Dolichos pruriens

A tropical legume of the Fabaceae whose pod-hairs contain intensely pruritogenic principles (historically “mucunain”; modern chemistry recognises proteolytic/serotonergic constituents) that provoke violent itching and wheal-like irritation even without visible eruption—an external action that faithfully prefigures the remedy’s keynote “itching without eruption” and the cholestatic/senile pruritus sphere [Toxicology—Hughes], [Allen], [Clarke]. In pharmacy, the fresh irritant hairs or seeds are tinctured and potentised; pathogenesy arises from provings compiled by Allen and Hering and abundant clinical confirmations in nocturnal pruritus, pruritus vulvæ/ani, hepatic itch with jaundice, and obstinate constipation with maddening cutaneous itch and insomnia [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke]. Cowhage hairs were once used crudely as a mechanical anthelmintic (vermifuge) by irritating intestinal parasites—this anthelmintic history helps explain the anal and genital border-itching recorded clinically [Hughes], [Clarke].

Fragmentary provings and clinical pathogenesy were gathered by Hering and Allen; Clarke consolidated the picture: violent itching, worse at night and in bed, often with no rash; constipation; right-sided facial neuralgia; hepatic derangement with jaundice and pruritus; pruritus vulvæ/ani [Proving/Clinical—Hering], [Allen], [Clarke]. Early practitioners repeatedly confirmed senile pruritus, pregnancy itch, and anal/genital itching that drove to sleeplessness, together with constipation and a peculiar right-sided facial neuralgia intensifying at night [Boericke], [Boger], [Phatak].

Dolichos is psora in its starkest surface form: maddening itching with little or no eruption, ruling the night, fanned by heat, subdued by cool air and cool ablutions. The kingdom signature—cowhage hairs that provoke itching “out of all proportion”—translates precisely into the homœopathic portrait: the patient searches for a rash and finds none, yet the urge to scratch is irresistible; scratching is treacherous—giving a flash of satisfaction and then burning and renewed itch. The modalities are crystalline: worse at night, worse warmth of bed and hot bathing, worse wool/friction, better cool sponging, open air, uncovering, and light linen. These are not mere comforts; they are diagnostic laws that must reappear in the case’s behaviour (standing by the open window, flinging off covers, fleeing hot baths). The organ affinities triangulate the selection: (1) Skin borders and folds—anus, vulva, scrotum, canthi—become theatres of torment; (2) Liver—cholestatic pruritus with jaundice, dark urine, clay stools, and constipation, where the itch exceeds the rash; (3) Nerves—a right-sided facial neuralgia that shares the same nocturnal, heat-worse signature or alternates with the itch. The age and state colouring is strong: senile skin—dry, thin, reactive; pregnancy and lactation—hormone and skin-stretch contributions; both amplify Dolichos’s law.

Miasmatically the remedy is psoric, with sycotic recurrence and slight syphilitic excoriation after furious scratching. The pace is chronic–paroxysmal: quiet days, then nights of tyranny; the reactivity is peripheral (sensory endings/c-fibres) rather than exudative—hence the absence of eruption so characteristic. Core polarities sharpen the decision: cool ↔ heat, night ↔ day, uncovered ↔ covered, border surfaces ↔ deep tissue, itch primary ↔ wheal secondary. Micro-comparisons clinch selection: Rhus is better hot and shows vesicles; Urtica gives wheals first; Sulphur is also worse warmth of bed but is dirtier, often eruptive, and not so cool-seeking; Arsenicum burns and seeks heat, the thermal opposite. In hepatic cases, Chelidonium paints the liver; Dolichos paints the skin’s cry from the liver’s error. Clinically, cure demands obedience to the law: ventilate, lighten coverings, avoid hot baths, choose tepid/cool washing, swap wool for linen, and calm the diet (avoid fats/sweets). A right prescription shows itself immediately in sleep returned—the sufferer dozes through first sleep without a leap to scratch; palms/soles no longer fly from bedclothes; the anal/vulvar borders bear the contact of linen; jaundice lightens with bowel regulation. Dolichos is thus the quintessential remedy when the surface shouts, the night betrays, the heat torments, and the eye cannot find the rash that torments.

