Topical Homeopathic Skin Care

Make your own SPACH or SPPACHH!

Since I so frequently find myself sharing this homeopathic ‘recipe’ with people— and with such great results— it seemed like a good time to post it here for everyone.

Like the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding with his bottle of Windex, I have this homeopathic mix ever at the ready as a first line of defense for any skin injury or condition.

(Of course, I often will add internally taken homeopathy as well, but so many times this simple little mix will solve the problem.)

In this article I’ll give you all of the details about my homeopathic skin combo as I make it, with the full breakdown of the remedies that are included, why I chose them, how to order them, and how to create and use it yourself.

Although we typically take homeopathic remedies internally for best effect, there are times when topical use may be called for: Particularly with acute injuries and wounds, but there are also many rashes, lesions, ulcers, burns, bites and skin cancers that respond favorably to topical applications of homeopathy as well.

One example is Arnica, which is in my mix, and which certainly can be (and often would be) also taken internally in homeopathic preparation. However, Arnica gels and creams can also be applied directly to a sore area for added support. 

In fact, my very first use of homeopathy—  back when I was 18 years old—  was an Arnica gel that I bought at the health food store. I had slipped on an icy step around New Year’s, and broke the fall mostly on my right elbow. A year later I still couldn’t put any pressure on the bone. Somehow I came upon the Arnica gel, applied it topically, and within two days (I recall it clearly!) the pain was gone. 100% better. Unfortunately, I really had no idea what I had stumbled upon, and although I recommended the topical arnica to many people over the years, I would have no idea it was a homeopathic preparation or even what that meant for at least another 20 years! 

Now, with Arnica, as with these other ingredients, you might think it would be best to just use the herbal form (or the ‘mother tincture’, as we would call it homeopathy).

However, straight up Arnica should not be used on open wounds. As it says in the Materia Medica*, Arnica ‘should not be used externally where there is broken skin’.

BUT, when prepared as a homeopathic ‘nano medicine’, that is no longer the case. 

Which is why in topical Arnica products the Arnica is ever so slightly potentized, usually to a 1X or 3X. This is as low as you can go and have it be considered a homeopathic medicine. Doing this removes the risk of any local reaction while keeping the healing power, or even augmenting it.

Not only can there be issues with some herbals being applied directly to the skin, such as the Arnica, there may be individual sensitivities as well. AGAIN, when turned into nano-dose homeopathy, we remove these concerns. 

Now, if we get a store-bought cream or gel, we also have to watch the ingredients that are in the base, particularly with open wounds. Our skin is our largest organ and whatever gets put on it also goes into our system. As I discussed in my last article on Homeopathy and Suppressions, it is no small thing to apply a product to our skin.

Joette Calabrese, founder of Practical Homeopathy, advises to never apply anything to your skin that you wouldn’t eat. But even pure products such as coconut oil and almond oil are not tolerated well by everyone. And, of course, if you read the back of most store-bought products they are full of ingredients that can’t be pronounced let alone well-understood.

This is one reason I created my skin mix with just the homeopathic remedies in purified water. There are no issues of what’s in the base, so not only can it be applied to open wounds, but there aren’t any considerations related to skin sensitivities or chemical products that we don’t want on or in our bodies. 

Back to Arnica—  Arnica is a premier homeopathic remedy that can be used for injuries, trauma and bruises, but it is also one of our major ‘polychrests’, meaning it covers a great many conditions, including (as noted in the Materia Medica)— red, hot, hard, shining, swelling from insect stings, pimples, tingling, itching, crops of small boils, bedsores, skin infections, corns, ulcers, abscesses, and more. Joe Delivera has also used it with success topically (and sometimes internally as well) for hair loss (male pattern balding), for acne, blepharitis, styes, boils, eczema and bleeding gums, to name a few of the conditions that Arnica may help uproot.

Calendula is another remedy in my mix. It is a wonderful natural medicine that we commonly find in topical skin care solutions, both as a straight-up herbal and in homeopathic preparation. Dorothy Shepherd used Calendula and Hypericum (St. John’s Wort) tinctures extensively for dressing wounds and she shared many ‘war’ stories in her excellent books, Magic of the Minimum Dose and Homeopathy for the First Aider.

