Stuttering

One in 100 adults has difficulty with stuttering, but no one really knows what causes it.

Stuttering is common among young children, but half of the children who stutter beyond age five will continue to do it as adults. It also tends to run in families and is more prevalent among males, twins and left-handed people. If stuttering begins in adulthood, it could be a sign of a neurological disorder or a head injury.

Some researchers suspect that stuttering is habit forming and that stress has a major role in its onset. When a child is learning to speak, or when an adult has to talk in a tense situation, stress increases tension on the vocal cords. As the person struggles to speak, words sputter out of his mouth as if he were trying to start a reluctant car engine on a cold winter morning. Keeping the vocal chords open and relaxed can help control stuttering, experts say. Speech therapy can benefit, too. The natural remedies in this chapter, used with your doctor's approval, may help stop you from stuttering, according to some health professionals.

See Your Medical Doctor When..
. · You suddenly develop a stutter for the first time as an adult.
· Your periods of stuttering begin to occur more often or talking seems to require more effort or sounds strained.

Flower Remedy/Essence Therapy

Flower essences can help alleviate the underlying anxiety associated with stuttering, says Acharyaji, co-director of the, organization that studies and promotes the therapeutic use of flower remedies/essences. For stuttering that arises from overexcitement and "information overload" (when the mouth can't keep up with the flow of thought), Acharyaji recommends the California essence Cosmos. For people who have no problem speaking to friends and acquaintances but stutter when speaking in public, Trumpet Vine may help, he says.

Homeopathy

To help stop stuttering or stammering, try one of the following 6C or 12C remedies once a day for a month, says Acharyaji. If one remedy doesn't work, he says to try another one the following month.

Stramonium is the remedy of choice if you are imaginative, red-faced and excitable and your speech is irregular and erratic, according to Acharyaji. If you are nervous and tense with a ticlike movement, and if your symptoms are worse when you're excited, he says Agaricus may help. He suggests Cuprum metallicum if you are prone to spasms in general and have spasmodic and labored speech that gets worse when you're frightened. General stuttering or stammering is often helped by Arsenicum, he says.