Fragmentary provings and clinical pathogenesy were gathered by Hering and Allen; Clarke consolidated the picture: violent itching, worse at night and in bed, often with no rash; constipation; right-sided facial neuralgia; hepatic derangement with jaundice and pruritus; pruritus vulvæ/ani [Proving/Clinical—Hering], [Allen], [Clarke]. Early practitioners repeatedly confirmed senile pruritus, pregnancy itch, and anal/genital itching that drove to sleeplessness, together with constipation and a peculiar right-sided facial neuralgia intensifying at night [Boericke], [Boger], [Phatak].

1. Remedy Kingdom and Biological Family

Plant: Fabaceae (Leguminosae) [Clarke], [Hughes].

1. Affinity

• Skin (peripheral sensory endings) — Violent itching without eruption; wheals, if any, are scant and secondary to rubbing; worse at night/bed warmth, better cool applications; chief sphere in senile and cholestatic pruritus [Hering], [Boericke], see Skin/Sleep/Generalities.
  • Mucocutaneous borders — Pruritus ani (worms/ascarides history), pruritus vulvæ (gestational/menopausal), scrotal/inguinal itching; burning and excoriation follow scratching [Clarke], [Phatak], see Rectum/Female/Male.
  • Liver & bile — Itching with jaundice, dark urine, clay stools; hepatic tenderness/right hypochondrial ache; constipation; itch out of proportion to visible lesions [Hughes], [Clarke], see Abdomen/Urinary/Generalities.
  • Nervous system (neuralgia/paresthesia) — Right-sided facial neuralgia, worse night and motion, sometimes alternating with or accompanying skin-itch; itching of palate/ears/nostrils [Allen], [Clarke], see Face/Mouth/Ears/Nose.
  • Sleep axis — Insomnia from itching, mind keyed up by night-torment, with great relief after cool sponging; the skin–sleep linkage is diagnostic [Hering], [Boericke], see Sleep.
  • Aged & gravid states — Senile pruritus, pregnancy itch (abdomen, breasts, vulva), lactational nipple-itch; modalities identical to the general law [Clarke], [Phatak], see Female/Skin.
  • Intestines/rectum — Constipation obstinate; itching anus from ascarides; ineffectual urging; stool hard, knotty, with burning after scratching [Hering], [Allen], see Rectum.
  • Teeth/gums — Itching of gums; nocturnal dental–facial neuralgias, right-sided preponderance, with sleepless itch [Allen], [Clarke], see Teeth/Face.

The mental picture is secondary to skin torment: irritability, fretfulness, and a kind of despair that peaks at night when itching forbids rest—he dreads the approach of bedtime, knowing he will pace or tear at the skin; this squares with the general night aggravation and the sleep section’s broken first sleep [Hering], [Boericke]. A nervous tension accumulates under the curfew of itch: noises are hateful, clothes are intolerable, and the patient becomes fastidious about seams and wool, reflecting the friction aggravation noted under Modalities [Clarke]. The aged grow hypochondriacal from long-standing useless treatment; relief by cool sponging restores their humour, echoing the cool-open-air amelioration found throughout [Clarke]. In pregnancy, the expectant mother becomes anxious, ashamed by genital itching; she seeks the cool and avoids warm baths after learning their mischief—objects that match the Female and Skin modalities [Phatak]. Sleeplessness engenders impatience and tears; yet there is no profound melancholia, only a reactive mind tethered to a psoric skin [Kent]. After relief (cooling, a dose taken), mood rises disproportionately, proving the mind was bound to the skin torment [Clarke]. Children are peevish at night, rub the anus and vulva, then fall asleep exhausted; after a cool wipe and airing they smile, the behaviour reinforcing Dolichos’s simple law: heat betrays, cool relieves [Hering].

