Thrive This Winter with Cold Weather Resilience

One of the greatest advantages of homeopathy is that it creates resilience since it supports and revitalizes the body’s ability to heal itself, including cold weather resilience. But before adding a remedy, as wonderful as homeopathy is, sometimes we just need a little change in habit. If that doesn’t do the trick, homeoapthic remedies are the next step.

Healthy habits to improve cold resistance

Creating resilience to the cold through some simple habits is a good practice as the weather turns. This is important if you tend to be on the chilly side and find yourself easily getting sick easily with the change of season.

Get outside! This may seem counterintuitive, but bundling up and exposing yourself to cold weather is the best way to help your body adjust quickly to the change of season. This is especially true for kids getting back to school. Avoid getting chilled, so do bundle up in layers and go for a walk even when it’s cold, wet and rainy! Teach yourself and take your friends and family to winter sports like skating, skiing and snowshoeing.

Avoid overuse of external or radiating heat, especially electric blankets. While it’s important to stay warm – or rather, prevent a chill – it’s also vital to allow your body to adjust to the cold weather. Instead of turning up the home heating, put on an extra sweater. If you need an electric blanket to fall asleep, turn it on before you go to bed and then turn it off as you climb into bed. Your body has an amazing ability to adapt and it is made to adjust to the seasons too – sometimes it just needs a little extra help!

Try cold water exposure if you’re feeling brave and ready to take the next step. This is now in style and I see a surprising number of people going for a swim in the middle of the winter. While this is not for most people, maybe adding a little cold water therapy can be invigorating and help support the body’s health and immunity. You can read my blog about cold water treatments here. Need inspiration? Learn more about cold water treatments from the “ice man” Vim Hof here.

A word of caution: before adding any cold therapies, be sure to have a warm core temperature. If you’re already feeling cold – or even worse, feeling a little under the weather – avoid adding the extra chill. Rest and recover instead – maybe with one of the top remedies for effects of the cold below – and once you feel better, add these extra practices when you’re feeling warm enough to add the extra chill.

Top homeopathic remedies for cold weather impacts

Aconite 30ch (also Aconitum napellis 30ch) – #1 remedy for catching a chill

This is THE remedy for chill from crisp cold weather. If you’ve been out in the cold and caught a chill, and now you have a fever, or a sore throat or a cough, then this remedy is for you. This is an excellent remedy to take right at the beginning when symptoms appear. I’ve even read to only take this in the first 12 hours or so – but I’ve found if the symptoms still fit, you can continue after that. Symptoms that point to Aconite as a good fit are: intensity of symptoms, chill, burning sore throat, worse at night, thirst with restlessness and inability to settle. Pressure in the chest with a dry cough, which could be hoarse and croupy. In fact it’s the first remedy for croup that appear suddenly in the middle of the night after catching a chill.

Because of the intensity of symptoms, repeat Aconite 30ch frequently every 2 hours for 3 doses then 3 times daily if needed. For croup, repeat every 15 minutes until the child falls back asleep and Aconite will usually prevent a recurrence. For more information about croup, check out this blog.

Agaricus 30ch (Agaricus muscarius 30ch) – #1 remedy for chilblains and frostbite

Agaricus is the better choice for the physical affects of cold as in chilblains or frostbite. Chilblains and frostbite can be hard to tell apart, but frostbite is much more serious and requires medical attention. Symptoms develop after prolonged cold exposure, usually once the toes or fingers start to warm up, causing itching, prickling and burning. If symptoms are more severe, then blisters may develop and the skin may peel. Give Agaricus early, as soon as symptoms start, to prevent the blistering and peeling. For potential frostbite, get medical attention – you can still add the homeoapthic remedies as needed.

According to intensity of symptoms, repeat every 2 hours or every 15 minutes for three doses if the pain is acute – then 3 times daily until healed.

Dulcamara 30ch – #1 remedy for effects of the damp cold

Dulcamara is for anyone who develops a head cold, sinus infection or swollen glands as soon as the weather changes to that cold rainy season. If diarrhea is brought on by being out in the cold wet weather, then Dulcamara is your medicine too. This remedy can even be applicable for colds and infections that develop at the end of summer, when the days are warm, but the evenings are cold and damp. It can also be used for joint pains and rheumatic muscle pains that start in the fall, but there are other remedies for this, such as Rhus toxicodendron, so be sure to see a homeopath if your symptoms are recurring or chronic or you’re not sure which would be the best fit for you.

If you’ve developed a cold, there are other remedies to consider for sure, including Arsenicum album, Hepar sulphuris calcareum and Nux vomica. All these should be considered as cold remedies for colds when there is an increased sensitivity to the cold weather and you find yourself hugging the fire. You can read more about remedies for colds in this blog.

As the symptoms are not typically intense, take Dulcamara 30ch three times daily for three days or until symptoms subside.

Prevention: the homeopathy way

I am often asked whether you can use homeopathy for prevention. Simple answer: yes! However true to homeopathic fashion, there is not one remedy you can take to prevent a cold, sore throat or flu if you’re susceptible to the cold weather. In fact the best prevention in homeopathy is a good constitutional remedy, a remedy that is chosen specifically for you according to the unique symptoms you experience. Constitutional remedies take into account your personal susceptibilities (sensitivity to cold for instance) along with mental emotional symptoms (what may cause you stress) together with digestion (if applicable) or sleep (waking at 3 am perhaps) and so on and so forth. A constitutional remedy cannot be chosen for yourself, you must have a homeopath choose it for you. However much information is available on the internet, healing on a constitutional level is complex, you can’t always understand and assess your own symptoms yourself, and there are a great many remedies and symptoms which must be taken into account. Choose a homeopath for the best results.