Making Homeopathic Remedies

If you need a homeopathic remedy that is not available, for example, to treat a flower allergy, you can make your own. You can also make a remedy using a purchased remedy as your source material or make a remedy of a different strength from what you have. You can also make a liquid remedy from pellets that is suitable for children.

Remedies for Children

• Homeopathic remedies are available for children in liquid form, or in the form of tablets with a base of lactose (milk sugar), which dissolves easily. Homeopathic remedy pellets cannot be given to young children. In his book "Easy Homeopathy: The 7 Essential Remedies You Need for Common Illnesses and First Aid," Dr. Edward Shalts shares how to make a remedy suitable for a child from homeopathic remedy pellets. Take a small bottle of spring water and pour out one-third. To the water that remains in the bottle, add three pellets of a 30C strength single remedy. Recap the bottle and let the water sit for about 5 minutes, until the pellets are dissolved. Shake the bottle vigorously. One teaspoon of this water can be given to a child as one dose. The water does not have to be refrigerated and will remain good for up to two days; shake before using.

Creating a Mother Tincture

• Before you can make a remedy on your own, you need to create a mother tincture. Take the plant from which you wish to make a remedy, and macerate it in a small amount of a dilution solution made from equal parts pure water and alcohol (vodka will work). After several days, strain the plant material out of the liquid. The liquid that remains is saturated with the properties of the plant and is now your mother tincture. To make a remedy from a substance that does not dissolve in water or alcohol, you will need to grind it with a small amount of lactose; this is called triturating. A triturated substance can be used the same way as a mother tincture.

Succussion

• Take one part of your mother tincture and mix it with nine parts pure water or dilution solution in a clean vial or bottle with a stopper. You need to violently shake or succuss this mixture 100 times; you can strike the bottle or vial against your hand or a book to achieve the necessary impact. The results is a 1X potency remedy. To make a 2X potency remedy, use one part of the 1X remedy plus nine parts water or dilution solution and succuss 100 times. Continue until you have a 6X potency remedy, which is a commonly used strength. The X in the remedy is the Roman numeral 10, which tells you how many parts of a solution you began with (one part mother tincture plus nine parts dilution solution). You can make a 1C remedy by beginning with one part mother tincture and 99 parts water or dilution solution and succussing it 100 times. Continue until you have a 30C remedy, another commonly used strength.

Changing Potencies

• If you have pellets of a remedy in a lower potency and wish to create a higher potency solution for acute situations, follow the instructions above regarding succussion, replacing the mother tincture with three pellets of the remedy in the initial solution.

Consulting a Homeopath

• While homeopathic remedies are safe, consult a trained homeopath before making a remedy from a substance that is initially dangerous or harmful, such as a pesticide.