A Homeopathic Perspective on Burns

by Dana Ullman, MPH ©1992

(Excepted from Homeopathic Medicine for Children and Infants, Tarcher/Putnam)

The information provided here is not only applicable to children but to most people with burns.

REMEDIES LISTED IN CAPITOL LETTERS REPRESENT MORE FREQUENTLY INDICATED REMEDIES

• The most common type of burn is a first-degree burn which creates reddening of the skin and pain. A second-degree burn creates blistering, along with redness and pain. A third-degree burn has occurred when all the layers of skin are burned through and the skin appears white or charred black. Medical attention is important for any third-degree burn and whenever any first or second-degree burn extends over a significant part of the body. Although some people do not think about seeking medical attention for sunburns, extensive sunburns in children should receive medical care.

CALENDULA: This is the first remedy to consider for first degree burns and for scars from previous burns. It is a good external remedy for sunburns. Apply the diluted tincture, spray, or gel externally.

CANTHARIS: This remedy is for pain of a burn, especially more severe burns such as second or third degree burns. It should be taken internally in potency and/or externally, though access to the tincture requires a doctor's prescription (this is because the tincture is toxic if taken internally). Internal or external applications of Cantharis are good for sunburns.

Causticum: This internal remedy should be considered for second degree burns.

URTICA URENS: This is one of the primary medicines used to reduce the pain of first degree burns, including sunburns, and to speed up the healing process. It can be taken internally in 6th or 30th potency as well as applied in a external tincture.

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DANA ULLMAN, MPH, is one of America's leading advocates for homeopathy. He has authored 10 books, including The Homeopathic Revolution: Why Famous People and Cultural Heroes Choose Homeopathy, Homeopathy A-Z, Homeopathic Medicines for Children and Infants, Discovering Homeopathy, and (the best-selling) Everybody's Guide to Homeopathic Medicines (with Stephen Cummings, MD). He is the founder of Homeopathic Educational Services, America's leading resource center for homeopathic books, tapes, medicines, software, and correspondence courses. Homeopathic Educational Services has co-published over 35 books on homeopathy with North Atlantic Books. Dana writes a regular column for the wildly popular website, www.Huffingtonpost.com (to access these articles, click HERE!).

For people interested in some of Dana Ullman's earliest writings, you can read his undergraduate thesis at U.C. Berkeley in 1975 on "Human Learning." Honor students at UC Berkeley who wish to have an independent major (and who do not want to have a regular generic major) are required to write a thesis.  This paper on "Human Learning" provides insights into Dana's early synthetic and integrative thinking.  The beginning of the article and its definition of "science" may be of special interest.  Also, Dana creatively chose to use his own invented pronouns to replace the masculine emphasis of "he," "him," and "his," with "che," "chis," and "cher."