In the Materia Medica, it notes under the Calendula entry, ‘A most remarkable healing agent, applied locally or given internally in potency.’ Some other applicable keynotes include—  Rapid healing of wounds, cuts, abrasions, lacerations, broken skin surface, prevents scar tissue formation, arrests bleeding, antiseptic for sores, abscesses, infection, pain after cuts or surgery, prevents gangrene, also useful for burns, scalds, sunburns, fissures, bedsores, varicose ulcers, secretion of pus and much more. Dorothy Shepherd often reported that the topical use of Calendula (and Hypericum) stopped bleeding quickly, prevented septic conditions, and led to the surprisingly fast healing of even terrible war wounds.

We often think of Hypericum Perforatum just for nerves and pain. And it is a premier homeopathic medicine for pain, but also much more. Like our other homeopathic medicines, it may be used in any potency, up to the highest levels, depending on the the condition. But we may also use Hypericum topically for injuries and wounds. 

Dorothy Shepherd employed Hypericum frequently for wounds, and I followed her example when I first used it topically for my husband. He has a nerve that runs directly under his fingernail (it can be seen as a thin red stripe). When he cut his nails (and thus the nerve), he would experience pain. He didn’t mention it for years, but when he finally showed it to me, I got out the Hypericum 3X in liquid and had him put it directly on the location. After just one or two applications the pain was gone. We repeated this probably four times over the past year, and now when he cuts that nail he isn’t experiencing a problem anymore. In fact, when I asked him just now, he had forgotten all about it. (Homeopathy doesn’t just palliate, but uproots!)

In addition to injuries to nerves, other keynotes from the Materia Medica indicate Hypericum for— infected wounds, bites of animals and insects, cat scratches, gunshot wounds, pain after operations, neuralgia of stump (from amputations), dental work (and dental pain), lacerations, pain in old scars, painful scars in general, burns, violent itching, herpes zoster, pimples, crusts on skin, foul ulcers, rash like nettles, and more.

Plantago Major (Plantain) is another remedy that I add to the mix that has a reputation as an herbal medicine, but in homeopathic form it is also very useful topically for skin issues, as well as for the mouth and other mucous membranes.

Some keynotes of Plantago include— toothache and bleeding of gums, gumboils, erysipelas (bacterial infection of skin), poison ivy, burns, inflammation of the glands, incised wounds (meaning cuts from a clean, sharp objects), animal bites, snake bites, bee stings, chilblains and frostbite, earache, eyeball pain, violent itching, hemorrhoids, redness, swelling, vesicles, papules and more. I particularly like Plantago swished in the mouth as part of a plan for healing bad teeth, but it also is supportive in many skin conditions, as you can tell by the keynotes. 

Symphytum is a more recent addition to my mix. The mix graduated from PACH to SPACH after noting that Symphytum was featured in OHM Pharma’s Skin Healing Cream and Gel (which are great products, but are perpetually out of stock, and you need an account to purchase from them), and also after reading extensively about Symphytum in the book, Getting Back on Track by Jill Turland. (Much more about this book in the future.)

Symphytum is Comfrey in homeopathic form, and although we usually think of Symphytum for healing bones and teeth (and for which it is excellent), it may also be helpful for wounds, abscesses, skin conditions such as psoriasis, and there is even a case noted in the Materia Medica where an inguinal hernia was cured by the topical application of the tincture of the root. In addition, Jill Turland shares about the use of Symphytum particularly for skin cancers:

‘I include Symphytum in my Band Aid Cream with great results. Only this month my brother congratulated me on it, saying he had applied it to his skin cancers twice a day for three weeks, and there was no sign left, not even a scar. I explained that two of the remedies in the cream were anti-cancer (Hydrastis and Symphytum) and a third was a scar minimiser (Calendula). 

The following is Jill Turland’s mix from her book, which also led me to create the alternate version of mine with Hydrastis. However, don’t worry, you don’t have to go to all the trouble of potentizing your own, as I’ll explain later in this article: 

‘50g Aqueous cream, into which stir 2ml of each of Calendula, St. Johns' Wort, Golden Seal and Comfrey tinctures, until well mixed. Spoon into an ointment jar and potentize the mix to the combination of Calendula 10C, Hypericum 10C, Hydrastis 10C and Symphytum 10C.’

‘The potentizing makes the already excellent cream into a remarkably rapid healer of many quite serious skin damages.’

I agree! And I share this so you can see that there is some flexibility in the base you use and also the potencies. So don’t get overly hung up on my details if you want to experiment on your own or if you have trouble with sourcing the ingredients.

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S.P.A.C.H. Homeopathic Skin Care Combo

My baseline homeopathic skin care mix includes five remedies, all in 3X or 6X potency. I call it SPACH which is short for Symphytum, Plantago, Arnica, Calendula and Hypericum.

