Borax veneta

Borax is a naturally occurring compound of sodium, boron, oxygen, and water (Na₂[B₄O₅(OH)₄]·8H₂O), obtained from dried lake beds in regions such as Tibet and California. It appears as soft white crystals and is alkaline in reaction. Homeopathically, it is prepared by trituration and is noted especially for its action on mucous membranes, skin, and emotional states, particularly in infants and sensitive individuals.

Proved by Hahnemann and developed through extensive clinical experience, especially in paediatrics. Proving data appears in Materia Medica Pura and was further expanded by Hughes and Allen.

Borax veneta typifies the sensitive and reactive human state, particularly in early life. It is a remedy of hyper-vigilance, emotional vulnerability, and mucous membrane erosion. The person or child needing Borax feels unprotected, vulnerable to shocks—whether physical, emotional, or sensory. Their reactions are sudden and disproportionate, yet arise from real inner frailty. This makes Borax not just a physical remedy for aphthae or leucorrhoea, but a deep constitutional support for the overreactive, sensitive temperament.

• Mucous membranes – mouth, genitals, digestive and respiratory tracts
• Skin – prone to ulceration, inflammation, and fungal infection
• Ears and hearing – sensitivity to sound
• Nervous system – startle reflex, anxiety
• Female genitals – leucorrhoea, vulvitis
• Gastrointestinal tract – colic, flatulence, nausea
• Infants and young children – remedy frequently used in paediatric complaints

Borax is famous for its intense anxiety and hypersensitivity, especially in infants and children. There is a marked startle from noise, light, or motion, with cries, jerking, and fear. A distinctive and confirmatory feature is fear of downward motion—the child clings or screams when being laid down, even gently [Boericke]. Night terrors, weeping, and morbid sensitivity to surroundings prevail. In adults, anxiety about the future, especially financial matters, may dominate. There is restlessness with heightened emotional sensitivity and sometimes a fear of falling. The mental state reflects nervous irritability with low thresholds for shock, sound, and change. Often seen in children during dentition who cry out suddenly in sleep, are difficult to soothe, and startle at the slightest disturbance.

Child screams before sleep, starts and jerks during sleep, wakes terrified. Dreams of falling. Night terrors, especially in children. Sleep restless and unrefreshing. Insomnia in nervous women. Sleep disturbed by noises.

Dreams of falling, fear, or monsters. Frightful dreams in children. Dreams of being attacked or abandoned. Wakes startled. Dreams cause waking in terror or weeping.

Borax is a sensitive, reactive remedy, suited especially to infants, teething children, and nervous women. The keynotes are hypersensitivity, aphthous ulcers, fear of downward motion, and leucorrhoea. Symptoms tend to erupt or ulcerate, especially in mucous membranes. Complaints are exacerbated by sudden sensory inputs—noise, light, motion—and by dentition, hormonal shifts, or emotional disturbances. A highly valuable remedy in paediatrics, dermatology, gynaecology, and nervous disorders.

Fever with colic, aphthae, and anxiety. Skin hot and dry. Face flushed during chill. Heat alternating with chill. Fever in dentition. Sweating does not relieve. Irritability during heat stage.

Chill with heat in face. Heat in head and palms. Sweat mostly on scalp or face. Sweat sour or offensive. Feverish heat worse in warm room. Cold extremities during fever.

Head feels heavy, with fullness and pressure. Sensation of pressing outward from forehead. Tendency to frown. Pain in the temples and vertex, often with nausea or gastric disturbance. Scalp sensitive, especially in infants with cradle cap or seborrhoeic eruptions. Fontanelles may remain open too long. Hydrocephaloid states following gastric derangement.

Photophobia in daylight, with lachrymation. Pain in eyes from reading or bright light. Granular lids, red canthi, and lashes falling out. Inflammation with burning, redness, and discharge, especially in children. Styes and meibomian gland swelling. Vision blurred during headaches.

Oversensitivity to every sound, especially high-pitched or sudden noises, which may cause crying or jerking [Hering]. Tinnitus, buzzing, and fullness in ears. Acute otitis media with stitching pains. Discharge from ears following colds or dentition. Pain radiates to jaw.

Frequent sneezing, with dryness and crusting. Bleeding on blowing the nose. Nostrils sore, ulcerated, or covered with crusts. Catarrh extending from nose to throat, worse at night. In infants, frequent rubbing of the nose with crying during teething.

Pale or bloated face with anxious expression. Bluish under eyes. Cracks in lips, especially the lower one, and around the mouth. Eruptions around nostrils and chin. Pimples and scabs on cheeks. Swelling of parotid glands. Facial twitches with colic or anxiety.

Mouth is a key focus—aphthae (canker sores) on tongue, cheeks, lips, and gums, often seen in teething infants [Hering]. Ulcers bleed easily and cause burning pain. Tongue may be coated white. Dryness and heat in mouth. Child refuses to nurse or cries while feeding due to pain. Breath offensive during ulceration. Mouth complaints often accompany gastric or female troubles.

Delayed dentition with colic, fever, and aphthae. Gums swollen and tender. Child gnaws at fingers, whines, and screams. Teeth feel elongated and sore. Pain during eruption of molars. Teeth may decay early.

