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HOMEOPATHIC FIRST AID

When is D.I.Y. O.K?
The home prescriber can easily treat minor first aid emergencies, greatly reducing discomfort and
healing times, because most people react in a similar way to injuries. For this reason it is usually
possible to say for injury "A" homeopathic medicine "B" will be of help.
Arnica is the greatest first aid remedy in Homeopathy, not only helping to reduce bruising, but
also alleviating the shock of a physical trauma. The only danger with Arnica is that its reputation
as a miracle cure means people try to use it for everything!
This routinist approach often brings disappointing results. For example, my daughter was stung
by a wasp once and I automatically gave her Apis. This is made from bee sting, but usually
works well for wasp stings, too.
Unfortunately in this case it did nothing whatsoever, so I asked her to tell me exactly what the
pain was like. She said it was very severe and shooting up her arm. It was then I realised the sting
had hit a nerve and she needed Hypericum, a great remedy for this type of pain. I gave it to her
and it worked in seconds. I repeated Hypericum 30c whenever the pain returned over the next
few hours, but by that evening all was well and there was no trace of swelling or discomfort left.
Homeopathy is based on a natural law known as the Law of Similars. This law always works, but
to be a really successful prescriber you have to always match the symptoms as precisely as
possible to the most similar homeopathic medicine.
The two golden rules.
In fact there are only two golden rules and once you truly master these, Homeopathy is simple:
The Law of Similars =
Match the symptoms carefully to the best homeopathic medicine you can find.
The Law of the Minimum Dose =
Take one pill. If you feel better theres no need to repeat unless same symptoms return.

2008 Mary Aspinwall ISHom PCH Registered Homeopath. Founder: www.homeopathyworld.com

HOMEOPATHIC FIRST AID MEDICINES

ARNICA
Number 1 Best-selling Homeopathic Medicine in the World.
Millions of people have become totally convinced of the benefits of Homeopathy after using
Arnica. Next time you have the misfortune to suffer any of the symptoms below, try Arnica and
discover the amazing benefits for yourself.
Physical shock, trauma
Especially helpful after the classic shock response after an accident or severe emotional upset.
The person insists they are fine, when they clearly arent. Usually dont want to be touched or
fussed over.
Head injury
Reduces the risk of complications following a blow to the head, reduces pain and swelling
Bruising
Take it and watch your lumps and bumps disappear almost before your eyes.
After childbirth
Will reduce recovery times dramatically, take as you would a painkiller, repeating as needed.
Exhaustion
Of course its cheating and you will have to rest up later, but if you really must keep going take
Arnica. Tour de France cyclists swear by it and so do women in labour. Ideal for when youve
got to do what youve got to do!
Jet lag
Take Arnica for second wind and you can keep awake long enough to get onto local time.
CALENDULA
Made from marigolds, this is natures antiseptic. Calendula cream or ointment will help to
prevent sepsis in an open wound and Calendula pills taken internally reduce the pain of wounds
and helps speed up the healing process.
HYPERICUM
No. 1 medicine for injury to nerves, where pains are violent and shooting. Use for injuries or
stings to nerve rich areas, such as fingers, toes, teeth and the coccyx (tail bone). Ideal for when
little fingers get trapped in a door. Reputed to reduce the risk of tetanus (lock jaw).
LEDUM
Useful for black eyes. Treats inflammations that do not come to the surface (deep puncture
wounds or stings). Skin appears blue and cold, but there is heat below it. Reputed to reduce the
risk of tetanus (lock jaw).

2008 Mary Aspinwall ISHom PCH Registered Homeopath. Founder: www.homeopathyworld.com

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HOMEOPATHIC FIRST AID MEDICINES (continued)
APIS
No.1 medicine for the pain of bites and stings. Made from diluted bee sting. Area is red hot and
swollen.
CANTHARIS
No.1 medicine for the pain of burns. Eases pain and reduces blistering, promotes rapid healing.
SILICA
No. 1 medicine for forcing out splinters and other foreign bodies. Not suitable for use by anyone
who has a pacemaker, breast implants, metal pins or artificial joints.

The treatment of wounds.

Dont use Arnica cream or ointment on an open wound as it may cause suppuration. Use
Arnica topically on bruises where the skin is unbroken, if the skin is broken and Arnica is also
needed give it internally (in a pillule or tablet).
Wash the wound thoroughly and apply Calendula or Hypercal cream or ointment as soon as
possible. This should stop any infection from setting in.
Sepsis.
If infection has already occurred match the symptoms to the following:
BELLADONNA
Hot, red and throbbing, but no pus.
HEPAR SULPH
Very painful wounds with pus.
SILICA
Painless pus-filled wounds that are slow to heal.

