safe treatments
we can do at home
If you have ever wanted sensible advice on what to do to help yourself when something goes wrong …
then welcome to the Self Care Toolkit!
Below are twelve conditions where we can often do more for ourselves
In each case practical self care options are set out with ratings for the strength of evidence, for safety and for cost. For those who want to explore the evidence further links are provided to the scientific papers where the evidence is reviewed. There is also general advice for the management of each condition.
Do scroll down for ways to check your progress with the toolkit!
Interacting with the Self Care Toolkit!
My Health Diary
Above is a standard format diary page to cover a week of monitoring changes in your health. Download and print off as many copies as you want.
Each day has two parts. On the left you can put anything different about that day: events, test results, shocks, celebrations, new foods, eliminations, or whatever is worth recording. On the right you choose the symptoms you want to score, maybe use a shorthand code (SL=sleep; ST=stress etc) and score them out of 10 with 10 being the worst. Keep these symptoms consistent over the week so you can compare scores. You can also add any new symptom changes below the scores.
(To download view in Full Screen and click on the relevant icon
Share YOUR experience!
Let us know how you get on with the options you choose.
Complete the anonymous survey and help us learn how well the suggestions here work in practice.
Back to
Our Health Directory
Why you can trust the Self Care Toolkit
This Toolkit is a relaunched version of the Self Care Library, commissioned by the UK Department of Health as a free service to all.
It was compiled by University researchers who combine the academic skills to make sense of the scientific evidence with many years as frontline health professionals. The focus has always been on approaches that any one could do for themselves, marking each out by how much independent evidence there is for benefit. The work has now been resumed by the College of Medicine.
This information is offered FREE by volunteer enthusiasts simply because it is worth sharing. No one is selling anything here!
For more background see About Us above.
Disclaimer
Knowledge and best practice in the health field are constantly changing. Each person and illness is also unique and no publication can anticipate every circumstance. No written information is appropriate for every reader. Although the Self Care Toolkit is suitable for personal use it may sometimes be better for individuals to use it along with their health advisors. The latter should use their best professional judgment to guide the user, and both should defer to registered medical practitioners for relevant diagnoses, prescriptions and other treatment plans. In the case of remedies or other products, users should read the label carefully for detailed information about safe use and in the case of natural products should choose responsible manufacturers with independently assured quality standards and safety monitoring procedures.
To the fullest extent of the law, neither the publisher nor the authors, contributors or editors, assume any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the materials herein.