A Week in the Life of a Naturopath

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A Week in the Life of a Naturopath

Well, not really my entire life! So many things happen every day it would take me another day to write them down. However, I thought it might be inspiring to share some of the natural healing we use in an average week. Natural healing is not only my profession but is integrated into our daily life as a "normal" way of dealing with everyday healthy issues and injuries. One of the main ways I have taught the children self-healing is to have all the herbal and natural medicines in one cabinet with labels. When they need something to help them sleep, for allergies, for a stomach ache, a cut, a bruise or anything else, I encourage them to use these items. When they were younger they saw me get the items out for them. Now, as they grow older I allow them to "serve themselves" with supervision. Sometimes they even help their friends out when their friends need something - all with supervision of course!

Here are some of this week's events:



Parakeet Injury
We keep our parakeets on a very very high shelf so the cats cannot reach them. And until last week they could not. However, our more rascally cat Oscar finally found a way to jump up and visit. Too bad he miscalculated and didn't have enough room once he got up there. The entire cage fell and the birds fell to the ground with it. One of the birds was injured near her eye - a large gash. On such a small animal I didn't know if she would survive or if there were any internal injuries so I did the best I could. She did not seem to be suffering and was not sensitive when I touched her so I washed her wound in water and applied calendula salve with lavender and comfrey. Two days later she healed wonderfully and seems completely fine. No infection or pain after the original incident.

Son and Allergies
My son suddenly developed an allergy to our cats. I know that allergies are always related to each other and that being exposed to more than one allergen can make it worse, so we took a look at his entire diet and situation and realized that we needed to eliminate two things - pizza and peanut butter. All pizza (unless it is homemade or a special brand) has MSG. Peanut butter is an allergen to most people. Even if it does not cause hives or severe reactions, most people have trouble dealing with it. Three days later his reaction to the cats had improved but it was still there. He still needed time for the MSG and peanuts to clear out of his system, but meanwhile his system also needed support. I found a tablet version of my favorite allergy medicine - BIO-ALLERS pet allergy - and he started taking two every evening, when the itching was the worst. Right away he saw an improvement and three days later there was no itching. His thoughts? "Mom - that stuff you got me works awesome! Thanks!"

Daughter and Fear
My daughter choked last week on a food item and didn't want to eat anything but ice cream and yogurt and soft foods after that. She was so scared she would choke again. The fear increased over the day because the less food you eat, the more stress your body feels and then any problem you have will get worse. So, by not eating she was causing her body more stress and the fear was increasing. I served her some plain organic yogurt (her favorite) to balance her blood sugar and then some chamomile and spearmint tea to sooth her nerves. An hour later she was eating everything in sight and so joyfully proclaiming "I'm not scared anymore."

Bunny Constipation
I'm not sure if this is actual constipation but our bunny sometimes gets bunches of bunnypoo stuck to her bottom and a sore bottom. I think this happens because she is so furry - it is not an internal issue or having to do with her diet. So bunny gets a bath. But to soothe her little bottom she gets a bath with chamomile soap. She enjoys it very much and always comes out a lot cleaner, calmer and happier.