nasal polyps

Question
Dear Evelyn,
I am searching for an alternative/alchemy remedy for nasal polyps. I have the Samters Triad. Aspirin allergy, asthma and nasal polyps. I have had no sense of smell or taste for 10 years. I am not motivated to try surgical removal of the polyps as i believe that this would cause a great deal of stress to my body and will not solve the root of the problem. The polyp in my right nostril is now so big that I can touch it. It shrinks periodically and disappears. It seems to get worse with PMT symptoms. I have been searching for answers but I can not find any. I am 37 years old. Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Answer
Dear Debra,

Sorry it took a while before you received this reply, but I was trying to find something on polyps specifically; I recall having come across something somewhere, but my research over the past few days, however, has not been able to resource this information; I will definitely get back to you if I ever do happen to stumble upon something  relevant, again. For now, I can relate your polyp to your asthma, in that there is an imbalance in your system underlying both. I can explain for you what energy leads up to the formation of polyps. I will need to elaborate somewhat if I am to give you somethig to rummage about in for some new ideas on where to turn to next. So bear with the lengthy reply.

In Anthroposophic terms nasal polyps are outcroppings of the underlying condition which also causes your asthma. I don't know how much knowledge you have of the human organism in terms of its subtle and spiritual components, but I must use a few terms in order to explain, hoping you can grasp the general gist. The additional problem of no sense of smell/taste (not automatically accompanying nasal polyps otherwise) tells me that your problem has much to do with an impaired ability of your soul to bridge inner and outer, upper and lower worlds. Perhaps, you (used to) find it hard to take a firm stand for yourself and express yourself freely. Otherwise, maybe something sort of "shut down" for one reason or another.

From a pathological point of view, the chronic inflammation at the root of polyp formation is a sign of overwork on the one hand (constant irritation) and a weakness on the other (no rigorous intervention to end the chaos). This is an inefficient self-rule but not from Higher Hand. An unnatural hearth (of energy/warmth)is a seed bed for inflammation, it indicates your Higher Self struggling to process sensory data, which would be hard with a loss of smell, but this is a chicken-egg situation. Now the Higher Self has withdrawn fairly permanently from that site where its work seems pointless, the polyp is left unchecked. It may be important to learn to smell in a substitued manner.

The polyp is a form of excessive cellular growth, with an exvagination of tissue, subsequently filled with fluid. What exactly stimulates this growth is not known to modern science. Some kind of unchecked glandular reaction, the astrality/sentient self has lost its means in that section of your body by which to file and use beneficially the stores from the outer world (scents). This causes some kind of frustration which gets translated into a physical malformation.

In Anthroposophical understanding it has to do with too much anabolic, life force not brought sufficiently under the rule of the formative forces of the Self. The Captain of the ship, as it were, is not supervising sufficiently, and the lieutenant has taken over as best he can: but it's not good enough. This Captain may have gone AWOLL or called away to other more pressing duties. But these now have taken too long, and it feels like desertion to the nose. Often mental matters preoccupy the Captain far too much. In older age, often he will have turned his attention to spiritual matters and care less about physical affairs. This is why polyps are often quite natural in older people, with many dimmer and drabber places (like the gut)left unsupervised, almost in good faith, though. However, the nerve-sensory system depends on much more proper supervision (higher consciousness. If only to ensure less is done rather than more.

Both noses and lungs have to do with consolidation, and fastness of thinking. We can think of busy bees when we think of people who stick their noses into things where they don't belong. I don't necessarily mean to imply that people with nasal polyps are meddling or nosey!! But it could be that your energy is not as focused on your own life as it needs to be. Maybe you have not been in a position to prioritise your personal needs, yet, it may be necessary to learn to do this. Trust your instincts, above all. It is probably not easy for you to "follow your nose", but you need to scrutinise what trust and self-reliance mean to you and how to "sense" things more accurately and confidently. Exercises in logic (maths, puzzles), observation (drawing, memory games) and sewing/knitting or handicrafts can help, especially if your limbs are restless, or you are often distracted.

