Campfire burns, oven burns, sunburns, radiation burns – homeopathy can help for both the pain and assist in tissue healing. If you’ve ever burned yourself on a hot stove or around a campfire, you’ll know how distracting that sting can be. I can be clumsy in the kitchen, and have burned myself more than once – if it’s a slight redness, I’ll just place my hand under cold water and follow with calendula cream. But if it’s a bad burn, I take Cantharis 30ch immediately and find that it not only soothes the pain but prevents the blister. To me, this is one of the little miracles of homeopathy: being able to harness the body’s own healing powers. It’s such a simple remedy to remember; we don’t need it often and yet it works its miracles when you need it.
Burns showcase the homeopathic principle “like heals like”
If you have a home remedy kit, you’ll likely already be familiar with Cantharis 30ch, the classic homeopathic medicine for burning and scalding, and it works brilliantly for the type of burn that stings and blisters. A homeopathic remedy made from the Cantharis beetle venom, it’s a perfect example of the like heals like principle, meaning that a substance that causes symptoms can heal them: contact with the Cantharis beetle venom in raw form will cause burning and blistering of the skin, and so the specially prepared homeopathic remedy will ease it. We are all familiar with law of opposites principle that guides conventional medicine: anti-histamine for allergies, anti-biotic for germs, or in the case of a burn, applying cold. Since homeopathy harnesses the body’s self healing ability, we use the similar instead to trigger a healing response. A dear friend and colleague of mine recently shared a lovely story of using this homeopathic principal without actually using the remedy: Having scalded her hand with boiling water but without access to homeopathic medicines nearby, she “applied” the radiant heat of a baseboard heater until the pain intensified to the original level of pain, withdrew her hand, and then reapplied once or twice more for good measure. The pain was gone for good, and there was no burn left! Having also told this story to her students, she had several of them test it on themselves – one used a hair dryer as the heat source – with the same amazing result (note that you never want to apply the same source of heat – it’s the law of similars, not the law of same). In my mind, this shows that the like heals like principle is a universal law of nature – it doesn’t just apply to homeopathy.
A word of caution
Of course, don’t try this exercise with severe burns! And while the homeopathic medicines below will help all burns from severe to minor home remedy type situations, like a sunburn or campfire burn, if you do experience a severe burn, seek medical help immediately, as homeopathy cannot replace good medical care. If you’re not sure whether to see a primary care physician, read the advice on the
You can still take the remedies on the way to emergency, but nothing beats conventional care in any serious situation. Once you’ve been looked after, I’d recommend the expert advice of a homeopath to facilitate healing, reduce pain, and avoid scarring, if possible. Not a serious burn? Read on for some home remedy tips!
Sunburns
Sunburns are better avoided than treated, but accidents happen and then the following homeopathic remedies are handy. Note that Cantharis 30ch is only useful for those burns that threaten to blister or are already blistering. You won’t find it as effective for the milder types of burns, so choose the best fit from the list below:
Urtica urens 30ch: For those mild sunburns that turn pink, prickle and then quickly become intensely itchy, Urtica urens 30ch is a better fit than Cantharis. While Urtica urens is not a very common homeopathic remedy, you may know it in its herbal form. If you’ve ever brushed up against the plant stinging nettle, you’ll know it’s prickly sting that quickly turns itchy. When a sunburn feels like the bite and itch of stinging nettle, then you can use the homeopathic equivalent to ease the discomfort.
If the burn is very mild, go with one of the creams, listed below – you don’t always need to take a homeopathic remedy. Once burned, even if the homeopathic remedy has taken the pain, itch and redness away, do take extra care, as the skin is so much more susceptible and repeated burns increase the risk of skin cancer.
Belladonna 30ch: If a sunburn is lobster red, causes the skin to become very hot, dry and painful, even swollen, consider Belladonna 30ch. Belladonna is a common remedy for the adverse effects of the sun, whether it’s a sunburn, throbbing headache after sun exposure with sensitivity to light, jarring and movement, or even sunstroke that causes fever (which is considered a medical emergency).
Cantharis 30ch: If sunburns are ugly, threatening to blister, they will require Cantharis 30ch instead. Second degree burns (ones that blister) covering large parts of the body require urgent medical attention. Any third degree burn that looks strange, leathery or is painful despite taking Cantharis should also be looked at by a medical team.
Calendula cream and tincture for minor burns
If the burn is very mild, then usually a healing cream to support the skin’s healing process is enough. Orange Naturals has a burn cream that contains the homeopathic remedies Belladonna, Cantharis and Urtica urens along with Calendula mother tincture. If you just want a straight Calendula cream (which is what I use), either Boiron, Weleda, or St. Francis Herb Farm are excellent brands. Boiron’s cream is less greasy if that’s an issue.
When burns are a little more red and painful, but you don’t know what remedy to give, the herbal tincture of Calendula is a fabulous healing herb. I remember a young mother who accidentally scalded her baby’s scalp with a hot cup of tea (and she felt so terrible). The infant wasn’t suffering, though the redness was clearly visible and the area was was sensitive to touch, so I recommended 10 drops Calendula herbal tincture to 30-50 ml of water to apply gently twice daily. She was so impressed with the result she came back to show me within days. Calendula is a wonderful healing herb and can be used for all kinds of skin irritations, including burns and wounds to help granulation and repair of tissue and prevent scarring. I usually recommend between 10-30 drops in 50-100 ml of water. Apparently Aloe vera does the same trick with burns but I’ve had such success with Calendula I have not had need to try it.
A quick note about radiation burns:
For some cancer treatments, radiation is used to kill cancer cells. While this usually only causes slight discomfort to the skin, it can also cause exhaustion as a side effect. While I usually recommend the advice of a homeopath for managing the side effects of cancer treatments, the classic remedy for radiation burns and exhaustion is Radium bromatum 30ch. This can be taken for a few days after the treatment to help the body recover more quickly.
Final recommendations:
If you’ve already suffered a burn and experience lasting pain, redness or even scarring, homeopathy may still be able to help. While homeopathic medicines can only help the body recover within it’s own ability to heal itself, homeopaths often see results when other forms of treatment have not been successful. The body has a remarkable ability to heal even chronic conditions and sometimes all we need is a little nudge. If you’re interested in learning more about how to treat yourself and your family at home with simple home remedies, check out upcoming courses!