10 Best Homeopathic Remedies & How to Use Them

If you know me at all or have read more than a couple of my posts, you know that I LOVE HOMEOPATHY.

And in this post, I want to share with you my favorite/most frequently used remedies and what I use them for.

How to Get Started with Homeopathy

This is just basic info about some basic remedies. I plan to write more, but since I have gotten some remedies in some friends’ hands, and people always want to know what remedies to start with, I thought I would begin here.

So, they’re not necessarily “the best”, but are the best in my opinion because I use them so much more frequently than the 3,000+ others.

I am absolutely devoted to homeopathy and the way you ca go from squirming in pain to feeling better within minutes or even seconds. And once you’ve had homeopathy help you get back to your normal self, you’ll tooootally get it.

I write my posts to be informative and helpful, but please note that this is not to be used as medical advice, as I am sharing my experience in the study and use of natural alternative medicine with you; you should always consult your medical professional for any medical concerns. This post also includes affiliate links where you can find the individual remedies. You can read my disclosure policies and where to get more info at the bottom of this page. Thanks! Now let’s get to the good stuff!

My Most Commonly Used Homeopathic Remedies

First, I will give you a list of my most commonly used remedies, and then I will go through with a brief summary of them.

Please note, there are sooo many uses for each individual remedy, many more than I am listing, and I am just touching on the ones that have most helped me in the common issues of daily life. I have provided links for each so you can correctly find it.

My most used/recommended homeopathic remedies are (in their Latin names, which is how they’re referred to in homeopathy):

• Apis mellifica
• Arsenicum album
• Arnica montana
• Aconitum napellus (aka “aconite”)
• Belladonna
• Cantharis
• Ledum palustre
• Magnesium phosphoricum* (aka “Mag phos”)
• Natrum phosphoricum* (aka “Nat phos”)
• Nux vomica

Which Homeopathic Potency to Use

When you’re just starting out with homeopathy, you’ll generally consider 3 potencies. In homeopathy, stronger does not always mean better, as stronger could be too strong for your body to keep up with, and you may have a temporary aggravation of symptoms. (No fun.)

The bottle will tell you what potency you are using. Some brands use different colored bottles for different potencies.

Potency for Cell Salts/Tissue Salts

For cell salts/tissue salts (two terms for the same item), I generally start with a 6x. (See the two remedies with * next to them in the list above.)

There may be trace amounts of those elements in that potency, which can also somewhat act as a supplement, but you don’t want to take it more than maybe a week or two without consultation with an experienced homeopath. Here’s how to start your search for a homeopath.

Potency for Non-Cell Salts/Tissue Salts (all the other 3,000+ remedies)

If something is not one of the 12 cell salts (two indicated by * in the list above), I generally use:

12c or 30c potency (indicated on the bottle) is generally a good place to start, and is what I start with for my 70 year old parents or other elderly or really sick people who may be too sensitive to a higher potency.

Sometimes, the higher potency is even too much for me, even though I’m in my 40’s. Going to a lower potency helps relieve that aggravation.

12c is a safer place to start, but I typically start with 30c because it’s readily available and effective. Do not take more than maybe 3-4 doses if you aren’t seeing any improvement.

200c (higher potency than a 30c) is good for children and sudden/fairly severe accidents because it is a “higher” potency. I will also go up to a 200c if the 30c helps but doesn’t last very long after a few doses.

1. How to Use Apis Mellifica Homeopathic Remedy

I’m going to start with Apis mellifica because it is one of my top two. For me, it is currently a remedy that my homeopath has identified as one of my key remedies. And it has gotten me out of a lot of binds and helped my body settle.

Apis is made from bees. And it is good for anything that feels like a stinging sensation or anything that is red, swollen, and painful.

• This includes bee stings (though sometimes Ledum (discussed below) is better), and I use it regularly for mosquito bites during the summer; if a mosquito is within about 7 miles, it will find me and come have a taste.

So, I will take it after I start feeling several bites and it will take the itch out pretty quickly. The swelling and redness will gradually go down (and may go down if I took more doses), but one dose is usually good enough for the incessant itching.