There are classic links between nasal polyps and asthma.  In asthma it is all about a lack of rhythmic flow not only between inner and outer worlds but also between Upper and Lower parts of your own system. Breathing and smelling both have a passive quality about them; a type of surrender (not easy to do well!); to actively become conscious of them requires much sustained concentration or a real "burst" or sensory impact (positive or negative: fragrance/stench;  arousal/anxiety). Too much alertness in that area leads to cramp: generally a reaction to absence in the same region. It is therefore important to learn to "stay with it"at all times, cultivate awareness and spiritual responsibility.  

If you don't get to practice and experience your Higher Self in the midst/heart of life, regularly (as so naturally ought to be done daily by means of smells and flavours) your soul can become rather bland, bored and dull. A consciousness then leaves your nose, energetically speaking, and leaves the space free for life force to crowd at the entrance and detritus energy to gather at the exit: creating favourable conditions for polyp building. You need to think of taking in, down more deeply: but only after you have let go, up and out more fully.

The great flow for this rhythm is entirely warmth dependent. It is why our blood is warm. If you are too hot (yes, also quite literally, in the sense of all types of passion) you equally deregulate your system, and create inflamatory "hot spots". But with a tendency to live in the head, surrounded by hard technology, calculating people and mineralised substances (pre processed meals) you are more likely to cool down this system fairly permanently, with flare ups of emotion (or a variety of substances) your only "boosts" to the system. This is a taxing way to live for the body, which likes to keep a simple homeostatic system going. This type of disintegration lies at the root of polyp formation. So, establishing routine and rhythm is integral to treatment. Also learn to identify and release soul cramp - the crux in asthma. Generally we cannot take in healing because we do not know how to let go, make room for the goodness to enter. Also: know when to be active and how to be passive. Trauma and neuroses are pre- or post-conditions of this process, too - often deeply karmic. The healing always lies in the here and now with practical means and common - but sensitive - sense. By tackling organic problems we often hit the swifter bird of the mind with the same stone.

In sum: when  you suffer from chronic inflammation there is an attempt being made to stucture the proliferative character of  your system. The life-force flowing in to us, which we need for restoration and regeneration, daily, is not being properly integrated. By cutting out the polyp you do, indeed, not tackle the underlying cause, though sometimes such measures cannot be avoided to offer relief or even restore normal breathing.

A part of the cure will lie in regenerating the health of the rhythmic, Middle area of your organism. This is not only conventionally, and superficially related to Feeling for the heart placed there, but very fundamentally is a bridge between the lower pole of Willing and the upper pole of Thinking. To experience this more consciously can be very healing, and is the purpose of Yoga and rhythmic (Aryuvedic) massage, Eurythmy or painting therapy; all of which you might find very therapeutic.

Nutrition must aim to stimulate the lower pole, and strenthen the nerve-sense system with  whole grains, vegetables and aromatic fuits: an alkaline and warming diet is key. Also make sure your kidneys are healthy or take special care of them, since bronchial asthma is always linked to the kidneys. If you consider the hollow shape of the kidneys and how they, too, take in and exudate rhythmically you can already feel how.  The kidney is a very servile organ but if taxed too much, you will soon find your energy floating upwards and getting stuck above the midriff, worsening the asthma and lending more emphasis to the polyp-growth.

The inner you is most effectively warmed by physical means: sitz baths with lavender or rosemary footbaths, massage with blackthorn oil or st. John'swort (calves, lower back especially). Internally, herbal teas can be very warming and calming on the nerve-sense system which may well be overstimulated overall. Think of lemonbalm, limeblossom, or chamomile, and elderflower in colder weather.  Sustained use supports the immune system. Echinacea drops and a hay fever remedy (Gyncydo, by Weleda) is sometimes used very effectively when polyps are found in combination with sinus conditions. A low protein diet is highly recommended. Breathing exercises may help you learn to discover what it means to expand (without needing to do much) and discover the proper nature of hollowness (and how to fill and empty it, rhythmically); this is what is meant by getting in touch with your "inner being". Sometimes physiotherapy or a chiropractor can help straighten a neck or back joint which occasionally also aggravates the condition (a tiny neuro-para-sympathic blockage can do much damage over the course of many years). Just something to consider. If nothing else a relaxing massage can always help realign on a rather deep level if given by a holistic and highly certified (acupressure/naturopath) masseur.

