My mom reached out recently asking for a small list of homeopathic remedies she should bring on her upcoming travels. I’m not one to pack light…I have two remedy kits that I fill every time I travel, so a “small list” felt like a challenge. But I thought about her request, and I came up with TEN homeopathic remedies I won’t travel without. I shared them with her, and I’m sharing them with you, too.
If you’d like to receive printable postcards for each of the remedies in this list, you can grab them here.
Ten Homeopathic Remedies
Aconite
- Ailments from fright (fainting, palpitations, vertigo, insomnia, diarrhea…).
- Shock with marked fear.
- Panic attacks, sudden fear with restlessness, and thirst for cold water.
- First stage of inflammatory illness (first 24 hours, when you feel that cold coming on), especially after exposure to cold, dry wind.
- Dry, croupy cough (first remedy in trio of croup remedies).
- Skin dry and hot, one cheek red the other pale (or whole face red and pale alternately), intense heat, sudden onset, thirst for large quantities of cold water, worse in evening, before midnight.
- Headache, sudden, violent, sensation of compression or as if contents would be forced out at the forehead, with fear, restlessness, thirst.
Apis
- Allergic reactions, anaphylaxis (for use on the way to ER if no epi pen).
- Bug bites or stings with heat, swelling & edema, redness, itchy, stinging & burning pains, worse from heat and touch, better with cold applications.
- Bites/stings that produce hives.
- Urticaria from any cause.
- Sunburn, again with the above characteristics of Apis (swelling, edema, burning, itching, heat, better cold applications, worse heat).
- Headache with stinging, burning pain. Worse heat, better cold.
Arnica
- Shock from injury; trauma. Fear or aversion to being touched…the person who needs Arnica does not want to be messed with and will say they are fine.
- Bruising, bleeding, or swelling from injuries, bites or stings (consider applying topically) and other physical trauma.
- First remedy after concussion.
- Jet lag with soreness and tiredness, bed feels too hard.
- Muscle soreness from overexertion; body feels bruised, the bed feels too hard, restless (trying to get comfortable).
Arsenicum Album
- Vomiting and diarrhea (from food poisoning or otherwise) with great weakness and restlessness. There may be burning pains that feel better with heat and thirst for small sips of cold water.
- Anxiety and fear (often about health) with restlessness, anguish, and insomnia.
- Desires company, feels worse after midnight, and is chilly.
- Colds or hay fever with thin, watery, burning discharge, violent sneezing.
- Cough, dry & short, may be asthmatic, with anxiety, burning in chest, worse in evening on lying down or after midnight.
- Indigestion with burning pains.
Belladonna
- High fever with sudden, violent onset. Intense radiating heat, face and tongue red, dilated pupils. Thirst variable. May desire lemons or lemonade.
- Earache with throbbing pains, often right-sided, may be with fever.
- Heatstroke with dilated pupils, bloodshot eyes, burning hot, dry skin, delirium.
- Headache throbbing and violent bursting. There may be heat, redness, dilated pupils. Worse lying down, right side. Better semi-erect and warm wraps to the head.
- Belladonna complaints are generally worse jar, light, noise, around 3pm.
- Sunburn with red, hot, dry, throbbing skin; with throbbing headache, may be accompanied by heatstroke.
- Sore throats, sudden and violent, extreme redness and inflammation. Throat may feel constricted.
Bryonia
- Ailments worse motion.
- Slow onset colds and influenza. Mouth and lips dry, thirst for large quantities. Tendency for colds to go to chest with painful cough (person holds chest to stabilize, because it feels so much worse with motion). Does not want to be disturbed.
- Abdominal colic/pain of any kind; consider when worse least motion, often accompanied by headache (below) and great thirst.
- Headache, bursting or splitting pain, with heaviness and red face/hot head; always worse least motion, touch, stooping; better wrapping up head, rest, warm applications. May be accompanied by constipation or liver congestion.
- Musculoskeletal pain with all above modalities. In arthritis, bursitis, injuries, back pain, sciatica, strains, tendonitis…
- Constipation with dry, hard stools. Indigestion.
Carbo Veg
- Considered the “corpse reviver.” For fainting, collapse. Labored breathing, person and their parts are cold, yet they desire to be fanned (when conscious).
- Blueness of skin, symptoms from lack of oxygen (altitude sickness), air hunger.
- Indigestion, severe gas/belching, bloating; they feel better with eructations.
- In asthma or when respiratory illness has progressed to more severe stage, when symptoms are worse lying down and better being fanned.
Gelsemium
- Slow onset influenza with great weakness and weariness, heavy, chill, droopy eyelids.
- Anticipatory anxiety often accompanied by diarrhea and trembling, paralyzed by fear.
- Ailments from fright or excitement (fainting, diarrhea, weakness, headache…).
- Heat exhaustion where person is light-headed, drowsy, weak; droopy eyelids, face flushed, feels cold with chills, trembles; confusion; with headache.
- Jet lag with weakness, trembling, confusion, vertigo, apathy.
- Headache dull with blurred vision at onset; bursting in eyeballs and forehead or as if a band around the head above the eyes.
- Better rest, lying down, sleep.
Hypericum
- Injuries to nerves and nerve-rich parts with shooting pains shooting upwards; worse touch, cold, motion, pressure.
- Traumas to the spine, coccyx, head, toes, fingertips. Shock.
- Convulsions after concussion.
- Puncture wounds, animal or insect bites & stings, with shooting pains.
- To reduce susceptibility to tetanus after puncture wound.
Nux Vomica
- Ailments from overindulgence of stimulants (alcohol, coffee, etc.) such as headache, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, indigestion, insomnia.
- Headache worse cold, motion, touch, better warm applications, pressure, with nausea and vomiting.
- Nausea with retching, wants to vomit, feels better for it, but may not be able to.
- Generally irritable, worse noises, smells, touch, morning.
- Constipation with frequent but ineffectual urging to go, or constipation alternating with diarrhea, indigestion after overindulgence.
- Coughs, colds, influenza, especially after overwork; cough dry evening and night, better warm drinks.
Other Considerations
If you were to add a few more remedies to this list (I always do)…
Note your unique needs.
Bring your chronic remedy! Or if you have an acute remedy that you respond well to, bring that as well.
If you tend to get motion sick when you travel…
Cocculus, Tabacum, Borax (especially from the downward motion of an airplane), Nux Vomica, Petroleum.
If you have a fear of flying…
Argentum Nitricum (or others on this list like aconite, arsenicum, or gelsemium depending on the nature of the symptoms).
Other first aid remedies I’d like to have…
Bellis Perennis, Calendula, Cantharis, China, Ignatia, Phosphorus, Silica
Finally, as a mom, I’d include remedies specific to my kids’ tendencies.
What have they responded well to in the past? Bring those, too.
