Atypical infant with colic will cry for at least three hours aday, three days awegk ..,Out Loud! Homeopathic polarity analysis yields quick relief for colicky babies by HEINER FREI, MD A. colicky infant will cry don't have many characteristic Attention Deficit Hyperactivity inconsolably for hours at a symptoms to lead us to ahelp- Disorder (ADHD). Based on the stretch, even all evening long, ful remedy, and they aren't able work of Boenninghausen, polar- most days of the week. Can you to tell us what they're feeling. _ ity analysis increased the preci- imagine how disturbing this is With very little to goon, wedo sion of our prescriptions fornewparents? Nottomention our best and perhaps try one considerably, so that it was pos- the rest of the family, nearby of the specific “colic remedies” sible to demonstrate a signifi- neighbors, and, of course, the recommended in homeopathic cant difference between placebo poor little baby! Colic is one family-care_ guidebooks, but and high-potency homeopathic of the main reasons parents they often let us down. For- remedies in the treatment of seek medical help during the tunately, “polarity analysis’—a | ADHD: In other studies, polar- first few months of their baby’s new, rational, and reliable way ity analysis has led to clear life, yet conventional medicine of remedy-selection—can often improvements in the treatment has no satisfactory solution. quickly resolve a case of colic. _of various acute and chronic Fortunately, homeopathy does: diseases as compared to a ifwefindtherighthomeopathic Precise method works better conventional homeopathic remedy, the colic disappears Polarity analysis is a precisely approach.’ Our experience with rapidly and permanently, defined and well-researched _ it in pediatric practice is very leaving the child and homeopathic procedure that encouraging as well, and it is family in peace. can be used to heal illness with our method of choice in baby Yet finding the a high level of confidence’ We _colics: precise observation of the rightremedy isnot originally developed it for the little patient's symptoms, espe- so easy. Babies Swiss homeopathic dou- cially the modalities, is the pre- with colic often ble-blind research trial on requisite for success. ; HomeopathyCente.org - Homeopathy 1Colic — a baby in distress! Up to 30% of infants experience colic between their second week and fifth month of life. The main characteristic is restlessness that can turn into tor tured crying episodes lasting for hours ‘The symptoms start shortly after feeding and increase towards evening, with the baby screaming, drawing up the legs, clenching the fists, and often seeming to look for food. Physical exam reveals a distended abdomen with a lot of air and rumbling noises. Burping and release of {8 provide only temporary relief. A typ- ical infant with colic will ery for atleast three hours a day, three days a week, but will seer otherwise healthy and normal in growth, ‘The reasons for baby colic remain somewhat of a mystery, Possibilities include immaturity ofthe gastrointestinal ‘tract, a predisposition to excessive mus- cular tension, hunger, mistakes in feed- ing, allergies, and reaction to stresses in the home, Experience shows that affected babies often drink either very quickly or too slowiy, sucking in too much air, which then leads to distension; however, coli affects both breastfed and bottle-fed infants, Colic is more common in firs born babies. Itis important to exclude other causes for the crying, such as a central nervous system condition or congenital malfor- ‘mation of the gastrointestinal or uro- genital tract, although these are rare. It is recommended to feed the baby in an upright position, encourage the careful release of gas via burping, and avoid stress in general. Applications of warmth to the child’s abdomen can sometimes provide temporary relief. Pharmacolog- ical treatment with silicone derivatives that bind the air (eg, infant Gas: drops) only rarely improves the situation 26 Womeopathy ToDay Homeopathy Center.org Babies with colic... aren't able to tell us what they're feeling. Polarity analysis perfect for colic Since colic is generally a symptom-poor complaint and the baby cannot tell tus about his suffering, the extensive case-taking of a conventional homeo- pathic approach may prove fruitless, In contrast, polarity analysis (PA) is well- suited to identily the bestsfitting remedy. A is based on the grading of symptoms