Destroyed by itching, especially first sleep; he dashes from bed to the window, rubs furiously, gets a minute’s ease that turns to burning; he then cools, dozes, and repeats until morning—this seesaw exactly mirrors the Modalities [Hering], [Boericke]. The aged mutter and toss until a cool cloth breaks the cycle; pregnant women prowl rooms at night for a draft—behavioural pathognomonic for Dolichos [Clarke]. Dreams of insects crawling, of heat and stifling rooms; dreams cease when nights cool and itch is mastered (mind mirrors skin) [Tyler]. Morning finds the sufferer unrefreshed, irritable; yet a single decent night after a dose raises spirits and strength [Clarke].

Creeping, ants, hair on the skin; of undressing to cool; of searching for a breeze—dreams that directly symbolise the day’s itch [Tyler]. With hepatic cases, dreams of yellow rooms, dirty water; after improvement dreams are neutral and sleep continuous [Clarke]. Children cry out, scratch in sleep, then dream of being washed; the dream predicts the correct palliative—cool water [Hering].

Dolichos centres on psoric itching—often without visible eruption—that is worse at night, worse warmth of bed/hot bathing/wool and friction, and better from cool applications, cool open air, uncovering, and tepid washing [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke]. Borders (anus, vulva, scrotum, eyelids, canthi) and folds are favourite sites; scratching is treacherous—a flash of relief then burning and renewed itch. A second axis is hepatic: jaundice, dark urine, clay stools, constipation, and an itch “out of proportion,” often worse with dietary fats and relieved as bowels move [Hughes], [Clarke]. A third, smaller axis is neuralgic—right-sided facial neuralgia at night, sometimes exchanging places with the itch. The aged and pregnant are signature populations. When a case shows no rash, sleeplessness from itching, night/heat aggravation, cool amelioration, and hepatic or anal/genital border themes, Dolichos rises to the top. Cure is evident when first sleep holds, the need to uncover abates, bowels regulate, and the skin can bear warmth without treachery.

No specific febrile curve; skin may feel hot in bed while the patient begs for cool air (surface–subjective split) [Clarke]. Jaundiced subjects may have slight evening elevations; the key remains itch out of proportion to cutaneous findings [Hughes]. With sleep restored, subjective heat recedes; fever belongs more to the antecedent liver status than to the remedy’s core [Clarke].

Heat (bed, bath, room) aggravates itching; cool and moving air ameliorate—an unbroken law through the case [Hering], [Clarke]. Sweat in folds stings and excoriates already scratched surfaces; keeping the skin cool and dry is part of the cure [Clarke]. No pronounced chill apart from the desire to uncover hot parts even on a cool night. After a hot bath there is often a rebound itching paroxysm, instructive for prescribing [Hering].

Head is hot to the hand while the patient feels “prickles” in the scalp; he rummages the hair for a rash that is not there—a pure Dolichos paradox of itching without eruption [Allen]. Warm rooms intensify scalp itch; standing by an open window soothes, as in Generalities [Clarke]. A tight band feeling accompanies sleepless nights; in bilious subjects the temples throb after fatty supper, and scalp prickles return as the liver protests (liver–skin axis) [Hughes]. The right-sided facial attack is peculiar: tic-like neuralgia of the right cheek, worse at night, worse motion and jar, sometimes alternating with or following days of skin itch—this shifting of the complaint from surface to nerve is typical of Dolichos [Clarke], [Allen]. Head covering of wool aggravates scalp itch; linen is borne [Clarke]. As sleep returns, head pressure lifts with the itch’s retreat—functional more than structural [Hering].

Lids and canthi itch and burn without conjunctival disease; rubbing the angles brings brief peace then rawness—a microcosm of the scratching paradox [Allen]. Warm rooms redden the rims; open air relieves (thermal split repeats) [Clarke]. No profound photophobia or lacrimation; the eye is a border telling the same story as nostrils, lips and anus [Hering]. Eyelash line prickles at night in the warmth of bed; cool compress quells it [Boericke]. In jaundice cases, sclerae subicteric with itch of lids—the liver announces itself at the margin [Hughes]. Recovery tracks with the skin elsewhere: canthi cease to sting first at evening cool [Clarke].

