Tissue Salt Therapy In Midwifery And Baby Care

Tissue salt (or cell salt as it is nowadays more often referred to) therapy is often the easiest complementary therapy to understand and use, according to Sensitive Midwifery founder Sister Lilian, who strongly advocates the use of these remedies in pregnancy and with babies. There is an easy-to-remember range of twelve very versatile remedies for a wide range of conditions and situations, making them ideal for the midwifery, mother and baby arenas.

The origins

Some three hundred years ago we did not even know that the human body was made of water, inorganic and organic matter in perfect proportion. The concept of tissue cells was also foreign. All that changed when a medical doctor, homeopath, physicist and biochemist, Dr Wilhelm Schuessler, who lived and worked in Germany in the nineteenth century recognised the importance to health of specific inorganic compounds. He was not the only scientist active in this field, but the tribute for tissue salt therapy mainly goes to him. Schuessler noted that these inorganic minerals were present in minute doses in the body but that they were nevertheless essential for perfect functioning of body and mind. In modern times medical and nutritional scientists have developed mineral supplementation into a gigantic industry. Undisputedly mineral supplementation can benefit the body but the twelve tissue salts can too, with no excessive and unnecessary dosage and no adverse side-effects.

How do tissue salts work?

Tissue salts work in three main ways. They optimise the cellular environment in the body; they help to maximise assimilation of minerals from food and supplementation; and they have a direct physiological effect on the body.

There are minimal traces of the mineral compounds in the prepared remedies, due to the way tissue salts are prepared, which is similar to that of homeopathic remedies. This method is called trituration and is said to enhance the therapeutic effect of the mineral while avoiding (or substantially reducing) any potential for adverse effects. Like with homeopathy, many find this difficult to understand or accept, yet most people using tissue salts report wonderful effects. The manufacturing technique ensures that they are safe in pregnancy, labour, while breastfeeding and with babies and children. Even those who ascribe their effects to the placebo effect, cannot point much of a critical finger at tissue salt remedies.

You can help the moms that consult you with this summary of the most useful tissue salts: 

Most important pregnancy tissue salts

  • Calc Fluor (best known for its influence on elasticity) – stretch marks, ligament pain, varicose veins, constipation, dental health
  • Calc phos (derived from the most prolific mineral compound in the body) – growth of the baby, immunity, anaemia, skeletal strength, dental health
  • Ferrum phos (think iron!) – strength of ligaments, anti-inflammatory action, anaemia, oxygenation, acne
  • Kali phos (known as the nerve nutrient) – central nervous system development and health, emotions of pregnancy, pregnesia, aches and pains

Other pregnancy tissue salts

  • Mag phos – for uterine irritability, leg muscle cramping, baby hiccups, mild headaches
  • Nat mur – for dry itchy skin, weepiness and depression, dry stools, carpal tunnel syndrome, oedema regulation
  • Nat sulph – for pregnancy nausea and indigestion, oedema regulation
  • Nat phos – for pregnancy nausea and heartburn
  • Kali mur – for vaginal thrush

Tissue salts for better birth

  • Kali phos – for anxiety, to help raise the mother’s pain threshold
  • Mag phos – as an anti-spasmodic, and for pain relief and cramping muscles
  • Ferrum phos – for burning ligament pain, perineal protection

Tissue salts for the mother’s puerperium

  • Ferrum phos – as an anti-inflammatory, to help in case of prolapse, anaemia, pain
  • Kali phos – for nerve repair, healing, and for maternal anxiety
  • Nat mur – to help alleviate third day blues, postnatal depression

Tissue salts for babies

  • Calc fluor – for stronger teeth
  • Calc phos – slow teething, large fontanelle which is slow to close
  • Calc sulph – green, lumpy mucus and together with Ferrum phos for sore throat
  • Ferrum phos – fever, inflammation
  • Kali mur – thick, white to grey mucus discharge, glue ear, oral thrush, cradle cap
  • Kali phos – anxiety, hyperactivity
  • Kali sulph – chronic skin rashes, yellow sticky mucus
  • Mag phos – colic, hiccups, cramps
  • Nat mur – watery mucus discharge
  • Nat phos – sour-smelling milk posseting, milia
  • Silicea – scrawny body, big head, weak neck and poor back control

The only cautionary advice is to avoid prolonged use of Silicea (more than six weeks at a time) in pregnancy to circumvent the remote possibility of rejection of the growing baby. This is simply because Silicea helps rid the body of foreign protein and other foreign matter. Having said that, Sensitive Midwifery has never seen or heard of such an incidence.