in The Boenninghausen Repertory: Ther- ‘apeutic Pocketbook Method * and consists ‘of two clements: contraindications and polarity difference Boenninghausen's contraindications ‘According to Hahnemann, what is pecu- liar and characteristic about each symp- tom becomes most evident via careful observation of the modalities —what modifies a symptom or makes it better ‘or worse, such as a change of position, fresh air, or certain time of day. There- fore, the homeopathic choice of remedy should be especially determined by the modalities Boenninghausen, a close friend of Hahnemann, wanted to align the patient's characteristic symptoms with the “genius” of a homeopathic remedy, without any contradictions What does this mean? The genius of a remedy means the symptoms that are most characteris- tic of and most unique to that remedy; it includes those modalities, sensations, and findings that have often been seen in the remedy proving, have occurred in various parts of the body, and have also been clinically healed. In Boenning- hhausen's Therapeutic Pocketbook, genius symptoms are generally listed with 3 high sgrade (on a grading scale of 1 to 5) ‘The concept of contradiction concerns polar symptoms—those that have oppo- site poles, such as: thirst/thirstessness, cold aggravates/cold ameliorates, desire for fresh air/dislke of fresh ait. Often, a rem edy’s indications will show both poles of a symptom but in different grades, which means that one pole of the symp- tom (the one with the higher grade) is ‘more important in that remedy’s symp- tom profile. Since the patient’s symptoms (especially the modalities) should corre- spond to the genius of the remedy, Boen- rninghausen sought to align the patient’s symptoms with the remedy’s symptoms in as high a grade as possible (.e, 3" to 5° grade). Ifthe patient’ symptom (eg. better from cold) was listed in the remedy in alow grade (1° or 2") but the opposite pole (worse from cold) was listed in the remedy in a high grade (3'to 5°), he regarded this as a contradiction to the patients characteristic symptoms: this sans thatthe remedy is contraindicated. Boenninghausen’s experience was that such contraindicated remedies hardly ever lead to healing, If we retrospectively look at cases in which, based on the total- ity of symptoms, an apparently well sen remedy failed to work, we often find that contruindications are the reason for the lack of success The polarity difference Bocnninghausen’s concept of contraindi- cation led to the idea of giving preference to polar symptoms when choosing a rem- dy. In polarity analysis, we systematically implement Boenninghausen’s insights for all polar symptoms by determining the polarity difference: to calculate this, for cach possible remedy we add the grades of all the patient’s polar symptoms and then subtract the grades of the corre- sponding opposite poles. The higher the resulting polarity difference, the more likely the remedy corresponds to the patient’s characteristic symptoms, assuming. there are no contraindications. During reper- torization, the software for Boenninghau- sen’s Therapeutic Pocketbook compares for all remedies the opposite poles of the patient's polar symptoms found in the 3° to 5° grades with the grades of the corre- sponding patient symptoms and marks contraindications. (The home prescriber can simply do this by hand.) For a reliable polarity analysis, we need to find atleast five polar symptoms. ‘To improve the patient’ observation of his symptoms, we supplement normal homeopathic casetaking with checklists (for acute illness) and questionnaires (for chronic illness) corresponding to their area of complaint, on which they (or their parents, in the case of infants) mark the symptoms they have observed. Checklists and questionnaires focus on polar symp- toms. [The Checklist for Infants and Small continued on page 28A Primer: Polarity Analysis & Boenninghausen Method electing the right homeopathic remedy for a petson with chronic illness is a time-consuming art. But the 19th-century homeopaths had so many patients (because homeopathy was the most successful medical treatment available) that they needed a quicker way to find the remedy. Clemens von Boenninghausen, a German homeopath and close friend of homeopathy's founder, Samuel Hahnemann, therefore developed an efficient case-taking procedure with Hahnemann’s consent. To find the remedy, Boenninghausen gave priority to just the main symptom of