This is the story of a young woman with a ‘biting’ problem. Let’s call her B.
B was prone to many headaches, and after doing some reading around, asked her dentist if her headaches could be caused by her grinding her teeth at night. The dentist answered in the affirmative, and offered braces and a mouthguard. She used these but found they did not help enough. She was still getting ‘horrible’ headaches and her teeth had started to move. To make matters worse, her partner could not sleep because the sound of her teeth was like bones being crushed.
Initially, B had come to me for help with acute bladder issues and cystitis. After homeopathy resolved that, she wanted to get to the source of why she was getting headaches and address the grinding of her teeth. This meant a longer consultation where I needed more in depth information about her health history, family history, her personal likes and dislikes, sleeping habits, dreams and personality. This is known mostly as constitutional homeopathy.
Grinding of teeth or clenching of teeth, both forms of bruxism, can cause damage to teeth, denting or flattening them or chipping the enamel off, making them prone to fractures. It can also affect the jaw, the ears, the head and the muscular structure of the face. Frequently, though by no means always, stress can be a leading cause.
Cuttlefish, the source of sepia ink.
The remedy that stopped her teeth grinding was Sepia. (It is one of 103 remedies listed for Grinding of Teeth in my repertory). This remedy is sourced from the animal kingdom: it is the pigment ink that is made from what the cuttlefish squirts out to camouflage itself when it is being threatened. This sepia ink has been used since Greek and Roman times, and, was used until the end of the 19th century, by artists and photographers.
So let me share some descriptions of herself when I asked B to describe what she was like as a person, how she would relax and what she did to make herself feel better.
“In general, I feel very lonely. I have friends and meet them but their lives are so very different from mine. They can count on other people, eg a husband or mother. I feel that if I will not solve things on my own, no-one will do it for me.”
“To avoid worrying, I try to go out a lot. I ride a bike, I ride a horse, I swim…my energy comes from active life. As soon as I sit in the office or go home, I feel weak, lonely and tired.”
“I feel… very independent. Since I came back from Scotland, I did not manage to convince any of my friends to go dancing with me. On Friday I thought, enough, and I went alone. At the beginning I felt confused as everyone came with at least one friend. That feeling disappeared quickly and I had a great time dancing many hours, learning, and seeing how people see me. I love to dance.”
A month after taking two doses in succession of Sepia, B emailed me saying that the grinding of her teeth had almost gone, and even better, she had no more headaches!
She did not need to see me again.
SEPIA, THE REMEDY
Sepia is a very well known remedy for hormonal problems and is widely used during and after pregnancy, for problems with periods and the menopause. However, Sepia can be used for any issue if the picture of the individual fits the remedy picture.
When I look at my repertory (book of symptoms), Sepia is prominent in the following rubrics (symptoms):
Dancing, desire for AND Dancing ameliorates AND Exertion, physical, ameliorates
Sepia types do not take kindly to getting help and are very independent. They are always on the go, juggling chores, children, work and other responsibilities. In general, they will feel a lot better in themselves if they do strenuous exercise eg. jogging, running, dancing. Many of their physical problems are characterised by ‘sag’, bearing down sensation, relaxation of organs and feeling run down. Their mental picture includes being worn out, indifferent and irritable to their family.
I am not able to go into all the details of this case, but I wanted to give you a sense of how the teeth grinding was not seen separately from the person who was experiencing it. There was enough holistic and characteristic information to see the remedy Sepia – there isn't a need to include everything in a remedy picture to prescribe.
Teeth grinding can be a big problem for some people, leading to tooth pain, jaw troubles, difficulties with chewing/eating, headaches and more. If you know someone who could benefit from homeopathic help, let them know there is hope!
Homeopathy can help.
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