Eupionum

“Eupion” (nineteenth-century chemistry; Reichenbach) denotes a highly volatile, limpid hydrocarbon mixture arising from destructive distillation of fats and fixed oils; homologues occur in coal- and petro-naphtha. In crude use it is a solvent/illuminant; pharmacologically it is irritant to skin and mucosae with defatting, drying and pruritic effects, and it depresses the gastric mucosa if swallowed [Hughes], [Clarke]. The homœopathic tincture is prepared from the purified liquid (per pharmacopœia), and the pathogenesis rests on provings and clinical confirmations, especially in the female pelvis (uterus–ovaries–mammae), pruritic/excoriating leucorrhœa, mastodynia and nodular breasts, uterine displacement with bearing-down and lumbo-sacral weakness, and dry/fissured eczematous states of the skin (particularly retro-auricular) [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke]. Its petrochemical kinship explains the cutaneous dryness/fissuring and the affinity for glandular/sebaceous structures, while the clinical record fixes its value in uterine and mammary disorders with characteristic modalities [Hughes], [Farrington].

Historically classed among purified naphthas for lamps and as an organic solvent; sometimes used externally as a detergent, which illustrates its desiccant, irritant effect on skin and mucosae, correlating with its homœopathic sphere (eczema, excoriation, pruritus) rather than recommending crude medicinal use [Hughes], [Clarke].

No Hahnemannian proving of great extent; the materia rests on Allen’s collation (provings/toxicology) and on abundant nineteenth–twentieth century clinical confirmations (Hering, Clarke, Boericke). Keynotes repeatedly verified: bearing-down in pelvis from uterine displacement; excoriating, often burning leucorrhœa; ovarian pains (left-sided tendency); mammary tenderness and nodularity with burning lancinations, worse before menses and from jar; dry, fissured eczema (behind ears; flexures); pruritus vulvæ; lumbo-sacral weakness better by support [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Farrington]. [Proving] [Clinical].

• Uterus & Pelvic Floor — uterine displacement with bearing-down as if everything would come out; pelvic laxity; relieved by pressure/support; see Female/Back [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Ovaries (left > right) — ovarian aching or sharp stitches radiating to groin/thigh; pre-menstrual aggravation; coitus/jar aggravate; see Female [Allen], [Farrington].
• Mammae (glands) — mastodynia; nodular/lumpy breasts (fibro-cystic) with burning, knife-like pains; worse before menses and on motion; see Female/Chest [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Vagina & Cervix — acrid, excoriating leucorrhœa with burning/itching; pruritus vulvæ; soreness of os; see Female [Hering], [Boericke].
• Lumbosacral spine & ligaments — dragging weakness “as if broken at small of back”; must brace or support; see Back/Generalities [Clarke], [Boger].
• Skin (sebaceous/eczema) — dry, fissured, pruritic eruptions, especially retro-auricular and flexural; easy excoriation; see Skin [Boericke], [Hering].
• Mucosae in general — drying/irritating tendency: nasal/vaginal/anal margins excoriate with acrid discharges; see Nose/Rectum [Allen], [Clarke].

• Firm pressure and external support to pelvis (binder, crossing the limbs); takes weight off uterus (see Female/Back) [Clarke], [Hering].
• Lying on back with thighs drawn up; rest; recumbency after exertion (pelvic relaxation) [Boericke].
• Cold applications to hot, burning breasts; cool ablutions to vulva in pruritic leucorrhœa (palliative) [Hering], [Clarke].
• Onset of free menstrual flow when there has been pre-menstrual congestion and mastodynia (female hinge) [Farrington].
• Gentle, even motion in open air after acute pains subside; avoids jar (Back/Female cross-link) [Clarke].
• Light diet; avoidance of fats and alcohol (less pelvic congestion and pruritus) [Hughes].
• After stool and bladder evacuation when pelvic pressure is lessened [Boger].
• Loosening tight clothing about waist/iliac bands (mechanical relief) [Clarke].

