By Dr Anmol Arora ( Sr Homoeopathic Physician )

Worms and other intestinal parasites which infest human beings are found in all countries of the world. However, they are more common in tropical and subtropical areas and are widely prevalent during the rainy seasons.

Intestinal Worms in Children

Children are more infested with these worms than adults. There are several types of intestinal worms. The most common of these are roundworms, pinworms, threadworms, hookworms, tapeworms and giardia.
Signs & Symptoms of Intestinal Worms
The usual symptoms of intestinal worms are
• diarrhoea,
• foul breath,
• dark circles under the eyes,
• constant desire for food,
• restlessness at night with bad dreams,
• anaemia, and
• headaches
Pinworms and thread worms may bring on intense itching in the area around the rectum.
Round-worms may give rise to inflammation of the intestine and lungs, nausea, vomiting, loss of weight, fever, nervousness, and irritability.
Threadworms may cause intense itching in the area around the rectum. They may also cause periodic bouts of diarrhoea alternating with constipation, loss of weight, cough, and fever.
The presence of giardia may result in pain in the calves and weakness in the legs.
Hookworms may give rise to anaemia and nutritional disorders. The eggs of these parasites are introduced into the human system through the medium of food or water.
Types of Intestinal Worms
There are several types of intestinal worms.
The most common of these are
• roundworms,
• pinworms,
• threadworms,
• hookworms,
• tapeworms
• giardia.
Pinworms
Pin worms are small white contagious worms which are ¼th of an inch in length.
They are quite prevalent in children but adults can also suffer from the disease. An adult pinworm lives in the upper part of the colon and survives by feeding intestinal contents. To lay eggs, a mature female worm migrates from the intestine to the anal region.
These microscopic eggs cause intense itching around the rectum region so that many eggs are picked up under the nails by the fingers during scratching. Once the eggs reach under the fingernail they can be easily transferred back to the stomach through mouth where they hatch and again migrate to the rectum.

Pinworm is a common cause for anal itching among children, some might not feel any symptoms but for others loss of appetite, insomnia, bed wetting, weight loss, irritability, appendicitis, nausea and vomiting is common.
If these worms migrate to the female vagina then it can cause inflammation and intense itching in the genital tract. Besides the medication prescribed by your specialist for pinworm treatment simple pinworm natural cures can be followed at home to deal with the parasite.
Hygiene should be the mantra – Once you know that you or your child has pinworms take every step to keep the bottoms clean. Pouring some water on the anal area or wiping the area with wet cloth can provide some temporary relief.
However make sure to dispose the cloth or wash the cloth and hands thoroughly after use. It is very important to wash your hands with soap and water each time after you visit the toilet or touch your anus. To encourage this habit in your child you can buy soap with cartoon faces or shapes.
Trim your nail – Keep your fingernails short as it is more convenient for the eggs to hide under long fingernails.
Also short nails will be easy to wash off the eggs.
Garlic – Eat a couple of small garlic cloves daily or add enough garlic to your meals. Grind garlic to make a paste and mix less than ½ pinch of it with Vaseline. Apply this on the anal region to deal with the itchiness and kill the eggs.
This is one of the best pinworm home remedies for killing the eggs and reducing anal itch.
Detection – Help your doctor to diagnose pinworms by providing him correct information. While you child is sleeping at night you can look at the anal region by spreading the cheeks of the buttocks. If you see white colored approximately ¼ inch long worm – often they look like a piece of cotton then pick it up with a pair of tweezers and store in a small bottle.
Press a cellophane tape against the skin of the anal opening when your child complains of anal itch; the tape will pick up the eggs. Press this tape on a glass slide and give it to your specialist to study under the microscope.
What Causes Intestinal Worms?
The eggs of these parasites are introduced into the human system through the medium of food or water, especially undercooked meat.
Roundworms may result from dirty fingers and food.
Hookworms enter the human body through the skin from infected water.
The tapeworms are transmitted into the body through undercooked flesh foods or foods contaminated by dogs.
The real cause of intestinal worms, however, is wrong feeding. The eggs of these worms, taken into the human body through food and water can breed in the intestines only if they find there a suitable medium for their propagation.
This medium is an intestinal tract clogged with morbid matter and systemic refuse due to wrong feeding habits.
Worms and other intestinal parasites which infest human beings are found in all countries of the world. However, they are more common in tropical and subtropical areas and are widely prevalent during the rainy season. Children are more often infested with intestinal worms than adults.

Contaminated food, dirty fingers and food

Roundworms are caused by eating contaminated food. Threadworms may enter the body from dirty fingers and food.