It’s as simple to make as putting five drops each of the liquid homeopathic remedies (purchased in alcohol tincture from the pharmacy) in up to a 4 ounce dropper or spray bottle. Fill with pure water and you are ready to go.

I keep this mix on the counter and apply it—  like the Greek father used Windex in My Big Fat Greek Wedding—  to virtually everything. :)

Some like to use a spray bottle and give a spritz. I use a dropper bottle and just put a drop on the area and pat it in, or put a little pool of the liquid in my hand and apply it to the affected area.

Hey are some of the things I have used SPACH for:

Any little wound—

From a sore hangnail, to freshly pierced ears, to a cut in the kitchen. 

I have had a fresh, bleeding wound, dropped SPACH on it, and watched the bleeding halt before my eyes and the pain dissipate almost instantly. 

I use it in the way others might use Neosporin or some other antibiotic ointment.

For bruises you don’t have to buy the Arnica cream or gel, this works just as well.

And it can be applied to wounds of any type, open skin or closed. When my husband comes home with road rash from a mountain biking accident, we just apply this to all the areas and he is continually amazing at how well the areas heal without those terrible scabs that can last so long without homeopathic care. (For big crashes, he also gets internal homeopathy, as discussed many times before!)

Depending on the type of wound a band-aid might go over the top after application.

Just this week I did something to my finger (who knows what but it felt like when something gets jammed under the fingernail). I put a drop of SPACH on it a few times a day— just as I walked by the bottle and remembered— and within a day the heat and redness and pain were all gone.

Burns—

If case of minor burns, this mix is all I need. If more intense then I would also take Cantharis 200 and Aconitum 200 (internally) SOS until better.

[As an interesting side note on burns, most of us think to put the burned skin immediately under cold water— but those in the know, such as chefs who get burns all the time, know that if you actually move the burned area back towards the heat source until it feels hot and uncomfortable, just once or twice, then the pain will disappear. This is the homeopathic principle in action! Like cures like, and it really works. So now I first do that, and then put SPACH on it SOS, and not only do burns heal quickly but I also don’t end up with the little burn scars all over my hands and forearms— which I always figured just went with cooking everyday year and after year.]

Sunburn—

SPACH is of great help for sunburns. Just pat it directly on the areas as needed. 

[In addition; my former sunburn cure— which I stand by today— is fresh lemon juice on the skin. Repeat this once or twice a day and even the deepest lobster sunburns can heal fully with no peeling.]

Anything itchy—

Bug bites, random little rashes, you name it. Apply SPACH to the area and repeat as needed. 

If it’s not enough for the intensity of your condition— say you got stung by a bee and are having a reaction— you can still apply SPACH to the bite location AND take Apis, or whatever else you need, internally.

Not long ago, my husband showed me a random little rashy patch that had appeared on his ankle. Before I even started considering homeopathic remedies for him, I grabbed the SPACH, put it on the rash, and the next time I asked him about it it was almost gone. We applied it one more time and that was it. So easy.

For more chronic skin conditions, one might try this mix topically while also taking the protocols for, say, Eczema or Psoriasis. (See the Atopic Dermatitis protocol for cases of eczema on pgs. 49-51 of the Banerji Protocols book. Psoriasis is on pg. 147.)

Also, don’t forget Antimonium Crudum 6C (or 200C) + Arsenicum Album 200C (mixed together and taken internally twice a day). This is an excellent Banerji Protocol for a great many itchy skin conditions and is usually where I start without a specific diagnosis.

Note: If you have chronic eczema or other skin conditions, food intolerances may be an issue (and often are). I’ll discuss remedies for food intolerance issues in the future, but just know that that may be a supportive factor in uprooting the condition.

Gums and Teeth— 

My cat with bad teeth (improving all the time) gets this mix in his mouth daily. I tip his chin up and dropper it down each side of his teeth to make general contact with all areas of his mouth. For people, it can be used as a rinse. (Yes, it can be swallowed, the homeopathy enters through the mucous membranes anyway, so putting it in your mouth is no different than swallowing it.)

Boils and cysts— 

I have seen cysts that didn’t respond to anything else start to heal within days with this mix applied topically.

Frostbite and Chilblains-

I’ve seen frost-nip respond very quickly with SPACH applied to the affected area. If serious frostbite, you might also add Hamamelis 200 + Arnica 6C twice a day (inetrnally), in addition to the topical combo.

Fissures and Hemorrhoids—

Any area that is cracked and painful (and that you can reach to apply topically) may benefit from this mix.

