How to Choose a Homeopathic Remedy

Choosing a remedy for yourself or your family is a matching game. You compare the symptoms in front of you with the picture traditionally linked to each remedy and pick the closest fit. Here is a simple way to go about it.

Step 1: write down what you actually see

Note the symptoms in plain words, and the details around them. How did it start? Is it worse or better for warmth, cold, movement, rest, lying down, being touched, time of day? Is the person thirsty or not, restless or still, tearful or irritable? These details are often what separate one remedy from another.

Step 2: shortlist from the complaint

Look up the complaint (a bruise, a cold, a headache) in a good reference, or use our remedy finder, and note the two or three remedies usually listed for it.

Step 3: choose by the whole picture

Read the description of each shortlisted remedy and ask which one sounds most like the person in front of you, not only which one mentions the same body part. The remedy whose description matches the overall picture, including mood and what makes things better or worse, is the closest fit.

Step 4: start small

A common home-prescribing principle is to use as little as will do. People often take a single dose and then wait to see what happens, instead of dosing on a timer. Repeating is usually considered only if things stop improving before they have fully settled, or the same symptoms come back. Our dosage page and the directions on each pack cover the specifics for the remedies we sell.

Step 5: watch and, if needed, rethink

• If the symptoms change, the old remedy may no longer fit: look again at the new picture.
• If a well-chosen remedy has been given two or three times and nothing at all has changed, the usual conclusion is that it was probably not the right match. Go back to Step 3 and try the next closest.
• If symptoms keep returning, or the problem is long-standing, a practitioner can look at the bigger picture (see Your First Homeopathy Consultation).

A few practical notes

• Having a small range of remedies at home makes it easier to find a good match when you need one.
• Keep remedies in a cool, dark place away from strong smells.
• Coffee, mint, camphor, menthol and eucalyptus are traditionally avoided around remedies.

Need help choosing?

Try the remedy finder or book a free consultation. Our dosage page explains how to take the remedies we sell.

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Traditional homeopathic use, education only, not a substitute for medical care. Speak to your doctor or practitioner.