Calcarea phosphorica

A mineral salt composed of calcium and phosphoric acid (Ca₃(PO₄)₂), occurring naturally in bones, teeth, and certain rocks. Prepared for homeopathic use by triturating the pure salt. It represents the combination of two deeply nutritive and formative substances: Calcarea, the builder of bone and structure, and Phosphorus, the spark of metabolism and nervous vitality.

Fragmentary provings and abundant clinical confirmation; recorded in Hering, Clarke, and Boericke. Much of its known pathogenesis comes from Schüßler’s tissue-salt observations and clinical records rather than a full Hahnemannian proving.

A growth and nutrition remedy par excellence, Calcarea phosphorica addresses the delicate, anaemic, growing organism — the child with open fontanelles, the adolescent with growing pains, the young woman with delayed menses, the adult convalescent who cannot regain vitality. It bridges calcium’s structural building with phosphorus’s nervous energy, creating resilience in both bone and spirit.

• Bones and joints – Especially epiphyses, sutures, and sites of active growth; non-union of fractures [Hering, Clarke].
• Teeth – Poor formation, rapid decay, delayed dentition.
• Spine – Weakness, curvature, scoliosis in growing children.
• Glands – Enlarged mesenteric glands in scrofulous children.
• Digestive system – Slow digestion with tendency to acidity.
• Nervous system – Neuralgias, headaches from mental exertion.
• Blood and nutrition – Anaemia, wasting, slow convalescence.

Children needing Calc-p. are often peevish, fretful, and dissatisfied, even when their basic needs are met. They cry for things and then reject them when offered [Hering]. Mental development may lag behind physical growth, or vice versa. In adolescents, mental fatigue follows lessons, with dullness and inability to concentrate, linked to underlying malnutrition or anaemia. Schoolchildren may dread study, not from obstinacy but from mental exhaustion. Adults show indifference, mild depression, and aversion to conversation during illness.

Sleep restless in teething children; head sweats heavily on pillow. Adults wake unrefreshed.

Dreams of school, study, or failure in work; anxious dreams in children during fevers.

Slow, imperfect growth in children; thin neck, small muscles, large joints. Tendency to take cold at every change of weather. Useful for convalescence after acute illness when strength returns slowly.

Low-grade fever during dentition or after exertion. Afternoon flushes on pale cheeks.

Chilly in damp weather; sweats during sleep, especially on head and neck.

Dull, heavy headaches in anaemic schoolchildren, especially in the forehead, worse from mental exertion. Chronic headaches in growing girls during puberty, often with pallor and dark circles under eyes. Fontanelles in infants remain open too long; sutures slow to close [Clarke]. Head sweats profusely at night, soaking the pillow. Headache often comes on from any change of weather.

Weak vision from general debility. Eyes tire easily during reading or study. Pale conjunctiva in anaemic patients. In children, recurrent styes or slow-healing eyelid swellings may be present.

Sensation of fullness in ears during colds. Deafness in anaemic or scrofulous children, sometimes from enlarged adenoids. Earaches during teething.

Frequent catarrh in delicate children, with thin, watery discharge in acute stages, thick yellow in chronic cases. Nasal obstruction from adenoids impeding breathing and speech.

Pale, anaemic, with drawn features in chronic malnutrition. Lips often dry, cracked, or pale blue in cold weather. In growing children, face may appear older than the body’s age due to constitutional strain.

Delayed dentition; teeth develop slowly, are small, brittle, and prone to decay [Hering]. Gums pale and spongy. Aphthous ulcers in malnourished children.

Teeth ache during growth in adolescents. Rapid decay of new teeth despite good hygiene, due to poor enamel structure.

Recurrent sore throats in schoolchildren, particularly after exposure to cold winds. Tonsils may be chronically enlarged but less hard than in Calc-iod..

Chronic cough in schoolchildren from enlarged adenoids and chronic catarrh. In adolescents, rapid growth may strain chest, leading to shortness of breath.

Palpitations in anaemic states, worse from ascending stairs or slight exertion.

Short breath in climbing or walking fast; sighing respiration in delicate subjects.

Capricious appetite: children crave salty or smoked foods but may have aversion to meat. Dyspepsia from milk in those who cannot digest it well. Acid eructations and heartburn in weakly adults.

Enlarged mesenteric glands palpable in thin, delicate children [Boericke]. Distended abdomen with visible veins in tubercular constitution. Diarrhoea during dentition with green, slimy stools.

Loose stools after milk or cold drinks. Constipation in schoolchildren during term time.

Frequent urination of pale urine in nervous, anaemic states. Sometimes involuntary urination at night in children.

Profuse night sweats on head in children; sweats easily during slight exertion.

Testicular pain or swelling in anaemic adolescents after exertion.

Delayed puberty; menses late, scanty, pale, often with backache and headache. Girls grow rapidly but remain thin, tired, and irritable.

Aching in cervical and dorsal spine from weak musculature [Hering]. Curvature in growing girls from poor posture and weak bone tissue. Sacral pain in anaemic women.

Cold, damp hands and feet; cramps in calves at night. Growing pains in legs and arms of children. Sluggish circulation with numbness in extremities.

Pale, delicate skin, easily chapped in wind. Chronic eczema in malnourished children. Delayed healing of cuts.

• Calcarea carbonica – Fat, flabby, chilly; Calc-p. more thin, anaemic, restless.
• Phosphorus – Tall, slender, nervous; Calc-p. has more bone/joint focus in growth.
• Silicea – Slow growth with suppuration; Calc-p. slow growth without marked suppuration.
• Baryta carbonica – Mental backwardness prominent; Calc-p. more physical backwardness.

• Complementary: Ferrum phos., Natrum mur., Silicea.
• Antidotes: Nux vom., Pulsatilla.
• Follows well: After Ferrum phos. in anaemic children; after Calc. carb. in delayed growth.

• Prime remedy for non-union of fractures in elderly or malnourished patients [Clarke].
• A leading tissue salt for growing children prone to headaches, school fatigue, and anaemia.
• Restores nutrition after prolonged fevers.
• Essential in orthodontic cases to strengthen jaw development.

Mind:

• Dullness from mental exertion.
• Irritable, dissatisfied children.

Head:

• Fontanelles remain open too long.
• Headache in schoolchildren.

Teeth:

• Delayed dentition.
• Rapid decay.

Abdomen:

• Enlarged mesenteric glands.
• Distension in tubercular children.

Extremities:

• Growing pains.
• Cold, damp feet.

Generalities:

• Non-union of fractures.
• Slow convalescence.

1. Hering, C. – Guiding Symptoms: Growth, bone, and glandular indications.
2. Clarke, J.H. – Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: Extensive clinical applications.
3. Boericke, W. – Pocket Manual: Keynotes and modalities.
4. Allen, T.F. – Encyclopaedia: Proving fragments and clinical additions.
5. Hughes, R. – Cyclopaedia of Drug Pathogenesy: Physiological rationale.
6. Farrington, E.A. – Clinical Materia Medica: Comparative notes with other calcareas.
7. Kent, J.T. – Lectures: Constitutional and miasmatic placement.
8. Nash, E.B. – Leaders: Growth and nutrition focus.
9. Boger, C.M. – Synoptic Key: Modalities and essence.
10. Schüßler, W.H. – Abridged Therapeutics: Tissue salt use.