Camphora

Camphor is a crystalline ketone obtained from the wood of the camphor tree (Cinnamomum camphora), native to East Asia. It has a penetrating, pungent odour and strong physiological effects on the nervous and vascular systems.

First proved by Hahnemann and detailed in Materia Medica Pura. Most symptoms arise from toxicological sources, and its use in collapse states stems from its powerful physiological action.

Camphora is a remedy of extremes: icy coldness, rapid collapse, and nervous violence alternating with stupor. Its essential theme is the immediate suspension of reaction, whether emotional, circulatory, or secretory. Useful in first stages of acute collapse, whether from cholera, fright, or suppression. It is the blank slate—the erased blackboard—before the remedy picture fully forms. Without Camphor, the patient may not rally enough to exhibit curative symptoms.

• Nervous system – sudden collapse, chill, prostration, convulsions
• Vascular system – spasms, coldness, cyanosis
• Skin and senses – numbness, insensibility, collapse
• Lungs and respiration – spasm, asthmatic suffocation
• Mind – delirium, fear, sudden violence or indifference
• Stomach – nausea, coldness, spasmodic vomiting
• Urinary system – suppression of urine in shock
• Extremities – cramping, coldness, weakness

Camphora acts with lightning speed on the nervous centres, creating a picture of sudden fear, anxiety, confusion, and collapse. The mind may present with great anguish, particularly about the chest, as if death were imminent. At other times, the patient is apathetic and insensible, lying unconscious or semi-conscious, unable to express needs. Alternation between violence and torpor is characteristic. [Hahnemann] notes a state of delirium, rage, and terror — or conversely, cold indifference. There is also great sensitivity to touch, both physical and emotional, and a tendency toward sudden impulsiveness, even destructiveness.

Drowsy yet cannot sleep. Sleep disturbed by spasms or terror. Falls asleep in collapse, may become comatose. In hysterical states, insomnia with jerking limbs or moaning.

Delirious or anxious dreams. Dreaming of suffocation, being buried alive, or sudden accidents. Wakes in fright. In collapse, dreams cease entirely as patient slips into unconsciousness.

Sudden collapse with icy coldness, bluish skin, fainting, or unconsciousness. Suppression — of sweat, eruptions, discharges — brings on deeper illness. Extremely sensitive to cold, touch, and mental stimuli. Tremendous fear or complete indifference. Useful in first stage of many acute diseases, before any reaction sets in. Frequently needed in shock, sunstroke, cholera, and cold exposure. No vital reaction.

Chill comes first, often with shaking and blueness. Heat may follow but is never marked. Icy sweat is prominent, especially on forehead and limbs. Fever without thirst, or craving cold water. Collapse occurs rapidly. Used in choleraic collapse, especially early stages.

Chill intense, icy coldness of body and breath. Sweat cold, clammy, profuse. Heat is internal while the body remains cold. Alternating chills and flushes. Sweat does not relieve.

Vertigo on rising or moving. Head feels cold or hollow, with icy perspiration. Rush of blood to head followed by collapse. Pain at the vertex, or occipital heaviness with chilliness. Forehead cold and clammy. Face pale or blue, with sunken features. Frontal headaches with chill and nausea. [Allen] describes throbbing and bursting pain in congestion with cold extremities.

Dilated pupils. Eyes wide open and staring, or half-closed in stupor. Lachrymation acrid. Lids may tremble or remain motionless. Sight obscured, with flickering and blackness before the eyes during syncope. Photophobia or spasmodic blinking during convulsions.

Coldness of external ear. Hearing either acute or completely lost. Roaring or buzzing sensations. Sensitive to sound, especially during fever. May present with violent earaches during cold exposure.

Dryness of nasal passages. Cold tip of nose, cyanotic appearance. Sudden coryza with sneezing and chilliness. Nostrils may be dilated and motionless during collapse. In toxic states, offensive smell is perceived or nosebleeds may occur.

Pale, icy, blue, or deathly. Features distorted, sunken, or pinched. Lips bluish. Expression of fear or indifference. Sweat cold and profuse on the forehead. In fever, face alternates between flushed and pallid. Twitching of facial muscles in spasmodic states.

Tongue cold, trembling, may be stiff or paralyzed. Dryness with complete suppression of saliva or acrid salivation. Mouth cold to the touch. Speech indistinct, interrupted by spasms. Bitter or metallic taste. In collapse, jaws may be clenched.

Not prominent. In fever or nervous conditions, may clench teeth tightly. Grinding in convulsive states. Gums pale or cold.

Throat dry and constricted. Spasms on attempting to swallow, especially fluids. Cold sensation extending down oesophagus. May refuse to drink due to choking or spasmodic fear. Burning heat internally while externally cold.