2008 Mary Aspinwall ISHom PCH Registered Homeopath. Founder: www.homeopathyworld.com

IMPORTANT FIRST AID HINT

Avoid Routine Prescriptions
A tale of 3 wasp stings.
My young daughter, her father, and I were in a playground in Ireland when a little girl on a
nearby swing began to scream. Her parents were trying to calm her, but she just kept screaming
in what sounded like a mixture of extreme pain and panic.
I went over to see if I could help, and they explained she had put her hand on a wasp and been
stung. As luck would have it, I had my homeopathic first-aid kit with me, and seeing the hot, red,
shiny swelling on the back of her hand, I offered a dose of Apis 30c.
The parents were from the US, visiting Ireland on holiday, and when they saw my little bottle of
pills they asked all sorts of questions. "Is it an antihistamine?" No, it is a homeopathic medicine
made from a honeybee and its venom, I answered. "We've never heard of homeopathy, what is
it?" they continued. Their daughter was nearly hysterical by this stage, so I gave a very shortened
synopsis along the lines of "like cures like" and stressed that the bee sting in the medicine was
very highly diluted.
The mother and father looked at each other and made a judgment call. I was thanked very much
but told, "No, thank you." I showed them the manufacturer's information on the back of the kit
and explained that the remedies were registered with the Medicines Control Agency in the UK.
"If you change your minds, I'll be in the playground for a while," I added.
It was a Sunday, and no pharmacies were open. The nearest emergency room was more than two
hours away. The parents held a hurried conference. Throughout this exchange, their daughter
continued to howl in agony. Eventually they came over to me and said they would give it a try.
I put one pill into the lid of the bottle, and the mom tipped the pill into her daughter's mouth. I
told the girl to suck it like a candy. I left the mom some spare pills in a twist of paper and told her
to repeat the dose as often as needed if the pain returned. Then my family and I went off to a
nearby hotel to have lunch. The girl had already stopped screaming by the time we walked away.
Later, the mom caught up with us at the hotel and thanked me profusely. The pill had "worked
like magic." She wanted to see the homeopathic kit again and asked me many more questions.
She said she was amazed that something so effective existed and yet she had never heard of it.
I often ponder that. Why is it that homeopathy hasn't become more widespread with a
homeopathic medicine kit in every home or handbag? The only answer I can come up with is that
learning to use homeopathy doesn't suit the modern attention span!

2008 Mary Aspinwall ISHom PCH Registered Homeopath. Founder: www.homeopathyworld.com

The thing that makes a medicine become homeopathic

is its similarity to the situation you are trying to treat.
In other words, the medicines only become homeopathic when they are accurately matched to
what is happening with the person. This sometimes takes a little time and effort on the part of the
user, but once you have mastered it, you will have a skill that will hugely enhance your life and
your familys. For instance, it would be just great if we could say categorically that, in every
case, Apis is THE medicine for insect bites and stings. The truth is that Apis will only work if the
symptom picture fits. The bite has to be red, hot, and shiny. The pains have to be burning or
stinging or both.
I have heard some people say, "Yeah I tried homeopathy for such-and-such, and it didn't work..."
It's a difficult concept to grasp, but homeopathy always works. It is a natural law. What happened
is that they, or their prescriber, selected a medicine that was not sufficiently similar to act
homeopathically. This can easily happen, especially if there is a lack of understanding of the Law
of Similars or if the remedy is chosen in a rushed or routine way.
All of which brings me to wasp story number two. This time it was my own daughter screaming
in agony from a sting on her forearm. I had no homeopathic kit with me. We were living in
Ireland at the time and we were at the opposite end of town from my clinic. Luckily, she was still
small, so I scooped her up and ran with her all the way. As soon as we arrived, I gave her a dose
of Apis 30c expecting her shrieking to stop ... but it got louder. I was surprised, but thought she
just needed a higher dose, so I gave her Apis 200c. Again nothing.
Then I did what I should have done in the first place. I looked at the site of the sting. It was not
red. I asked Martha what the pain was like and, between the tears and shouts, she made a gesture
to show that the pain was running up her arm. I realized that the wasp's sting had hit a nerve in
her arm. The medicine for shooting nerve pain is Hypericum. I gave her Hypericum 30c, and it
worked instantly.
In the third story from Ireland--now beginning to sound like "the land of vicious wasps"--I was
the victim. I was padding around the house barefoot when I stepped on a sleepy wasp. The sting
went deep into the sole of my foot. I quickly took a dose of Apis, but nothing changed. I was still
hopping around and not doing a very good job of putting a brave face on things.
So I sat down and looked at my foot. I was able to pull out the stinger. What was left was just a
tiny hole, with no swelling or redness. It even felt cool to the touch, but to me, the inside of my
foot felt like it was on fire. The medicine that was similar this time was not Apis but Ledum.
Ledum is great for deep injuries, especially to the palms of the hand or sole of the foot, where the
inflammation cant make it to the surface. It did the trick, beautifully.