Itching of the conchal rim and meatus; the patient rubs with a towel, later complaining of burning; warm bath provokes relapse (worse hot bathing) [Hering]. Ears feel too hot in bed; uncovering or cool air gives ease (better cool, worse heat) [Clarke]. No deep otalgia or discharge; the symptom is border pruritus in a small circle [Allen]. Sounds annoy at night when the itch is high-pitched in the mind; quiet helps sleep [Boericke]. Lobes flush with scratching, then cool with air; a visible rehearsal of Dolichos’s physiology [Clarke].

Nostrils and alæ itch; patient rubs until sore; sneezing in warm, close rooms; cool air abates the tickle—another border echo [Allen]. Tip of nose feels pricking ants at night; no coryza; wiping with a cool cloth slows the urge to scratch [Clarke]. With pruritus ani cases in children there is nose-picking at night, pointing to the worm background in a subset (compare Cina) [Hering]. Odours of hot kitchens are oppressive, and the nose smarting is worse with steam (heat aggravation) [Clarke].

Right-sided neuralgia of cheek and jaw at night, boring–shooting pains, worse motion/jar, sometimes tied to constipation; warmth aggravates; relief comes with cool applications or after bowels act—Dolichos’s nervous–abdominal linkage [Clarke], [Allen]. Lips and angles may itch without eruption, chapped from rubbing; hot soups feed the smart (food-heat aggravation) [Clarke]. Beard area prickles after warm shaving water; cool shaving lessens it—behaviour tallies with the thermal law [Clinical—Clarke]. Colour waxy in old hepatic pruritus with clay stools; scratching marks face and ears [Hughes].

Itching of palate and gums; the patient rubs the palate with the tongue until raw; sweet/hot things aggravate the tingle (food modality) [Allen], [Clarke]. Teeth feel elongated during nocturnal neuralgia; jaw motion increases facial pain; warmth of bed aggravates, correlating with the skin’s night increase [Clarke]. Saliva normal; taste bitter in biliary subjects (hepatic imprint) [Hughes]. After cool water rinses the palate quiets; hot drinks reignite the itch (thermal split) [Hering].

Dentition states show itching gums rather than outright toothache; children rub gums and scratch ears at night; constipation coincides (stools hard, knotty), and sleep is broken—an infantile Dolichos triad [Hering]. Adults with right facial neuralgia complain of “toothache” worse at night, actually a neuralgia mapped to Dolichos, better local cool [Clarke]. No carious pathology is specific; pains track the neuralgic and psoric axes rather than pulp disease [Allen].

Fauces and palate itch, provoking hawking and tongue-rubbing; warmth of drinks aggravates, cool sips soothe (thermal law repeats) [Allen]. No diphtheritic or membranous signature; the symptom is superficial, a border itch in the throat as at nares and anus [Clarke]. Dryness subjective; mucus ordinary; the suffering is from the tingle that forbids rest. In hepatic pruritus, the throat feels hot after fatty food though temperature remains normal (reflex) [Hughes].

Little deep chest disease; pruritus under breasts, in inframammary folds, worse warmth/sweat, better cool air and tepid washing; scratching leaves burning streaks [Clarke], [Hering]. Palpitation from loss of sleep and worry rather than cardiac pathology; eases as nights improve [Boericke]. A superficial costal border itch may herald a general night flare.

No specific lesion; palpitations in the aged from sleepless nights; small, quick pulse in fretfulness; cool air calms as skin calms (mind–heart follows skin) [Clarke]. Anxiety is proportional to itch; when a night is quiet, pulse and fear subside, another testimony to Dolichos’s surface-centred essence.

Warm, close rooms feel suffocating, not from bronchus but from skin; opening a window is nearly medicinal—cool air better repeats [Clarke]. Short sighing after hours of scratching; no cough keynote. In pregnancy a sense of tightness across the itch-ridden abdomen may mimic dyspnœa and remits with cooling and constitutional treatment (cross-link Female) [Phatak].

