To wonder whether people on here know that teething powders are homeopathy?

[ArfAPandaTreacle]

Whenever the word 'homeopathy' is mentioned on here, you instantly get people saying that it's woo. Water doesnt have a memory etc.

But when someone posts asking why Ashton and Parsons is no longer on the shelf, you get a lot of replies saying how good it is, where you can get it, that Nelsons also do some (disclaimer - Ashton and Parskns and Nelsons and Boots own teething powder are all identical).

So out of interest, why when someone posts about teething powder do you never get anyone saying 'homeopathy is woo! Water has no memory.'

And why, when you have a 'homeopathy is woo' thread do you never get all those teething powder loving mums saying 'Actually, teething powder works really well for my baby.'

Please take this as the light hearted, inquistive thread that I intend it to be.

'Water has no memory' is because homeopathy centres on the remedy not having a single molecule of active ingredient, but the water dried into the sugar 'remembers' the molecules it once bashed into before it was diluted out of existence.

Know what Panda, I owe you an apology! Never used Ashton brand but I've just looked up the dosage and yes they use tincture (hence being able to call themselves herbal) but it is more like a homeopathic dose than an active one. So while technically they are herbal, they're also homeopathic as well (confused yet? )

Having said that, who cares if they only work through the act of gum massage, sugar or placebo if they give some relief.

bruffin I saw - a long time ago now - a program where they used homeopath on cows and a placebo.

There was an effect which was really interesting as the cows had no idea about the placebo

Ivykaty - there is nothing in homeopathic medicines. Herbal medicines could work, depending on the active ingredients. Homeopathy relies wholly on a placebo effect.

I didn't know they were homeopathy until I read the label and it told me not to touch the magic powder. Arnica pills are also homeopathic so I may as well have bought myself a Wispa for sorting out my post-natal swelling.

nothing at all ?

So AandP dosage is so small its actually homeopathy?

Interesting....

That'll be why they don't work then

Ivykaty
To make a homeopathic they reduce the strength to something like 1 in 25000
Then they have to bang the bottle on a book a 100 times. This apparently relies on the water having a memory of what you have put in it.
There is no scientific reason for it to work

A tincture is something like 1/5 or 1/10 so would work if the herbs have been shown to work.

Ivykate there is something homeopathic remedies. Its just very small.

We used to buy it from a homeopathic pharmacy in London and called it 'baby cocaine'. Great stuff!

But we've just figured out that AandP is homeopathy, but also lots of people agree it works?

Well actually, in the case of rescue remedy, there is brandy

And arnica pills are often homeopathic but arnica cream is herbal. It's all about whether the product actually contains the active constituents from plants or just the "spiritual memory" of them.

Lots of medicines contain very small amounts of active ingredient because that is all that is needed but they do actually contain some. Homeopathic remedies contain no active ingredients.

sowhy do the teething powders work then?

"spiritual memory" arf

Homeopathy is total woo.

We use Arnica....isn't that homeopathy?

Anyway, doctor recommended it for dh to speed the healing after an operation

It is herbal not homeopathic.

Ivy the powders may appear to work because they are administered at the peak of the baby's discomfort and the symptoms would be subsiding anyway, or the baby is distracted by the taste, or the baby is soothed by a bit of sugar, or maybe something else.

Hmm, I thought it was ascot had tiny sugar pills. But I could be wrong. This is in Germany, btw

Ascot? I mean homeopathy

AandP contains 0.002ml of the tincture. So little in fact, that is homeopathic amounts.

Arnica pills are nearly always homeopathic, however most arnica creams are very much herbal and contain a concentrated amount of arnica infused into the oil used to make the cream/salve.

And while many people, myself included, hold no store by homeopathic remedies, surely if they do work for you then that's great. Who cares if it's the medicine, the remedy or sheer bloody mindedness that helps the symptoms as long as something does. After all, homeopathy is most certainly not harmless, as long as you properly address the underlying issue if the symptoms continue.

It does drive me crazy though when homeopathy and herbalism get tarred with the same brush! And breathe....

so you don't know how the powders work but then tell me that it isn't homeopathy

i don't know how the powder works but I do know how the powder works - sorry but it doesn't make sense