Guiding principles for homeopathy treatment 

Homeopathy treatment that can be performed at home

Let us understand through this article various aspects such as, ‘how to search a perfect medicine effective for one’s disease, necessity of taking medicines for reducing the intensity of the symptoms to begin with in case of some diseases, process for preparing the medicines and how to identify the effectiveness of the medicine consumed on one’s disease.’

Compiler : Homeopathy Dr. Pravin Mehta, Dr. Ajit Bharamgude and Dr. (Mrs.) Sangeeta Bharamgude

1. How to perform self-treatment using homeopathy

With the help of this article, let us understand how one should practically perform self-treatment when a disease occurs.

1A. Noting down the detailed observations of the symptoms evolving after the occurrence of a disease and the related tenets

One should note down detailed observations as given below related to the disease occurred (e.g. fever) and the overall symptoms in the sequence of most important, most severe and most immediate :

Reason for occurrence of the disease (e.g. fever) such as getting hurt, exposure to cold air after going outside, getting wet etc., gradual change in one’s health, ‘Has irritability, which one feels along with fever, increased ?, Does one feel thirstier ?, Does one feel the craving for eating a specific food item ?, What causes one’s suffering to either increase or decrease ?, etc.

1B. Read the clinical details of the disease

Open the chapter from the published article series that provides clinical details of one’s illness (e.g. fever). As per the information given in the chapter, perform actions e.g. in case of fever, use a thermometer to measure the body temperature. If the body temperature is up to 100 degrees Fahrenheit, then there is no need to take medicine immediately. If the body temperature is higher, it is necessary to take medicine immediately

1C. Finding a perfect medicine effective for one’s disease

In the book published on homeopathy, following the brief information on each disease, information about the effective homeopathy medicines for the particular disease is given. The book briefly describes the properties of each medicine. After reading these properties, one should select a medicine which has properties matching to one’s symptoms, e.g. if one has fever accompanied by symptoms such as restlessness and thirstiness requiring one to drink plenty of cold water, then the medicine Aconite Napellus must be taken. However, along with fever if there is redness and swelling of face and lack of thirst, then Belladona is the right medicine.

Thus, one must not choose a homeopathy medicine only based on the main symptom such as fever, but also by studying the specific properties of the various medicines applicable for one’s disease which matches with the symptoms of one’s disease to the maximum extent and then down selecting the appropriate medicine.

One must write down the name of the medicine whose properties have maximum similarity with the various symptoms observed when one gets fever. If one feels that there are 2-3 medicines whose properties are matching, then one should study the properties of all these medicines again and identify which medicine out of those has maximum similarity with one’s symptoms.

1D. Taking only one medicine

Even if the symptoms of one’s ailment are matching with the properties of 2-3 medicines due to which one is unable to decide on a single medicine, one should still take only one medicine out of them which has maximum similarity with the symptoms.

1E. Necessity of taking medicine for reducing intensity of the symptoms initially in case of some diseases

It has been mentioned with reference to some diseases, e.g. in case of stomach-ache, for reliving the pain immediately four tablets of Magnesium Phosphoricum should be dissolved in half cup of lukewarm water and one spoon of this water should be taken every 15 minutes till pain subsides. Similarly for whichever disease it has been mentioned, one should take the medicine to reduce the intensity of symptoms as soon as the symptoms of those disease are observed before initiating the treatment. After this, one should start taking the specific medicine as mentioned in previous point, based on principle of maximum similarity of the symptoms with the property of the medicine.

1F. Preparation of medicine

Fill non-medicated pellets of size 40 in one dram plastic bottle available in the market for keeping homeopathy medicines and pour 3-4 drops of selected medicine on them. Cap the bottle and shake the pellets in the bottle up and down. With this, the medicine gets applied to each pellet in a uniform manner. Thereafter, place 4 pellets under the tongue. The bottles and the non-medicated pellets are available at the homeopathy chemist shops.

Medicines with varied potency levels are available in the market, however, for self-treatment, one should, in general, use medicines with potency level 30. We have specifically mentioned wherever medicines with different potency levels are required to be taken. Other than this, medicine of a different potency can be taken only with the advice of an expert doctor.

1G. Importance of mentioning the name of the medicine and the patient on the label of the bottle containing the medicine

It is possible that at a time 2-3 members residing in a household are taking homeopathy medicines. In such cases, before preparing medicine for everyone, one should apply a label on the bottle and mention the name of the individual and the medicine on the label and only then the pellets and medicine drops should be placed in the bottle.

1H. Method of taking medicine

While consuming the medicine, one should pour four pellets from the bottle into the cap of the bottle and from the cap one should directly place the pellets under one’s tongue. The pellets dissolve automatically. Do not swallow them. Generally, the pellets are placed under the tongue, however, in case of newborn babies, the pellets can be placed on their wrist or applied to the sole of the feet or in the big toe skin fold. In the case of adults who are unable to take pills, e.g. patients in a coma can be given to smell the medicines. In such a situation, the bottle of the medicine should be opened and held under the nostrils of the patient for 30 seconds.

1I. Precautions to be taken while consuming homeopathy medicines

A. Do not eat or drink anything 15 minutes before and after taking the medicine.

B. Medicine should be stored away from sunlight as well as from items with strong odor such as camphor, incense, spices (cardamom, pepper) etc.