After rich, greasy meals or sweets the itch intensifies and the right hypochondrium feels heavy; belching pallid, appetite capricious—a hepatic dyspepsia that sets the skin alight later in bed [Clarke], [Hughes]. Nausea is uncommon; rather a loathing from the association “food = later itch.” Warm drinks at night are unwise; tepid or cool liquids do not flare the palate (see Mouth/Throat). The dyspepsia is chiefly biliary, not gastric, and the remedy’s action attends the liver–skin conduit [Hughes]. When bowels are opened, the evening itch sometimes lessens; constipation is thus an aggravating accessory [Allen].

Liver region tender; jaundice in some cases; stools pale or delayed; urine darker; the itching is “out of all proportion” to visible eruption, a classic cholestatic pruritus profile that points to Dolichos when cool amelioration and night aggravation are pronounced [Hughes], [Clarke]. Flatulence mild; cramping rare; the abdomen’s message is hepatic. Pregnant women complain of tight skin itch across abdomen and flanks, worse heat, better cool sponging—gestational Dolichos [Phatak]. Scratching raises small wheals then burning; leaving it alone is impossible; the signature is psoric and superficial [Hering].

Pruritus ani violent at night; children and the aged rub the part in sleep; ascarides suspected; scratching excoriates; washing with tepid or cool water relieves, whereas hot bathing aggravates (precise modality) [Hering], [Clarke]. Constipation obstinate: hard, dry, knotty stools; anus burns if scratched before stool; bleeding slight [Allen]. Itching may persist after stool when piles or fissures are present, but the Dolichos stamp is the itch without eruption and night aggravation with relief by cooling [Boericke]. A case may swing between anal and vulvar itch across weeks—border migration in the same patient points to Dolichos [Clarke].

Dark urine with hepatic itch; nocturnal frequency in the aged affects sleep further; urination itself does not itch, but urine excoriates raw anal/genital borders scratched previously (secondary) [Hughes], [Clarke]. No primary cystitis signature. Chill of night chamber aggravates overall itch unless the air is cool but moving, again a nuance the patient learns [Clarke].

Sweat brings stinging on excoriated borders; in the aged, night-sweat accompanies fretful scratching; with the case improved, sweat no longer burns and nights quieten [Clarke]. Exercise in heat restarts the cycle; cool, gentle ambulation in evening air helps [Boericke].

Scrotal and inguinal itch, worse warmth of clothing and bed; scratching followed by burning; relief in cool air and with light linen (modalities coherent) [Clarke], [Hering]. Reflex sexual restlessness from night torment; no primary urethral discharge is recorded. Anal itch with worms may disturb boys; Dolichos aligns when cool washing relieves and there is no eruption [Allen].

Pruritus vulvæ—gestational or menopausal—violent at night, worse warmth, worse hot bathing, better cool sponging/open air; scratching gives a burning aftermath; sleep destroyed; mental despair follows [Clarke], [Phatak], [Boericke]. Leucorrhœa is not prominent; the keynote is itching out of proportion to any visible lesion. Nipple and areolar itch in lactation; again, cool bathing and exposure to air help, woollen coverings harm [Clarke]. Pregnancy itch across abdomen and vulva often alternates with constipation; managing bowels softens the night attacks—a practical cross-link to Rectum [Hughes]. Cyclic increase before menses noted in some—hormonal overlay on psoric base [Clarke].

Inter-scapular border itch at night; shirts and woollens set it ablaze; cool air between the shoulders is courted (behaviour that enacts the modality) [Clarke]. Lumbar skin pricks under blankets; turning the covers down at the loins often the first instinctive act of the Dolichos patient [Hering]. No deep vertebral pains belong; it is a cutaneous case.

Soles and palms itch intolerably in bed; feet are thrust from under the clothes; walking on a cool floor gives relief—classic Dolichos behaviour [Hering], [Allen]. Forearms and crural folds itch where seams rub; linen preferred to wool (friction aggravation) [Clarke]. Nails may mark blood under skin from furious scratching; burning follows (scratch paradox) [Hering]. No primary rheumatism; neuralgic twinges may accompany the right facial side at night [Clarke].