the patient, using especialy its modalities. (Modalities ate conditions that ‘modify* the symptom or make it better of worse, such as "worse from cold applications" or “better in the open air") He also aimed at matching the patient’s symptoms with the most characteristic and unique symptoms of @remedy—the so-called genius of o remedy. In his repertory, Boenninghausen's Therapeutic Pocketbook, genius-symptoms are Isted in 2 high grade (given a high number when scoring the repertorization). Non-specific symptoms (ones that are less likely to point to a specific remedy) are listed in a low grade. The scoring also takes into account whether a remedy is known to heal a particular symptom in clinical practice. In my experience and that of repertory experts Ds. Frederik Schroyens, Klaus-Henning ‘Gypser, and others, Soenninghausen's grading s stil the most reliable ofall repertories that exist today. Boenninghausen’s symptom grades Symptom observed once in remedy proving Symptom observed often in remedy proving Symptom observed in remedy proving and clinically healed Symptom observed in remedy proving and often clinically healed Symptom often observed in remedy proving and often healed Polar symptoms In the effort to match ¢ patents symptoms wth the genius of @reme= dy, polar symptoms play an important role: Any symptom that has an ‘opposite pole is considered “polar” For example thirst has an opposite, thistlessness, while Better trom warmth has an opposite, worse from warmth. A patient can only have one pole of apolar symptom at a time: he's either thirsty or thstfes, but not both. (A symptom le pain does ‘nat havea polar opposite, because lack of pain isnat usually 3 symptom.) Polar symptoms ofa remedy, however, can have both poles because 23 remedy’s symptoms (indications) are compased ofthe experience of several provers. For example, it five proves of a certain remedy were thistless and the symptom was cuted by that remedy, but only one prover of the remedy was thirsty, Boenningheusen's repertory would ‘mark thistle asa fourth grade symptom and thirst inthe fst grade. Contraindications Now, fo cure @ patent, iti important thatthe chosen remedy matches ‘the patient symptom in she high grade, and nat the opposite ofthe patient symptom. Ifthe later i the case, the patent wil nt be healed by the remedy, because the opposite of the patient's syinptom is typical fo the remedy. Boenninghausen called ths a contraindication, and he considered it so important that remedies lose points inthe scorng/tepertorzing they have one of mote. Boenninghausen analyzed unsuccessful prescriptions ‘and found that they almast always contained a contraindication, A straightforward method Polarity analysis can be dene manually using a form lke the one below (although special software cen save @ lot of im in a busy practic). Frststep: — Repertorize the patient's main symptoms with Boenninghousen's Therapeutic Pocketbook (polarity analysis only works with that repertory) ‘Second step: Enter the patient's pola symptoms and their grades for each ofthe top remedies. Enter the opposite symptoms and their grades for each ofthe top remedies. Fourth step: Calcaiate the polarity difference: his is where remedies lose points if they have a contindiation tothe patent's symptoms Third step: Sample repertorizing form for polarity anaysi [se [ty [ses [| a set i — ‘tome non sone 9 om (esr ores omsrame 9 re on Srv Fe actual examples, se the cases of Yanik and ind on pages 28 ~ 40 the rele For Crying Out Lue Haropathic Ploy Analysts Quick Ree fer Caley Babies” HomeopathyCentearg ~ Homeopathy Tooay 2] Autumn 2014Children may be downloaded—along with 19 other checklists/questionnaires fon such topies as headaches, neurology, GH, sleep disturbances, ete—at www. heinerfrei.ch] Practical procedure With an acute illness such as baby colic, ‘we inquire about the complaint, examine the child, and make a diagnosis. Next, the parents fill out the checklist, entering the ‘modalities and polar symptoms they have noticed. Finally, we use Boenninghausen’s Repertory to repertorize and find the most suitable remedy—the remedy with the highest polarity difference that shows no contraindications and, in cases with few symptoms, covers the highest number of symptoms. The presence of the patient (or their parents) is important so that we ‘can question them about the symptoms, with further discussion as necessary. The procedure is best illustrated with the