Parent Child Natural Healing Classes Start NEXT WEEK :)

This can now be found at www.HerbnKids.com

OCD in Child? Letter to Editor

NOTE: This does not include the full 2-page e-mail that was originally sent to me. I condensed it.

Dear Kristie,

Thank you for getting back to me promptly about the OCD. We miss your school. Your house was such fun and loving place for kids to learn and explore. Sally's problems is only on washing hands so far. Sometimes, she is fussy over the clothes, however I'm able to talk her out of it. She washes her hands
during and after her shower....(more details here)...I do not think she needs professional treatment at this time but I do want to help her with this problem. She is only 5 years-old. Thank you for your help!

Nel (name changed for privacy)

Dear Nel,

Without a full evaluation I can't really help in any extensive way but I can offer my advice and hopefully point you in the right directions.

I agree that she does not need any treatment at this time, just gentle guidance and awareness of what is going on. Her case does not severe enough to become too concerned about at this point.

Sometimes when a child or an adult start to exhibit OCD behavior it is a symptom of them seeking more control in their lives. Every person in the world feels they don't have enough control in our lives and we all seek to balance that by doing SOMETHING about it. Depending on the child's temperament they may throw temper tantrums, start washing their hands a lot, start bossing their friends around, insist on staying home more often, etc...it seems Joshua has chosen the "washing his hands" option. He is most likely of the Melancholic or "Metal" type of temperament.

To manage his behavior it might help to give him more feeling of control in his life. Especially, children of the melancholic type, seek control and they are natural leaders. Anything you can offer him would help. Let him choose what he wears to school, what he has for lunch (within reason of course!). And even when you don't want to let him choose you can "offer him choices" instead of telling him what to do. So, for instance, you can ask him "Do you want to wear the green, red or white shirt today?"

You can also give him some things to "be in charge of". Perhaps he can "be in charge" of choosing the book you read to his brother at night. Or "in charge of" setting the plates on the table. The more responsibilities he has the happier he will be because people of the melancholic type thrive on completing tasks and they feel a lot of fulfillment when a task is completed.

I hope this helps.

If you would like a full consultation or temperament evaluation for him you can visit: Typology & Temperament Consulting

(The links for consulting are at the top of that page)

Blessings & Health,
Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND

Funny Kitchen Pharmacy Trick

My son came to me today very very concerned. He described this horrible tight feeling in his leg. "Mom, whenever I walk it is really tight like it is going to snap..it is really awful." I started by explaining that it was very easy to injure this part of the leg...

Then he stopped me, "I was just laying in bed!"

Ah! It was most likely a cramp then. I told him in all seriousness to put a metal spoon on it. When I was pregnant I had cramps all the time in my legs and this really helped.

He started laughing so hard he almost could not open the drawer to get the spoon. He thought I was "pulling his leg". But I didn't laugh...so he started to see I was serious. So, still laughing he put the spoon on his leg. Then he laughed even more! The cramp was GONE!

So I don't know if it was the laughing or the spoon..all I know is the spoon always worked for me!

Blessings & Health,
Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND
www.naturopathichealingcourse.com

Making Baby Food: LETTER TO THE EDITOR

I am looking for a good food processor so I can make fresh baby food for my baby. Which one do you like? - AH

Dear AH,

The only food processor I used for my three babies was the manual "Food Mill"

At: http://www.mothernature.com/shop/detail.cfm/sku/69999/rfr/CMJ

(If any members of this list sell this food processor on their site please tell me - I would rather support a home based business than the mega "Mother Nature" online store!)

A lot of times people will tell you they used something natural because they are hung up on "natural things" but in this case I actually chose this mill, not because of my "hang ups" (LOL) but because it was SOOOO easy to use, SOOOO easy to wash (much easier than those other food processors) AND it easily made small amounts of baby food instead of tons I would have to save that never really got eaten.

This site has some other recommendations as well:

http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/baby-food-processors.html

Blessings & Health,
Kristie
www.thedreamangels.com
www.herbnhome.com
www.waldorfschoolonline.com

Herbal Remedies for Pain: Letter to the Editor

Hi Kristie,

Okay we have taken our daughter to a more natural route with vitamins and natural
products. Our doctor in Mayo respects that and recommed riboflavin for Migranes that
have just start to hit her and she is getting so ill from them she is vomitting.

My question is are there herbal teas that can ease this up so that she is not having to vomit from the pain?

If I am asking to much just let me know!