The throne of the remedy: violent, maddening itching with little or no eruption; if wheals arise they are secondary to scratching; heat of bed and night are fatal; cool air and cool sponging are balm; scratching brings a moment’s heaven, then burning and renewed itch—a cycle that defines Dolichos [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke]. Borders and folds—anus, vulva, scrotum, inframammary grooves, axillæ—are chosen spots; scalp and eyelid-margins often join. In liver cases, itch is disproportionate to rash, with jaundice, dark urine, clay stools; this is Dolichos’s hepatic specialty [Hughes], [Clarke]. Old people with dry, thin skin form a classic constituency; so do pregnant women in warm weather. Bathing hot makes worse; tepid or cool water, bland emollients, light linen, and moving air cooperate with the remedy—nursing that obeys the law [Clarke].

Itching without eruption / psoric surface
• Sulphur — Intense itching worse warmth of bed, ragged dirty skin, scratching till raw; usually eruption present. Dolichos often no eruption, hepatic/anal border emphasis; cool strongly better [Kent], [Clarke].
• Psorinum — Filthy, chilly, offensive discharge, worse cold, wants warm clothing; Dolichos is worse heat, seeks cool air, and lacks the general offensiveness [Boger], [Clarke].
• Urtica urens — Nettle-rash, wheals primary, stinging, better cool; Dolichos has itch primary, wheals (if any) secondary to scratching [Boericke].
• Rhus toxicodendron — Vesicular eczema, better hot bathing, worse rest; Dolichos is worse hot bathing, has little eruption [Clarke], [Hering].
• Mezereum — Thick crusts, oozing, neuralgia; Dolichos lacks crust and oozing [Allen].

Hepatic pruritus / jaundice
• Chelidonium — Right scapular pain, yellow tongue, hot drinks desire; pruritus variable. Dolichos: itch out of proportion, cool better, often no rash; constipation prominent [Clarke], [Hughes].
• Carduus marianus — Hepatic congestion with haemorrhoids; less pure itch law; Dolichos has nocturnal skin-tyranny [Boger].
• Natrum sulphuricum — Bilious states with damp weather aggravation; less border-itch keynote [Boericke].
• Lycopodium — Biliary dyspepsia, 4–8 p.m. flatus, right to left; itch not central; Dolichos when itch dominates nights [Boger].

Anal/genital borders
• Cina — Worms, boring nose, irritable child; anal itch with grinding teeth; Dolichos shares anal itch but adds no eruption and cool better [Hering].
• Teucrium — Ascarides, anal itching at night; good when worm signs clear; Dolichos when whole case is dominated by psoric itch and heat-worse [Clarke].
• Kreosotum — Pruritus vulvæ with foul discharges; more corrosive; Dolichos has clean skin, itch out of proportion [Clarke].
• Sepia — Pelvic ptosis, indifference, yellow leucorrhœa; vulvar itch may occur but mental/uterine complex guides; Dolichos has cutaneous law foremost [Kent].

Senile pruritus
• Arsenicum album — Burning itching better heat, restlessness, anxiety; Dolichos: better cool, no chilliness, border focus [Kent], [Boericke].
• Petroleum — Winter cracks and eczema; Dolichos more summer/bed/heat driven, little eruption [Boger].
• Graphites — Moist oozing eczema, fissures; Dolichos dry skin with itch and no eruption [Clarke].

Right-sided facial neuralgia (night)
• Spigelia — Left-sided predominance, cardiac link, motion worse, sunlight sensitive; Dolichos right cheek, coupled to psoric itch/constipation [Kent], [Clarke].
• Magnesia phosphorica — Spasmodic facial pains better heat/pressure; Dolichos is worse heat, accompanies itch [Boger].