• It is also really great for anaphylactic shock (second to homeopathic carbolic acid**), and generally anything where there is swelling and puffiness, itching , etc. Having this in your arsenal could save someone’s life, or help relieve their stress while you wait on medical attention.

• This also helped me with a condition similar to interstitial cystitis. Not a UTI, as they are commonly used interchangeably, but I had a stinging sensation in that area, and based on that alone, my homeopath suggested Apis.

This had been a condition that had been increasing in severity for the last 9 months, and it was starting to keep me awake at night and actually hurt instead of being the slight annoyance it once was.

Within 3 doses over about 4 hours, a dose taken whenever I remembered while I worked on a project, I no longer felt that sensation and got TONS of relief. … “Whew”, is all I can say to that.

• Apis also has an affinity for action on the kidneys, but since kidneys are serious, you should consult with a doctor and homeopath on how to solve chronic kidney issues.

2. How to Use Arsenicum Album Homeopathic Remedy

Arsenicum album is made from, yes, arsenic. BUT, you must understand, at potencies of 30c and higher, it’s so highly diluted there’s basically no traces of arsenic in it.

Even at lower potencies, the process of dilution is so great that the potency isn’t nearly even a small percentage as dangerous as the original substance.

Arsenicum is good for symptoms such as: nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, general gastric distress, as well as asthma type symptoms of restricted airways. If you think of intentional or accidental food poisoning, Arsenicum will treat those symptoms.

• I have used this in so many cases of nausea and vomiting, it’s amazing. My husband, ever the skeptic, calls them his “magic pills” because they have helped him several nights where he wakes up with major stomach pain and nausea.

The first two times, I helped him, and within 5 minutes, he stoped moving all together and fell back asleep. In less than 5 minutes.

As I’m standing over him in the dark and can’t see his face and have to wake him up to make sure he feels okay. Of course he does.

• I’ve used it whenever I feel randomly nauseous, once when I had a gastric distress in my general digestive area I couldn’t explain but just knew my whole midsection hurt.

Also came in handy once when both my sister-in-law and I had gotten motion sickness with nausea from theme park rides. We both took it and by the time we pulled up to get pizza on the way home, we realized we’d both even forgotten we were sick. Happens all the time with homeopathy.

I will say, if you take it for example, for nausea, it may potentially make you vomit or go, umm… poop. Sorry to be indelicate. But this is perfectly okay, it means the homeopathy is working and is working with your body to rid it of whatever it needs to. It could be an aggravation of the symptoms, but not likely after one dose, and if you feel better after whatever elimination, you’ll know it’s working with your body to get to healing.

And sometimes, you will literally feel the nausea/other symptoms melt away. That’s the best way I can describe it. One second you’re in pain, the next, you feel whatever was feeling bad just unclench and smooth out and you feel like a million bucks. No lie, have had it happen so. many. times., and not just with this remedy.

• Sue Meyer of Homeopathy for Mommies did a podcast on asthma, and indicated arsenicum as a great remedy for asthma symptoms. Now, since asthma is very deeply rooted, you should work with a homeopath and doctor on this. But maybe if someone were having a life-threatening attack and you have nothing else to help, homeopathy won’t hurt anything – if your body doesn’t need it, it won’t use it.

3. How to Use Arnica Montana

Arnica Montana can be a real miracle worker. It is most known for it’s ability to help with physical trauma to the body, the type that causes welts and bruises due to contact with a hard surface.

• Think bumps and bruises, head trauma, TBI (hello, military personnel and athletes), sprains, strains, internal tears, anywhere that gets injured. There are other remedies you can also use in addition to Arnica depending on the body part that was injured.

Remember, for any serious injuries, you should ALWAYS consult with your doctor for appropriate treatment and testing. Homeopathy can be used supplementally to that treatment.

• It can also be used for post-birth healing, post-surgery healing, and overwork/overuse of the body or a particular body part.