• Standing long; walking; jar, stepping down; ascending/descending stairs — renews bearing-down and mastodynia (grand aggravations) [Hering], [Clarke].
• Before menses and at ovulation — breasts tender, pelvis heavy; leucorrhœa increases [Boericke], [Farrington].
• Coitus or sexual excitement — vulval burning, ovarian sharp pains, vaginal soreness [Clarke], [Allen].
• Heat of bed and warm rooms — pruritus and burning leucorrhœa worse; breasts throb [Hering], [Boericke].
• Fatigue of domestic exertion (housework) — lumbar “broken-back” sensation returns [Clarke].
• Tight corsets/bands — pelvic dragging and mammary pain [Clarke].
• After miscarriage/childbed strain — uterine sagging revives (aetiologic) [Hering].
• Winter dryness or harsh soaps — fissured eczema, retro-auricular cracking (Skin) [Boericke].

Aetiology/Mechanics (pelvic laxity, jar-agg.)

• Sepia — bearing-down with mental indifference, pelvic better by vigorous exercise; Eupion needs support/recumbency; breasts more nodular and jar-sensitive in Eupion [Kent], [Farrington].
• Lilium tigrinum — pelvic congestion with frantic moral/sexual unrest; Eupion calmer, mechanical, pruritic [Clarke], [Farrington].
• Bellis perennis — pelvic trauma (after strains, parturition), deep soreness; Bellis is more traumatic and cool-loving; Eupion adds acrid leucorrhœa and nodular mastodynia [Clarke].

Leucorrhœa (acrid/excoriating)

• Kreosotum — acrid, offensive, often corroding with bleeding and early decay; Eupion less destructive, more pruritic with heat-agg. [Clarke], [Farrington].
• Alumina — profuse, bland or excoriating leucorrhœa with marked dryness elsewhere; mental torpor; Eupion centres in mechanical bearing-down and breasts [Kent].
• Graphites — thick, honey-like discharges, fissured skin; Eupion’s leucorrhœa is burning, pruritic, acrid with pelvic sag [Boericke].

Mammae (nodules/mastodynia)

• Conium — stony induration, axillary nodes, aggravation lying; less burning; Eupion: burning lancinations, jar-agg., cold <relieves> [Clarke].
• Phytolacca — radiating nipple-to-axilla pains, worse nursing; Eupion more pre-menstrual and mechanical jar-agg. [Farrington].
• Bryonia — stitching breast pains < least motion; Eupion adds nodularity + heat-agg. pruritus picture [Boger].

Ovarian pains (left-sided tendency)

• Lachesis — left ovary congestive, worse after sleep, intolerance of pressure on throat; Eupion lacks loquacity/jealous mood; pain is mechanical, jar-agg. [Kent].
• Apis — stinging ovarian pains, oedema, thirstlessness, better cold; Eupion shares cold-amel. but adds acrid leucorrhœa and back weakness [Boericke].

Skin (dry, fissured eczema; retro-auricular)

• Petroleum — winter fissures, deep cracks, dirty skin; Eupion accompanies pelvic symptoms and acrid leucorrhœa [Boger].
• Graphites — oozing sticky honey crusts; obesity; Eupion cracks are drier, sharper; less honey-ooze [Clarke].
• Mezereum — thick scabs with bone-pains; Eupion lacks intense neuralgia and prefers coolness [Farrington].

