Homepathic Arnica
Today’s recommendation: Homeopathic Arnica for neutralizing the shock and trauma of surgery.
Let’s be honest- even if you’ve been diligent with your mental and physical training (and especially if you haven’t), the experience of surgery is a wee bit traumatic. What can we do to help the body return to equilbrium?
While homeopathy is sometimes reviled as snake oil, and some rigorous studies and journals have failed to find homeopathic treatment superior to placebo, the same is true of SSRIs like Prozac. And besides, we want to enlist the so-called placebo effect, and homeopathy, being a form of vibrational medicine, might just be a perfect vehicle for focused intention-based healing. Meanwhile, other studies and meta-analyses (particularly involving individualized treatment) have shown benefit.
Rather than try to re-litigate this question, I’m going to suggest we suspend disbelief and just spend ~$10-$15 vial of Arnica 200C at your local health food store (Arnica 1M would be even better but you won’t find it in a health food store… you’d need to order it directly from the Hahnemann Clinic (510) 524-3117 or online.)
If your brain is stumbling on how to use this approach, I suggest the following:
Is the cost of homeopathic Arnica significant? No.
Are there problematic side effects (for example, NSAIDs like ibuprofen, are known to have a frightening list of side effects)? No.
Since the cost and side effects are both so modest, I recommend you adopt an “As If” posture. Take it “as if” you have confidence that it will help you.
So… my recommendation is to take 3 pills (or, if liquid, the dosage listed on package) daily for 2 weeks, starting as soon as possible directly after surgery.
The dosage, explained: “C” and “M” are roman numerals denoting how many times the homeopathic solution has been succussed (shaken thoroughly) and diluted (C=100, M=1000). The principle in homeopathy is that the more dilute the solution, the stronger the energetic imprint. So M or 1000 dilutions, is five times stronger than 200c and fifty times stronger than Arnica 20c, which is what I give to my kids when they have a bruise. 1M remedies like Arnica 1M are also intended to work on what you could call the constitutional or soul level. If major surgery isn’t a soul-level disruption, I don’t know what would be.
Address all levels of your being
If you have chronic health issues you have been struggling with for years, you might seek out individualized, constitutional homeopathic treatment (from the El Cerrito Hahnemann Clinic or elsewhere). Another good option would be to see a licensed acupuncturist/herbalist to work with, ideally well before your surgery.