Homeopathy for Sciatica: Why Gnaphalium Belongs in Your Purse with Sue Meyer
Gnaphalium polycephalum (cudweed) is a homeopathic remedy Sue Meyer calls “specific to sciatica pain”: shooting, intermittent nerve pain that runs from the hip or low back down the front, back or side of the leg. In this short episode of Homeopathy for Mommies, Sue explains how to tell sciatic pain from ordinary leg cramps, when she reaches for magnesium or Cuprum instead, and why she never goes anywhere without Gnaphalium. Sue recorded this one after her assistant pointed out there was no episode on sciatic pain in the back catalog. Sue’s response: “What? Are you kidding me?” It’s quick, practical, and it’s one to keep. Is it a cramp or is it sciatica? Sue starts with a problem every homeopath runs into: people almost never say “my sciatic nerve hurts.” They say they get cramps in their legs, or pain in their lower limbs. Sometimes it’s the back, sometimes the hip, and sometimes it shoots down the leg. “We all know that in homeopathy, we love a good description,” Sue says. Because the descriptions vary so much, she works through it in order. Mineral balance comes first, then hard cramping, and then true nerve pain. Step one: mineral balance and magnesium When someone tells Sue they have leg cramps, her first question is about minerals. Calcium makes muscles contract and magnesium helps them relax, so the two need to be in balance. In her experience, people who start taking calcium on their own (often older adults told to take it for their bones) sometimes notice more cramping. Many of them need magnesium more than calcium, because magnesium helps the body use the calcium it already has. How do you know what your body needs? Sue’s answer: learn to muscle test or sway test. Members Corner has a mini-training that teaches both. For uterine cramps and thigh cramps, Sue reaches for a magnesium remedy to help the body take up magnesium properly. (Keep your own doctor in the loop before changing supplements.) Step two: Cuprum for hard, twisting cramps If magnesium helped and then stopped helping, or it never helped, and the cramps are in the toes and feet, Sue thinks of Cuprum (copper). Sue ties these cramps to how the body uses protein, which she sees more often with today’s protein-rich diets. Cuprum cramps are hard cramps. They can show up in the toes, feet, calves, thighs, buttocks or stomach, and the toes can twist and curl. Step three: Gnaphalium for shooting nerve pain When the person finally describes it the way nerve pain feels, Sue thinks of Gnaphalium: pain that shoots, comes and goes, or settles in and aches pain that lands in the knee, or runs down the front of the leg “like a shin splint” in pregnancy, hip or low-back pain that shoots down the front, back or side of the leg, depending on how the baby is lying pain described as cutting or tearing pain that runs the whole sciatic nerve, or sits in one small spot, which is why it’s easy to miss “Gnaphalium is irreplaceable when it comes to this sciatic pain,” Sue says. Who tends to need it? Sue sees sciatic pain come on quickly with poor posture, a leg that turns out, pregnancy, injury, dislocations, or long periods in bed. She also mentions people who have had a hip replacement or are waiting for one. For them, she says, Gnaphalium is “just a game changer.” Other notes from the materia medica that Sue shares: the pains run downward and come and go, as nerve pain tends to once it settles in, it can nag for a long time, sharper at some times than others it can leave rheumatic-type pains in the ankles and legs it lists cramps in the calves and feet, or in bed. If Cuprum “doesn’t cut it or doesn’t hold,” Gnaphalium is next Where to get it Sciatica Kit at The Outpost Mercantile Homeopathy for Mommies: Beyond Acute Care, Sue’s second book, which includes Gnaphalium Related episodes First Aid and Homeopathy: Muscles and Muscle Cramps Magnesium “Mommy” and “Daddy” Remedies Homeopathy for Back Injury? Try Tellurium Metallicum Blog: Arnica Montana: The “Must Have” on Hand Remedy About Sue Meyer Sue Meyer, ND, CCH, CST, spBAP, is the founder of Homeopathy for Mommies and author of Homeopathy for Mommies and Homeopathy for Mommies: Beyond Acute Care. A mother of 11, she has spent decades teaching families to use homeopathy at home. This episode is for educational purposes and isn’t a substitute for care from your own practitioner. The post Homeopathy for Sciatica: Why Gnaphalium Belongs in Your Purse with Sue Meyer appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
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