fol- lowing examples, which will make it far easier o understand Six-week-old Yannik arrived at our office ‘onan emergency basis because of his con- tinual screaming and apparent abdom- inal pain, He'd been experiencing such distress since he was 10 days old, His mother reported @ normal pregnancy; this firstborn child had weighed 7 Ib 4 oz at birth and been completely breastfed his first four weeks. Since he always seemed hungry, however, the parents had added ‘a baby formula from the fifth week, but Sa See eer See one held positions of judgeship in the Gen See | SE ee er into homeopathy, soon pract Pent or eon ora ee ar rere Se eae Sie Dee cere eos ss and See ee tty ered eee ee oa eee De cs cea Cee oe ee cr og eee Soa \merican homeopath Carroll Dunham, MD, who often visited Boenninghausen i ee ee ree Ee nav Se oe Doreen eon ees cr Sua Sen HomeopathyCeater.org 2B womeopathy rovay ers eee ea 7 ee era es” following symptoms (p = polar symptom): External pressure: worse (p) ‘Warmth in general: better (p) better (p) Sitting bent over: better (p) Repertorization for Yanik Im this table, Yannik’s symptoms are listed underneath the blue line and above the red line. The top 12 remedies are ordered according to the “number of hits” or the number of his symptoms that appear in each remedy’s indications Polar symptoms are matked with (p)‘The symbols “<” and “>” mean “better” and “worse” The number behind the symptom in brackets (for example, con- stipation [113]) corresponds to the num- ber of remedies that have this symptom, ‘The numbers in the columns correspond to the “grade” or relative strength of the symptom within the remedy, with 5 being the strongest. Below the red line, you will see the opposite poles of Yannik’s symp- toms found in each remedy. Caleulation of the Polarity Difference: For each remedy, the grades of Yannik’s polar symptoms are added up. From this total, the sum of the grades of the oppo- site poles are subtracted; the result is the polarity difference. Examples: Kali car- bonicum 14—3 = 1, or fgnatia 15. Contraindications: The opposite poles at the genius level (grades 3-5) are com- pared with the grades of the patients symptom. If the patient’s symptom has a low grade (1-2) but the opposite pole of the symptom is listed in the remedy with a high grade (3-5), the genius ofthis remedy does not correspond to the characteristics of the patient’s symptom; the remedy is therefore contraindicated and is marked with “CL” Example: With Anacardivm, Yannik’s symptom rubbing ameliorates is grade 2, The opposite pole, rubbing aggra- vates is grade 4, so rubbing aggravates is a genius symptom for Anacardium. Anacar- dium does not, therefore, fit the patient’s symptoms and is contraindicated. Col- tumas with contraindications are shaded ray so that we can instantly see which remedies are contraindicated. Comparison of Remedies: Eleven rem- edies cover all Yannik’s symptoms, but only Kali carbonicum, Ignatia, and Spongia (in the white columns) have no contrain- dications. Of these three remedies, the polarity differences are: Kali carbonicum 1, Ignatia = 8, and Spongia = 4. Due to Spongia’s low polarity difference, we can ‘concude that although it covers all symp- toms it does this in a nonspecific way, so ‘we exclude it from our analysis. Using 2 materia medica (Hering’s Guiding Symp- toms’), we ean now compare which of the two remaining remedies fit the symptoms more precisely: » + Kali carbonicum—Abdomen: Cutting in intestines violent; must st bent cover, pressing with both hands, orlean far back for relief; cannot sit upright Fullness, heat and great distension in abdomen, immediately after eating a little. Abdomen distended with wind, after eating. Incarceration of flatus with colic. + Ignatia—Abdomen: Periodical abdom- inal spasms, colic particularly at night, ‘waking out of sleep, with stitches run- ning up into chest and to sides; pains > passing wind, which, however, i dif ficult .. Hlatulent coli; flatus incar- cerated, rumbling and rolling about, ‘making aloud noise; rumbling a from hunger ... Unsatisfactory, short and abrupt emissions of flatus of offensive odor, not without exertion of abdomi- nal muscles. Prescription and progress Based on the materia medica compari son and the higher polarity difference, wwe decided on Kali carbonicum and gave Yannik one dose of Kal carbonicum 200c. The following night, he slept soundly for the first time in more than a month! The next day, his crying