These days we are all being encouraged to support community health and ourselves with vaccines. Some people worry about this in terms of potential reactions and compromised health later on. Where there has been some sort of reaction which may be associated with a vaccine, they often feel this has not been acknowledged and they can feel anxious about continuing with the process, but have no choice due to Government regulations.
Over the years at Elements of Health we’ve worked hard to provide support through our ImmSafe Program to make the process smoother, less of a health risk, where there is a potential for this in sensitive people, and to take some of the worry away.
I get the question about vaccination detoxing frequently these days, so here is an explanation of this process from the homeopathic perspective.
Please note that I’m not going to address the topic of the vaccines which were rolled out in 2020/21 here. The topic is a minefield for anyone in any health profession, but you should contact your homeopath direct to ask this. Many practitioners have been working together over the past years to work out solutions and protocols and there is a large body of work.
Detoxing or Balancing?
I tend not to look at what’s required as “detoxing the vaccines” but more tuning up the whole system and looking at the underlying issues, such as family inheritance or our susceptibility to reacting to something.
Some children react to vaccines and some don’t. However, during more than 25 years in practice I’ve seen a dramatic decline in children’s health. We’ve gone from acute childhood disease several decades ago to more children with more chronic disease today. This is often attributed primarily to the impact of an increased vaccination schedule, but we don’t know this for sure and there are so many factors which may be implicated; nutrition, the quality of our air, food and water, our general environment, the more-than-50-year-impact of the oral contraceptive pill and artificial hormones, including the increase in IVF, EMFs, general life stress and so on.
No child is born with a clean slate. No matter how good your pre-conception and pregnancy care, your nutrition, your birth and baby’s first months, we are all affected by our inherited family medical history and susceptibilities.
Often the vaccine is just one factor in many and the inherited susceptibility predisposes a child to particular health issues and lowered immune function generally, so they are more sensitive to the vaccines and the environment.
The first question to any parent asking about a detox for vaccines is whether the child currently has any obvious health issues.
The answer to this question will help us decide whether treatment is actually necessary. Just because a child has been vaccinated, doesn’t mean they need detoxing. But the question being asked may mean that individualised treatment to rebalance the whole system might be appropriate and beneficial.
What symptoms indicate that a consultation might be necessary?
We all hear the conversation about autism and asthma, impaired gut health and of course food allergies, but my experience in clinic shows that sometimes it’s the small things that indicate all is not well. Again, this may be related to specific vaccines, but often it’s impossible to say what the cause is.
In regard to childhood vaccines, some of the more niggly things that don’t resolve no matter what protocols you try and which I see frequently in clinic would be:
- Recurrent acute illness such as colds and coughs
- Frequent conditions which require antibiotics
- A continual runny nose or throat clearing
- Restless sleep
- Bedwetting
- Molluscum or other skin issues
- Anxiety
- Worms/parasites
- Constipation or diarrhea
- Low iron
- Low energy
- Low appetite
- Dark circles under the eyes
This is just a short list which would indicate to me that something is not right and requires a broader look. Sometimes a child may have just one niggly symptom, like throat clearing in the morning, other times a child may have a complex combination of the above.
What can we do?
What we do as homeopaths is look at the bigger picture. We don’t need to know what the cause is, although sometimes this can be useful if we do decide that some form of detoxing or “chelation” is necessary.
What we aim to do is bring the child’s system back into balance by encouraging it to work harder to do the job it’s trying to do itself. Symptoms are our body’s way of telling us something is wrong and they need to be listened to and worked with, rather than suppressed or fought!
If we decide that treatment is necessary, then the homeopathic approach to this is to work out a constitutional (individualised remedy) which fits the uniqueness of the child, addresses the health issues and the inherited tendencies and brings the system into balance. Through this process issues with vaccination, environment and allergies begin to resolve.
If they don’t improve with standard homeopathic prescribing, then we may start to look at things like vaccination detoxing and also “chelation” of heavy metals and high copper.
Everyone is difference and therefore it may take a longer or shorter time for restoration of health and it may take different remedies and different approaches. There is no one size fits all.
Detox programs
We developed our vaccination detoxing program over the past 25 years, based on the work of the late Dr Tinus Smits (www.tinussmits.com) and Dr Jean Elmiger. It is similar to the work of Ton Jansen, which many people are familiar with. We use this if specific detoxing is required, ie where there has been a definite reaction to a particular vaccination or our well chosen remedies are not working as we would expect due to a block of some kind, which might be a vaccine, heavy metals, bacteria, mould, etc.
At some point a hair analysis from Interclinical Laboratories can be useful to assess what, if anything, is going on. It may be heavy metals, mineral imbalances or high or low copper.
As with the general health issues, in relation to heavy metal toxicity or high copper, specific “chelation” is not always necessary, as individualised and well-chosen remedies can bring balance to the system and allow the body to release unwanted toxins naturally in the process.
If we do decide to “chelate”, I have personally always used only homeopathic remedies and some simple supplementation, if considered necessary, based on my long experience.
Many clients may also have the support of a naturopath or herbalist as part of their team. I do often stress, however, that too many supplements and products can be as challenging for the a compromised system as too many conventional drugs. An overloaded system which is trying to bring balance itself cannot work with 50 things at once and either collapses (over-reacts) under the added burdern or the products are excreted, which is a waste of your money!
The first step is always a consultation
The first step is therefore always a consultation and a well-chosen constitutional remedy. Then if things don’t progress as we would expect, we take it to the next step and look more specifically at other factors.
I find this simple approach can often bring greater benefit than mass supplementation programs. If a system is already weakened then it can be hard to absorb supplements and in many of the cases that I see in clinic, the body just doesn’t know what to do with all these additional stimulants.
Too much supplementation can be as bad as too much conventional medication and certainly this will show up on a hair analysis.
I am not currently taking on new clients but have a list of trusted colleagues who can help you out if you consider your child or yourself need some support. You can find my trusted colleagues list on the Consultations page – just scroll down.
About Melanie Creedy
Melanie Creedy is a Licentiate of the British School of Homeopathy in the UK and holds a Bachelor of Health Science in Homeopathy. She is registered with the Australian Register of Homoeopaths (AROH) and is a member of the Australian Homoeopathic Association. She was Vice President and Professional Development Coordinator of the Australian Homoeopathic Association from 2011 to 2015 and editor of the AHA National Newsletter from 2012 to 2020.
Melanie has used homeopathy since the mid-1980s and has been in practice since 1998. For many years she ran The Children’s Ear Clinic in Western Australia, but since her tree change to Tasmania, has a special interest in helping individuals manage their life and health through looking at a diagnosis or condition in relation to the symbolism of this unique picture. Armed with a range of remedies from the most common to the most unusual and esoteric, Melanie guides people to plumb the depths of their life and spiritual path with homeopathy to help them find insights, to understand and to heal.
For many years Melanie taught people how to use homeopathy in their homes, with their children and with their pets. She has run classes on how to use homeopathy with native animals and taught courses on homeopathy for birthing to doulas. Since moving to Tasmania she has found writing a better forum to reach more people. You will find many posts reaching back over her 25 years in practice here, revised and updated over time.
Homeopathy is a traditional medicine. It may be used in conjunction with other medicines. For any ongoing chronic condition, it is important to be assessed or examined by your healthcare professional or specialist. Always seek medical advice in emergencies. The information on our website and in this article does not constitute medical advice. It is referenced from traditional homeopathic texts and is for information only. If in doubt as to the appropriateness of a treatment seek advice from your GP or your registered homeopath.