Top five homeopathic remedies for your home first aid kit

Homeopathic remedies make a great addition to your home care kit. You can safely treat many minor ailments with homeopathy and they don’t take up a lot of space in your kits. Here are my top five picks that most people can benefit from:

1. Arnica: The go-to remedy for trauma of any kind, it’s keynote is for head injuries (get it checked out by a doctor first though!) and when someone is in shock and say “I’m OK,” when clearly they are not ok. Arnica can also help with bruising, post-workout muscle soreness, and head bumps. (See my blog post of Arnica and the ER to read about how I treated my son’s large goose-egg on his forehead after he hit a wall one day). I also use it for anyone who has recently been in a motor vehicle accident or any sort of accident after they’ve been seen by a doctor.
2. Hypericum: This is a great remedy for injuries to nerve rich areas, such as fingers, toes, the spine (worse with raising your arms), and the coccyx (sore, bruised, or shooting pains) after injury or childbirth. (I also have a separate blog post about this remedy, too). Think crushing or puncture wounds that could be from bites, stings or dental work. Shooting pains along nerve pathways are a keynote of Hypericum.
3. Calendula: Calendula is the go-to remedy for any skin abrasion that is NOT a deep puncture wound. It acts as an antibacterial for abrasions, incisions, bed sores, and surgical wounds that are slow to close and heal. If you suffer from chapped hands, this remedy can be a helpful aid. It can promote healing after dental work as well.
4. Apis: The is a great remedy for stings, bites, throat or joint pain that is red, swollen or burning and relieved by cold but worse with heat. Apis can help a sore throat with splinter-like pains, too. Swollen lips and tongue can also be helped with this remedy, but if you have those symptoms you should go to the ER immediately.
5. Ignatia: The keynote of ignatia is shock from grief and sudden disappointment or any ailments following grief such as hair loss, twitching, insomnia, or irregular menses. Volatile emotions and paradoxical symptoms such as nausea better from eating are also part of Ignatia’s healing profile. Sighing with grief or disappointment or a sensation of a lump in the throat are also good reasons to try Ignatia.

Store your remedies away from light as well as extremes of heat, cold or moisture like bathrooms or kitchens. And if you have urgent symptoms, always see a doctor or go to the ER first. But with homeopathy in your life, you can treat minor ailments with a minimum of fuss.

Nicole Noles Collins is a NCCAOM Board Certified Diplomate of Acupuncture and licensed to practice acupuncture in the state of Florida. She owns Vitalichi Acupuncture in Port Charlotte, Florida. Nicole has two bachelor of science degrees – Alternative Medicine (holistic) and Professional Health Sciences (western medicine concepts) – as well as a master’s degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine. She has a passion for writing and natural health. Please visit her website at http://www.vitalichi.com and like her Facebook page at Vitalichi Acupuncture. For more information, call 941-979-9793.