Feeling the Chill

Homeopathic medicines for the cold.

Brrrrrrr…. February can seem like the chilliest month in many ways… you feel winter should be over and you are looking for the warmth of Spring but the weather is still fickle and bleak. Frosty mornings, cold winds, dark nights.

When the Gregorian calendar was in its infancy, February was the month that Romans held The Parentalia, the feast of the dead. The days from February 13th to 21st were filled with atonement for guilt or wrongdoing, and commemoration of the dead. These days were traditionally considered ominous; houses of worship were closed, and marriages were not performed. Combine this sombre historical tone with the cold weather in the northern hemisphere, and you have one frosty month!

For all things cold and clammy, for all issues frosty and frigid, we thought we’d look at what homeopathic remedies seem to suit this sometimes dreary season and the theme of cold.

Frostbite – 2 remedies stand out, Pulsatilla and Agaricus. Both plant remedies, Pulsatilla, the Pasque flower, is known to be one of the first herbaceous perennials to bloom in the spring, often when patches of snow are still on the ground. So we can see the connection with issues stemming from freezing our delicate tissues.

Agaricus Muscaria is a distinctive-looking mushroom, that may have been ingested by Viking berserker warriors to induce a trance-like fighting state of ferocious rage where they could endure almost super-human challenges, such as extreme cold and severe wounds. The state of ‘berserkergang’ began with chills, teeth chattering and shivering, before the face became swollen and red. This progression sounds very much like the progression of frostbite. Indeed, this remedy is very useful when the body parts feel as if frostbitten, with redness, burning, and itching, whether actual frostbite has occurred or not.

Urge to Urinate When Cold – Dulcamara has this distinctive symptom. If you are someone who suffers from an increased urgency to urinate, or even temporary urinary incontinence when chilled, then this remedy might just work wonders. And wouldn’t that be nice, to be able to go for a skate or a ski without having to find a spot to wee every few minutes!

When Injured Parts Feel Cold – Ledum comes to mind when an injured part feels cold to the touch, yet also feels better when cold is applied to it. An example of this is a sprained joint that feels colder to the touch than the area around it, yet icing it brings relief from the pain.

Parts that Freeze Easily – Zincum is a remedy for when the extremities or the ears freeze easily.

Dullness of Mind in Cold Weather – Mercurius solubilis has the symptom of brain fog in cold weather.

Sudden Chill, Goose Flesh, and Hair Standing on End – 2 remedies have this combination of symptoms: feeling suddenly chilled with goose bumps and hair standing on end. Whether it’s a from a creepy feeling or the air actually getting colder, this trio of symptoms points to either Baryta Carbonica or Dulcamara.

Hopefully this inspires you to embrace the cold and think about homeopathy for all the strange symptoms related to it. Happy February!

Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash

This entry was posted on 17 February 2023 at 15:22 and is filed under Homeopathy.