One of the many things I love about homeopathy is that anyone can learn how to prescribe for themselves or their family for minor ailments or conditions, in fact I believe that every home should have a first aid homeopathy kit. But how do you know when you need to self-prescribe or see a homeopath?
Acutes are those incidences that happen when you least expect – they usually appear suddenly and don’t last for long, they are ‘self-limiting’ illnesses and they can often be traced back to a single cause, for example being out in a bitterly cold wind; being around someone with flu or receiving some bad news. They are also those occasions when ‘random rubbish events happen’ – such as jamming a finger in a car door, head bumps or other minor accidents. In children, acutes happen as part of growing up, they help to build up immunity and often there will be a development spurt once the child has recovered. Some examples of symptoms of acute ailments are:
- fever, body aches, headache
- cough or cold
- food poisoning
- splinter
- sprains
- bumped head
- insect bite
- minor burn
Some of these ailments are easy to treat yourself if you have a little knowledge and a first aid kit of remedies at home. I’m very keen on empowering people to manage simple acutes for themselves, their family, or pets. This means quicker recovery time and can avoid situations getting worse. If however, you have tried several remedies yourself with not much success, you may then consider booking an acute session for extra help. Acute sessions are around 15 minutes over Zoom.
Chronic diseases are those illness that have been around for a while, usually longer than a few weeks, or are regularly recurring. They usually present with less severe symptoms (in terms of emergency) than acutes, but these symptoms will limit the person’s quality of life to some extent (depending on the level of health and condition), and they progress over time. Some examples of chronic ailments are:
- Asthma
- Hormonal issues
- Arthritis
- Diabetes
- Allergies
- Anxiety and depression
- OCD
- IBS
- Cancer
Sometimes it’s not quite clear if an illness or situation needs acute treatment or chronic care. So how do you know when to seek advice from a homeopath? The main reasons you would book a full consultation for a chronic issue is if either: you’ve had your symptoms for longer than 2-3 weeks, or your issue keeps recurring despite taking remedies. If you’re not sure feel free to get in touch.