• Sue Meyer of HomeopathyforMommies.com says that Arnica can be used following an accident or trauma that resulted in shock — so that it’s not the “silent killer” where someone has a heart attack or other bodily reaction later after experiencing a trauma, when they said they were “fine” and didn’t need help. Speaking of Sue Meyer, she talks in this podcast about how Arnica saved her daughter from major brain damage following an accident falling off a horse.

I have used Arnica and Arnica topical gel to help prevent the swelling and bruising. I bruise easily and I have written about have written here about how I treat bruises to heal faster and what I take to help me bruise less.

4. How to Use Aconitum Napellus (“Aconite”)

One good way to remember a main use for Aconite is Homeopath Joette Calabrese’s line: “Got a fright?! Grab the Aconite!“

Aconitum napellus, aka “aconite”, is probably the first remedy one would use for any kind of frightful experience, from being scared, traumatic memories of injury (ie, when a child can’t be consoled after being stung by a bee even after giving Apis), etc.

• I used to work with and for veterans and worked on thousands of veterans’ mental health disability claims for the government, and I would love to see how homeopathy could help this endemic of mental illness in combat veterans and service members.

This would be a good remedy to give after any stressful event, including a combat mission. It will help soothe the mind and body, and may help stop the eventual developing and worsening of PTSD and other mental illnesses that are a result of war, abuse, or even sexual abuse, which happens in every walk of society.

• It is also one of the first remedies you can give if you feel that an illness is coming on and it came on quickly. It triggers the body to start steeping up its defenses. In cases of suspected bugs/viruses, you can follow it up with Belladonna, which we will discuss shortly.

• It’s also really great for prolonged exposure to environmental elements like dry cold winds and extremely hot weather.

For example, I’ve used it for windburn it after sitting outside in really windy, cold days watching my husband play softball. It helped soothe my skin from that redness and burning feeling the next day.

5. Belladonna

Many people freak out when they first read that homeopaths want them to take Belladonna, since it’s “the deadly nightshade”.

HOWEVER, homeopathic Belladonna is highly diluted, and Belladonna properly prepared as a homeopathic remedy by a reputable homeopathic facility, is safe almost certainly at at least the 30c potency, as there is little to no traces of the original substance since it is so diluted so many times. (Do NOT take the straight Belladonna plant substance, you will die.)

• Belladonna is great for anything that feels red, hot, burning and especially if the person describes it as “stabbing” or “throbbing“. Anything that has an extreme heat and redness, inflammation.

• As stated before in the Aconite section, if you feel an illness coming on and if it comes on quickly, you can give Aconite and then Belladonna, alternating for several doses.

• Interestingly, Homeopath Sue Meyer has found a reference that states that, in the case of kidney stones, Belladonna can expand the urethral sphincter from approximately 4 millimeters up to 10 mm, which will help the stone to pass more quickly and with less pain.

I have used it with friends, and they have at the very least felt better after taking it, even though they did not pass stones (they suspected kidney stones, but didn’t get confirmation from a doctor.)

6. Homeopathic Cantharis for Burns and UTIs

I loooooove Cantharis. It is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING for burns and if anything feels like it has a burning sensation, Cantharis may be a good fit. I use the Cantharis when I have a painful burn, but once the pain has subsided and the burn starts to heal, I then add in this calendula cream. This stuff will heal any skin condition in half the time of anything else you use, it’s amazing too!

Side note on the Calendula cream, also homeopathic: I used this on my 70 year old mom, (sorry Mom, for telling your age), when she had some spots that just wouldn’t heal up. Those spots were several months old, as I only get to see her every few months and she had them when I last saw her, and I gave her that calendula cream, and it healed her spots within a week! I know it was actually right around/less than a week because we were at Disney at the time that I gave her the cream.

Back to Cantharis: Let me tell you a story: I was on a trip to watch my husband and his team play in a big softball tournament.

That trip wasn’t a complete disaster, but it was pretty frustrating: Our rental car wasn’t available from the rental car agency (after we drove 20 minutes and back for them to tell us that), so we took our car with its spotty air conditioning. It was just after a hurricane hit, so it took us 12 hours to get there when it should’ve only taken 9, I found out a friend was admitted to the hospital for cancer (she later died from it), I got nipped in the leg by a small dog and the owners lied to the hotel manager (the hotels had to accept refugees from the hurricane with pets).

