In this podcast, we cover: 01:00 Introduction: Types of Sore Throats and Their Associated Homeopathic Medicines 02:24 An easy go-to combination medicine for sore throat 04:09 A painful, fiery red, quick-onset sore throat 07:45 Infected sore throat with a splinter sensation 09:40 A sore throat with excessive saliva and odor 12:22 When to stop the chosen homeopathic medicine and when to pivot 13:42 Two more considerations and some supportive tips 14:49 A sore throat recap Additional resources: Joette Calabrese on YouTube (Monday Night Lives) Joette’s Learning Center The Academy of Practical Homeopathy® PracticalHomeopathy.com Gateway to Practical Homeopathy®: A Guided Study Group Curriculum Joette’s Study Group, Find Your New Study Group Friends Joette’s Mighty Members FindAPracticalHomeopath.com Kate: This is the Practical Homeopathy® Podcast, episode number 178, with Joette Calabrese. Joette: Hi, I’m Joette Calabrese, and I welcome you to our health care movement — yours, mine and the countless men and women across the globe who have retaken control of their families’ health with Practical Homeopathy®. So, for the next few minutes, let’s link our arms as I demystify homeopathy — what was once considered an esoteric paradigm — into an understandable, reproducible, safe and effective health care solution available to all. This is the medicine you’ve been searching for — my unique brand of homeopathy, PRACTICAL Homeopathy®. Introduction: Types of Sore Throats and Their Associated Homeopathic Medicines Kate: (01:00) Welcome back to the Practical Homeopathy® Podcast. I’m Kate, and I have a question for you, Joette. Joette: Let’s go. Kate: I’ve been thinking. A sore throat is one of those symptoms that seems so ordinary, yet it can keep you from everyday things like talking, eating, sleeping, even sometimes thinking clearly. So, I want your perspective. When that annoying sore throat occurs, many people reach for lozenges, maybe a saltwater gargle, sometimes even an antibiotic. Joette: Exactly. But we know, of course, with Practical Homeopathy®, we have some really efficacious solutions. We don’t think of a sore throat as just a sore throat, regardless of the presentation. We often look at the kind of sore throat that’s in front of us. Because a fiery red, sudden, painful sore throat is not the same as one that’s pus-filled, splinter sensation in the throat, and neither is the same as the one that makes the pillow wet from drooling. They’re all a little different. Kate: I’d like to ask you, Joette, to give us some homeopathic solutions to different kinds of sore throats. Can we look at three very different sore throat pictures, and will you share the medicines that might match those pictures? An easy go-to combination medicine for sore throat Joette: (02:24) Sure. I’ll give you some clear practical tools you can use the next time a sore throat shows up in your home. But let me also say, before I discuss the different types of sore throat, I’d like to share an easy go-to combination homeopathic medicine by Boiron. It’s called ThroatCalm®. Now, I also have to say parenthetically, Boiron’s not the only manufacturing homeopathic pharmacy that we can buy combination medicines from. But this is just one of them that I’d like to talk about today. So, these combination medicines, I think, have extraordinary value because they’re so easy to use and easy to share with loved ones and friends. So, I’m looking right now at the back of the box of the product called ThroatCalm. Every ingredient is, of course, homeopathic. There’s also a spray that they call ThroatCalm Spray. And what’s interesting is that remedies that are in it are Echinacea 1X and Plantago major 1X. Kate: And that’s the spray, right? Joette: That’s the spray. Yes. I should have made that clear. Yes. Yes. Kate: I love these combination medicines from Boiron and other manufacturers, like you said, Joette, but can you share some specific types of sore throats now and what specific single homeopathic medicine we might consider for each of those types of sore throats? And friends, I just want to mention that we’re coming into cold and flu season, depending on when you’re listening to this podcast, of course. So, I want to suggest that you have these medicines on hand so you don’t have to try to get them when someone comes down with a sore throat. Joette: That’s prudent. No doubt about it. A painful, fiery red, quick-onset sore throat Joette: (04:09) So, the first homeopathic remedy I think of for a sore throat, especially if it’s really painful and fiery red, and especially if it has a quick onset. In other words, one minute the child or the person (whomever it might be) is fine, and then the next minute, oh my gosh, it is really, really painful. And so, it’s a quick onset. It’s sore, it’s bright