• Complementary: Sulphur — Both psoric; Sulph. often completes chronic terrain after Dolichos has quelled night-itch; Dolichos when no eruption, cool better [Kent], [Clarke].
  • Complementary: Chelidonium — Hepatic cases; Chel. for parenchyma/right-scapular pains; Dolichos for pruritus out of proportion with constipation [Clarke], [Hughes].
  • Follows well: Teucrium/Cina — When worm signs have been met but residual anal itch and general heat-worse nights persist [Hering], [Clarke].
  • Precedes well: Psorinum — In obstinate psora after the acute itch tyranny is lifted by Dolichos [Boger].
  • Compare: Rhus tox., Urtica urens — For urticarial or vesicular eruptions; Dolichos lacks eruption and hates hot bathing [Hering], [Boericke].
  • Compare: Arsenicum — Senile pruritus, but thermal opposite (Ars. seeks heat; Dol. seeks cool) [Kent].
  • Antidotes (functional): Cool open air, tepid/cool washing, light linen, bland emollients—nursing analogues of the remedy’s law [Clarke].
  • Inimical: None specifically recorded in classical sources [Clarke], [Boericke].

Senile pruritus: aged, itching without eruption, worse warmth of bed/hot bath, better cool air/sponging; sleep destroyed—Dolichos often succeeds where mere ointments fail [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Pregnancy/pruritus vulvæ: nightly torment of vulva and abdomen, modalities as above; tepid sitz and light linen while dosing; avoid hot bathing [Phatak], [Clarke].
• Hepatic itch with jaundice, dark urine, clay stools; itch disproportionate to skin findings; regulate diet (avoid fats), bowels, and ventilate bedroom; Dolichos as the similimum [Hughes], [Clarke].
• Pruritus ani (worms/ascarides): nocturnal scratching, no rash; cool ablutions relieve; consider Teucr./Cina intercurrently for worms; return to Dolichos for residual heat-worse psora [Hering], [Clarke].
• Right facial neuralgia, worse night, heat intolerable, alternating with days of itch; Dolichos covers this nervous extension [Clarke], [Allen].
• Potency: 6C–30C commonly; repeat in acute night paroxysms until the itch–sleep curve turns, then pause; chronic hepatic/senile cases often need 30C (weekly) or 200C at intervals when picture is pure [Boericke], [Phatak].
• Nursing adjuncts are part of the prescription: cool air, tepid/cool washing, light linen, avoid hot baths, plain diet, bowel regulation—enact the remedy’s modalities for lasting success [Clarke], [Hughes].

Mind
• Irritability—from itching; at night. Skin-driven fretfulness; cool air calms [Hering], [Clarke].
• Despair—of sleep, from severe itching. Choice guided by night tyranny [Boericke].
• Aversion to heat/warm rooms—seeks window. Behavioural modality [Clarke].
• Fastidious about clothing—wool/rough seams intolerable. Friction aggravates [Clarke].
• Better—cool sponging/air; worse—being warm in bed. Law of the remedy [Hering].
• Anxiety—pregnancy, about genital itching. Female sphere tie-in [Phatak].

Head/Eyes/Ears/Nose
• Scalp—itching without eruption; worse warmth of bed; better cool. Dolichos hallmark [Allen], [Hering].
• Face—neuralgia right-sided; worse night. Nervous extension [Clarke].
• Lids/canthi—itching; rubbing → burning. Scratch paradox [Allen].
• Ear meatus—itching; worse after hot bath. Thermal split [Hering].
• Nose/alæ—itching; seeks cool air. Border echo [Clarke].
• Nose-picking—children at night, with anal itch (worms). Etiological hint [Hering].

Mouth/Throat
• Palate—itching; must rub with tongue; hot drinks aggravate. Local modality [Allen].
• Gums—itching in dentition; sleepless from itching. Paediatric lead [Hering].
• Throat—tickling/itching without catarrh. Surface signature [Clarke].
• Taste—bitter with biliary cases. Hepatic link [Hughes].
• Better—cool sips; worse—hot fluids. Thermal rule [Allen].
• Neuralgia—right jaw at night. Dolichos neuralgic strand [Clarke].

