Does spending more money on your child's healthcare buy you the best available treatment?

We live in a world where we work to buy things that we often don’t need, or question the very act after experiencing the dissatisfaction it offered, often times making matters much complicated than it used to be. Haven’t you noticed a similar trend with your medical bills too? Recap an instance when you had a dilemma whether to seek medical attention or not, purely weighing your decisions based on the humongous bulk of cash at stake. When your concerns are about your child’s health, any normal parent wouldn’t think twice on churning out a hefty sum. But have you ever paused for a while to enquire about a low budget, yet effective mode of healthcare for your child? Most of you may counter with “the greater the expense, the better the treatment” mantra, but sadly, this is not true in all the cases.

Let’s face it; Not every soul in this planet could afford costly treatment procedures. And yet, we can’t deny basic treatment to kids of all ages, irrespective of their financial short comings. In this scenario, let’s take notes about the system of medicine, much famed by it’s ‘sweet pills’, where the action is still on the verge of discovery – Homoeopathy.

Let’s put it simple and straight. Purchasing homoeopathic medicine won’t blow a hole in your pocket. In this era, where the marketing industry is being stomped over by GST, let’s just say these pills can be bought without an EMI. Parents are still sceptical about the action of these medicines, but when given upon a prescription from a registered medical practitioner, you can put your faith in this miraculous system.

Putting the ‘cost-effective’ matter to one side, let’s put ourselves in a child’s shoes. Do you want to swallow a pill that tastes like a cooking attempt gone terribly wrong? (unless your wife is the cook). Most kids have a sweet tooth; they are attracted to sweets like bees are drawn to honey. Homoeopathic medicines are mostly dispensed through easily palatable sweet pills, which suits a child’s taste.

For every new born, mother’s milk is the healthiest and vital source of energy. Imagine a mother’s plight when her baby keeps on puking every last drop of milk he’s consumed. This condition is termed as lactose intolerance. The best way commonly practised to counter it is by giving supplements, totally depriving the infant off of mother’s milk. There are remedies in homoeopathy that can completely reverse lactose intolerance. Nothing can stand as a substitute to mother’s milk, especially the ‘colostrum’ or the ‘first-feed’ of a baby. We can never incorporate a perfect concoction of nutrition and immunity in such a balanced way as that of human milk, so it is all the more significant to know that lactose intolerance is an obstacle that is a must to be over thrown.

Remember how your mother keep reminding about your attempts to walk as a baby, or how you kept blurting out ‘mama’ or ‘papa’? Every human infant is supposed to show a few signs of normal growth, both physically and mentally. There are called ‘milestones’ of growth. Each milestone is supposed to be fulfilled at a specific age of the baby’s life. These include fontanelle closure (Rewind an instance, when you are advised NOT to apply pressure on a new-born’s head. Well, this is the reason), crawling, sitting, walking, respond to surrounding, speaking, etc. Milestones delay can easily be caught on by the watchful eyes of a parent. Homoeopathy offers a vast range of remedies for this dilemmatic ailment.

Another fun fact about homoeopathy is that you can’t pinpoint a specific remedy to a particular complaint. Imagine that you caught a nasty cold, and the same happened to your sibling. When you approach a homoeopathic physician, chances are that the two of you would go home with two totally different medicines. You can’t be a homoeopathic physician yourself by owning two or three homoeopathic medicines, and it is a must to visit a qualified physician for your prescription. It might seem so unwelcoming to the present generation who are used to prescribing for themselves, but the bright side is that, this system drastically reduced the chances of self-prescription misadventures. Always remember folks, Dr Google is never the answer to your ailments (I mean it).

Another field where the scope of homoeopathic treatment is gradually being brought to light is learning disability. Well, most of us have seen kids struggling to converse, or spell a simple word; and in worst case scenarios, facing social alienation from their peers. Here, medicine alone won’t do the trick, so let’s put mind over matter. Children with dyslexia or any other learning disability must receive constant love and support from their parents. They must be encouraged and given reassurance about overcoming their difficulty in conversing. Don’t forget to give them tiny rewards for completing each goal!

Most of the children are picky eaters and hence are more prone to malnourishment if their diet is neglected. Delayed mental development, anaemia, stunted growth is some of the manifestations. There are certain homoeopathic remedies called as ‘Biochemic’ or ‘Tissue remedies’ which almost seem like vitamin supplements. They act on the human body to restore any ailments brought in by deficiency of vital components needed for bodily growth and immunity.

Fun fact time! Homoeopathic drugs are made by a process known as potentisation. In simple words, the higher the ‘potency’ is, lesser would be the amount if drug substance in it. The lesser the amount of drug, higher is its action in atomic level – dynamic action. This might seem hilarious when ‘bigger is better’ seems more logical. To all of the worry wart parents of this world, you can all heave a sigh of relief, if you were to give homoeopathic medication to your child. It will never leave you with impending dooms called as ‘side effects'. Do remember a few things though: one must not consume coffee while under medication. Strong smelling scents, spices, and coffee have antidote action on homoeopathic medicines.

Homoeopathy is a young system which has hardly witnessed 200 years of miraculous cure to humanity, and yet a minority is only aware of its existence. Mostly dissed and misinterpreted as a ‘placebo’, homoeopathy is a system, brimming with untapped potential. Setting aside the ‘economy saving’ aspect, homoeopathy is such a child – friendly system of cure that can unfold its action in a mild and gentle way, like a mother’s tender love. When we are brought face to face with life – threatening emergency situations, we can’t help, but bow our heads to the mighty powers of the well-established allopathic system. But it is also necessary, to not be ignorant about a system of medicine that can grant cure  without draining your health and your wallet.