HOMOEOPATHIC REMEDIES FOR STUTTERING OR STAMMERING

Stuttering — also called stammering or childhood-onset fluency disorder — is a speech disorder that involves frequent and significant problems with the normal fluency and flow of speech. People who stutter know what they want to say, but have difficulty saying it. For example, they may repeat or prolong a word, syllable or phrase, or stop during speech and make no sound for certain syllables.

Stuttering is common among young children as a normal part of learning to speak. Young children may stutter when their speech and language abilities aren't developed enough to keep up with what they want to say. Most children outgrow this developmental stuttering.

Sometimes, however, stuttering is a chronic condition that persists into adulthood. This type of stuttering can have an impact on self-esteem and interactions with other people.

If you're an adult who stutters, seek help if stuttering causes you stress or anxiety or affects your self-esteem, career or relationships. See your doctor or a speech-language pathologist, or search for a program designed to treat adult stuttering.

Children and adults who stutter may benefit from treatments such as speech therapy, psychological counseling or using electronic devices to improve speech patterns. After a comprehensive evaluation by a speech-language pathologist, a decision about the best treatment approach can be made.

Causes-- Researchers are still studying the underlying causes of persistent stuttering. A combination of factors may be involved. Possible causes of persistent stuttering include:

Abnormalities in speech motor control. Some evidence indicates that abnormalities in speech motor control, such as timing, sensory and motor coordination, are implicated.

Genetics. Stuttering tends to run in families. It appears that stuttering can result from inherited (genetic) abnormalities in the language centers of the brain.

Medical conditions. Stuttering can sometimes result from a stroke, trauma or other brain injury.

Mental health problems. In rare, isolated cases, emotional trauma can lead to stuttering

Symptoms-- Stuttering signs and symptoms may include:

·         Difficulty starting a word, sentence or phrase

·         Prolonging a word or sounds within a word

·         Repetition of a sound, syllable or word

·         Brief silence for certain syllables or pauses within a word (broken word)

·         Addition of extra words such as "um" if difficulty moving to the next word is anticipated

·         Excess tension, tightness or movement of the face or upper body to produce a word

·         Anxiety about talking

·         Limited ability to effectively communicate

The speech difficulties of stuttering may be accompanied by:

·         Rapid eye blinks

·         Tremors of the lips or jaw

·         Facial tics

·         Head jerks

·         Clenching fists

Stuttering may be worse when you're excited, tired or under stress, or when you feel self-conscious, hurried or pressured. Situations such as speaking in front of a group or talking on the phone can be particularly difficult for people who stutter.

However, most people who stutter can speak without stuttering when they talk to themselves and when they sing or speak in unison with someone else.

Risk factors-- Factors that increase the risk of stuttering include:

Having relatives who stutter. Stuttering tends to run in families.

Delayed childhood development. Children who have developmental delays or other speech problems may be more likely to stutter.

Being male. Males are much more likely to stutter than females are.

Stress. Stress in the family, high parental expectations or other types of pressure can worsen existing stuttering.

Complications- Stuttering can lead to:

·         Low self-esteem

·         Problems communicating with others

·         Not speaking or avoiding situations that require speaking

·         Loss of social, school or work participation and success

·         Being bullied or teased

·         Being anxious in social situations or being diagnosed with social anxiety disorder

HOMOEOPATHIC REMEDIES

Homoeopathic remedies works well in stammering .The appropriate medicine is selected on individual study. Moreover Homoeopathic medicines are natural and safe, having no side effects. Some of the important remedies are given below-

STRAMONIUM 200- Stramonium is one of the top remedies for stammering. Strammonium is prescribed   when a person has to exert strain for a long time before a word is uttered. Here the words seem to shoot out with harshness. There may be also facial contortions, and tics and a generally violent nature.

CAUSTICUM 200-Causticum is  indicated  for stammering  when a person is mentally or emotionally excited.It is also useful for stammering from paralytic condition of tongue. Causticum may be seen with hoarseness , chronic clearing of the throat , and twitches of the face, particularly of the right side.There may be paralysis of the vocal chords.

