Hepar sulphuris

Hepar sulphuris calcareum is not found in nature but is a chemically prepared compound made by fusing clean oyster shells (rich in calcium carbonate) with flowers of sulphur. The resulting substance is then triturated for homeopathic use. Its formula is not fixed, but it includes various calcium polysulphides and sulphates.

Proved by Samuel Hahnemann in the early 1800s. Proving was conducted using potencies made from the triturated salt. Documented in Materia Medica Pura and expanded by Allen, Hering, and others.

Hepar sulphuris represents the archetype of reactivity and suppuration. It is the remedy of those who are oversensitive, emotionally and physically, and who move quickly into inflammation, infection, and breakdown. The personality is fragile, fearful, and irritable — an inner volcano covered by an outer crust. It is one of the most important remedies in the transition from inflammation to pus and must be prescribed before the abscess opens, or to hasten and support it.

Hepar sulph. has a marked action on the mucous membranes, particularly of the respiratory tract (larynx, throat, bronchi), where it produces copious, thick, yellow, offensive discharges. It also affects the skin, especially in cases of suppuration and abscess formation, with extreme sensitivity to pain and touch. The remedy acts powerfully on glands, causing inflammation and suppuration (especially cervical and lymphatic). It influences the nervous system, with irritability and extreme reactivity. It has a strong effect on bones, joints, and the digestive system, particularly when inflammation or ulceration is involved. Its hypersensitivity and tendency toward suppuration and putrescence dominate its pathogenesis.

The Hepar sulph. patient is intensely irritable, quarrelsome, and oversensitive to pain and external impressions [Kent]. There is a violent temper, outbursts of rage at trifles, and a tendency to despair quickly. Hepar patients often imagine they are being insulted or persecuted, which may manifest in suspiciousness and touchiness. They fear being alone, yet dislike company. There is a profound fear of suffering, pain, and disease, especially of contagious illness — to the point of paranoia. Suicidal thoughts may arise, but the patient is too cowardly to act on them [Clarke].

Disturbed by pain and heat. Frequent waking. Restless sleep with vivid dreams. Cannot fall asleep easily due to irritability.

Anxious dreams, dreams of quarrels and danger. Nightmares of suffocation, injury, or fire. Wakes with fright or crying.

The keynote of Hepar sulph. is hypersensitivity — to pain, cold, touch, and mental impression. The patient is weak, irritable, and fearful. All discharges are offensive and yellow. It is a major remedy for suppuration, abscesses, ulceration, and chronic catarrh. Symptoms appear after exposure to dry cold wind or suppressed eruptions.

Chilliness with heat of head. Sweats profusely, especially during sleep. High fevers with intense irritability and hypersensitivity. Offensiveness of perspiration.

Chills from slightest exposure. Fever followed by profuse sweat. Perspiration offensive, sour or fetid. Sweats during sleep or when covered.

Vertigo when moving the head or rising from bed, especially in the morning [Hering]. Headaches are bursting, with congestion and heat, often from exposure to cold air. Scalp is exquisitely sensitive, cannot brush hair or endure even light pressure [Boericke]. Suppurative eruptions on the scalp, crusty and offensive.

Ophthalmia with intense photophobia and sensitivity to wind [Clarke]. Styes, especially recurrent and suppurating. Eyelids red, swollen, and sticking together in the morning. Pain as if a foreign body is present. Lachrymation copious and acrid.

Otitis media with thick, purulent discharge, especially offensive-smelling [Allen]. Hearing diminished, with roaring and buzzing noises. Ears are extremely sensitive to touch and wind.

Coryza with thick, yellow, foul-smelling mucus. Nose ulcerated and crusted. Nostril edges sore and cracked. Bleeding common when blowing the nose. Pain and swelling in nasal bones.

Skin pale and sallow, often blotchy or puffy. Facial eruptions tend to suppurate. Cheeks flushed with heat in fever. Cracks and eruptions around the lips and chin. Jaw pain in cold air.

Tongue white-coated, trembling. Gums swollen, bleed easily. Toothache aggravated by cold air and touch. Ulcers on the inside of cheeks. Mouth may have a metallic or sour taste.