and distress were noticeably better. Within three days, all Yannik’s troublesome colic symptoms had disappeared—completely and for good. Yannik’s parents were overjoyed at their baby’s new calmness. Thanks to homeopathic polarity analysis, they and their new son were spared two or three nove months of misery, crying, and con- stermation (as colic typically continues until the baby’ fifth month). Case report: Baby Linda Linda was brought to see me at age four weeks. Her mom reported severe colic, specially in the evening, saying that Linda often cried for hours on end, since she was two weeks old, Her parents’ sec- Within three days, all Yannik's troublesome colic symptoms had disappeared—completely and for good. cond child, Linda was born 6Ib2 oz in the 38° week of an uncomplicated pregnancy. She was breast fed and tended to drink very greedily in the beginning but then stop after ten minutes, only to get hun- er acme varlon SAN eee a a facial rash (which often accompanies baby colics) and a distended, taut abdo- ren, a physical exam shoved no patho- logic findings. With the help of our Checklist for Infants and Small Children, we identified the following symptoms (p = polar sym- proms): Flatulence painful, latulent colic Eructations (burping): better (p) Flatus, afterdischarge: better Standing (upright position); better (p) Drinking, after: worse (p) Rubbing: better (p) We repertorized all these symptoms as seen in the following table (page 30) ‘hich highlights the nine closest-match- ing remedies. Repertorization for Linda Seven of the remedies covered all six of Linda’s symptoms (aumber of hits = 6), and six of these seven remedies have no contraindications (white columns with no CI), Comparing the polarity differ- ences for these sx remedies, Antimonium tartaricum seems to be the best ft with a score of 10, and Ignatia second best with ascore of 8 Using Hering’s Guiding Symptoms as our materia medica, we then compate the relevant symptoms for the two remedies * Antimonium tartaricum—Albdomen Upper part of abdomen tense and painful Colic during loose stools. Colic around umbilicus, better after stool. Abdomen tympanic and very sensitive to pressure Stool: Violent shifting of flatulence without distension of abdomen, before stool + Ignatia—(See description from the earlier case of Yannik.) HomeopathyCenter.org - Homeopathy rooay 29re 2 Prescription and progress Because the materia medica did not strongly indicate one remedy over the other and Antimonium tartaricur had the highest polarity difference, I gave Linda one dose of ‘Antimoniu tartaricum 2006, dissolved in a litte bit of water T also gave her mother Ignatia 200¢ to hold in reserve, instructing her to give her daughter fgnatia only if there ‘was no considerable and lasting improve- ‘ment within the next four days After taking Antimoniwm tartaricum, Linda had 2 slight remission of her colic symptoms for three days, but then they Our check! relurned. So her mother gave Ignatia 200¢; this led to an immediate and lasting improvement of the colic, as well as the facial rash. Linda needed no further doses, as she was now a happy baby, no longer screaming all evening with endless colic symptoms. Once again, homeopa- thy had spared a newborn and her family from months of torment, Dosing for colicky babies In our practice, we typically give parents the three remedies with the highest polarity differences and no contraindications, num- ts help them to identify precise polar symptoms, which are reliable pointers to the bered from one to three, wth instructions to give number oneimmediately, dissolved in alittle water (to ensure the baby doess't choke on the pill). They are to admin- ister number two only if the first remedy has not led to a considerable and lasting improvement within four days, and num- ber three correspondingly after another four days. About two-thirds of baby colics ‘ean be healed this way and need no far- ther consultation. If after two weeks the baby is still suffering, we conduct a second ‘ease-taking, The chances for success are better this time because the parents ust- ‘THE MOST SUCCESSFUL REMEDIES FOR COLIC WE ractice are listed at right They ae divided according to the coverage of the symptoms specific to colic (painful flatulence ‘encounter in our pedi better after discharge of flatus/green stool ‘constipation), and according to the coverage of the most frequent polar symptoms (hunger/ worse after drinking/better