HYOSCYAMUS NIGER 200-Hyoscyamus should be tried when Stramonium fails. It is indicated when the patient doubts that he will not be able to speak correctly.

CALCAREA CARB. 1000—Calcarea carb. is prescribed when stammering with tongue large, heavy and hard palate occurs. It occurs usually in fat , flabby persons who catch cold easily. There is a particular craving for eggs  and undigestible things like chalk.

LACHESIS 200-Lachesis is an effective remedy for stammering and is indicated  when a person stammers over certain specific letters while speaking.

LYCOPODIUM CLAVATUM 200-Lycopodium is one of the most effective Homeopathic medicines for stammering and shows remarkable results where a person stammers while speaking out the last words of a sentence.  Lycopodium is also greatly helpful for persons with a weak memory, indistinct sleep, lack of self confidence and poor self esteem. Fear of public speaking may also prevail among persons in need of Lycopodium.

SPIGELIA 30-Spigelia is another effective  medicine for stammering.Spigelia is indicated when  stammering on the first few words of a sentence followed by normal, clear, uninterrupted speech.Spigelia patients  repeats the first syllable around three to four times before he can go on to the next part of the sentence.

BUFO RANA 200- Bufo ranna is indicated when stammering occurs on account of extreme anger.

BOVISTA 200- Bovista is specially adapted to stammering in children and old maids.

MERCURIUS  30—Mercurius is effective for stammering wich comes out of hesitancy. There is trembling of the mouth and tongue. It is also prescribed when the person may feel quite agitated at being asked a question and become overly excited , hurried and embarrassed. There is an overall hesitancy, lack of confidence and shyness.

SELENIUM 200- Selenium is prescribed for stammering where the person makes mistakes in talking , says the wrong syllables and cannot articulate some words. This may be seen in Alzheimer’s disease.

LAC CANINUM 200-Lac caninum is best for stammering  and it is prescribed when  a person starts to stammer when he talks fast.

STAPHYSAGRIA 200-- Staphysagria is another best remedy for stammering  where stammering appears while talking to strangers.

Stammering Flicker of words

Stammering

Flicker of words

Speech is a tool to communicate. Everyone will be well versed with their mother tongue but may stammer with other languages. Addressing fluently in a group needs confidence first. Proper learning, remembering and correlation of thoughts add more and more lubricants for fluent speech. When one cannot speak spontaneously and fluently with confidence following their train of thoughts, it is called stammering. Stammering causes flickering of words like a short circuit happened in the brain or nerves.

Stammering medically means disorder of speech, where fluency of speech is affected with hesitations, involuntary pause(s) and repetition of words or prolongation of sounds. It is otherwise called as stuttering. Stammerers face difficulty while attending interviews, addressing the public, etc. As a small spark can provoke a big fire, a small hurdle in pronouncing a word can make the entire speech of the stammerer collapse. Repressed anxiety of the stammerer can surface any time.

Incidences – Stammering seems to affect 2-5 per cent of children around the age of 5. It commonly affects boys more than girls. Also, its incidence is more common in the first born male child. The exact reason is unknown. It can descend through genes.

Causes – Instability and pause in speech can occur for anyone at any time (mostly while tense or in anger or when emotionally upset). Generally, stammering as a disorder will not arise from physical problems or problems in understanding or intelligence. It seems to occur due to instability of the brain in correlating all the signals to trigger the vocal apparatus to produce effective speech. Since the exact point of origin cannot be located, causes are often supposed and not definite. Anxiety, nervousness, tension, fear, low-confidence, situations, knowledge of language, etc., are often blamed. In some cases, in addition to hereditary trait, researchers could note poor blood flow to speech area (Broca’s area) and intelligence area (Wernicke’s area) in the brain.