2008 Mary Aspinwall ISHom PCH Registered Homeopath. Founder: www.homeopathyworld.com

FIRST AID EMERGENCIES CASE WORK

These are all real cases. Using the leaflet in your kit and Miranda Castros Complete
Homeopathy Handbook, select the best remedy or remedies in each case. Write your answers
below and then check against the answers on the following page.
Case 1
Not exactly first aid but more like eventual aid ... Valerie, aged thirty two, had an injection that
unfortunately hit a nerve in her leg. She had excruciating shooting pains in her legs for many
months after that. She took painkillers, but the pain returned as soon as they wore off.
Case 2
Marina, aged four, fell and put her hand out to save herself. The flat of her left palm touched the
wood-burning stove. She was screaming in agony, wanted to run her hand under the cold tap and
blisters started to form very quickly.
Case 3
Ella, aged three, got her fingertips caught in a door. She had terrible shooting pains and later blue
swollen fingertips that felt very hot and painful under the fingernails.
Case 4
Helen, aged thirty, was cooking on a barbecue when she burnt her hand. Running it under the
cold tap didn't help, she wanted to put a warm washcloth on it.
Case 5
Myra had a very nasty near miss in her car. She was shaken and bruised with terrible whiplash.
Case 6
James was pulled out to sea by strong currents whilst surfing. He had thought he would die and
was very frightened, shocked and bruised by the time he got back to shore. He also had a number
of cuts on his legs from scrambling over rocks.
Case 7
Victoria was eating oysters when she got a small cut at the base of her thumb. It quickly went
septic and was, surprisingly, extremely painful for such a small wound.
Case 8
Rose spent too long working on the computer and had very sore eyes and wrists.

2008 Mary Aspinwall ISHom PCH Registered Homeopath. Founder: www.homeopathyworld.com

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FIRST AID EMERGENCIES CASE WORK / Answers

Case 1:
Hypericum worked beautifully.

Case 2:
Had Arnica and Rescue Remedy for shock and Cantharis for the burn. Cantharis was repeated
often, as needed.

Case 3:
Had Arnica and Rescue Remedy for shock. Hypericum for nerve pain and Ledum for trapped
swelling under her nails. Hypericum was given twice and Ledum was given more often.
Prescriptions were based on how she described the pain.

Case 4:
An unusual response to the burn indicated Arsenicum and that worked very well.

Case 5:
Had Arnica and Rescue Remedy for shock. The shock returned often and Arnica was given often.
She also needed frequent doses of Hypericum.

Case 6:
Had Arnica for shock and Calendula for the cuts, but remained very frightened and this was
finally helped by Aconite.

Case 7:
Calendula didn't seem to help much, perhaps it was given too late, so we changed to Hepar sulph
this worked beautifully.

Case 8:
Ruta worked well, but don't let that be an excuse for you to over do it at the keyboard!

2008 Mary Aspinwall ISHom PCH Registered Homeopath. Founder: www.homeopathyworld.com

HOMEOPATHIC FIRST AID A QUIZ

Use your kit leaflet and The Complete Homeopathy Handbook to answer these questions, then
check your answers against those on the following page:

