Expert Contributor: Karen Lawson, MD

Homeopathy can be used in many different ways in an individual's healthcare regimen.

Three common ways are:

- Self-care: individuals use homeopathic remedies to treat minor traumas and illnesses
- Acute care: homeopaths recommend remedies for acute illnesses

- Constitutional care: homeopaths recommend a program of remedies to optimize health

How can I use homeopathy for self-care and first-aid?

Basic homeopathic self-care can be very useful for acute and minor traumas and illnesses. Because homeopathy works to support the vital force of the body, it assists the natural ability of the body to heal faster.

Pharmaceuticals, on the other hand, work by suppressing symptoms, even the symptoms that are healing responses (for example, acetaminophen suppressing a fever). This can actually cause the body to take longer to recover from an acute injury (such as a sprain) or an infectious illness (such as cold or flu).

When doing homeopathy for self-care, it is critical to remember several things.

1) Signs or symptoms of a potential serious illness require medical evaluation (for example chest or left arm pain, shortness of breath, severe dizziness or loss of consciousness, severe headache, fever of 102 or higher that persists for more than three days, blood in vomit or stool).

2) If you are treating yourself homeopathically for an acute illness that persists without improvement for more than three days, seek professional help.

3) Understand the difference between single remedy treatments for your acute symptoms (for which you can follow clear symptomatic responses to remedy and dose) and multiple remedy products that take the shotgun approach to your illness, but may complicate your condition by bringing on proving symptoms.

4) When selecting a remedy, remember to take into account the unique aspects of your complaint. For example instead of just stating that you have a sore throat, note the details: a left-sided sore throat with fever, irritablity, and sensitivity to touch, where you can't stand to have anything around your neck, but drinking cold water helps.

What Should I Put In a First Aid Kit?

It is possible to assemble a home first aid kit, which is handy to have for self-care and when a homeopath advises you over the phone to take something for an acute injury or illness.

The easiest, and often the most economical, way to do this is to purchase an already assembled first aid kit. A typical home kit would have 30 to 40 remedies of 30c (the most common potency for self-care). Camping or travel kits may be as small as 10 to 15 remedies. These can be purchased through a number of different companies, some of which are listed below:

Certain remedies are more commonly used in children, so you might want customize the kit for you and your family's needs. You can purchase single remedies retail in a 12x to 30c potency range for about $8 to $14 per remedy. Guidelines and suggestions for specific remedies are available in many places, including this guide. 

How can I use homeopathy for acute care?

Acute illnesses that are more serious, or longer lasting, can often be treated well with homeopathic remedies, but you should consult a professional homeopath. Close monitoring is necessary for optimal outcomes, as the homeopath may need to change the type and/or potencies of the remedies as the symptoms change.

For example, in the early stages of influenza, your early complaints may be high fever with generalized body aches. You try some over-the-counter Oscillococcinum, a homeopathic remedy which has been shown to improve flu symptoms, but is very non-specific.

Over a couple of days, your symptoms clarify. You are chilly and very irritable, your mucous membranes are very dry, and you are thirsty for large amounts of fluids at a time. You have a splitting headache that gets worse from the slightest motion. You speak with your homeopath, who advises you to take a 30c Bryonia from your first aid kit and check back in six to eight hours.

You may need to take further doses of Bryonia, or if your symptoms evolve, you may need a different remedy.