Enter the human body through bare foot

Hookworms enter the human body through bare foot walking on infected earth. Tapeworms are transmitted to the body through undercooked flesh foods or foods contaminated by dogs.

Faulty living

The real cause of intestinal worms, however, is faulty living. The eggs of these worms, taken into the human body through food, and water, can breed in the intestines only if they find there a suitable medium for their propagation. This medium is an intestinal tract clogged with morbid matter.
Prevention:
* Having a good and healthy body would save you from lot of trouble
* Wash your fruits and vegetables before eating
* Cook your food very well to remove all the chances of any worms or parasites
* Drink boiled water or filtered water
* Personal hygiene is also very important like washing your hands before eating, after touching pets, having your finger nails short and clean
* Always de-worm your pets from these parasites for healthier hygiene
*Having cloves in your food kills parasites
*Cleansing your colon to be done with ozonated water and hydrogen peroxide by colonic irrigation
Treatment/Therapy:
The treatment for intestinal worms should begin with diet. The patient should be kept on an exclusive diet of fresh fruits for five to seven days. Thereafter he may adopt a well-balanced light diet consisting mainly of fruits, vegetables, milk and wholemeal bread.
The diet should exclude fatty foods such as butter, cream, and oil, refined foods and all flesh foods. This dietary should be continued till the parasites are completely eliminated.
In some cases, depending on the progress being made, the all-fruit diet may have to be repeated at regular intervals. In obstinate cases the patient should resort to short fasts on raw fruit and vegetable juices. This fast has to be of a fairly long duration in case of tapeworms.
Other Signs & Symptom of Worms & Parasites in Children
Blisters appear on the inside of the lower lip, wiping of the nose, restlessness and grinding of the teeth at night, dark circles under the eyes, hyperactive, bed wetting, headaches, sensitive to light, twitching eyelid, gum, rectum, or nose bleeding are signs they may have worms & parasites.
Homeopathic Medicines & Treatment for WORMS, Intestinal Worms in Humans
#Cina [Cina]
Produces a perfect picture of the wormy child. The patient is cross, irritable, has a sickly pale face with rings about the eyes, grates the teeth at night and has a tendency to convulsions; there is canine hunger or variable appetite; the child picks at its nose and cries out in its sleep; there is jerking of the hands and feet and a milky urine. It does not correspond well to pin-worms and a noticeable symptoms is a bluish color about the mouth.
#Santonine. [Sant]
The alkaloid of Cina is also a remedy for round worms. It is not a safe remedy as Cina and no more efficacious. The writer has observed convulsions produced by its use in too low potencies.
#Caladium. [Calad]
Useful when worms travel over the perineum and get into the vagina in little girls, with tendency to excite masturbation.
#Teucrium. [Teucr]
The remedy for ascarides or pin-worms; there is much irritation caused by them in the rectum. Hughes prefers the tincture or lower dilutions, saying that it rarely fails in this condition. Another remedy for pin-worms is Sinapis nigra.
Cina and Cicuta are often indicated in convulsions from worms.
#Spigelia. [Spig]
Strabismus, jerking with paleness of the face, blue rings around the eyes, faint, nauseated feeling with colic about the navel caused by the presence of worms, will indicate Spigelia. It has stools consisting of mucus, faces and worms. The tincture on a handkerchief and inhaled will frequently arrest convulsions from worms.
#Ignatia [Ign]
Is useful where the child is much excited and has tickling and creeping at the anus.
#Indigo [Indg]
Is a remedy for ascarides or thread-worms in melancholy children, with intense pain in the umbilical region, also convulsions from worms.
#Sabadilla [Sabad]
Has worm symptoms with nausea, vomiting and colic.
#Stannum. [Stann]
According to Hahnemann, Stannum so stupefies the worms that they are easily dislodged by purgatives. It has many worms symptoms; thus pale sunken face and eyes surrounded by blue rings, Sluggish disposition, general torpor, foetor of breath and passive fever. Patient prefers to lie on stomach.
#Calcarea [Calc]
Calcarea is a valuable remedy to eradicate the disposition to worms.
#Cuprum oxydatum nigrum. [Cupr-o]
Zopfy in his sixty years’ practice asserts that this remedy will remove all kinds of worms, cure trichinosis, and even tapeworm. He gives it in small doses, about the 1X, in alternation with Nux vomica four or five times a day for four to six weeks, which always suffices to cure tapeworm without causing the patient any in convenience whatever.
“ Homoeopathy for total and safe way of cure without side effect”