Plants!—

Plants love this combo. Just put a squirt of SPACH in your watering container and pour it over any plants that need some help.

Hot Joints—

Sore, red, painful joints may benefit from this topical homeopathy too, in addition to other remedies taken internally as appropriate. Don’t forget to check out my article on Homeopathy for Pain as well.

And see details about infections, moles, and skin cancers below.

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S.P.P.A.C.H.H. Alternate Homeopathic Skin Care Combo

(The double P and double H version of my topical homeopathic mix.)

The additional P and H in SPPACHH stand for Phytolacca and Hydrastis. Again I use 3X or 6X, depending on availability.

—Symphytum, Plantago, Phytolacca, Arnica, Calendula, Hypericum, Hydrastis—

I use this ‘more advanced’ version for basal cell carcinoma and ‘odd’ moles (such as itchy, red, raised, and weirdly shaped ones). I would try it on virtually any growth. (Though nothing works for everything, it would be worth a try!)

This SPPACHH combo might even help melanoma and other types of skin cancers. Keeping in mind that more chronic conditions may take longer to resolve and likely will need internally taken homeopathic protocols as well.

In my experience with moles, this mix doesn’t always remove the actual mole, but all the redness, itchiness and ‘oddness’ can fade away in short order. 

If I had a skin cancer diagnosis, I would also use the Banerji Protocols. These protocols can be found in the Additional Banerji Protocols book on pgs. 43-44 (Melanoma) and pg. 60 (other Skin Cancers).

Note that the Banerji Protocol for Melanoma also includes Symphytum, which is in the SPACH and SPPACHH skin care topical mixes!

If there is a situation with precancerous or cancerous skin conditions or odd growths then I would choose the SPPACHH mix. Otherwise SPACH is a great all around topical skin care and first aid option to keep on hand.

Phytolacca has also been shown in research to be effective for melanoma.

We may think of Phytolacca for breasts and glands, but it also includes keynotes such as— dry, harsh, itching skin, lesions, bacterial infections, blotches, irregular, slightly raised, pale red, dark red or purple spots, disposition to boils and carbuncles, squamous eruptions, rash, warts, moles, lipoma, corns, ringworm, barber’s itch, ulcers, and more.

And Hydrastis (Goldenseal), which is known for its anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties in herbal form, is a wonderful homeopathic remedy that Jill Turland uses in her ‘Band Aid Cream’, as noted above. The Materia Medica entry for Hydrastis also mentions— Cancerous ulcers, ulcers of all types, chancres (syphilitic ulcers), burning heat and itching in skin, bacterial rash, nettle rash, hives, eruptions and other rashes, eczema (with crusts and burning like fire), smallpox, fissures, obstinate excoriations of skin (raw irritated spots), vesicles, comedones (blocked pores), and ‘Clarke thought it may fairly be said that more cases of cancer have been cured with Hydrastis than with any other single remedy’.

Infections— 

Both the SPACH and SPPACHH mixes can help with any possible skin or mucous membrane infections.

However, if it is a serious situation, you might also want to include something internally like the Helios Combo (C-Sepsis) which includes Hepar Sulph, Gunpowder and Pyrogenium.

You can make your own by combining these three remedies, but buying three remedies for the price of one is a great value. I get it in the 200C potency and have employed it (taken internally) every few hours to twice a day for skin and other infections.

By the way, here is a great article about using Gunpowder, Arnica, Calendula and more in caring for wounded wildlife. (Gunpowder is a wonderful and under-represented remedy that I’ll share more about in the future.) 

[Note: In addition to wounds, Gunpowder is a great option for canker sores. And it could easily be added to a topical skin mix as well.]

I have tried various other remedies in my topical skin mixes over the years. Urtica Urens was in it for a while. Echinacea was too. But over time, and at least for now, I have settled on the above combinations.

NoteL Thuja can be a good one used topically on warts, and some moles, but that’s a very specific use so I don’t put it in my ‘Windex’ mix. 

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How to Make SPACH and/or SPPACHH for Yourself

As noted, I buy these from the homeopathic pharmacy in alcohol tincture. 

Why? 

When made into the wet dose bottle that I use to apply the remedies topically, the mix lasts virtually forever. There is no sugar that can ferment or get funky. I don’t want to apply anything that isn’t sterile to my skin, especially if there’s a wound. (Yes, straight up sugar might be fine, but probably not after sitting on the counter for days, weeks, months.)

[And it’s not much alcohol either— 5 drops times 7 remedies = a 20% alcohol content of 35 drops in 115 mL of water, which is 2300 drops in total. So it’s miniscule.]

