Homeopathy Helpers

“The greatest triumph of a science is when it becomes the common property of the people and thus contributes to the common wealth.” — motto inscribed in The Homeopathic Domestic Physician

Let’s face it… learning to use homeopathy can be a little overwhelming and daunting. Even once you are an official homeopath, it can still feel overwhelming… especially when you are under the weather like I am today.

It’s hard to think through your symptoms when you’re not feeling your best. It’s times like this it’s very helpful to have a couple homeopath friends, both human and technological!!

Back to learning to use homeopathy…

I have mentioned some books in the past to get you started, and, now, let’s take a look at some software that might be helpful. (I have used Homeopathic Housecall many times but most of the rest of these apps are new to me, unless otherwise noted.)

Homeopathic Housecall has been around for a number of years. Based on Constantine Hering’s The Homeopathic Domestic Physician from 1835, Homeopathic Housecall brings this classic book into the modern world through an internet-based app.

The interface is pretty easy to navigate. You begin each case by searching by Complaints, Locations or Stressors. From there, the program leads you through a series of questions to help you find an appropriate homeopathic remedy. At the end of that, they give you a few remedies (and some basic information for each) for you to parse through to see what looks like the best fit.

Homeopathic Housecall is a subscription based service beginning at $65 per year for a 2-year annual subscription or $11.99 per month. They also offer a 7-day free trial.

I was pleasantly surprised at the surprisingly large number of mobile apps on the iPhone if you search “Homeopathy” in the app store. (If they mention the app being available for Android, I have included that information.) I played around with a few of them so you don’t have to.

Homeopathic Helper is an app for Apple and Android phones ($14.99 at the time of this writing). The app includes a free book which is a nice little introduction to homeopathy with some sample cases and dosage instructions.

Once you have registered an account, you can choose “conditions” or “remedies.” A few of the choices: allergic reactions, bladder infections, earache, impetigo, sciatica, shingles. Each condition has a brief overview followed by a handful of remedies which may be useful.

• I found the selection of remedies provided for each condition I looked at to be helpful and clear.

Healio Homeopathy is available through Apple and I must confess, I’m a little confused by their pricing, but they appear to offer monthly and annual subscription plans.

For this trial run, I searched for “post-nasal catarrh” and what comes up is a long list of remedies with color coded buttons on the side of “low,” “medium,” and “high” to help you wade through them. Once you click on one of the listed remedies you then get more information on the remedy. The information provided comes from Kent and there is a lot of it. (Note: I did not purchase a subscription and it appears you just have to sit through a momentary ad to get to your information. It looks like you can have the “analysis” feature if you subscribe.)

• I found this app not quite as easy to use as some of the others but it provides a lot of information.

Boiron’s Medicine Finder appears to be free and when I searched “postnasal drip” only 1 remedy popped up. Of the few conditions I scrolled through, only 1 or 2 remedies ever popped up. There is a “shop” button that takes you to the Boiron website to purchase remedies. They have an electronic version of their “Easy Guide” and a button for their new products. It does, however have a handy dandy video for how to open a Boiron tube, something I found incredibly frustrating when I first used one (click here to read about my first time trying to get into the blasted tube!) Additionally, there is a link to the internet to watch Boiron videos on various remedies.

• I found this app very basic and not terribly helpful and it froze up on me a number of times.

Biochemic Tissue Salts appears to be free and has a pretty in-depth overview of each of the 12 cell salts: what the substance is, preparation, physicochemical data, what a deficiency of the substance can cause, normal function in the body, general indications and then a nice, long list of symptoms and “particular indications.”

• This app lives on my phone and I have found it to be a great resource for cell salts. Though there is a lot of information to sift through.

Homeopathy for Everyone also appears to be free and is a little different than the previous listings in that they provide some combination remedy suggestions as well as potency and dosing guidance. Note: A number of the suggested remedies are unusual remedies. When you click on “whiplash” for example, it lists a remedy combo, suggests taking it 3 times a day for a maximum of a week and that’s that. It appears to be just that for every condition clicked.

• This app is interesting in that it provides combos and some out of the norm remedies.

Homeopathy Clinical Tips asks you to register, but it appears you can use it without doing so. This app isn’t as user friendly as some of the others but they do offer some potency and dosing suggestions. This app offers many little pictures of information under “Useful Tips.” For instance, "Examination Fear" says “Argentum nitricum 200c offers instant relief” and names the author of the suggestion, in this case, Dr. Foubister. Under “Clinical Tips” it shows three remedies for “Abscess” and  provides some more specifics when you click on it. It also offers potency and dosing and again lists the contributing authors.

• This is kind of a fun little app to play around with but not as helpful as some of the others for new homeopathy users.

Homeopathy Materia Medica is an app that lives on my phone and I do refer to it fairly often and I believe it is free. This is a straightforward materia medica. Choose a letter, find your remedy and read up on it. It has a button where you can add your own notes. I have never used this feature but it also has videos of well known homeopaths discussing remedies. It is not a complete materia medica, but that would be asking a lot.

• This app is much more than adequate for a quick understanding of common remedies.

MyHomeopath allows you to use a reduced version of the app for free, or, you can choose to subscribe for a low annual fee. The free version only offers “general,” “fever” and “head.” To use this app, choose your condition and then on the right hand side of the screen it has a check list where you can click the symptoms you are experiencing. Once you make your selections and click “remedies,” it provides a ranked choice of possible remedies. It also provides instructions for making a water dose.

• At least in the free version, it doesn’t appear to provide much information on the suggested remedies. You would need to refer elsewhere for that.

Bach Flower Remedies is another app that lives on my phone… providing a nice overview of each of the Bach Flower Essences. It also offers the “Quick Prescriber” where you can search by symptom. Click your symptom and the app provides the one or two essences appropriate for each symptom.

• A good way to get to know the Bach Flowers.

Lotus Smart Charts is a neat little app from Robin Murphy and Judith Toscano. Choose from Kids and Babies, First Aid, Furry Friends and Digestion. Once you choose your main category, you then choose the issue. For example, under First Aid, you can choose: Bleeding, Black Eye, Puncture wounds, etc. and when you click on your issue a couple of remedies pop up with a few differentiating features.

• This app has a nice interface and with the information coming from Drs Murphy and Toscano, you know the remedies suggested are pretty good places to start.

Homeopathic Prescriber teaches how to take a case as well as an A-Z of symptoms. I was randomly clicking around and stumbled on the entry for “screaming children” with further differentiation of symptoms, like: night screaming; piteous crying; before urine passes — followed by the suggested remedy. They have a button for Video News which says the videos will change periodically. Today it showed only one video for Homeopathy for Depression and Anxiety.

• There is something intriguing about this app. I think I’ll be playing around with this one a little bit more.

There you have my 2 cents on a handful of available homeopathy technology. As I mentioned earlier, there are a lot of apps out there and I just took a quick look at a few that were not prohibitively expensive. (I understand there are actually a few apps that are essentially complete repertories but I have not tried any of those.)

As for my current cold? My friend used Homeopathic Housecall, walked me through the questions and came up with a remedy that definitely brought me to a better place. I am now able to function. My appetite has returned. My headache has significantly lessened and my burning throat has dissipated. I was able to enjoy being with my family tonight as well as to get a little work done, and, most importantly, I am now ready for bed and I am looking forward to a good night’s sleep with her suggested remedy in a glass of water sitting next to my bedside in case I wake in the night.

Remember, this is the year to dig into homeopathy! Let technology be your friend on your learning journey.


Julia Coyte, CHom
Classically Practical homeopath


#wellnessawaits