Croton tiglium

Croton tiglium is a tropical shrub belonging to the Euphorbiaceae family. The oil extracted from its seeds, known as croton oil, is a potent vesicant and purgative, historically used in very small doses as a cathartic and in liniments. It contains crotonic acid, phorbol esters, and other toxic irritants that powerfully affect the gastrointestinal tract, skin, and mucous membranes. In homeopathy, Croton is known for its dramatic effect on diarrhoea, skin eruptions, and breast ailments, especially when symptoms follow a characteristic pattern of sudden onset and violent expulsion.

Proving Information – Proved by Hahnemann and his circle in the 19th century. Many symptoms arose through toxicological reports, due to its aggressive physiological action.

Croton represents the theme of violent expulsion and hypersensitivity. Its action is explosive yet specific. Where other remedies slowly build up, Croton erupts—whether from the bowels, the skin, or the breasts. Its archetype is the thin-skinned, overreactive, sudden-response constitution, whose body cannot contain irritants. It mirrors violent transitions: from calm to crisis, from containment to eruption. A vital remedy in acute, dramatic conditions—especially where the suffering is immediate and violent but clearly defined.

• Intestines – small intestine, ileocecal region
• Skin – vesicular, pustular eruptions
• Breasts – especially right breast; mastitis
• Eyes – lids and canthi
• Mucous membranes – gastrointestinal and respiratory
• Anus and rectum – sensitive and inflamed
• Left ovary

Irritable, oversensitive, and anxious. Restlessness from internal distress. Often unable to concentrate due to the severity of physical symptoms. The Croton state is marked by mental dullness during gastric or cutaneous eruptions. May experience anxiety about the sudden onset of diarrhoea or skin pain. There can be an inner tension that mirrors the violent expulsions of the bowels.

Restless, light sleep disturbed by urgency or itching. Dreams vivid, of diarrhoea or illness. Night aggravates skin symptoms, waking from itching or pain. Insomnia from gastric distress.

Dreams of fires, floods, or violent expulsions. Frightful images of being pursued or purged. Dreams may reflect internal tension and heat.

Croton acts with sudden intensity—whether as violent diarrhoea, rapidly spreading skin eruptions, or acute mastitis. A hallmark is pain or discharge that follows the slightest motion. Skin, intestines, and mucous membranes are hypersensitive. There is a theme of eruption—both literal and symbolic—everything comes out with force, speed, and irritation. Often needed in children and lactating women. Great weakness follows loss of fluids.

Fever with hot, flushed face and cold feet. Alternation of chill and heat. Heat predominates with diarrhoea. Perspiration follows exhausting stool or vomiting. Often low-grade fever during eruptions or gastric crises.

Chilliness with gurgling in abdomen. Flushes of heat with perspiration. Sweat cold, clammy after stool. Heat localised in face or palms. Sweat brings only slight relief.

Heaviness in the head with a sense of heat. Headache with flushed face and burning sensations. Neuralgia or drawing pains in right temple during gastric upsets. Head symptoms often accompany intestinal or skin disturbances. Hair may feel sore or scalp hypersensitive.

Prominent action. Lids red, swollen, sore, especially at the external canthus. Acrid tears cause rawness and excoriation [Clarke]. Photophobia common. Intolerable itching in inner canthus. Pustular conjunctivitis, especially in children. Pain behind eyeballs. Eyelids may stick together in the morning. Twitching or spasmodic movements. Vision may blur during eruptions or gastric disturbances.

Itching in ear canal. Drawing pain from ear to throat or jaw. Redness and heat in pinnae. May feel stopped or plugged during intestinal complaints. Earache associated with mastoid area pain. Otitis with internal itching.

Watery coryza with acrid, excoriating discharge. Nostrils raw and burning. Sneezing aggravates abdominal pain. Redness of nasal margins. Nasal itching worse at night. Nasal discharges cause soreness of upper lip. Chronic catarrh in sensitive individuals.

Burning heat of face. Facial skin highly sensitive to touch or drafts. Neuralgia of the cheekbones. Vesicular eruptions around lips and chin. Itching with oozing and rawness. Sudden paleness during diarrhoea attacks. Facial expressions tense and pained during colic. Pimples that exude a sticky fluid.

Tongue coated white or yellow, tip red. Burning of lips and tongue. Aphthous ulcers inside cheeks. Bitter taste in mouth. Excessive salivation. Pain or burning on swallowing. Dryness of palate with sticky mucus. Metallic taste. Mouth corner eruptions that crust and ooze.

Toothache extending to temple or ear. Pain during diarrhoea or gastric attacks. Teeth sensitive to air or pressure. Gums sore or bleeding. Teeth feel elongated or loose.

Raw, burning sensation, particularly on swallowing. Accumulation of mucus, worse in morning. Sensation as if a splinter in throat. Scratchiness leading to dry, hoarse cough. Worse from open air. Throat complaints may coincide with or precede skin eruptions.

Dry, hacking cough. Stitching pains in sides on coughing. Burning or soreness of nipples. Right-sided chest pains extending to back. Oppression worse from deep breathing. Cough often reflex from gastric irritation.

Palpitations with anxiety or exhaustion. Pulse quickened during diarrhoea. Faintness from fluid loss. Irregular heartbeat from gastrointestinal distress.