Breathing and blood circulation is what unifies. If your circulation is not optimal consider nettle tea and more massage! Invigorating the blood - not only with iron and copper a separate chapter!-  is about balancing inner and outer worlds, which can be stimulated through a diet that considers cosmic nutritional streams, rather than isolated (dead letter) nutrients. Organic food contains "real" life, cooking slow and from raw ingredients also is an aspect to consider. If you are already on that track, it will be easier to now take even more specialised steps to address the asthma/middle section.  Asthma is always a disease that signifies a soul which has some trouble in making whole. Eating is a great way to simply be wholesome! Often there has been a "stifling"episode in one's biography to mark this Karma all the more. Again food can comfort and support growth, development, however with your olifactory impairment I can imagine a great challenge there, and you might need to look very hard for narrow gaps through which new and warming sense impressions can come to you, nonetheless. Scent and warmth also go very much hand in hand, realise. There is not much to smell on Antarctica....too much in the tropics, and heaven on earth on an Alpine summer meadow. An exercise worth trying, perhaps, to help rewarm the system: try to remember what you could smell. This may work like an intravenous scent drip. But colour can otherwise do a similar job, and there are many colour therapies available if painting sounds to challenging (colour washing in effect; for an idea you could check out www.lovingcolor)

To pull apart the sum of joyful living we can discen a three-part aspect of integration: 1) being yourself, 2) letting go, 3) aspiring in good faith and with optimism.  Living joyously means having a purpose and a goal, feeling safe and appreciated but also letting be what is and accepting the rough with the smooth. Daring to say no. The outbreath is often very weak in asthmatics. They tend to take on too much, absorb too easily, generally very sensitive and patient of soul, if quickly agitated on a physical level.

I can tell you have already adopted a responsible and holistic approach to your condition, and will not just opt for short cuts. It is, then, hard to find a remedy which can be applied to the polyps directly. There are herbs and foodstuffs which help activate the Higher Self and prompt it to reintegrate itself fully into your organism and be more ready to assist in problem areas. To help fight chronic infection and structurise cellular growth, however, warmth is a must. Often alternative therapy will work towards creating an artificial temperature, even. So whatever you do: don't fight off a flu or virus too quickly with any medication. The allergy to aspirin might be a blessing there.

Your age is quite significant, too. After 35 (5x7 year cycles) your Ego-body, the Real Self, has come into its prime, as it were. There is much work to do, and many new characters and scenes are yet to come,  but the stage has been set. You should be who you are, by now - or you will hit a massive brick wall in a mid-life crisis: this you see in many around you no doubt (or they get the botox to pretend it's not happening....). Disappointments, often accompanying the lines of time and the excess luggage (be it weight, varicose veins, or polyps etc) can really hang you up. But people with weak lungs (or lungs central to their horoscope or temperament) must take extra care  - as they tend to be worse affected by despondency, sadness, melancholy, and other Autumnal-type moods. So try to avoid being overly self-critical, or too demanding on yourself. Count your blessings instead, Above all stay curious and discerning about your environment, without drowning in impressions, however.