Sensation of oppression and icy coldness in chest. Suffocation, gasping for breath, with cyanosis. Spasms of the chest and larynx. Cough dry, short, worse at night. Chest feels tight or paralysed. Weakness so intense the patient cannot speak above a whisper. [Kent] noted this remedy in early stages of pneumonia with cold sweat and blue skin.

Collapse picture: slow, weak pulse; or quick, thready and imperceptible. Palpitation with icy cold skin. Sensation of heart stopping. Cardiac arrest in shock. Camphor can act as a stimulant in cardiac collapse. In early stages of acute illness, the heart may seem to “freeze”.

Spasmodic, irregular, gasping. Breath cold, or appears to steam in cold room. Dyspnoea worse from motion. Suffocative sensation in tight garments or closed room. Sudden cessation of breath in hysteria. Inspiration shallow, expiration forced.

Intense coldness, nausea, and vomiting. Craving for cold drinks, but vomits everything. Sensation of icy cold stone in the stomach. In collapse, stomach appears paralyzed. Hiccough and spasmodic retching. [Clarke] notes vomiting with deathly weakness and cold sweat.

Cold to touch, tense, and retracted. Cramps and colic, worse from cold. Sensation of motion in abdomen. Pressive or gnawing pain. Flatulence with chill. Pain accompanied by icy extremities and vomiting. In collapse, abdomen appears motionless.

Sudden, profuse, offensive diarrhoea with collapse. Watery stools with icy sweat. In some cases, complete suppression of stool. Tenesmus and cramping. Burning and spasmodic constriction. Often used in choleraic diarrhoea with violent coldness and weakness.

Retention of urine in collapse states. Suppression of urination with cold sweat. Burning pain in bladder. Frequent desire with scanty flow. In spasmodic cases, involuntary urination may occur.

Thirstlessness or aversion to all food. Craves cold drinks yet vomits immediately. Great nausea with motion. No appetite in illness. After shock, may desire hot tea or brandy.

Suppression of sexual desire. Penis cold, shrunken. In toxic states, erections with spasms or violent excitement. Testicles retracted or icy. Seminal emissions in states of unconsciousness or during delirium.

Menses suppressed by chill or fright. Coldness of vulva. Leucorrhoea acrid, burning. Convulsions during labour. Fainting or collapse during menstruation. In hysteria, sudden sexual excitement alternating with cold stupor.

Back cold, especially lumbar region. Cramps and twitching of dorsal muscles. Weakness, unable to sit up. Spine may be sensitive. Chills pass up and down the spine, especially before collapse. [Boericke] notes severe backache in febrile collapse.

Cold, blue, stiff, or spasmodic. Sudden cramping in calves, thighs, hands, or feet. Numbness or tingling. Fingers bent or rigid. Tremors in old people. Weakness after exposure to cold wind or shock. Amelioration from friction.

Icy cold, clammy, blue. Sweat profuse, offensive or sour. Eruptions suppressed suddenly may lead to internal collapse. Hypersensitive to touch. In cholera, the skin is shrivelled and cadaveric. [Allen] includes urticaria, frostbite, and shock-related eruptions.

• Carbo vegetabilis – Also icy cold, with collapse, but more flatulence, desire for fanning, and offensive discharges
• Veratrum album – Collapse with cold sweat and diarrhoea, but more violent purging and craving for cold drinks
• Arsenicum album – Cold, anxious, restless, but more organised and gradual collapse
• China officinalis – Prostration from fluid loss, but with bloating and periodicity
• Opium – Collapse with unconsciousness, but more congestive than spasmodic

• Complementary: Carbo veg., Veratrum alb.
• Antidotes: Opium, Nux vomica
• Follows well: Aconite in shock, Cuprum in cramps
• Inimical: Most other strong remedies—must use alone in early collapse

• Useful in the very beginning of acute illness when no reaction occurs
• Cholera collapse: cold, blue, faint, purging absent
• Sunstroke or shock with fainting, rigid limbs
• Prevents suppression of skin eruptions during illness
• Aids reaction when well-chosen remedy fails to act

Generalities

• Collapse, sudden
• Coldness, extreme
• Suppression of eruptions
• Fainting, with icy sweat

Mind

• Delirium, alternating with apathy
• Fear of death
• Sudden impulses

Chest / Respiration

• Suffocation, spasmodic
• Oppression, icy feeling
• Dyspnoea, worse motion

Extremities

• Cold, blue, spasmodic
• Twitching, cramps
• Trembling

Skin

• Cold, clammy sweat
• Suppressed eruptions
• Icy to touch

Samuel Hahnemann – Materia Medica Pura: Original proving and collapse indications

T.F. Allen – Encyclopaedia: Provided toxicological and clinical detail

John Henry Clarke – Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: Detailed coldness, mind, and acute collapse symptoms

William Boericke – Pocket Manual: Practical tips in collapse, shock, and suppression

James Tyler Kent – Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica: Emphasised Camphora’s use in blocked reaction and emergency states