Now, here is the only hitch, it’s not that easy to find these homeopathic remedies in the low potency and prepared in liquid alcohol tincture. (You could also buy them prepared in water, which would work as well, but that is even more rare.)

Where to buy these remedies in liquid/alcohol tincture?

In the US, OHM Pharma is an option. But you have to have an account. If you have done courses with Joette Calabrese, they can hook you up with an account. Or if your homeopath has an account, they can get you one as well.

(OHM is also the only company I know of that offers prepared remedies in distilled water—no alcohol and no sugar— as an option.)

HomeopathicRemediesOnline may have what is needed, depending on current stock.

The above two companies will ship to you faster, as they are US based. But they will cost you approximately $25 to $35 per bottle for 30ML size. Which is ultimately good value but could end up costing as much as $245 for all seven remedies up front!

You could also buy SBL, Dr Reckeweg and/or Schwab remedies. (See photo below.) These can often be found on eBay, Amazon and from Walmart, but availability and ship times vary wildly.

Or you can try Homeomart, which I have used with success, but they ship from India (via DHL which is pretty fast) and last I checked they were having trouble accepting payments from the US (Ukraine-war related sanctions) so they were requiring a direct wire for payment. But that was a while ago, and you can check for yourself. They are very affordable, but their stock will vary a lot too.

Beware! Sometimes sellers will advertise a Mother Tincture as a 3X. They are not the same thing! If the bottle has this symbol on it, it is the Mother Tincture, which is not potentized, but is the straight-up herbal version of the remedy.

My top choice for ordering these remedies is Helios.

They are located in the UK, but they are very reputable and I have ordered many, many times from them with no problems. Just expect it to take 3-4 weeks to get to you in the US. (So plan ahead!)

On the website you search for each medicine by name and then choose from the drop down menus…

Here’s what I order:

The 10mL is the one on the left below. (On the right is OHM’s 30mL with ‘teat’, aka dropper.)

To get the drops out of the one on the left you just invert the bottle totally. When you use it for the first time you may have to give it a little tap to get the drops going.

Shipping will vary, as will the exchange rate from GBP to USD, so I can’t give you the exact price, but here’s a general breakdown for you:

Let’s say the cost delivered will be around $12 US per 10mL bottle.

If you bought all seven remedies for SPPACHH it would come to around $84.00 (estimated today).

The 10ML size includes 200 drops.

At 5 drops of each remedy per wet mix, you will get ~40 refills of a 4 ounce wet dose dropper bottle.

That’s only an estimated $2.10 per 4 ounce bottle of SPACH or SPPACHH.

I use this mix often and maybe only have to refill the 4 ounce bottle once or twice a year.  But let’s say you refill it every 3 months, that’s still 10 years worth of supply for ~$84!

[Note: You may be able to request from OHM or Helios that they make a special order mix for you with all 7 remedies in one. This is a possibility!— But I’ll leave it to you to contact them directly if this is of interest. The cost won’t be the same as one remedy, but I’m sure it will be less than buying all seven.]

In summary, here’s the ’recipe’:

I use the 3X or 6X potencies (depending on availability) as my top choices, but you could use between 1X to 12C:

SPACH

Symphytum Officinalis

Plantago Major

Arnica Montana

Calendula Officinalis

Hypericum Perforatum

SPPACHH

The five above plus:

Phytolacca Decandra

Hydrastis Canadensis

-5 drops of each liquid remedy in up to 4 ounces of water.

-You can use a 4 ounce dropper or spray bottle. (You can also use smaller sizes such as 1 or 2 ounces, but that’s not as good a value.)

I currently am repurposing 4 ounce dropper bottles from liquid vitamins that I was able to totally clean and sterilize. Here it is, so simple!

-Potentized homeopathic skin care mix

-Lasts essentially forever

-No skin reactions that can happen with herbal tinctures

-No smells, no creams, no oils

-Very affordable

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I’m still looking for something that really helps for age spots (aka liver spots). I’ve been testing, but nothing really works so far. If you know of something, please let me know!

*The Materia Medica I reference throughout this article is Nature’s Materia Medica by Robin Murphy. 

Please try it out and report back with what you’ve successfully used it for! Paid subscribers can post and ask questions below. Otherwise, you can reach me via X.com here. (And don’t forget to check my tweets for daily tips and links that don’t warrant a full Substack post.)

Thanks for reading and subscribing!

Until next time, remember that I am sharing my personal experiences for your education, but it is up to you to use common sense and care, including getting emergency treatment and professional help when needed.