• Complementary: Sepia — constitutional backbone for pelvic laxity; Eupion intercurrent where acrid leucorrhœa/mastodynia and jar-agg. are pronounced [Kent], [Clarke].
• Complementary: Bellis perennis — after pelvic strain/childbed trauma; Eupion then for residual sag + acrid flux [Clarke].
• Complementary: Conium — for persistent nodular mammae after Eupion reduces burning/jar pains [Boericke].
• Follows well: Kreosotum — when corrosive fetor subsides and pruritic acridity with mechanical sag remains [Farrington].
• Follows well: Phytolacca — after acute mastitis phase cools, but pre-menstrual burning mastodynia persists [Clarke].
• Precedes well: Helonias — when uterine atony and tiredness (better when occupied) remain after Eupion relieves acridity and jar-agg. [Dewey].
• Precedes well: Murex — if hyperæsthetic sexual desire and purple congestion supervene [Farrington].
• Related/Compare: Sepia, Lilium-t., Kreos., Conium, Phyt., Bellis-p., Petroleum, Graphites, Lachesis, Apis (see Differentials).
• Antidotes: Nux/Camphor generally for medicinal over-action (classical) [Kent], [Allen].
• Inimicals: none recorded; avoid promiscuous alternation among pelvic congeners without a keynote shift [Boger].

Eupion’s essence is mechanical sag with acridity: a lax, tired pelvic floor and uterine supports, a womb that drags down on standing and walking, a small of back that feels broken, and mucosae that sting and excoriate with acrid discharges. The second pillar is the mamma: nodular, tender breasts with burning, knife-like pains, intolerant of jar, worst before menses, better by cold applications and rest. The third is the dry, fissured skin analogue — especially behind the ears in children and at delicate margins (nipples, vulva, anus) — pruritic and made worse by warmth and washing, soothed by cool ablutions and unguents. These three circulate through her day: housework and stairs reawaken backache and bearing-down; warmth of kitchen and bed inflames itching; an embrace or a jolt lights stabbing in lumpy breasts; dread of coitus arises from soreness rather than frigidity. When she lies down, binds the pelvis, and cools the hot places, she is at once more herself — this immediate mechanical and thermal responsiveness is the practical test of Eupion [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke].

The kingdom signature — a defatting, drying hydrocarbon — appears clinically as mucosal acridity and skin fissures; its “lightness” reads as ligamentous laxity rather than spasm. Miasmatically Psoric–Sycotic, it tends to functional sag, cystic/nodular gland change and chronic itchy catarrh; it is not a disorganiser like Kreosotum or a destructive “burning-corrosive” like Euphorbium. Thermal state leans warm-worse: heat of room/bed increases pruritus and congestion; coolness (not chill) is the friend. Pace is subacute–chronic, often postpartum or post-miscarriage, in house-bound exertion. Core polarities: bearing-down vs support, acrid excoriation vs cool ablution, jar-agg. vs rest, pre-menstrual congestion vs relief when flow is free. Micro-comparisons: Sepia also bears down, but she revives with exercise and has a distinct mental estrangement; Eupion seeks rest and mechanical support and is governed by acridity and breast nodularity. Kreosotum excoriates violently with fetid, often bloody discharges and caries-like destruction; Eupion is milder structurally but intensely pruritic. Conium/Phytolacca rule when mammary stoniness and radiating pains dominate; Eupion’s breast pains are burning and jar-provoked, with pre-menstrual timing and cool-amel. Petroleum/Graphites own the fissure-eczema, yet without the female pelvic triad they will disappoint. Thus the Eupion triad guides: (1) Uterine sag with broken-back weakness (better pressure/lying), (2) acrid, burning leucorrhœa/pruritus (worse heat), (3) nodular mastodynia (worse jar, better cold). When this triad repeats — and especially when retro-auricular cracks seal the skin analogue — Eupion earns the prescription.

Clinically, low–mid potencies (3x–6x/6C) act neatly in chronic pruritic leucorrhœa and postpartum sag with daily repetition; 30C–200C serve when the triad is crystalline and breast pains are prominent, dosing around the pre-menstrual window; LM/Q scales help in long-standing fibro-cystic breasts or habitual pelvic laxity alongside binders and pelvic floor work [Boericke], [Dewey], [Vithoulkas]. Repeat by need: when standing/housework brings back the “broken back” and burning flux, dose and rest; space as mechanical tolerance returns. Sequence often runs: Bellis-p. or Arnica (strain/trauma) → Eupion (acrid/pruritic sag + mastodynia) → Sepia or Helonias (constitutional tone). Management should mirror modalities: cool the hot places, support the sagging, avoid jar (use steps mindfully), loosen bands, and simplify diet.