eructations, burping/worse external pressure/better warmth in general/worse before sleep), Of the colic remedies most often rec- ‘ommended by home prescribing books, note that Magnesium phosphoricum and Dioscorea do not appear in our list be- ‘cause they were not included in Boen- ninghausen’s 133 remedies. Colocynthis also does not appear, despite being a In our experience, the top five colic remedies are Lycopodium, Ignatia, Chamomilla, Carb and Antimonium V/ ‘Top Remedies for Babies with Colic | Covers colic symptoms Palco Veratrum elbum Phosphorus Sulphurally have learned to observe the relevant symptoms of their child by now. Ifa remedy works well but the sym- ploms return after two or three weeks, ‘we prescribe the same remedy in higher potencies (IM, 10M). Itis very rare that more than two doses of the best-itting remedy are necded. Symptoms and non-symptoms in babies ‘When we treat newborns and small babies, wwe rely solely on the parents’ observations and our pediatric findings to determine the homeopathic remedy. It is important to be aware that certain phenomena are completely normal and to distinguish them from real symptoms, which are our point- ers to the best-fitting remedy. In the table below, you will find list of symptoms that can be useful for choosing aremedy in baby colics (qualified by some comments), along, with normal phenomena tat should not be used for remedy selection, Homeopathic polarity analysis works reliably While conventional medicine has litle to offer babies suffering with colic, fortunately, homeopathy can usualy help. After mak- ing the conventional diagnosis, we identify the remedy that fits the baby’s symptoms best. Our major difficulty isto get precise observations from the parents because they ekg steno) cans ured Fa se harper) Frese eter rete) have known their child for only a short time. Our checklists help them to identify precise polar symptoms, which are reliable pointers to the homeopathic remedy. In fact, modalities and polar symptoms seem to be a direct reaction of the vital force to any pathological disturbance. And this is ‘what makes polarity analysis so successtul, even if we have only a few symptoms. In contrast to popular modern approaches to choosing homeopathic remedy, we need rot make any speculations about the psy- chological background of the patient or the sensations he has. Using Boenninghausen’s Therapeutic Pocketbook, we limit our choice to 133 remedies. This may seem to be a disad- vantage, but in our experience these rem- cedies are completely sufficient to cure our patients in the vast majority of cases. We have to keep in mind that the more rem- ‘dies a repertory contains, the smaller is the probability of selecting the right one among them. Due to its precision and reliability as ‘well asthe relatively short amount of time needed for the selection of a homeopathic remedy, polarity analysis is wel suited for ‘use in a homeopathic primary care setting, ‘And since itis easy to reproduce the choice ‘of a remedy, the method can be shared and learned quickly, The only difficulty is to get a feeling for which symptoms are reli- able in pointing us to 2 useful remedy and Which ones often fail. With some patience and increasing experience, you can readily acquire this skill tiem ponies Hostpaly Go ask eee cated ese ia Ere M4205) 79867 ry igen ah he angi CT eps Sipe. Te se ag a + For more information on polarity analysis: ‘wwwheinerficich + For Boenninghausen’s Therapeutic Pocket book software for Windows and Mac: www boenninghausen de, + For North American seminars on polarity analysis, contact Lauren Hubele: www simpleconscioussteps.com ABOUT THOR Hines Fei MO,» in switzerland a Sian in pediane ey nd oncology atthe Universty Children’s Hospital of From 2001 t0 2005, ofthe rigorous randomized: ‘controled-tal on homeopathic retment of ADHD, whieh yielded postive siete evidence for homeopathy and recelved numerous awards. Other researen interests ctu fonts, otis. ‘media, HIN! influenza, and mulimorbid patents. He authored Polarity Analysis n Homeopathy, ‘rece Path ote Sam 3015 Crovhenerite eon bt stem atestare) Moastase big ber Shape 9) Sul ert) Swoleen ‘asymm esr oOnse seme ener) Ticseebrisaeeiesarelilt loot ame ots wee "asymmetry onsen ‘rig een avehe btn) uportal Deki as ors) eso isos se smo suel bese chon upg we Normal for Bales oat aig te cine) oat te) enpowee ase epsie ed fer remedy selection) HomeopathyCente.org - Homeopathy Tooay 3]