C. Do not brush with toothpaste (because of the presence of mint in it) one hour before and after taking the medicine. Avoid applying medicines such as Vicks Vapourub (due to the presence of camphor, menthol and eucalyptus in it) and consuming medicines for colds.

1J. How many times medicine should be consumed in a day ?

Generally, medicines should be taken 3 times a day (in the morning, afternoon and at night). However, in case of acute illnesses such as fever, diarrhea etc., based on the need the medicines might need to be taken 3 to 8 times as well. In case of injury due to an accident, medicine may also need to be taken every hour.

1K. How to recognize if the medicine is having the desired effect on oneself ?

The effect of homeopathy medicines may vary from person to person. In some people there is a visible reduction in their symptoms soon after starting the medicines, while in few people a slight increase in their symptoms can be seen before the actual reduction in symptoms. While some people experience very little change in the specific symptoms of their illness (e.g. skin rash), they do experience a huge positive change in their overall body and mind. In homeopathy, an overall positive change is considered as a good sign because this is an indication that the medicine is ‘acting on the disease at its root level’. Albeit later all the symptoms are expected to go away, and they do.

2. Guiding principles for self-treatment in homeopathy

2A. For how many days the homeopathy medicines should be taken ?

In homeopathy, there is no fixed duration for taking medicines. After starting the medicines, if one feels better in a few days or after a specific dosage, then one can stop taking the medicine. In short, the moment when one starts feeling better (e.g. once a fever has subsided or loose motions have stopped) one should stop taking the medicine.

Is the disease new or chronic ? This also determines how long the medicine should be taken, e.g. the effect of the medicine on fever is immediately visible. Therefore, as soon as the fever subsides, the medicine should be stopped immediately. On the contrary, the chronic diseases such as asthma, backache, arthritis can take considerable time to cure. If we are able to find a perfect medicine for our illness, then the illness gets cured completely. When a chronic illness surfaces, we should find out appropriate medicine and start taking it, and once the illness reduces by 50%, we should stop the medicine. Later, if the illness recurs, then we should again take the earlier medicine.

2B. When should the decision of changing the medicine should be taken ?

Some positive changes are expected to be seen after starting the medicine. In the illness of short duration, e.g. fever, diarrhea, if there is no change observed even after 1 day after starting the medicine, we can conclude that ‘this medicine is not effective on the disease’. Thereafter, one must follow the procedure given above and find out the appropriate medicine for one’s illness.

For prolonged chronic diseases such as asthma, arthritis, back pain etc., the decision to change the medicine cannot be taken at once. For such illness, once one finds an appropriate medicine, 4 pellets of it should be taken twice a day (in the morning and at night) for 15 days. Thereafter, one should analyze the state of one’s illness. If the symptoms of illness have reduced one can wait. If the suffering does not recur, the medicine need not be continued. If the illness recurs or reduces but does not get cured completely, then one should take the medicine again for 15 days and review as before. Overall, even after 1 month of taking the medicine if there is no relief from the illness, then one must again find the appropriate medicine for the illness. If possible, take the advice of a homeopathy doctor. Chronic illnesses do take time to cure, however, homeopathic medicine is definitely effective inreducing the severity of the disease and the time interval between two occurrences of the disease also increases.

2C. What should one do with the remaining medicine after the illness is cured ?

If the disease is cured but the medicated pellets prepared for the disease are still left, stick the name of the medicine on a plastic pouch and keep the bottle of medicine in it. Even after 6 months or a year if someone needs that medicine, we can use it.

2D. What should one do if a homeopathy medicine is inadvertently consumed in excess quantity ?

If children accidentally consume an entire bottle of homeopathy medicine, there is no need to worry. We can give them coffee to drink. By drinking coffee, the effect of the medicine goes away. This is because coffee works as an antidote for homeopathy medicine.

2E. What should one do if one is unable to find a homeopathy medicine with properties matching to the symptoms of the illness ?

If one is unable to find a homeopathy medicine with properties matching the symptoms of the illness, then one should start one of the 12 basic salt medicines. The details of specific medicine from the 12 basic salt medicines which should be taken for a particular illness have been mentioned at the end of most of the chapters pertaining to the illnesses. In case of some diseases, e.g. in burns, the specific medicine – Cantharis Vesicatoria which should be applied to the burnt skin has been mentioned. Hence in such specific cases there is no mention of any of the 12 basic salt medicines.

3. What should one do if a medical treatment as per another approach is undergoing ?

Homeopathy medicines operate at the level of energy. The white medicated pellets of homeopathy medicines are just the carriers of the base medicine. These pellets are not medicines by themselves hence all homeopathy medicines look alike. Homeopathy treatment works on the principle of eradication – rebalancing the body and mind by eliminating the toxic elements (in the form of negative thoughts and emotions) that create imbalance in one’s being. Hence homeopathy medicines do not interfere in the functioning of the medicines of other medical treatments such as allopathy. Similarly, medicines from other medical treatments do not have any effect on the functioning of homeopathy medicines. Therefore, even if an alternative medical treatment is ongoing, homeopathy treatment can still be taken in parallel. One should not stop the alternative medical treatment by one’s own will after initiating homeopathy treatment. One should consult the medical expert pertaining to that alternative treatment before reducing the dosage or completely discontinuing the medicines.

Sanatan’s upcoming Holy text : ‘Homeopathy treatment that can be given at home’