On my own?

This is one of the most fundamental questions to ask while exploring homeopathic therapy.  When is it okay to try the remedies on my own, or when is it best to seek the professional advice of a homeopathic practitioner?

The simplest answer is if its an acute non-life or limb threatening condition, and you have time to allow for a normal healing resolution, then self treatment would be just fine to explore. In-fact, trying remedies on your own can be a great support for your family for their comfort, health, and wellness, not to mention economically helpful too, as long as the condition does not become life or limb threatening, and gets resolved in a timely manner. 

These are many conditions in which the remedies have been used safely and most effectively in the home: colds, flu, minor first aid, muscle fatigue, sleeplessness, not enough sleep, hangover, stress, blues, bad effects of overeating, bad effects of minor grief and bad news, stress, headaches, itching, discomfort, they can relieve tooth pain, teething discomfort, colic, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, ear pain, minor injuries, and many more conditions. Millions of people have had great success using homeopathic remedies on their own for well over 200 years.  Again the remedies themselves have no side effects, the worse that can happen is no response and continued discomfort, because of wrong remedy selection.  If in doubt you can always ask for help.

Families across the world have their own homeopathic kits and books called prescribers.  To use remedies in this manner is not a problem.  More about self-treatment with homeopathic remedies is discussed in How Can I Use Homeopathy?

With the help of a skilled practitioner?

The healing potential of homeopathy really shines in the hands of a skilled practitioner.  Chronic conditions are best dealt with under professional care.  Chronic conditions are indications of declining health where the advice of a practitioner can make all the difference.  The sole purpose of a homeopathic practitioner is to help an individual turn their deterioration of health around with the subtle manipulation of their own healing potential. 

These are some indications where the use of a good homeopathic practitioner becomes indispensable:

1. Increased and continuous use of medicinal substances without resolution of the underlying cause (leads to a strong decline in health).
2. Surgeries, which need to be repeated seemingly without end, are another   indicator.  The overall strength of a person declines with each shock (surgery) to the body. 
3. A strong indicator is when one condition gets handled, then another condition pops up, and never does there seem to be an end........ 
4. When you just don’t feel well and discernible reasons or diagnosis can’t be found. 
5. Becoming more and more sensitive to the environment, foods, medications, and supplements (This is a definite indication of declining health).
6. When participation in life in general is decreasing (Participation is health).
7. When a person decides to be responsible for his or her own health and well-being, and just needs a little guidance.
8. When there is a spiral downward of ill health without resolution.
9. An endless list of medications, which keep expanding.
10. Toxicity
11. Prevention of ill health. 

Mainstream medicine does not have an answer for these situations.  In most of the above situations the toxicity becomes great until the situation is critical.  I would consider it negligence not to recommend seeking the services of a good homeopath or alternative healing practitioner under these circumstances. 

More about this is discussed in When to Seek a Homeopathic Practitioner.

Self Treating Acute Manifestations of Chronic Conditions

There is another area where people have great success in treating themselves with homeopathic remedies, but I wish to share a warning with this.  I call it treating acute manifestations of a chronic condition.  Or, simply put.  It’s where a person has a chronic condition and they wish to handle the pain or discomfort using homeopathic remedies. 

Relieving the symptoms can usually be successfully done, but there is always a cost.  Not because of the homeopathic remedies.  The cost is from not addressing the causes of the chronic condition in the first place. 

The great up-side to using remedies in this way comes from replacing the need for toxic and damaging substances to handle these symptoms.  The remedies will not cause any toxic damaging effect.  Medical drugs especially, as well as continuous use of a very few herbs and nutritional supplements, become toxic with long-term use.  This is of great help to slow down a person’s degradation into a worse state of health from toxic substances used to just manage symptoms. 

Just remember, it would be best to have a professional homeopath or good alternative practitioner help you to address the causes of your chronic condition, while using the homeopathic remedies to alleviate symptoms

We also recommend that if the condition is possibly life or limb threatening, or you don’t know, to get it checked-out by a western medical doctor.  Western medicine, does have good results treating emergency situations, this can’t be ignored.  No need to ever risk life or limb.

However, after an emergency is handled, in-order-to heal, it's almost exclusively best to find an alternative to western medicine.  Now that is our honest, but controversial opinion.

Glossary:

Chronic conditions don’t end.  The person suffers on a continual basis, or the symptoms disappear and then return repeatedly.  Chronic conditions are best treated by a professional homeopath, because it requires both constitutional care (looking at genetic, learned behavior, and environmental causes of illness) and managing the obstacles to cure (inquiring into how the patient’s lifestyle contributes to the dis-ease). 

Acute conditions are diseases that we know are going to end anyway like cramps, colds, flues, muscle soreness or fatigue.  These are conditions that if not too severe (and not life- or limb- threatening) have been known to be self-treated at home with a good homeopathic kit and a good homeopathic book that can be used as a prescriber with great success.  

Acute manifestations of a chronic condition are symptoms that come and go in a long-term illness. The chronic conditions should be brought to a professional homeopath for constitutional treatment and to find the obstacles to cure.  Pain or discomfort has been known to be effectively handled until then, by the person himself or herself, using a good homeopathic kit with a good homeopathic book, called a prescriber..