Dry and hot with difficulty swallowing. Painful ulcers or canker patches in pharynx. Throat inflamed with burning extending to ears. Child screams when swallowing or refuses to eat due to pain. Hoarseness with rawness in morning.

Oppression with sighing and palpitation. Stitching pains in chest, worse from motion. Hoarseness with cough. Difficulty breathing during fever. Wheezing in infants. Dry cough worse at night or after lying down. Mucous rattling in bronchial tubes.

Palpitations with anxiety or fear of falling. Irregular pulse with gastric disturbance. Heart fluttering during emotional excitement or when falling asleep. Chest pain with neuralgic tendencies.

Short, quick breaths during fever. Rattling in children with mucus in chest. Cough with expectoration of greenish or salty mucus. Difficult breathing in warm room. Better in fresh air. Cough accompanied by aphthae in mouth or vagina.

Nausea after eating, especially fatty food. Vomiting of milk in infants, sometimes in curds. Loss of appetite. Sensation of emptiness or pressure. Aversion to warm food. Gastric catarrh during teething. Eructations sour or bitter.

Colic with loud rumbling, flatulence, and distension. Griping pains relieved by pressure or bending double. Screaming in infants during colic attacks. Abdomen bloated and tender. Diarrhoea or constipation may alternate. Cutting pain around umbilicus.

Green, watery stools, sometimes slimy, and worse after nursing. Sudden urging with offensive flatus. Constipation with dry, hard stools. Painful fissures. Tenesmus before or after stool. Infants cry before stool. Diarrhoea associated with teething.

Frequent urging, especially at night. Urine cloudy with strong odour. Burning during and after urination. Wetting the bed (enuresis) in children with nervousness. Turbid urine in fevers. Dribbling after voiding.

Aversion to warm food, meat, and fatty substances. Craving for cold drinks and juicy fruit. Nausea after milk. Vomiting curdled milk in infants. Appetite capricious.

Nocturnal emissions with weakness and mental irritability. Itching of genitals. Small, painful ulcers on glans. Premature ejaculation in nervous men. Testicles may feel sore or retracted.

Borax is a prominent female remedy, particularly for profuse, albuminous, and acrid leucorrhoea, resembling white of egg [Clarke]. Leucorrhoea causes itching, especially before menses. Menses too early or profuse, with dragging in pelvis. Pain in ovaries, especially left. Sensation as if warm fluid were flowing down thighs. Vaginal inflammation with aphthous ulcers and burning. Infertility with chronic vaginal catarrh. Aversion to coition due to soreness. Postpartum uterine infections with lochia suppression.

Pain in lumbar region with heaviness. Drawing between shoulder blades. Infants throw back their head during colic. Stiffness and soreness in dorsal spine. Pain radiates to sacrum during menses.

Pain in lumbar region with heaviness. Drawing between shoulder blades. Infants throw back their head during colic. Stiffness and soreness in dorsal spine. Pain radiates to sacrum during menses.

Itching, burning, and crawling sensations. Skin eruptions pustular, scaly, or crusty. Cradle cap, eczema, and seborrhoea in infants. Skin sensitive to heat. Fungal infections between toes or under breasts. Skin dry and tender to touch.

• Chamomilla – Also irritable, teething children; more anger than fear, and symptoms better from being carried
• Calcarea carbonica – Cradle cap and sweat on head, but less sensitivity to motion
• Pulsatilla – Also suited to leucorrhoea and menstrual irregularities; more emotional softness
• Silicea – Delayed dentition and nervousness, but chilly and stubborn
• Sanicula – Similar fear of downward motion, but with more digestive focus

• Complementary: Pulsatilla, Calcarea carbonica
• Antidotes: Chamomilla, Coffea
• Follows well: Chamomilla, Mercurius

• Essential in aphthae of mouth, vagina, or anus
• Consider in teething children who fear being laid down
• Valuable in infantile colic with abdominal bloating
• Use in nervous women with leucorrhoea and vaginal aphthae
• Helpful in seborrhoea and cradle cap in infants

Mind

• Fear of downward motion
• Startles easily from noise
• Anxiety during dentition
• Screaming before sleep

Mouth

• Aphthae, painful
• Ulcers in infants
• Tongue coated white

Female Genitalia

• Leucorrhoea, egg-white, before menses
• Vulvitis, itching and soreness
• Aphthous ulcers of vagina

Skin

• Cradle cap
• Eczema in children
• Ulcers, sensitive

Generalities

• Worse from sudden noise, downward motion
• Better from pressure
• Worse during dentition
• Better in open air

• Samuel Hahnemann – Materia Medica Pura: Core proving symptoms including aphthae and emotional reactivity
• C. Hering – Guiding Symptoms: Noted infantile anxiety and startle response
• William Boericke – Pocket Manual: Aphthous stomatitis and female applications
• John Henry Clarke – Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: Expanded on leucorrhoea, skin eruptions, and modality profile
• Hughes and Allen – Cyclopaedia of Drug Pathogenesy: Early proving and verification of mucous membrane affinity