Then very early one morning at breakfast, I dropped my tray and splattered PIPING HOT grits onto my foot (I was wearing flip flops), and it hurt like a …banshee!! My foot got all red and angry and produced welts as I gently tried to wipe the grits off. I cried. That’s not like me, but with all the prior stuff plus being tired from being up so early, I was too tired and too drained.

Aaaanyway, I took Cantharis foot. It took the pain away pretty quickly and after about 3 doses, which I took maybe every 30 minutes or so, I didn’t feel the pain at all. It was definitely a 2nd degree burn, turned red and had welts a little smaller than a dime. I probably could have used a dose of Aconite because of the shock of that and everything else, but sometimes, in the middle of something, you’re not always thinking clearly.

I mostly stopped using the oral Cantharis, then used the calendula cream There is also a Calendula homeopathic remedy (which is what is used in the cream), and it is also really great for healing open wounds and burns. It’s amazing to have it both as an internal and external option.

Here was my foot just after the burn, sorry if this is too gross, feel free to scroll past quickly:

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and that area now — can’t really see any scarring (I actually had to look at the pictures to see which foot it was). I kept the Calendula cream on it and kept it covered. Healed beautifully. Now if only I could get some wrinkles out…

(I also recently used the Calendula cream on a quick contact burn on an iron, and it took the pain away so quickly and nonchalantly that I forgot about it until I saw it later. And anything I use the Calendula cream for heals really well, often without a trace of a scar.)

• Cantharis is also usually the first remedy recommended for urinary tract infection, especially when there is burning at urination. See, burning is key here. It was not the one that worked for me when I got one from putting essential oils in my bath water (ugh), but it works well for many people.

Burning was not my major, first symptom, which was an indication that it might not be the best fit, but it was highly recommended & readily available, so it was worth a try.

7. Ledum palustre for skin punctures and stings

Ledum palustre is for any kind of puncture wound that you may receive, intentionally or not.

• Ledum works well for unintentional punctures like animal & insect bites and stings (ticks, bees, mosquitos, dogs, cats, etc), as well as intentional puncture wounds like needle punctures and surgical incisions.

Both can sometimes be painful or get infected.

It can help all of the above stave off infection, and can even be used if a tetanus shot is not available (alternating with Hypericum perforatum).

• Ledum can also be used to help move out old, pooled blood that won’t move from the area that it took up residence.

8. How to Use Mag Phos for Cramps

This one, short for magnesium phosphoricum but most commonly referred to (and sold as) Mag phos, is a really great remedy and supplement for any situation where magnesium would be key.

It is one of the 12 cell salts, or tissue salts, which means that the human body tissue is composed of this tissue, made of these two bonded elements.

• Cramping is a good indication of the depletion of this cell salt.

Mag phos is most known for relieving muscle cramps, as well as feminine menstrual cramps. And it is wonderful for both.

At the 6x potency, it can be used more similar to a supplement, as there may actually be some mag phos in that potency versus a higher potency.

I’m not advising you to take it regularly without the consultation of a homeopath and doctor, but if you’re cramping, it can be used to unclench those muscles. And it does.

A lot of times, I see it recommended to take in a mug with hot water poured over. You can try that, but I usually just take the 4 recommended pellets, as they dissolve very quickly under your tongue.

• Mag phos is really great for athletes who cramp up. I want my husband to try it on hot softball tournament games, but have yet been able to get him to take mag phos – he tends to drink pickle juice as a preventative, which actually seems to work pretty well. #tip

Another story for illustration, if you will indulge me: I had a couple of instances where I would have almost the whole side of my body seize up. It felt like a cramp from the my neck to my hips, and just on one side.

Stretching it out really didn’t work, and it was such that it would leave me gasping for breath, trying not to ask my husband to rush home but sounding desperate and desperately breathing, wanting him there to help pull me apart.

It probably lasted about 7-10 minutes each of the first 2 times, and they were in the evening while I was home alone.

