Even for a homeopath, sometimes, only a visit to A&E will do: one morning this week, while barefoot, Paul stood on a large chunk of glass, and it lodged in the sole of his foot. Ouch! Despite his stiff upper lip in the face of a fair bit of pain, and my best efforts with the tweezers, it was in too deeply to be yanked out. Paul took a dose of homeopathic Silica, of course, to help his body to expel the glass, but we couldn’t wait for this to happen – before I ended up raiding the toolbox for a pair of pliers, we decided it was a job for A&E.

In the car on the way there, Paul took a dose of homeopathic Hypericum and a dose of Ledum (Hypericum is for pain from injury to a nerve-rich area, and can help prevent infection; Ledum is a specific remedy for a puncture wound). I’m glad to report that once the kind nurse at A&E had removed the glass, and he’d had another dose of Hypericum, the pain lessened, and he was able to walk on the foot again.

Thinking about it now, pain has been rather a theme over the last week: I’ve also been called on to help a patient’s child, in pain because of a nasty fracture, and have seen cases of dental pain, period pain, facial neuralgia, as well as headaches, knee and back pain in the clinic.

I rarely give homeopathic remedies purely for pain relief, because it’s usually better to match the homeopathic remedy to the patient and the whole case, but there are a couple of remedies worth thinking about for painful conditions. Shooting or radiating pain in nerve-rich areas (think of shutting your finger in a door, stubbing your toe, or falling on your coccyx) often responds to homeopathic Hypericum, whereas pain that’s worse from the slightest movement yet is better for hard pressure suggests Bryonia, especially if the patient is grumpy with the pain, and is thirsty for large amounts at long intervals.

When too many painkillers have been taken, over-sensitised pain pathways sometimes seems to result. I’ve noticed that in these cases, a patient’s pain threshold can seem to reduce, so that they feel pain which is out of all proportion to the injury or problem. As well as referring the patient for investigations and diagnosis, of course, I might also give homeopathic Chamomilla, because this remedy has a reputation for helping excruciating pain, as well as for helping with ill-effects from morphine-based or codeine-based painkillers.

Conversely, if the patient seems to feel little pain, but his or her condition is one that would usually be very painful, as well as referring for investigations as appropriate, I consider homeopathic Opium. Containing no molecules of Opium, of course, this homeopathic remedy can help where the patient is in a rather dreamlike or disengaged state, and can’t feel their pain at all – think of cases of shock, for example.

Where fear of pain is the real problem, rather than pain itself, I might consider prescribing homeopathic Arsenicum album – a brilliant remedy for all sorts of fears and many types of pain, including fear that the pain will become too much to bear. Although naturally I hate to see anyone in pain, being able to offer patients a natural, gentle, non-toxic homeopathic remedy in appropriate cases is great, and I enjoy being able to offer an alternative to the sometimes toxic and constipating painkillers relied on in conventional medicine, if patients choose to try homeopathy for control of their pain. Results can be dramatic: in one case of major surgery last year, my patient astounded her doctors and nurses by refusing conventional post-operative pain relief, relying on her trusty homeopathic remedies instead. She started to heal and was discharged from hospital much more quickly than expected, too – this is something I see fairly typically with post-surgery pain relief remedies like homeopathic Calendula.

I’m often struck by the stoicism of patients who live with enormous amounts of emotional pain, too, and it’s brilliant when the right remedy helps them to heal their hurt and move on. Which of us hasn’t felt the hideous pain of rejection, bereavement, or loneliness, for example? It’s here that homeopathic remedies like Natrum-muriaticum (great for those that hide their hurt behind a stiff upper lip, or withdraw to lick their emotional wounds in private), Ignatia or Pulsatilla can help.

On a more lighthearted note, fine-tuning Phoenix’s sister website, BrightonandHoveTherapies.com, has now become a pain, too: at least, metaphorically-speaking. I’m not an expert in web design (the Phoenix Homeopathy website is looked after by a professional webmaster), but I somewhat rashly decided to design and manage the Brighton and Hove Therapies website myself. Many, many, many (oh, so many) hours later, I’m still ploughing through the site, setting the links live. This is tedious work, and my enthusiasm for the job is starting to wane: suddenly, the vast sums charged by web designers to create a site seem entirely reasonable.

Still, if the Buddhists are right, pain is a necessary part of life, and it’s self-evident that pain can make us stronger. I’ll try hard to bear that in mind the next time I hit the wrong button and fail to set live all the links I’ve painstakingly created.

For more information about how homeopathy may be able to help you to take charge of your health and wellbeing, visit the Phoenix Homeopathy website.

Disclaimer: Any views or advice in this weblog should not be taken as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, especially if you know you have a specific health complaint. Prescribed medication should not be stopped or varied without conventional medical advice. Please remember that homeopathic remedies and other health measures should be individually-selected to match the whole person, not just the unwelcome symptom. Seek professional advice rather than self-prescribing if your complaint is chronic, severe or long-standing, or if you are pregnant, elderly or on orthodox medications.