One of the basic remedies for headaches is probably right on your dinner table-sodium chloride or table salt. Of course, this does not mean that if you take a pinch of table salt, you will stop having headaches. To be effective, sodium chloride must be ingested in triturated doses—the tiny, highly potent doses that we have already described. Even then, sodium chloride, or Natrum mur, will not eliminate every headache. But for certain kinds of headaches, and especially for certain kinds of people, it can work wonders. It is called for in all headaches as at least one of the constituents of a homeopathic cure.
Conditions that seem to require Natrum mur may require, in addition, natrum sulphThese two cell salts work closely together in the body. Natrum mur attracts needed moisture to the cells and regulates the amount of moisture, while natrum sulph removes excess moisture. When the body needs natrum sulph instead of Natrum mur, the symptoms of wateriness are pronounced.
Headaches
One should understand that headaches are only symptoms. Aspirin dims the symptom, but it does not solve the problem that is causing it. The cause of the pain is changes in blood flow. Headaches are still not understood very well, like many other ills of modern living, but Natrum mur appears to be a good remedy for such modern maladies. These ills are often experienced as headaches. Even antibiotics can cause headaches. Stress, fatigue, loud noise, depression, and foods that disagree, such as alcohol, chocolate, and cheese, or even an argument with one’s spouse, can bring on headaches.
Sometimes the best way to handle a headache is to lie down or eat something (often, hunger is expressed by the body as a dull headache). However, hypertension and brain tumors can also cause headaches. Some people think that viruses are a cause of headaches.
Natrum mur is indicated again and again as the remedy for headaches.
The Power of Natrum mur
Natrum mur is often recommended as a treatment for more serious diseases. A famous English doctor tells how his brother, also a doctor, “had remarkable successes in treating multiple sclerosis” with Natrum mur.
Although sodium chloride is common to most living things, it is present in a much higher concentration in bodily fluids than in things such as bones and muscles. Sodium chloride’s great quality is its creation of osmotic pressure. Osmosis is important since, without it, water would lose its life-giving qualities in the body.
It is the key to many delicate and important chemical processes in the body.
Without osmosis, body cells could not be given the nutrients and chemicals they require because cells stay in one place in the body. They know exactly the kind of nutrition they need and will reject imitations, but they cannot go hunt for it. The blood must bring the necessary nutrients, which then are transmitted to the cells by osmosis-a process controlled by sodium chloride.
The paradoxical powers of sodium chloride are demonstrated by the fact that, in homeopathic doses, it is regarded as a good antidote to hay fever, yet this same method of treating hay fever also calls for the elimination of sodium chloride in the form of table salt from the diet.
Sodium, the element, has an important synergistic relationship with potassium. Some authorities believe that an overabundance of sodium in the form of table salt can antagonize its partnership with potassium, upsetting the body’s balance and even causing such troubles as cancer and high blood pressure.
Therefore, it is best to limit table salt intake to a reasonable amount since it can build up in the body over a long period of time and cause various health problems. The primary indication of a sodium chloride deficiency is either an exceptional dryness anywhere in the body or, conversely, an overabundance of water. If you need Natrum mur, you will probably appear bloated, feel languid and drowsy, and suffer from chilly extremities. You will most likely have a pronounced craving for salt because even though you may be eating many more times the required amount with your meals, it cannot be absorbed by the body unless it is taken in minute doses.
Heart Disease
People who can be expected to respond well to Natrum mur cell salts can often be recognized by their free, watery discharges, which flow far too easily from the mucous membranes. Natrum mur, however, is also indicated in cases where the vagina is excessively dry. Natrum mur subjects also tend to be sensitive to light and heat, and they have poor circulation. They are often chilly, and their conditions appear to be aggravated by the seashore.
They are often melancholy. Fear of thunder is a symptom. Sir John Weir said that during the air raids in London during World War II, a need for Natrum mur was indicated in cases of shock. Natrum mur people often suffer from constipation, hard, dry stools, which tend to cause anal fissures, and diarrhea, sometimes alternating with constipation.
It is interesting to note that headaches and abnormal fatigue are symptoms caused by excess sodium chloride in the diet in the form of table salt, whereas these same problems often react favorably to sodium chloride in triturated doses. This seeming paradox is nothing new to homeopathy. A homeopathic remedy is proven by observing the symptoms of illness it produces in well people.
From these observations, homeopaths can expect the same mineral in homeopathic doses to cure these conditions. A considerable amount of sodium chloride powder, dissolved in water and applied externally with cotton, was an effective treatment for insect bites. Moisten the bite with a small amount of water and rub a little sodium chloride on the spot. The pain would stop almost instantly.
Dry psoriasis will usually clear up in two or three days with Natrum mur in the recommended 6x dose. Constipation is sometimes related to this condition and calls for the 3x dose. Natrum mur in the 6x dosage has also been suggested for the treatment of rheumatism (three pills, three times a day), as well as for varicose veins.
Check out our other posts in our Cell Salt Series:
Homeopathic Cell Salt Remedies
Calcium Phosphate (Calc. phos.)
Calcium sulphate (calc. sulph.)