What Can You Treat Yourself? And When Should You See a Homeopath?

It is fine to treat acute illnesses yourself. If you have a chronic disease it is better to get help from a professional homeopath.

• An acute illness is an illness which will resolve itself with time. Colds, flu, coughs, chicken pox, food poisoning and so on are all acute illnesses.

• A chronic disease is something which will not get better with time alone. It is often a longstanding condition and it may have flare ups. Eczema, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis and hypothyroidism are all chronic diseases.

Acute Illness

 An acute illness often comes on suddenly and quickly. It can be severe. Acutes are very treatable. I recommend having a homeopathic kit at home. Helios Homeopathy and Ainsworths pharmacies sell kits. All the kits come with a guide booklet describing the remedies and their uses.

 A few different remedies may seem to fit the symptoms. In this case, start with the one which seems the best fit. Give a dose and wait for between 10 minutes and half an hour for a change or improvement. Try the remedy up to five times. If there is an improvement, stop taking the remedy. If there is no improvement after five doses, it is probably the wrong one. Try a different remedy.

 It is fine to try several remedies in an acute. If the wrong remedy is taken, no harm will be done. You can also give two or three remedies at the same time. For instance, if the patient has a high fever you can give Aconite and Belladonna together. They are both great fever remedies especially fevers with lots of heat and redness. With Aconite the patient may seem fearful and possibly have one red cheek and one white cheek. Belladonna is very hot, you can feel the heat without even touching them, lots of redness and the patient may have a throbbing headache.

Sometimes symptoms in acutes change over time. So different remedies may need to be given. It can take a bit of work to keep finding new remedies as symptoms change. If you are treating someone else, remember that you may need a remedy too.

 In some cases, such as severe vomiting or a high fever, you may need to give a remedy often, every five minutes or so. High potencies will also help and may need to be repeated frequently. So long as the patient is responding to the remedy, it is fine to keep giving it.

 When treating an acute illness, use common sense. If symptoms are severe and / or life threatening, seek emergency medical assistance. You can give remedies while waiting for help.

 Chronic Illness

 As stated above, chronic illness will not get better on its own. Often someone will have had a chronic illness for a long period of time and will be on medication for it.

 Homeopathy can be amazing for chronic conditions. But this is not one to do for yourself. Chronic disease needs to be treated by a homeopath. Finding the correct remedy requires impartiality and it is difficult to be impartial about ourselves.

 It takes time to heal from chronic disease. It often also entails changes in your life. You many need to improve your nutrition, look at how you cope with stress, think about work-life balance and so on. It can be difficult to do this work alone. A homeopath can prescribe remedies to help you and a homeopath is also someone who will walk with you on your path to health. That path can be tricky and lonely. So welcome some support, it will be worth it.