Using homeopathy safely

The biggest risk: delaying treatment that works

The Australian review of homeopathy warned that people who choose it “may put their health at risk if they reject or delay treatments for which there is good evidence”. The danger is greatest where effective treatment exists and time matters: asthma, where stopping preventer inhalers can lead to severe attacks; thyroid disease in pregnancy; a strep throat left untreated, which can damage the heart; and cancers, where delay allows spread.

A simple rule covers most of the danger: use homeopathy, if you choose it, in addition to effective care — not in place of it, and never for anything serious, long-term or potentially serious on its own.

Prescribed medicines

Do not stop or reduce these without the doctor who prescribed them:

Tell your homeopath about every medicine you take, and tell your doctor about every remedy, tincture and supplement.

Signs to act on, whatever treatment you use

• Chest pain, difficulty breathing, fainting, a sudden severe headache, weakness on one side — call 112.
• Vomiting blood, black stools, heavy bleeding.
• A high fever in a baby, a child who is floppy or hard to wake, or a rash that does not fade under a glass.
• A lump, unexplained weight loss, bleeding after the menopause, or a mole that changes.
• Symptoms that are getting steadily worse — including a worsening that is described as a “healing aggravation”.
• Thoughts of self-harm — Tele-MANAS 14416, 24 hours.

Each condition page on this site starts with the warning signs specific to that condition.

Vaccines and prevention

Some practitioners offer homeopathic “nosodes” or preventive remedies (“homoeoprophylaxis”) against infections. These are not vaccines: they have not been shown to produce immunity or to prevent disease, and a 2022 Cochrane review found no consistent benefit of homeopathic products in preventing children’s respiratory infections. During the COVID-19 pandemic, preventive remedies such as Arsenicum album 30C were widely distributed; there is no reliable evidence that they prevented infection.

Keep every vaccine on your child’s schedule, and your own, up to date.

What is in the bottle

A properly made high potency (such as 30C or 200C) is essentially sugar, water or alcohol. Problems arise with the other kinds of product:

• Low potencies and mother tinctures of toxic substances. Remedies are made from arsenic, mercury, lead, belladonna (deadly nightshade), aconite, nux vomica (strychnine) and snake venoms. Undiluted or barely diluted, these can poison. US regulators found homeopathic teething tablets for babies with inconsistent, sometimes excessive, belladonna.
• Mother tinctures are herbal medicines. They contain the plant’s active substances and can cause side effects and interactions. Hypericum (St John’s wort), for example, is the same plant whose extracts interfere with the contraceptive pill, antidepressants, blood thinners and HIV medicines.
• Alcohol. Liquid dilutions and tinctures are often made in strong alcohol — relevant for children, pregnancy, people avoiding alcohol for health or religious reasons, and anyone taking metronidazole or disulfiram.
• Contamination and adulteration. A 2023 series from Kerala described severe liver injury, including deaths, after homeopathic remedies — many taken for COVID-19 prevention. Laboratory analysis of the products found industrial solvents, steroids, antibiotics, sedatives, heavy metals and toxic plant compounds. An earlier Indian study found steroids hidden in some medicines dispensed as alternative-system preparations. The authors warned that homeopathic products are “not gentle placebos” when they are poorly made.

Children, pregnancy and older people

• Children: a feverish child needs to be checked against the danger signs, whatever remedy they are given. Avoid combination teething and “colic” products, and ask for alcohol-free forms.
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding: tell your doctor or midwife about any remedy; avoid mother tinctures and low potencies of toxic substances.
• Older people and those with liver or kidney disease are more vulnerable to contaminated products; tell your doctor what you take.
• Diabetes: the sugar in a few pills a day is negligible, but it is worth mentioning to your doctor.

Buying and using remedies

• Buy from licensed pharmacies and established manufacturers, in sealed, labelled packs.
• Always know what you are taking. Many practitioners dispense unlabelled pills or powders; ask for the remedy name and potency in writing. You have a right to know.
• Be wary of “secret” formulas, imported products without Indian labelling, and remedies sold online with cure claims.
• Store remedies away from children; a bottle of sweet pills is easy to swallow whole.
• If you have an unexpected reaction, stop the product and see a doctor, taking the bottle with you.

For advice on finding a well-qualified practitioner who works safely alongside your doctors, see Choosing a homeopath.

Find a homeopath

If you would like to try homeopathy, see a registered homeopathic doctor (BHMS or MD (Hom)) who will take a full history, knows your other treatment and will tell you when you need a medical specialist. Take your prescriptions and recent test reports with you.

Search all homeopaths → Are you a homeopathic doctor? Create your profile.

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