Tonsillitis and Homeopathic Treatment

Tonsillitis or inflammation of the tonsils is a painful condition of throat, and in its chronic form it can become a source of recurring episodes of colds. With the winter setting in, it needs a special mention.

There is a marked change in the attitude of the medical world as regards the tonsils. The old custom of “tonsil snatching”, that once meant millions of tonsil operations a year, is dying a well-earned death.

On this point, orthodox medicine has rallied down to the conservative view held by the homeopathic school. It has been an unsaid homeopathic rule to save the tonsils whenever possible. With careful application of the properly indicated remedies, I have seen homeopathy succeeding in many cases when failure seemed certain, and especially among children in whose case excising (removal) is rarely, if ever, justifiable.

According to homeopathic philosophy, such local conditions are a result of the weak immune system and almost invariably due to constitutional disturbances. The removal of tonsils does not improve these disturbances in the least. Homeopathic philosophy stresses on the necessity to study the condition of the body as a whole before one deals with tonsillitis.

Tonsils form part of the body?s defences. Their removal generally means rendering the body more susceptible for infections. Also the tonsils are a kind of indicators of the general health of the body. One might compare them to the barometer in the hall. Well, certainly one cannot improve the weather by smashing the barometer!

The treatment of enlarged tonsils with homeopathy has two stages in cases of long standing. Acute inflammation needs to be treated with a different set of medicines and its recurrence to be treated once the acute stage is over. Deep-acting medicines are required to treat the constitution and bring about lasting relief. It is true that this method takes a longer time, but it is also the best one because not only the tonsils are cured but also the patient.

Belladonna
It stands at the head of the list of remedies in tonsillitis. Very useful in acute stages where tonsils are bright red and swollen, and there is difficulty in swallowing fluids

Baryta carb
It is indicated in tonsillitis, with the formation of pus, when the right side of the throat is worse than the left, enlargement of the glands in the neck, under the jaw and behind the ears. It is one of the best remedies for removing the tendency to tonsillitis, particularly in children, who are sensitive to every little exposure to damp or cold weather which leads to a fresh attack of tonsillitis. It is one of the remedies to prevent the return of this condition and changes the constitutional tendency of the patient.

Iodides
Iodides in various combinations are extremely useful in treating inflamed tonsils.

Constitutional treatment
It is aimed at stopping the recurrence of such attacks. Deep-acting medicines like Tuberculinum, Calcarea Phos, Psorinum and Sulphur are often employed

This feature ( authored by Dr. Vikas Sharma ) was earlier published in The Tribune(north India’s largest circulated daily newspaper). Dr. Vikas Sharma is regular Homeopathic columnist for The Tribune.You can mail him at  vikas@drhomeo.com