Other general dietary tips for both asthma and healthy kidneys follow - more by way of a kind of check-list, since I don't know how health-conscious you already are. As always, mind salt intake, but also sugar. Polyps are not a million miles away from other crystallisation processes, promoted by mineral foods. The more artificial and cold the food, the more mineral. Use plenty of warming herbs, with light and water properties, especially if you feel clogged up or murky in the lower pole or heavy in the upper with tangled nerves: aniseed, fennel, cumin, chevril, lovage, dill, parsley, corriander. These hebs help build a light-network: think of the radiating spokes - like a lacy umbrella -  of the white umbrel flowers of these herbs. In effect you draw the focus away from the external and upper and down into the belly under the midrif, by activating the kidneys: this could start up a rebalancing process. Silica is a vitalising ingredient then, full of structurising light force. Think of horsetail, the kidney plant by far. But pineapple might be something to try, too. If not its fragrance, enjoy its sunny colour. ONLY use organic pineapple (quite controversially full of toxins if not).

For the rest plenty of vegetables, especially leaves (salads) are beneficial for the lungs, including andives, spinach, chicory,  watercress, ruccola etc.  Steamed carrots, cauliflower, brusselsrpouts, green/runner/sliced beans etc. If you have trouble falling asleep at night, try hot water bottles (even on a chilly summer night) and vaporise the room with lavender - even if you really can't smell a thing, it will energise the area positively (the dream faries will appreciate it....). If you really can't smell a thing, it might be harder to suggest that essential oils can encourage you to breathe more deeply (willingly) and you will exhale more eagerly for the next sweet breath. Yet, again, each scent has a vibration that still effects your soul. Green scents (pine, juniper, thuya, basil) are very soothing and give a sense of expanse; orange notes uplift; patchouli, cedar, sandal, cinnamon ground and warm; burning these oils when others are around could protect you against energies otherwise, and settle their own energies, besides. All this can help you, in turn anchor your Self. The expanse lies within, don't forget! Meditating on cobalt blue can be very calming and stabilising. With the lungs, always (paradoxically, perhaps, an earth organ), the location of where you live will have an impact on your condition. There is something to bear in mind regarding whether you live on limestone or clay, but I can't recall that exact detail right now, either. The fact that your polpy is in the right nostril, also, is significant, with the lung asymmetrical to begin with and the right branch deeper and steeper. The left kidney is bigger, b.t.w.. Just to mark how such details are details to consider, and I will continue to do so, in case an answer lies therein.

More relevant to treating your asthma - and I do wonder how it relates to the increase of your polyp (has it worsened/improved relatively?) are citrus fruits and sloe berry: both have the ability to "wake up" your system, adstringing the rampant side and helping to redistribute your energy more equinaminously. A heavy, dopey body tends to burden the asthmatic more. Both are full of sunny life force, too. The red (or better, yellow-orange) thread through your curative measures must be joy, grace and ease. It seems to me the loss of a sensory organ (or an essential part of its use in your case) is connected to a disconnection with the Higher Self. I knew somebody who lost their sense of smell/taste after they renounced their faith. They had done this secretly (in fact nobody knew they had believed in God all along), and when they admitted to this, the sense of smell returned.

This then for some general background information and an insight into how an Anthroposophic doctor might approach your problem, although they could probably point much more to a specific therapeutic line to follow. At any rate, I suspect the therapy would be extensive and not directly focused on the polyp. This is the case when it comes to polyps in other areas of the body: especially where they are benign and only causing discomfort if they are in inconvenient places. They serve as useful markers of energy blocks, leaks or invasions, and can help you address underlying health issues and serve to make positive life-style changes or reassess your state of soul. They would possibly be able to prescribe some homeopathic medicines which work more pervasively than herbs taken nutritionally. Often injections are effective in conditions where the etheric is left to flood out in a centrifugal direction. But for this one needs a professional (normal) GP with extra Anthroposophical schooling.
Again, if more pertinent information crops up, I shall not hesitate to leave a new reply here, although it might take a few months. It tends to happen like that! Otherwise feel free to email me your email address (at [email protected])  - as I am not sure all new replies get forwarded to the Questioner.

Take very good care of yourself, and let me know if you require any further specific dietary information or more  (Anthroposophic) specifics on asthma.
Love Evelyn.  

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