Typical indications: Uterine displacement with bearing-down, small-of-back broken feeling; acrid, excoriating leucorrhœa with pruritus vulvæ, worse heat of bed, better cool ablutions; ovarian pains (L>R), worse jar, stairs, coitus; mastodynia with nodular breasts, burning/knife-like pains, worse before menses and on jar, better cold applications and rest; retro-auricular fissured eczema in the family; postpartum pelvic laxity [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Allen], [Farrington]. Potency/repetition: 6C t.i.d. in chronic pruritus and postpartum sag; 30C every evening for a week pre-menses in cyclic mastodynia; 200C single dose in clean keynote cases, then wait; LM/Q daily in longstanding fibro-cystic breasts with mechanical supports [Dewey], [Vithoulkas]. Pearls:
• Pre-menstrual stabbing in lumpy breasts, worse jar, better cold compress, with acrid leucorrhœa ⇒ Eupion 30C q.d. x 7 pre-menses; binder for daywork [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Post-miscarriage, uterine sag with broken back and burning leucorrhœa, worse standing/heat ⇒ Eupion 6C t.i.d.; pelvic binder; symptoms eased within days [Hering].
• Child with behind-ear fissures every winter; mother with acrid leucorrhœa and pelvic drag ⇒ Eupion 30C alt. days; cool ablutions/emollients; both improved [Boericke], [Clinical].

Mind

• Fear to move lest pelvis “drop,” desires to lie and support parts — mechanical anxiety guiding Eupion [Clarke].
• Irritability from jar-provoked breast pain; aversion to touch/embrace — mastodynia link [Boericke].
• Dread of coitus from soreness/pruritus — sexual aggravation [Clarke].
• Before menses, mood anxious/peevish; better when flow free — pelvic–menstrual hinge [Farrington].
• Better mental state from recumbency and cool applications — mirrors physical relief [Hering].
• Domestic exertion (housework) excites discouragement — mechanical aetiology [Clarke].

Head

• Headache, frontal band, with pelvic bearing-down; worse standing, better lying — reflex tie [Clarke].
• Heat of head and face in warm rooms with pruritus — thermal aggravation [Hering].
• Occipital ache from lumbosacral fatigue — back-pelvis link [Boger].
• Head heavy before menses; clears as flow begins — menses hinge [Farrington].
• Dizziness on stairs when pelvis feels loose — jar motif [Clarke].
• Headache from tight bands/corsets — mechanical aggravation [Clarke].

Female

• Uterus, displacement, bearing-down, worse standing/walking, better pressure/support — master rubric [Hering], [Clarke].
• Leucorrhœa acrid, excoriating, burning/itching; worse heat of bed, better cool ablutions — hallmark [Boericke].
• Ovarian pains, L>R, stitching/dragging to groin/thigh; worse jar/coitus; better lying — lateralising aid [Farrington].
• Mammae, nodular, painful; mastodynia, burning, worse motion/jar, better cold — breast keynote [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Postpartum/miscarriage pelvic laxity with back weakness — aetiologic rubric [Hering].
• Pruritus vulvæ without diabetes; heat-agg. — selection aid [Clarke].

Back/Generalities

• Back, small of, feels broken/weak; must support — mechanical key [Clarke], [Boger].
• Worse jar, stairs; better recumbency, binder — modalities [Hering].
• Standing long aggravates; housework renews pains — occupational rubric [Clarke].
• Loosening tight clothing ameliorates — practical cue [Clarke].
• Better after stool/urination (pressure off pelvis) — drainage hinge [Boger].
• Heat of bed aggravates itching and bearing-down — thermal law [Hering].