red, sometimes with high fever. Sometimes, it’s a high fever. Now, if it’s an adult, usually there isn’t a high fever, but the face can be flushed, red — and face or skin. For those of you, my friends, who have been studying homeopathy, you probably already have figured out that it’s likely Belladonna. So let me go further with it. Tonsillitis, it can have that. There can be little or no pus. The throat might be dry, and it’s painful. Swallowing is painful. Even warm liquids can be painful. So, you might think, “Well then, but why Belladonna?” Well, it’s the first remedy to consider when the inflammation is intense, sudden-onset and dry and red. And then the next question is, “Well, if I decide to use this, how do I administer it?” Well, I like a 30th potency — 30C. If you happen to only have 30X, that’s really great. And it can be taken every four hours, for example. At the height of pain — let’s say it’s very severe in the very beginning — you might use it every few hours, and for one to three days you might need to take it … to use it that long. And a lot of times people think that if the first dose doesn’t do it, then it’s not working. No, you really need to show some repetition, not over a period of many days necessarily, but at least enough repetition to allow the medicine to act fully. Kate: I just want to clarify, Joette. You had said that you might take it up to maybe every two hours if it’s really painful, but you wouldn’t do that for three days. Joette: No. Kate: It’s generally, you’re going to see improvement, right? Joette: Yes. Yeah. I would like to see some improvement over a period of a day or so. So, in the beginning, we might use it more frequently. And then as the symptoms back off a little bit — not just the pain in the throat, but also the well-being of the person (maybe they have a little more energy or the fever’s not as high or et cetera) — then we’re going to back off and use it less frequently. One of my important teaching points is if it came on like a lightning strike and everything looks red and hot, Belladonna is a good medicine to consider. So, it’s a good way to differentiate from others. Kate: Okay. Do we have to have all of those symptoms that you just mentioned to warrant the use of Belladonna, or how do we determine how many of these symptoms we need to lead us to consider this medicine? Joette: Well, when I’m describing a homeopathic medicine picture, you don’t have to have all the symptoms to warrant the use of the medicine. But if this general picture occurs or develops — perhaps two to three of these or other symptoms — that might indicate the use of this medicine … actually could be a good indication that this medicine would be a good fit. So, the symptoms I just mentioned are just a few of the keynotes of this medicine. And as I always say, it’s always prudent to do your due diligence, my friends, and look up these homeopathic remedies in a materia medica. And if you don’t own one, you can look up one online for free. Just Google the name of the homeopathic medicine and the word “materia medica” and you’ll likely find some good information there. Kate: Okay, let’s go on to the second type of sore throat and what homeopathic medicine you might consider. Infected sore throat with a splinter sensation Joette: (07:45) The next one is a sore throat that’s infected. There might be a splinter sensation in the throat. First medicine that I think of for that is Hepar sulph. The full name of the remedy is Hepar sulphuricum calcaria [Hepar sulphuris calcareum], but Hepar sulph, for short. So, in this information — this picture — we get severe, infected feeling. There can be swollen tonsils with pus or just plain old swollen tonsils. There might be a sensation of something stuck in the throat like glass or a splinter or even a fishbone. And the pain, often it can extend to the ears. And when someone has this, we often see, not always, but we can see someone who might be irritable, or chilly, or worse from cold air or cold drinks, or warm drinks make them feel a little more comfortable. So, let’s talk about why Hepar sulphuricum calcarea [Hepar sulphuris calcareum]. When the throat feels infected, and there’s a certain sensation to that … might say, “Well, isn’t Belladonna infected too?” Yes, but there’s a sensation, and the pain has a distinct, sharp, stuck quality. And I also want to point out that the lymph nodes might be swollen as well (tonsils are lymph nodes) and not only on the inside, perhaps on the outside under the ears. So, when we’re using this, the same general frequency, adjusted according to the intensity of the symptoms, as we discussed for Belladonna. Pretty much they’re all about the same. So, let me give you one more teaching point. If the person is crabby or cold and describes a splint
