Educating the patient
Posted: Mon Feb 23, 2004 8:56 pm
Dear List:
I had a call the other day from a woman I'd referred to a homeopath in her area for treatment of her daughter. After six months of homeopathic treatment, the mom was thinking of taking her child back to allopathic medicine for a "second opinion."
Why? It sounded at first as if the kid not doing well at all. A rough winter, bouts of flu, ear infections, abdominal pain, terrible edema, etc. Upon closer questioning, it turned out that her symptoms were all ROS, and that her edema was not generalized but restricted to one hand and one foot. In spite of this rough winter, the girl's lab tests were actually IMPROVING!
I explained to this anxious mom that this return of old symptoms was truly a GOOD thing and that her daughter seemed to be moving in the right direction of cure (top downward, inside out). Her homeopath, in other words, was doing everything right and she should not spoil the progress of his treatment by switching to allopathic care. Mom, of course, was delighted -- and reassured.
Why hadn't her homeopath told her this? When she asked about specific symptoms, he told her not to worry about them, but neglected to explain WHY. Let this be a lesson that when it comes to dealing with anxious parents or anxious patients, simple reassurances may not be what's needed. Sometimes they need to be told why certain kinds of aggravations are considered good in the wonderful world of homeopathic healing.
This incident made me wonder how many cases are lost to inadequate patient education rather than poor prescribing.
Peace,
Cinnabar
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I had a call the other day from a woman I'd referred to a homeopath in her area for treatment of her daughter. After six months of homeopathic treatment, the mom was thinking of taking her child back to allopathic medicine for a "second opinion."
Why? It sounded at first as if the kid not doing well at all. A rough winter, bouts of flu, ear infections, abdominal pain, terrible edema, etc. Upon closer questioning, it turned out that her symptoms were all ROS, and that her edema was not generalized but restricted to one hand and one foot. In spite of this rough winter, the girl's lab tests were actually IMPROVING!
I explained to this anxious mom that this return of old symptoms was truly a GOOD thing and that her daughter seemed to be moving in the right direction of cure (top downward, inside out). Her homeopath, in other words, was doing everything right and she should not spoil the progress of his treatment by switching to allopathic care. Mom, of course, was delighted -- and reassured.
Why hadn't her homeopath told her this? When she asked about specific symptoms, he told her not to worry about them, but neglected to explain WHY. Let this be a lesson that when it comes to dealing with anxious parents or anxious patients, simple reassurances may not be what's needed. Sometimes they need to be told why certain kinds of aggravations are considered good in the wonderful world of homeopathic healing.
This incident made me wonder how many cases are lost to inadequate patient education rather than poor prescribing.
Peace,
Cinnabar
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]