The third time, I had finally figured out, duh, to try mag phos.

And, as with many times in my homeopathy experience, I don’t even know how severe the problem was going to be the third time, because once I started to noticed my body tightening up in the same way, I took the mag phos and it released out my muscle cramps and let them unclench. Just smoothly like nothing had happened.

You won’t believe how homeopathy feels this way until you experience the “Ahhhhh….” of an sickness/malady just melting away the way that only homeopathy can.

9. Nat Phos for Reflux/GERD/heartburn

Nat phos is also a cell salt, I actually probably use this one a little more than Mag Phos, but I was somewhat trying to go in alphabetical order.

• There are two great remedies I have heard for heartburn. This one – Nat Phos — and the next one I will talk about, Nux vomica.

For me, I don’t have chronic heartburn, but when I occasionally do, I can take this and it will just melt away. You can almost feel it leaving/calming down.

I SO wish I had known about this when a loved one was experiencing chronic heartburn, instead of her taking omeprazole/Prilosec, which has been linked to kidney damage, which you can read about here and here.

• You may also find that, if you have a chronically red chin, according to this book (it is fascinating, btw), you may have a Nat Phos deficiency, as this can be a sign.

I do have a consistently red chin, and once I get to where I’m not being treated for other chronic problems, I will try Nat Phos as a supplement to see if it alleviates it.

I never imagined homeopathy could be used to solve beauty problems too, lol. Score!!

10. Why You Can Take Nux Vomica for “Too Much” of Anything, including Alcohol

Nux vomica is commonly known as the “too much” remedy.

• If you have eaten too much, drank too much alcohol, slept too much, studied too much, had too much sun, had too much rich greasy foods, you can take Nux vomica and it will greatly ease your suffering.

Now, I’m not saying go and do those things. But, if you do, it’ll help take the edge off. Yes, even drinking too much.

I haven’t tried it for too much alcohol, but I have had occasion where I eat way more than my stomach can handle.

By the end of the meal, I just want to lay down and hold my stomach and be miserable. Anyone else do this?

I am sooo happy to report that the times I have majorly overeaten since discovering Nux vomica, that “uuuuggghhh, I’m miserable and my stomach hurts so bad” feeling goes away.

While I still feel full, I’m able to function normally. That ‘Must. Go. Lay. Down’ feeling is no longer there and I can continue with conversation or post-dinner activities. It’s so amazing.

Should we all keep up our bad habits and just rely on this? No, but when you do overdo it unintentionally, it is nice to have this on your side. It just helps your body get back to a functional state.

• I have also used this remedy for an unintentional sunburn after hours outside (even though I was in the shade), and while it didn’t take the redness completely away, it did calm the skin down a bit so I didn’t look like an idiot who completely forgot her sunscreen.

Pride and vanity, I will admit. I can’t speak to really bad sunburns with stinging, I’m not super pale.

I would think this and/or Cantharis mentioned above, especially if it has a burning feeling. But sometimes it depends on what the symptoms of the sunburn are, as well as your own skin type.

One homeopath suggests not telling your kids about this remedy for hangovers, and letting them deal with the consequences instead in the hopes that they’ll drink more responsibly.

Probably not a bad idea if you ask me.

• Nux vomica has also been indicated by homeopath Sue Meyer to be good for acid reflux. If Nat Phos doesn’t seem to work for you, you can give Nux vomica a try. But if it’s chronic, you should see a homeopath, as there is likely a deeper cause for that condition.
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And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, has been my basic synopsis of my most commonly used (and therefore favorite) homeopathic remedies.

I hope this has given you a beginning step in your journey to using a more natural system of healing for yourself and your family.  While homeopathy isn’t an “exact science”, these remedies are fairly standard and have great rates of success in the uses mentioned today.

Did this beginners guide help you? Have you used homeopathy before? Do you have more questions about homeopathy?

There is so much more I could write, and I try to provide the best information I can, so let me know in the comments below (at the almost very bottom of the page) about what you’d like to know more.

As always, thanks for reading, and God bless!!

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