You know, you’d think I had never been to the dentist in my life, but I was just there less than a month ago! I’m beginning to wonder why I even bother!
So, admittedly, I have a bad tooth. It’s loose, but not horribly loose. The dentist wants to pull it. He says I’m going to show up one day with the whole side of my face swelled up. But I have faith in the magic of homeopathy! My faith was really tested two days ago. I knew that this tooth, which is never really great under the best of circumstances, was taking a turn for the worst. Things were going bad, more pain on occlusion than usual. By the end of the day on Wednesday, there was no doubt in my mind that an emergency was brewing on the horizon.
I sensed a kind of nerve pain when I bit down, so I took Hypericum. Nothing happened. There was a throbbing pain, so I took Belladonna. Nothing happened. I decided to look at it in the mirror, and I was, like, “OMG!” The gum area above the tooth was all red and swollen! “I’ve got a full-blown abscess!”
By now, I’m starting to feel sick as well. Feverish, loose stools in frequent succession. I recognized it as Arsenicum. I took Arsenicum 200C and felt better quickly; but still the abscess was there.
I tried Silica, it didn’t help. I tried Pyrogen, it didn’t help. I knew something had to be done. If you remember “Tidbits 60”, you know that I’ve done this before. I went into the bathroom and got out my razor blade! I washed it and then dipped it in alcohol and rinsed it. I made an incision across the gum and blood came out. I rinsed with Calendula 1M in water. Calendula is homeopathy’s antiseptic. I took Staphysagria 1M for the incision pain. I waited–recalling that last time, it took a couple of hours for the abscess to go down. But I waited and waited for hours and there seemed to be no improvement at all!
“You’re going to have to go back and do it again,” I told myself. I didn’t relish this at all, but what could I do? I made another attempt at lancing–in a different spot this time–and blood came spurting out. This time I rinsed my mouth in an ounce of water and spit back into the cup. I would make a 6C remedy out of this cup — and here’s how I did it:
I got a small bottle of water, poured half of it out, poured in the ounce of “bloody water” I got by rinsing and spitting, and succussed the bottle 40 times. That’s a “1C” potency (approximately). I poured out roughly 90 percent of my bottle, refilled with water half way, succussed 40 times, and now had a “2C”. I went up to 6C in this manner, labeled my bottle “Abscess 6C” and started dosing with it every 10-15 minutes with 10 succussions before each dose.
For detailed step-by-step instructions on how to do this, see my article “How To Make Your Own Remedy”:
https://elainelewis.hpathy.com/how-to-make-your-own-remedy/
So, over an hour went by and I’m getting pretty discouraged! I’m starting to think I don’t even know why I’m taking this remedy anymore because nothing is happening! But I kept going, soldiering on. Then, at about an hour and a half’s time, I felt a barely noticeable “pop” in my mouth and suddenly the pain was gone and I could bite down! I ran to the bathroom to spit in the sink and rinse with Calendula 1M again. “OMG!” I said. “The home-made remedy made the abscess pop!”
I made myself something to eat right away–I hadn’t eaten since breakfast! I was so elated! Homeopathy had done it again!
I went to sleep that night in perfect serenity. Imagine having to sleep with a dental abscess? I don’t think so! That would have been murder! But the next day I felt that I wasn’t quite doing so well. I started taking the remedy again. (By the way, this kind of remedy is called an “auto-nosode”.)
I didn’t feel like I was making real progress. After eating dinner I fell asleep and when I woke up, I was in real trouble! The abscess was back and had spread from the front to the back of the tooth! Yikes, I was in real trouble now! I was thinking I was going to have to go back into the “O.R.” but I decided to try raising the potency of the remedy first. I dumped out most of the bottle, refilled half way with water, succussed 40 times, did that twice, and started dosing again every 10-15 minutes. Incredibly, gradually, the whole thing resolved over the next hour or so and I’ve been fine ever since!
The important lesson here is this: potencies wear out! If you find that your remedy worked great in the beginning but doesn’t work so well now, raise the potency! And P.S., all remedies should be in water if you plan to repeat them as I was doing. And don’t forget to succuss the bottle a few times before each dose!
OK, I’ve dodged another bullet and saved myself probably $250.00–but mainly, I get to keep this stupid tooth, at least for the time being! So, if you’ll excuse me, I have a life to get back to! (It’s been a horrible 2 days.)
See you again next time!
Good job, Elaine! . That was a horrible 2 days to go through. Good to know about using the Calendula the way you did and I’ll keep that in mind, just in case.
Linda, using Calendula in what way? I want to make sure I know what you’re referring to.
I used it as an antiseptic.
I never miss one of your Tidbits columns. They all show how committed you are to homeopathy and holistic healing and each one contains important, practical advice and information, as well as being fun to read!
Thanks Alan!
A deep dental abscess of the roots? Red and swollen gums? Extreme sensitivity to touch (bite)? The two remedies that must be present in every dental office (if we lived in a dream world, that is) and on every homeopath’s mind—–Hepar sulph and Merc sol. It is right there in THAT rubric. Hepar makes dental abscess go away in a matter of days, and the pain associated with them melts away in a matter of minutes. Belladonna does not do that. Neither do Arsenicum nor Staph. Nor isopathy in a long run. Silica is much more chronic, and it follows Merc and Hepar both, if needed. Hypericum doesn’t have pus; it is needed after an extraction or a root canal surgery — after or before Arnica, depending on the symptoms present. NB, take Arnica *only if the bleeding is obstructed (hematoma/bruising forms) *not if the bleeding is free. Finally, Pyrogenium is a state of systemic sepsis, not a local infection.
To differentiate between Hepar and Merc, check out your salivation and the reaction to heat (note, it is normal to salivate with dental troubles). Hepar sulph can withstand the most heat in all the materia medica, Merc is very sensitive to both. Both have a strong desire to kill whoever is around. haha I suggest, you start with Hepar, it is more acute.
“Potencies” do not “wear out” in an acute infection, btw, either the drug works or it doesn’t. While in a weak organism, there is always a danger of grafting another layer of pathology with frequent repetition of a drug that is not a similimum.
Good luck, Elaine Lewis. :))
Thanks for your comment, Helen!