Helping your child to concentrate

HOW CAN I HELP MY CHILD TO CONCENTRATE?

Does your child find it hard to concentrate not only at school but at home?  I will explain to you what can be done to help your child with homoeopathic treatment.

Did you know that homoeopathic treatment can really help many emotional issues that children have?  There can be lack of concentration, fears, aggressive behaviour, and lack of confidence, just to name a few.

Sometimes the child’s school teachers notice that there is a problem with concentration of certain children in the classroom and eventually comment to the parent that their child is disruptive in class and upsetting the other children by being restless and inattentive.  When assessing the child’s performance, it seems that their child has not learned much at all during the school term.

A very worried mother called me one day saying that it had been suggested that her child had Attention Deficit Disorder and perhaps she should organise some tests to be carried out. Naturally, the poor mother was very concerned and she made an appointment with a specialist for her son.

The specialist couldn’t really see that there was anything to worry about.  He suggested that maybe her son’s hearing should be tested, just in case.  The hearing test showed no problem.

This lady had been talking to another client of mine who suggested I may be able to help, so she and her husband made an appointment for their son aged 6 to visit me.

The First Consultation

From my observations, the young boy appeared to be a fairly quiet, well behaved child whose main problem at school, as he told me, was that he found it soooo boring!   Naturally, because he was bored, he would be quite restless in class and disturb the other children.  His mum said he couldn’t concentrate for very long at home when she was trying to help him with his homework.  He was a daydreamer and was often off in his own world.

His dad said that it seemed that their the son appeared not to hear their requests when he was asked to do things such as sit at the table for dinner or get ready for school.  This young boy would have to be asked several times before their requests were answered or followed.  He wasn’t being defiant.  He just seemed to be off in his own world playing with his toys.

Taking the case

I took a complete case history from the parents of this boy.  I traced his general health from birth onward including any significant physical problems or emotional reactions.

Significant physical illnesses or emotional reactions are very important as they help to guide me to the correct selection of the remedy needed.  Also, his general temperament.  What does he like to do and what are his favourite hobbies?  Does he have any fears? Also, how does he cope with hot and cold weather or Spring time?  How well does he sleep and if he had any particular types of dreams?

All of this information gives me a complete picture of his physical and emotional state.  This then helps me to find the most suitable homoeopathic remedy for his particular problems.

Significant physical symptoms

Interestingly this young boy had a history of quite severe chest infections. He would catch a cold every few weeks and then develop problems with a deep chesty rattly cough keeping everyone awake at night.

At the time of the consultation he had loud rattly cough and had been prescribed a Steroidal asthma preventative spray plus Ventolin as a reliever.  He had never had any difficulty with his breathing such as shortness of breath.  Also, he had been prescribed numerous courses of antibiotics for his chest infections and his parents were wondering if it was possible to help their son overcome these chest infections without antibiotics.  Fortunately, homoeopathic treatment is just the thing for clearing up these recurring chest infections.

Another problem was a skin issue.  There were raised red patches of itchy skin on the boy’s arms and legs particularly if he became too hot. These patches became much more itchy and red after bathing or showers.  He had been prescribed a topical Cortisone cream from the family Doctor.  The cream seemed to work for a few days and then the rashes would flare up on another part of his body.  I explained to the parents that the Cortisone cream was not a cure but was in fact suppressing his skin symptoms temporarily.  With the right treatment his skin condition should clear up and there would be no need for Cortisone cream.

Once I had put all of this information together I prescribed a homoeopathic medicine that matched his whole symptom picture as closely as possible.

Firstly

Clearing up the chest infection as soon as possible was the most important concern at the time of the consultation to avoid yet another course of antibiotics and further time away from school.

I prescribed a remedy in a medium potency to be taken twice daily for a week and for mum to call in a week.

Fortunately, the remedies have little or no taste and children accept them easily.

Sometimes they may be given as little white pills that taste a little sweet or the pills are diluted in water and dispensed from a dropper bottle.

Progress

After one week, our young patient’s cough had almost cleared much to the amazement of his mother.  Just an occasional cough after waking in the morning.  He was also sleeping more soundly and his behaviour had improved.  Mum said that he seemed more attentive and alert to what was going on around him.  I was really pleased with the progress, so far.

I decided to reduced the dosage of the remedy to once a day and asked the boy’s parents to call me after another 7 days.  His mother called and said she was really excited as his chest was clear for the first time in months and that he was really well behaved at school and concentrating on his work.

The teachers had asked his mother what had happened?  What had brought about the changes in her son?  The mother explained about their son’s visit to me and his homoeopathic treatment.

I continued to give this young boy his remedy as needed to clear up the itchy red skin. After a few weeks all traces of the skin problem had cleared up.

The Outcome

I was very happy with the progress of this case.  Overall, for this young boy,  there were no more problems with keeping up with the rest of the children in his class.  Colds now no longer progressed to chest infections and his eczema finally cleared up.  No need for any inhalers, antibiotics or cortisone cream.  This was a huge relief for his parents.