Skin

• Eczema, behind ears, fissured, worse winter/after washing, better cool ointments — classic Eupion skin [Boericke].
• Fissures at nipples/labial/anal margins, excoriating secretions — mucosa–skin bridge [Hering].
• Itching worse warmth of room/bed; scratching excoriates — thermal/sign [Clarke].
• Dry, chapped hands in winter — constitutional sign [Boericke].
• Eczema of nipples with mastodynia — female link [Farrington].
• Skin sensitive to soaps/detergents (defatting) — substance signature [Hughes].

Chest/Breasts

• Breast pains, burning, stabbing; nodular; worse jar; better cold — master breast rubric [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Before menses breasts tense, shooting to axilla — cyclic sign [Farrington].
• Cannot bear pressure of clothing; must support with hand — mechanical [Clarke].
• Nipple fissures; nursing painful — compare Phyt./Graph. [Boericke].
• Intercostal aching from splinting sore breast — behaviour [Clarke].
• Palpitation from breast pain anxiety — reactive [Clarke].

Urinary/Rectum

• Urethral meatus sore/excoriated by acrid discharges — mucosal tie [Clarke].
• Frequency before menses; better when flow free — pelvic congestion [Farrington].
• Anus fissured, pruritic; worse warmth; better cool washing — skin analogue [Hering].
• Constipation increases pelvic drag — mechanical [Clarke].
• Haemorrhoids not characteristic (differential with Erigeron/Hamamelis) — caution [Farrington].
• Burning urination over excoriations, not deep cystitis — scope [Clarke].

Nose/Ears/Eyes

• Nose, margins fissured; anterior nares sore, dry — mucosa dryness [Allen].
• Coryza acrid (mild), warms worse — thermal [Clarke].
• Ears, behind, eczema fissured — keynote [Boericke].
• Eyes, external canthi sore, aggravated by heat — skin tie [Clarke].
• Warm rooms aggravate ocular/aural itching — thermal law [Hering].
• Cool air ameliorates mucosal/skin soreness — confirmation [Clarke].

Allen, T. F. — Encyclopædia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): proving fragments and clinical notes—acrid leucorrhœa, ovarian stitches, skin fissures; general modalities.
Boericke, W. — Pocket Manual of Homœopathic Materia Medica (1901): keynotes—bearing-down, acrid discharges, retro-auricular eczema, nodular mastodynia; modalities (jar-agg., better cold/support).
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica (1915): pelvic–back mechanics; modality synthesis; skeletal rubrics guiding Eupion selection.
Clarke, J. H. — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): substance background (paraffinic naphtha), female pelvis/mammae picture, skin analogues; clinical pearls and relationships.
Farrington, E. A. — Clinical Materia Medica (1887): comparisons—Sepia, Lilium-t., Kreos., Conium, Phyt.; menstrual/ovarian timing and breast pains.
Hering, C. — The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica (1879): confirmations—bearing-down, pruritus vulvæ, heat-agg., relief by support/cool; postpartum sag.
Hughes, R. — A Manual of Pharmacodynamics (1870): chemical nature of Eupion; cutaneous/mucosal desiccation; dietary/regimen cautions.
Kent, J. T. — Lectures on Homœopathic Materia Medica (1905): constitutional colouring of Sepia/Lilium vs Eupion; management by modalities; miasmatic notes.
Nash, E. B. — Leaders in Homœopathic Therapeutics (1899): remarks on pelvic laxity remedies and acrid leucorrhœa (for contrast with Kreos./Sepia).
Phatak, S. R. — Materia Medica of Homoeopathic Medicines (1977): concise keynotes—bearing-down, back weakness, acrid discharges; modality emphasis.
Dewey, W. A. — Practical Homœopathic Therapeutics (1901): dosing and sequencing in uterine prolapse and mastodynia; postpartum cases.
Tyler, M. L. — Homœopathic Drug Pictures (1942): vivid sketches of nodular mammae and retro-auricular eczema within Eupion’s sphere.