1. Which two homeopathic first aid medicines are said to help prevent tetanus?

2. Which homeopathic medicine is considered to be the Arnica of the nerves?

3. What aspects of shock are similar to the symptom picture of Arnica?

4. If you were treating a painless, pus-filled wound what homeopathic medicine might be most
similar?

5. Apart from Arnica what other homeopathic medicine could be used to treat a black eye?

6. If a wound needed Ledum what would it look like?

7. Which homeopathic medicine can be used to force out splinters?

8. Why is it ok to give more than one homeopathic medicine at a time when treating a first aid
case?

9. What homeopathic medicines may be helpful in treating sunburn?

10. What homeopathic medicine can ease the pain of fractures and broken bones?

2008 Mary Aspinwall ISHom PCH Registered Homeopath. Founder: www.homeopathyworld.com

HOMEOPATHIC FIRST AID QUIZ THE ANSWERS

1. Which two homeopathic first aid medicines are said to help prevent tetanus?
Hypericum and Ledum.
2. Which homeopathic medicine is considered to be the Arnica of the nerves?
Hypericum.
3. What aspects of shock are similar to the symptom picture of Arnica?
People say they are alright when they very obviously aren't. They don't want to be touched. They
may also be chilly.
4. If you were treating a painless, pus-filled wound what homeopathic medicine might be
most similar?
Silica.
5. Apart from Arnica what other homeopathic medicine could be used to treat a black eye?
Ledum. Sympytum is also good for injuries to the eyeball itself.
6. If a wound needed Ledum what would it look like?
Often a puncture wound or a black eye. The area would be cold, bluish and swollen. Despite this
the sufferer would feel heat in the wound and want cold applications.
7. Which homeopathic medicine can be used to force out splinters?
Silica.
8. Why is it O.K. to give more than one homeopathic medicine at a time when treating a first aid
case?
In the case of external injuries many homeopathic medicines may be needed to cover different
aspects such as bruising, nerve damage, flesh wounds, sepsis. Whereas, if symptoms are coming
from an internal 'dis-ease', as in an acute illness, it is better to find one homeopathic medicine that
covers the whole picture.
9. What homeopathic medicines may be helpful in treating sunburn?
Cantharis, Belladonna and Urtica urens.
10. What homeopathic medicine can ease the pain of fractures and broken bones?
Bryonia. Once the bone has been set Symphytum (also known as Comfrey or Knitbone) and Calc
phos can help the bone to heal more quickly.

2008 Mary Aspinwall ISHom PCH Registered Homeopath. Founder: www.homeopathyworld.com

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SAFETY FIRST
Serious injuries and illnesses should never be treated without seeking expert advice. Use your
instincts and common sense, if you are worried call for help or travel to get it first, then give the
appropriate remedy whilst you are waiting for help to arrive or whilst you are on route to the ER.
If in any doubt check for these...
WARNING SIGNS
If the person you are treating has any of the following seek expert medical help immediately:

backache, or fever, with urinary infection

bleeding, heavy or unexplained
breathing, rapid shallow or difficult
burns, severe or larger than your hand
chest pain, severe
confusion, following trauma or over-exposure to sun
consciousness, lost or impaired
convulsions
delirium
dehydration, especially in babies, small children and elderly
drowsiness, unexplained or unexpected
headache, severe
fever, above 103.5F / 40C or persistent or with stiff neck
fits
fluid, watery / bloody, from ears or nose following head injury
movement, full range, lost or impaired
puncture wounds, near vital organs
speech, lost or impaired
stool, pale or white
streaks, red running towards body
swelling, rapid or severe (especially of mouth or throat)
thirstlessness, prolonged with fever or diarrhea or vomiting
urine, profuse or scanty or bloody
vision, lost or impaired
vomiting, unexpected and repeated
wheezing, severe
yellowness, of skin or eyes

2008 Mary Aspinwall ISHom PCH Registered Homeopath. Founder: www.homeopathyworld.com

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Never treat serious injuries or complaints without expert help. Serious degenerative diseases;
frequently recurring symptoms; skin symptoms (including warts and verucas); asthma; hayfever;
persistent constipation or abdominal pain; ulcers; lumps and bumps (apart from bruises) all need
constitutional treatment by a qualified homoeopath.

What sort of complaints are safe to treat at home?

Provided there are none of the warning signs mentioned above you can treat...
1. Minor injuries e.g. cuts; bites; stings; burns; bruises.
2. Acute illnesses
The definition of an acute illness is one where you have:
i) a prodromal (warning) period where you just don't feel right and know that you are coming
down with something, then
ii) intensified and clear symptoms develop
iii) you recover
These stages take place over a matter of days. Examples of true acute illnesses are the common
cold; coughs; flu; food poisoning; cystitis; infectious childhood illnesses (mumps, measles,
chicken pox etc).
If the same type of acute illness recurs frequently, this points to an underlying susceptibility
which means you should seek constitutional treatment with a professional homeopath.

2008 Mary Aspinwall ISHom PCH Registered Homeopath. Founder: www.homeopathyworld.com