Abdomen/Rectum
• Liver—jaundice with itching. Bile–skin axis [Hughes].
• Stools—hard, knotty; constipation with itching. Concomitant [Allen].
• Pruritus ani—worse night, worse heat, better cool washing; often no eruption. Border keynote [Clarke], [Hering].
• Ascarides—anal itch at night. Aetiology rubric [Hering].
• Right hypochondrium—sore; itch increases after fats. Diet link [Clarke].
• After stool—itch sometimes less. Reflex relief [Hughes].

Female/Male
• Pruritus vulvæ—pregnancy/menopause; worse warmth of bed/hot baths; better cool sitz. Classic Dolichos [Clarke], [Phatak].
• Nipple/areola—itching in lactation; wool aggravates. Clothing modality [Clarke].
• Scrotum/inguinal folds—itch; scratching → burning; seeks cool air. Male border rubric [Hering].
• Menses—before, itching increases (some). Temporal nuance [Clarke].
• Coition—after, vulvar burning if scratched. Border sequel [Clarke].
• Clothing—linen amel.; wool agg. Practical tip [Clarke].

Skin (core)
• Itching without eruption; worse at night; worse warmth of bed; better cool air. Signature rubric [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke].
• Scratching—relieves then aggravates (burning). Diagnostic sequence [Hering].
• Borders/folds—anus, vulva, scrotum, canthi, inframammary—itch. Distribution [Clarke].
• Hot bathing—aggravates itching. Differentiates Rhus [Hering].
• Senile pruritus—bedtime worse. Age sphere [Boericke].
• Hepatic pruritus—itch disproportionate to rash. Cholestatic key [Hughes].

Generalities/Sleep
• Night—aggravation; first sleep broken. Time hallmark [Hering].
• Heat—bed/room/bath aggravates; cool/open air ameliorates. Global law [Clarke].
• Clothing—wool aggravates; linen ameliorates. Friction/thermal [Clarke].
• Uncovering—desire to uncover hot part. Behaviour [Boericke].
• Sleeplessness—from itching. Central complaint [Hering].
• After midnight—worst; pacing the room. Circadian curve [Clarke].

Hering — The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica (1879): core keynote “itching without eruption,” night/heat aggravations, scratch paradox; anal/genital borders; dentition and paediatric notes.
Allen, T. F. — Encyclopædia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): proving fragments—palate/gum itch, scalp itch, right-sided facial neuralgia; constipation concomitants; worm-related pruritus.
Clarke, J. H. — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): remedy portrait—senile and pregnancy pruritus; hepatic pruritus with jaundice; modalities (cool better, heat worse); nursing guidance.
Hughes, R. — A Cyclopædia of Drug Pathogenesy (1895): toxicology of cowhage hairs; hepatic–pruritus linkage; cholestatic itch disproportionate to rash; dietary relations.
Boericke, W. — Pocket Manual of Homœopathic Materia Medica (1927): concise keynotes—itching without eruption, night aggravation, pruritus vulvæ/ani, senile pruritus, insomnia.
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica (1915): generalities—psoric theme, thermal modalities, relationships (Sulphur, Psorinum, Rhus, Urtica).
Kent, J. T. — Lectures on Homœopathic Materia Medica (1905): miasmatic analysis of psora; contrasts with Sulphur, Arsenicum; behaviour-guided prescribing.
Phatak, S. R. — Materia Medica of Homoeopathic Medicines (1977): practical notes—pruritus vulvæ in pregnancy/menopause; tepid sitz; cool amelioration; repetition hints.
Farrington, E. A. — Clinical Materia Medica (1887): comparisons (Rhus, Sulph., Cina, Teucr.); emphasis on border symptoms and modalities.
Nash, E. B. — Leaders in Homœopathic Therapeutics (1898): insomnia from itching; anecdotal confirmations of night/heat law.
Tyler, M. L. — Homœopathic Drug Pictures (1942): essence—“itch without eruption,” dreams of insects/heat; clear thermal polarities; elderly/pregnancy vignettes.
Dewey, W. A. — Practical Homœopathic Therapeutics (1901): therapeutic groupings—pruritus (senile, hepatic, gravid); nursing and regimen harmonised with remedy law.