Be Blessed!
Love, AK


Dear Anita,

I have not found any herbal remedies for pain that I like very much because many of them are too strong, they put you to sleep or they don't "play well" with other medicines. If anyone else has some favorites that have worked well for them or their clients please share. However, MY favorite remedy for pain is reflexology! I use it for every kind of pain in our house - even a kid sleeping on their neck wrong and it being stiff and painful. Reflexology ALWAYS works on pain from my experience. Usually within a few moments. I had a client come in the other day with really painful UTI and I could tell something was wrong but she did not share with me she was in pain. I thought she was having a bad day or something! Anyway, after the reflexology treatment she just looked like a different person! WOW! She even said "I was in pain, but it went away. Thank you."

If you already have reflexology books or know all about it then - go for it!

If you need some instruction I just uploaded an awesome video (ok, so I am biased) for only $7.50 download to:

Reflexology Video Download

You can download it right away and it only takes 20-30 minutes to watch.

Blessings & Health,


Kristie Burns
Teacher, Healer & Artist
Storytime radio, Lesson plans, Free visual resources, Healing classes, Discount natural living items, Herbal consulting online, Crafts & More at:
www.thedreamangels.com

The Importance of Fevers

I've been telling people about the importance of fevers for years and then today I discovered this gem of an article while searching for something else on the Internet. I just HAD to share it with you!

FEVER: NEW VIEW STRESSES ITS HEALING BENEFITS
By JANE E. BRODY
Published: December 28, 1982

THE ancient Greeks, who regarded disease as an imbalance of ''humors,'' believed fever cured the sick by cooking the bad humors and helping the body get rid of them. The notion of fever as beneficial persisted for more than 2,000 years, and countless patients were actually treated with ''fever therapy'' to aid their recovery from such ailments as syphilis, tuberculosis and even mania.

Then, in the mid-1800's, aspirin compounds that rapidly reduced fevers became commercially available and the medical view of fever changed abruptly. For the next hundred years, physicians and patients focused on bringing down fevers, sometimes with such drastic measures as cold baths and alcohol rubs.

Now, the view of fever is undergoing yet another about-face, thanks to recent research that has in essence documented the benefits suspected by the Greeks. Fever, the studies indicate, evolved at least 300 million years ago in cold-blooded vertebrates as a means of helping the body fight off invading organisms.

The new findings raise serious questions about the wisdom for most people of taking aspirin or acetaminophen for fevers below 104 degrees. Indeed, a number of physicians, including pediatricians, are now suggesting that moderate fevers be allowed to run their course, for they may shorten the illness, potentiate the action of antibiotics and reduce the chances of spreading the infection to others.

These doctors say that fever-reducing drugs should be used with discretion, and some experts even foresee the return of induced fevers to treat selected illnesses. A form of fever therapy is being used experimentally as part of the treatment for some cancers.

Fever, the new studies show, mobilizes the body's immunological defenses against infectious organisms and, in some cases, directly inhibits their growth. Experiments with infected animals, such as fish, lizards, rabbits and dogs, show that those that are allowed to raise their body temperatures are more likely to survive.

In one of the latest studies, people who exercised vigorously were shown to experience some of fever's effects, which may account for claims of physical fitness buffs that they are less susceptible to ordinary viral and bacterial infections.

''Fever has a high energy cost to the individual,'' said Dr. Matthew J. Kluger, a physiologist at the University of Michigan Medical School and one of the leading researchers in the revisionist view of fever. ''For each 1-degree rise in Centigrade temperature, the body's metabolic rate increases about 10 percent - heart rate, respiration, all the metabolic functions are speeded up.''

He added that for this costly response to infection to have been retained throughout the evolution of vertebrates, ''it must have a net survival value.'' In other words, infected animals that developed fever would, on average, have a better chance of living and passing their genes on to the next generation.

The new understanding of fever grows out of basic studies, sponsored primarily by the National Institutes of Health, that have revealed how fevers develop and what changes they induce in the body. Various substances can prompt the development of a fever, among them viruses, bacteria, fungi, toxins, allergens and certain drugs. When the immune system detects such a foreign invader, a type of white blood cell, called a monocyte, is activated and engulfs the intruder.

The activated monocyte, now called a macrophage, releases a hormone, endogenous pyrogen, or EP, which travels through the bloodstream to the brain. There, EP acts on a region of the hypothalamus that regulates body temperature, and raises the body's thermostat, or temperature ''set point.'' The body, which now is not as warm as the brain says it should be, feels chilled and, in effect, turns on its furnace to raise body temperature to the new setting.

Nerve messages originating in the hypothalamus trigger rapid muscle contractions, or shivering, which produce heat. Other nerves constrict outlying blood vessels to reduce heat loss to the environment. Body tissues, such as stored fat, are broken down to produce heat. And the sensation of coldness stimulates behavior, such as putting on warm clothes, piling on covers or drinking hot liquids, that also help to raise body temperature. ...

To read more link to: The New York Times