To Consider Homeopathic Teething Gel Appalling?

[UncleT]

It's being advertised on the telly at the moment. It 'contains' 12c dilutions of herbs. Look up 12c and you'll rapidly find out that this means none of the substance remains in a sample. Other ingredients are water, ethanol, a sweetener and gelling and lubricant agents. There is nothing that will help with teething pain.

[Wabbitty]

If water has a "memory" then there is no need to take expensive homeopathic crap - normal tap water will contain the essence of everything.

[5feralloinfruits]

but i personally know people who use it and it has worked,you have been told it doesnt work and its not possible to work by the mainstream pharmaceutical industry,which also makes billions and billions,and you believe it,without having tried it.

Amber necklaces do not look tacky,i cant think of anything less tacky,we obviously have different ideas of what tacky means.

[meddie]

people get angry about it, because it shows a lack of even very basic science.
if you make a drink of orange squash , it doesnt become more orangey the more water you put in it thats basic science.
homeopaths claim that serial dilutions of their ingredient becomes more potent the more you dilute it. so
1ml drop in a 100mls.
then take 1ml of that and dilute it a 100 times
then 1ml of that and dilute that a hundred times,
then another ml of that and dilute that a hundred times,
then 1 ml of that and dilute that a hundred times is a 6c dilution.

There is no way on gods earth that a drop of that final solution is stronger than the original solution.

homeopaths now say that yes we know the substance is no longer there, but the water 'remembers it being there'. if thats the case why doesnt it remember the urine/poo/heavy metals and poisons the water has also been in contact with during its existence?

Can you not see how ridiculous that is? If that was the case just by drinking tap water we would be in contact with thousands of homeopathic remedies and therefore no one would suffer disease. but that doesnt happen...

its frustrating to hear people say, but science doesnt know everything. yes maybe it doesnt, but we've known for along time that diluting stuff doesnt make it stronger

[Ponysocks]

Sassysally - when have the laws of science been turned on their head?

[SatNavMan]

CorusKate you win the internet for that comment. The special type of shaking is so important for activating the woo molecules. I recommend Tim Minchin's poem/song Storm for more fun, including the wonderful summation of homeopathy:

Take science and bin it
Water has memory and while it's memory of a long lost drop of onion juice seems infinite
It somehow forgets all the poo it's had in it

My advice- if your baby needs something to help it, provide something with a chance of doing so. At the risk of sounding a tiny bit sceptical, homeopathy is a crock of gonadgravy.

[claraschu]

Placebos work on pets (readBad Science by Ben Goldacre), so they probably work on babies.

[NeedsAsockamnesty]

but i personally know people who use it and it has worked,you have been told it doesnt work and its not possible to work by the mainstream pharmaceutical industry,which also makes billions and billions,and you believe it,without having tried it

No you don't know anybody that has experienced it working,because it does not.

If you really believe it does there is a million pound prize in it why don't you toodle along and claim it

[SunshineBossaNova]

Homeopathic A&E

[extrasleepneeded]

I've used homeopathic teething powders with my younger two and found then great screaming baby to silence in seconds. Not really sure how they worked but all I care about is that they do

[meddie]

becuase they are just powdered sugar extrasleepneeded and as mentioned before and researched extensively, babies respond strongly to sweet tastes, so strongly in fact that it can over ride pain messages.

you would get the same effect rubbing icing sugar on their gums or dipping their dummy in honey.

[mercibucket]

placebo and nocebo are amazing. why describe them as appalling?

and my 6 year old definitely noticed her molars coming in!

[mercibucket]

well i suppose nocebo could be described as appalling but the human mind is an amazing thing

[XiCi]

Another one who just does not understand why people get so frothy about homeopathy. If you think it's a pile of shite then don't use it, I don't see why anyone else using it should bother you.

My dd suffered terribly with teething. The teething granules literally took minutes to change her from a screaming banshee to a calm little baby. I don't care what anyone else's views may be, they worked for her, and better that than pumping her full of Calpol.

[UncleT]

Brainwashed by pharmaceutical companies?? No, just in possession of a basic scientific education, and a mound of research proving that there's no possible effect beyond placebo. That's not being brain-washed or small-minded, it's actually called not being a complete dumbass.

By the way, I have a shiny pebble in my house and I haven't had a single tiger attack. Would anyone like to buy my magic anti-tiger protection stone?

[UncleT]

There is no placebo effect in teething babies. They are, quite simply, not developed enough for that complex psycho-neurological process.

[extrasleepneeded]

I to am not really bothered how the teething powders worked I just know they did we called them magic as they worked so quick and am sure its not just sugar as I tasted them and they weren't sweet at all

[GreatSoprendo]

Teething powders are amazing! I'm certain however that there is nothing medical or pain relieving about them - it's just the distracting effect of the powders fizzing like a very mild popping candy that distracts them for long enough to take their mind off their teeth.

[hazeyjane]

personally I don't really believe teething causes pain how do you work that out! I remember dd1 headbutting the floor in agony when her molars were coming through!

Finding out that sugar had a memory of water being dropped on it that had a memory of substances diluted in it, but only those that were shaken in the water in a special way, would require not just turning science on its head, but going round science's back and fucking it up the arse.

I may have that printed on a tshirt

[hazeyjane]

I did try the powders in desperation with dd1 - they not only had zero effect, but left her with a powder moustache that looked like I had been hothousing her in the fine art of snorting class a drugs.

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

For the gels though, I think the pressure on the gums helps - that's why chewing a teething ring helps. Rubbing firmly along the gums can help too, the gel probably just makes it a bit slippier!

[FastWindow]

coruskate informative AND hilaire.

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

Actually, I have seen a paper recently which argued you could distinguish between different homoeopathic dilutions and pure water/ethanol by the long range structure of the water/ethanol molecules.

But quite how that would actually have a biochemical effect I don't know.

[MistletoeBUTNOwine]

Well DS likes the powder- stopped screaming and ear pulling. Will try icing sugar tomorrow in the cause of science and see if it has same effect
Re. the amber, a friend has recommended it before, her DS has necklaces and both ankles covered! All do different things apparently, need to look into it more.
Btw calpol has had negligible effect.