Homeopathic remedy in sports activities

“Just because a problem hasn’t been solved doesn’t mean it’s impossible to solve”

Albert Einstein.

Born over 200 years ago, the homeopathic remedy is used regularly by nearly 40% of French people. It was Samuel Christian Friedrich HAHNEMANN, born in Saxony in 1755 who, after several years of medical practice, imagined homeopathy. Learning that an extract of cinchona bark cures malaria, he tests it on himself and assimilates the disorders it produces to the symptoms of the disease. Thus was born one of the essential theories of homeopathy: “similia similibus curantur” (like heal like).

In other words, any substance capable of causing a number of symptoms in a healthy individual is capable of curing a sick subject who has similar symptoms. An example taken from Larousse Médical: “Faced with a microbial germ, unlike allopathy which seeks to curb the action of the attacking agent, homeopathy seeks to stimulate the defense reactions of the attacked organism so that that – it can fight against the pathogenic agent, within the limits of its possibilities. Thus the treatment of the clinical signs caused by a bee sting (edema, burn, etc.) will call upon Apis mellifica, homeopathic remedy prepared from the whole body of the bee. ”

The essential principle of homeopathy:

If a drop of the stock solution is diluted in 99 drops of water, the 1 CH (Hahnemannian Centesimal) assay is obtained. A drop of this new solution is again diluted in 99 drops of water: we now have a 2 CH concentration and so on. Homeopathy aims to gradually reduce the dose of a medicinal substance, up to infinitesimal doses, so as to increase the mechanisms of action of the substance, while reducing its toxic effects.

At the same time as the dilutions, the substances are energized by physical processes (agitation). Chemists and biochemists have shown that a 9 CH solution or more hardly contains any active molecules. Homeopathy is prescribed particularly in patients suffering from the dysfunction of an organ with obvious and important psychological or psychosomatic causes, without this organ presenting of lesions. Examples: asthma, anxiety, insomnia, headache, eczema, arthralgia, among many others.

The modalities of use of the homeopathic medicine

The field of action of homeopathy is vast, but strict limits exist. An athlete exposed to a serious sprain eg. can only be cured with surgery. Homeopathy will then intervene as a supportive treatment, such as complementary medicine that will allow faster recovery.

For maximum efficiency, three rules must be observed:

• The pathology must be reversible
• Homeopathic medicine does not replace a failing function of the body. It must therefore have the capacity to react to the disease
• A homeopathic medicine corresponding to the symptoms must exist

When the strain is suitable for the symptoms presented, the drug should be taken as soon as possible. The intake should be repeated frequently if it is an acute condition. On the other hand, if it is a chronic condition, the protocol is different. It can involve weekly doses or granules pray daily, 1 or 2 times a day.

Homeopathy and sports medicine

Homeopathy is a therapy particularly well suited to athletes, for 2 main reasons:

• First, homeopathic medicines have no contraindication, no addiction, no side effects:

They are not on the list of doping products. Indicated in the management of general pathologies, they require allopathic therapies which are sometimes prohibited and included on the list of doping products. One can cite as example immuno-allergic affections which often require cortisone drugs, nasal vasoconstrictors and / or beta-2 agonists. Forbidden in competition, these drugs can however find the alternative of homeopathy.

The implementation of basic homeopathic treatments, taking into account the allergic ground, will reduce the frequency and intensity of crises (eg: basic treatment with POLLEN 15CH and LUNG HISTAMINE 9CH in the allergy of “colds of hay “from February to October), and therefore the use of certain allopathic medicines necessary for this type of affection.

• Second, homeopathy is particularly suited to acute pathologies:

These pathologies require rapid treatment, which can be repeated at great frequency. Traumatic pathologies linked to the practice of sports fall within this framework. The goal, here again, is to reduce the need for heavier treatments such as anti-inflammatory drugs in chronic treatment, or even intra-articular corticosteroid infiltrations.

Conclusion:

Finally, the athlete in competition being subjected to stress and a certain psychological pressure, homeopathy provides an interesting response in the management of mental disorders that can alter sports performance.

Arnaud. C. (Doctor of Pharmacy)