Breathing short, anxious. Aggravated by abdominal bloating. Suffocative sensation during stool or vomiting. Wheezing with chest tightness. Respiratory complaints may alternate with skin or intestinal states.

Nausea intense, often accompanied by sudden vomiting, typically of bile or watery mucus. Vomiting often follows shortly after eating. Stomach pain with rumbling and urging to stool. Burning in epigastrium. Craving for cold drinks which aggravate. Aversion to food due to anticipatory fear of diarrhoea. Stitching pain radiating to back.

Dominant field of action. Violent colic with sudden urging to stool. Abdomen bloated, tender, gurgling sounds audible [Kent]. Griping pains in umbilical region with sharp shooting toward the rectum. Intestines feel as though writhing. Sensation as if diarrhoea imminent after the slightest movement. Pressing hand on abdomen may offer relief.

The keynote: Sudden, gushing, yellow, watery diarrhoea, expelled with great force. Stools may shoot out as if from a hydrant [Boericke]. Often follows immediately after eating or drinking. Tenesmus rare; passage often painless but leaves profound exhaustion. Anus burning, raw, and itching. Extreme sensitivity to touch, cannot bear even light wiping. Diarrhoea often aggravated by motion, even turning in bed. Often seen in infants with summer diarrhoea.

Burning during urination. Scanty, hot urine with sediment. Urging during colic. Pain extending from bladder to urethra. Involuntary urination during diarrhoea. Redness or itching around urethral opening. Increased frequency during skin flares.

Aversion to food. Even the thought of eating brings on diarrhoea. Cold drinks aggravate. Craving for salty things. Milk may aggravate abdominal symptoms. Sudden nausea after drinking water.

Itching and redness of scrotum. Vesicular eruptions on genitals. Drawing pain from testes to abdomen. Impotence from exhaustion. Sexual desire diminished during acute illness.

Profound action on breasts, especially the right breast. Inflammation, swelling, stinging, and drawing pain from nipple through to back, a key indication [Clarke, Hering]. Nipples may crack and ooze a yellow, excoriating fluid. Cannot tolerate touch or even clothing over breast. Used in mastitis during lactation. Left ovary also affected with tearing pains. Menstruation too early, scanty or suppressed with violent abdominal symptoms. Pruritus vulvae during eruptions or diarrhoea.

Drawing pains from front to back, especially from right nipple to scapula. Pain in lumbar spine during diarrhoea. Sensation of chill down back. Stiffness during rest. Backache accompanying intestinal urgency.

Weakness, trembling during diarrhoea. Cold extremities with hot face. Burning, itching of limbs. Skin eruptions on hands, fingers, forearms. Numbness or tingling. Cramps in calves during gastric attacks.

Second only to intestines in affinity. Vesicular, pustular eruptions, often oozing yellow, acrid fluid that excoriates surrounding skin. Skin highly sensitive to touch and temperature. Eruptions appear suddenly and spread rapidly. Pruritus severe, especially at night. Common locations: face, scrotum, genitals, hands, and scalp. Scratching worsens, causing burning. Skin eruptions may alternate with intestinal complaints. A key remedy for eczema with oozing, crusting, and sensitivity.

• Aloe – Also has sudden gushing diarrhoea but with more rectal fullness and prolapse
• Podophyllum – Diarrhoea with offensive odour and gurgling, but more painless and less forceful
• Arsenicum album – Restlessness and burning diarrhoea but more anxious and chill-sensitive
• Rhus tox – Skin eruptions similar but worse with rest, better with motion; Croton is opposite
• Bryonia – Diarrhoea with pain on motion, but more dry and focused on serous membranes
• Graphites – Eruptions with oozing but less acute, more chronic and fissured

• Complementary: Arsenicum, Lycopodium
• Antidotes: Camphora, Nux vomica
• Follows well: Aconite, Belladonna in acute phases

• Use in summer diarrhoea of children with sudden, painless, explosive stools
• Indicated in right breast mastitis during lactation with stinging, drawing pains
• Top remedy for vesicular eczema with yellow, acrid discharge and extreme itching
• Avoid motion in patients—aggravation is severe
• Particularly valuable in skin eruptions that alternate with diarrhoea

Abdomen

• Pain, colic, sudden, with urging
• Diarrhoea, immediately after eating
• Stool, yellow, watery, forcibly expelled

Skin

• Eruptions, vesicular, oozing yellow fluid
• Itching, intolerable, night
• Excoriation from discharge

Female

• Mastitis, right breast
• Pain from nipple to scapula
• Nipples, sore, cracked, discharging

Generalities

• Motion, slightest, aggravates
• Touch, aggravates
• Diarrhoea, sudden, violent

• Samuel Hahnemann – Materia Medica Pura: Original proving information, gastrointestinal observations
• C. Hering – Guiding Symptoms: Classical breast and skin symptoms, modalities
• William Boericke – Pocket Manual: Gushing diarrhoea, skin eruptions, sensitivity
• J.T. Kent – Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica: Modalities, breast indications, general tendencies
• John Henry Clarke – Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: Extensive repertorial cross-referencing, skin and mucosal themes
• Allen’s Encyclopaedia: Confirmed violent expulsion themes, head-to-foot organ impact