings of a patient, when covered, will get relief by warmth but when the nerve endings become exposed, heat aggravates the symptoms. These details are not mentioned in most books. The treating physicians must carefully study all the symptoms so that no confusion is left and the proper remedy may be identified. The toothache of a Chamomilla patient starts at night and disappears in the morning. Usually it is more intense in the first part of the night. After midnight, the pain starts di ssipating. The toothache of an Arsenic patient lingers on throughout the night. In Chamomilla, there is swelling of the gums along with the formati on of blisters and the gums start receding from the teet h. People who do not clean their teeth properly also begin to suffer from these kinds of symptoms. As a matter of fact, Chamomilla patients are narrow-minded and they are somewhat mean. They do not care for others and have no sympathy for them. They are very sensitive for their own sake. They are self-centred and self-interested. To lose one’s temper with others is part of the same constitution. The Chamomilla symptoms worsen at about 9 a.m., like Natrum Mur and sometimes at 9 p.m. also. The patient hears noises in the ears like firecrackers going off. The ear is very sensitive to wind draft, aggravating the symptoms. Otherwis e, the patient likes open air but keeps the ears covered. People who use a scarf either feel very cold or dislike the air, but the patient of Chamomilla is different, he merely protects the ears but not the face. Chamomilla is the best remedy for an angry type of person who has a sore throat , associated with spasms and inflammation. The Chamomilla patient feels awfully thirsty. Sleeplessness due to Coffee, in general responds very we ll to Nux Vomica but to dispel all the side effects of Coffee, Chamomilla is more effective. Similarly, the ill effects of Chamomilla can be neutralised by Coffee. Chamomilla is mentioned to be a good treatment when a person develops gas smelling like rotten eggs and belches out the same odour. In allopathy, doctors use morphine as analgesic, especially during a heart attack. Morphine may cause severe vomiting which can be usefully treated by Chamomilla. In Chamomilla, the abdominal pain bends the patient over, as in Colo cynth. The pain is unbearable, located at the umbilicus and the live r area. After a furious fit, the patient develops a colicky pain in the abdomen. The belching is malodorous. The patient dislikes anything hot. The tongue is yellowish and the taste is bitter. Vomiting also tastes bitter. The abdomen feels very heavy. A ll these are the symptoms of Chamomilla. Some women pass blood clots during their menstrual period . It looks as if the inner lining of the uterus is being sh redded and peeled off. This particular condition is closely related to Chamomilla. A Chamomilla patient will develop convulsions during pregnancy and at the time of childbirth. Chamomilla should also be remembered for the treatment of excessive bleeding after childbirth . Often, this alone may control the post-partum haemorrhage. Some lactating women may develop cramps of some part of the body. In particular, if this spasm is that of the legs or the neck, a dose or two of Chamomilla will provide relief. In fact, Chamomilla will prove to be beneficial for the nursing child also. A suckling baby can get the medicine through its mother’s milk but this is not always the case. If possible, he should be treated separately. If the sympto ms of the child are similar to the constitution of his mother, then treating the mother only may suffice. Chamomilla is also useful for the treatment of cough, especially coughing during sleep or on getting furious. Chamomilla also invigorates the resistance during an epidemic of whooping cough . Chamomilla will be more effective if the child is of irritable nature, but it can be useful in the simple seasonal type of cough too. Chamomilla is most essential to treat the persistent peevishness and restlessness associated with diarrhoea during teething. If the child is in the habit of crying and screaming at night due to dreadful dreams, he should be treated with Chamomilla. Chamomilla is one of the topmost remedies for the treatment of earache. In fact in this condition, one of the three following remedies is routinely used. If the child cr ies and feels helple ss, he should be treated with Pulsatilla. If he cries with anger, then Chamomilla should be administered. When none of these two symptoms are present, Alium Cepa will often work. Antidotes: Nux Vomica, Coffea Adjuvants: Belladonna, Mag Carb Potency: 30, 1000 or sometimes CM