CLAMS: How to Build Your Acute Picture Before Home Prescribing
Author : Claudia di Bisceglie
Date : 14th May 2026
3 minute read
I want to keep this really straightforward and practical to help you with home prescribing. If you would like more information about how to differentiate acute and chronic symptoms, choose potencies, understand dosage and frequency, and other aspects of home prescribing, you’ll find links to these topics at the end of this article.
CLAMS: A Simple Way to Look at Your Symptoms
CLAMS is a simple way of looking more closely at a symptom. Rather than focusing only on the diagnosis, it helps you notice the details that make your experience of those symptoms individual.
C – Concomitants
What else is happening alongside the main complaint?
For example, a headache accompanied by nausea, a runny nose or sensitivity to light.
L – Location
Where exactly is the symptom? Is it on the right or left? Does it move or radiate somewhere else?
Instead of simply saying, “I have a headache,” notice whether it is behind the eyes, in the temples, across the forehead or at the back of the head.
A – Aetiology
What happened before the symptoms started?
Did they begin after getting wet, being exposed to cold wind, eating something unusual, an injury, fright, shock, lack of sleep or another identifiable event?
In homeopathic prescribing, what happened before the symptoms appeared can be an important part of the picture.
M – Modalities
What makes the symptom better or worse?
Think about movement, rest, heat, cold, pressure, position, fresh air, time of day, eating or drinking.
These details can make a general symptom much more individual.
S – Sensation
What does the symptom actually feel like?
Is it burning, stabbing, throbbing, aching, stitching, cramping, tight or heavy?
Try to describe the sensation in your own words rather than simply naming the condition.
Don't force every symptom into every CLAMS category.
Sometimes the most useful information is one particularly striking feature. For example:
“I have a sore throat” tells us very little.
“My throat feels raw and burning, mainly on the left side, worse when swallowing, and it started after getting soaked in the rain” gives us a much more individualised picture.
The purpose of CLAMS isn't to tick five boxes. It is to slow down and observe the symptom more carefully, creating space to build a more complete picture of the individualised symptoms. This totality can then help guide you towards the remedy that best matches the overall picture.
Case Examples
Case-taking can feel quite abstract when you are only reading about it. When you are home prescribing, you are doing case-taking, so there is no better way to understand the process than by looking at real examples.
Let’s take two people with a headache. On the surface, they may seem to have the same symptom, but when we look more closely using CLAMS, we can see that their individualised symptoms are actually very different.
Case 1: Headache with Nausea
Imagine someone develops a headache after spending several hours in the sun.
The headache is mainly behind the eyes and across the forehead. It feels throbbing and heavy, and they feel nauseous at the same time. They want to lie down in a dark, quiet room, and light and noise make the headache worse. They feel better with pressure on the head and after vomiting.
If we look at this through CLAMS:
C – Concomitants: nausea, sensitivity to light and noise
L – Location: behind the eyes and across the forehead
A – Aetiology: prolonged exposure to the sun
M – Modalities: worse from light and noise; better from pressure and vomiting
S – Sensation: throbbing, heavy pain
Now we have much more than simply “a headache”. We have a specific, individualised symptom picture that can help guide the remedy selection.
Case 2: Headache with Neck Tension
Now imagine someone else with a headache.
Their pain starts at the back of the neck and moves up towards the forehead. It feels tight and pressing, almost as though a band is wrapped around their head. They have been working long hours at the computer and have slept badly for several nights. The headache is worse from sitting still for too long and improves when they move around and stretch their neck.
Looking at CLAMS:
C – Concomitants: neck tension and stiffness
L – Location: starts in the back of the neck and moves towards the forehead
A – Aetiology: prolonged computer work and lack of sleep
M – Modalities: worse from sitting still; better from movement and stretching
S – Sensation: tight, pressing, band-like pain
Again, both people have a headache, but their totality is completely different.
This is why, in homeopathy, the name of the condition is only the starting point. The more carefully you explore the individualised symptoms, the more information you have to help you find the remedy that corresponds to the whole picture.
So, can you work out which remedies are most indicated for each of these two cases?
Curious whether homeopathy could be helpful for you?
If you have questions about your symptoms or would simply like to understand how I work, you're very welcome to book a free 15-minute conversation with me.
We can talk about what's been going on, answer any initial questions you may have, and see whether a homeopathic consultation feels like the right fit for you.
There's no commitment attached to this conversation.
RELATED ARTICLES:
Understanding Homeopathy: 25 Fundamental concepts explained (link)
Homeopathy: Understanding the person behind the symptoms (link)
A Guide to Acute and Chronic Symptoms (link)