Symptoms – Even though stammering starts around the age of 5, it reaches its zenith by teen age. In the meantime, the sufferer gets accustomed to managing the condition. Anyway, it can flare up any time with emotional stress or changes. Symptoms of stammering vary from person to person. Stammerers may have a few or most of the following symptoms:

• Hesitation to speak
• Difficulty in finding a proper word – feels brain had been wired
• May stop in the middle of a speech to come to a standstill with fear, anxiety and tension
• Need more time to complete speech or could not finish it
• Loss of control over speech
• Pause for specific word or sound in the speech
• Swallow words often
• Words/speech come in parts
• Repeating the same words or using unnecessary words often
• Can speak well with subordinates and could not with high officials
• While worrying more about it, it causes more and more problems
• Repetition of initial consonants especially with vowels – A, E, I, O, U
• Felt as if vocal cord gets tightened with prolongation of sounds especially with sounds of A, P, S, T, V, X
• Usually try to avoid eye contact (to whom they speak) to avoid stammer
• Speak fluently when emotionally relaxed

Diagnosis – Anyone can diagnose the stammering, but a speech therapist can analyse all its facets to advice better management.

Complications – Stammering, if left untreated in the initial stages, often causes inevitable complications at the emotional level. It can reflect in the personality, behaviour, self-esteem and social interactions. Stammerers often feel ashamed, worthless and guilty to appear in public which can affect their career.

Management

For parents or bystanders – Parents should be aware that with effort and training betterment can surely be attained. They can make their child fluent by influencing them with encouragement to jump over the hurdle easily. Further,

• Provide them good attention and make them practise repeatedly
• Don’t make them tense with repeated caution or reminders since these may cause reverse effect
• Speak slowly and clearly to them
• Don’t make them hurry in any means at any time

For sufferers

• Never hide the problem
• Never get upset while stammering
• Be bold and confident – don’t lose hope at any time
• Concentrate on the content of the speech than the way it is spoken
• Don’t get tensed, always be relaxed, speak / answer everything clearly in a slow manner
• Do good practise to overcome the stumbling block
• Develop speaking skill by exposing yourself repeatedly to challenging environments
• Build good knowledge of the language with learning and reading
• Build personality and better communication by following a proper way of speaking

General treatment – There is no known specific treatment in Allopathy for stammering. They totally depend on speech therapy and behaviour therapy for management. They advise parents to provide good attention and support to the sufferer to build confidence to root out fear, nervousness and anxiety.

Homeopathic approach – Even though modern system of medicines claims that stammering cannot be cured altogether with medicines and can only be managed with behavioural and speech therapy, Homeopathy can provide very good relief for stammerers. Homeopathic medicines can support, set right and correlate one’s mind, nerves and vocal apparatus to reduce pause or stammer in course of time.

Stammering, as a complaint, needs to be treated at the earliest to cope with the situation. One should be aware that early treatment is the best treatment since it usually preserves the confidence level, self esteem and social interactions. Improvement of fluency in speech may vary according to efforts taken, i.e., early treatment / attention / care, vocal practices / exercises, alteration in environment, proper coaching, regularity in following medicines, etc. Anyhow, early treatment and practice can make one near normal.

Homeopathic medicines commonly used in cases of stammering are Arg nit, Ars alb, Baryta carb, Belladonna, Bovista, Calc carb, Causticum, Chamomilla, Cicuta, Cuprum met, Ferrum picricum, Gelsemium, Hypericum, Hyoscyamus, Iodium, Kali brom, Lachesis, Lycopodium, Nat carb, Nux vom, Opium, Stramonium, Sulphur, Thuja, Thyroidinum, Veratrum alb, etc, These Medicines should be taken under the advice and diagnosis of a qualified Homeopath.

for new hope

Dr. S. Chidambaranathan, BHMS, MD (Homeo)

Laxmi Homeo Clinic

24 E. New Mahalipatti Road

Madurai, TN 625 001

India

Tel:  +91-452-233-8833 | +91-984-319-1011 (Mob)

Fax: +91-452-233-0196

E-mail:  drcheena@yahoo.com

www.drcheena.com / www.drcheena.in

(Disclaimer - The contents of this column are for informational purpose only. The content is not intended to be a substitute for professional healthcare advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of healthcare professional for any health problem or medical condition.)