Toothache from cold drinks or exposure to wind. Teeth feel elongated and sensitive. Worse at night, especially when lying down. Gums spongy and easily bleed.

Pain on swallowing as if a splinter or fishbone is stuck [Kent]. Tonsils enlarged, ulcerated, and suppurating. Worse from cold air and least uncovering. Hoarseness with yellow mucus expectoration. Offensive breath.

Dry, croupy cough, worse in cold air or early morning. Hoarseness with expectoration of yellow, thick mucus. Chest sore to touch. Sensation of splinter in the throat or chest. Threat of suppuration in lungs (early abscess).

Palpitations from anger or slight exertion. Feels as though the heart would stop. Irregular pulse. Weakness with sensation of heat in chest.

Difficult breathing from constriction or mucus. Wheezing and rattling with little expectoration. Cough triggers vomiting. Dyspnoea worse in cold air or at night.

Craving for sour and strong-flavoured foods (e.g. vinegar, pickles). Nausea in the morning, especially after rising. Sensitive to pressure in epigastrium. Gastritis with burning and heaviness.

Distended, tender abdomen. Painful to touch or motion. Offensive flatus. Tendency to suppurative processes in glands or lymph nodes of the abdomen. Shooting pain in inguinal regions.

Haemorrhoids painful and bleeding. Fissures with stitching pain. Diarrhoea with offensive, sour stools. Constipation with hard, dry stools passed with great pain. Painful urging before and after stool.

Frequent urging with scanty urine. Painful urination, with a burning sensation. Offensive, turbid urine. Urinary tract infections with fever and irritability. Involuntary urination during sleep.

Craves sour, pungent, spicy foods. Aversion to fatty or rich meals. Desires vinegar and pickles. Cannot tolerate cold drinks.

Itching, eruptions on genitals. Offensive sweat in scrotal area. Testes sensitive and painful. Glandular swellings in the groin. Discharge from urethra, yellow and thick.

Leucorrhoea thick, yellow, foul. Menses irregular, too early and profuse, with stitching pains. Breasts painful before menstruation. Nipples cracked, inflamed. Prone to mastitis and abscess formation.

Pain between shoulder blades. Neck glands swollen and tender. Spine sensitive to touch, especially cervical region. Cannot tolerate pressure from collars or neck coverings.

Joints inflamed, swollen, and sensitive. Cracking sounds when moving. Eruptions between fingers. Hands and feet perspire and smell offensive. Nails brittle, deformed, or surrounded by ulcerated skin.

Extreme sensitivity to touch. Skin eruptions suppurate readily. Boils, abscesses, and acne with thick yellow pus. Crusty eruptions with foul odour. Skin rough, prone to cracks, ulcers, and slow healing.

• Silicea – Both promote suppuration, but Silicea is chilly and timid with poor vitality. Hepar is irritable, oversensitive, and reactive.
• Mercurius – Also offensive and glandular, but has salivation, tongue flabbiness, and more instability.
• Sulphur – Both are offensive, itchy, and suppurative, but Sulphur is more philosophical, independent, and mentally active.
• Belladonna – For acute inflammation with redness and heat; Hepar is used when suppuration is threatened or established.
• Arsenicum album – Offensive discharges, but is restless, anxious, and chilly with burning pains.

• Complementary: Silicea, Calcarea carbonica
• Antidotes: Belladonna, Chamomilla
• Inimical: Mercurius
• Follows Well: Bryonia, Aconite
• Precedes Well: Sulphur, Silicea

Invaluable in boils, abscesses, tonsillitis, croup, otitis, dental infections, and any skin condition that tends to fester or ulcerate. Low potencies (6C, 30C) to hasten suppuration. Higher potencies (200C, 1M) in septic conditions with intense irritability.

Mind

• Irritability, trifles, at
• Fear, disease, of
• Sensitivity, mental impressions, to
• Anger, violent
• Suicidal thoughts, too cowardly to act

Head

• Sensitive scalp, touch, to
• Headache, cold exposure, after
• Boils, scalp, on

Throat & Respiratory

• Splinter sensation, throat, in
• Tonsillitis, suppurating
• Cough, croupy, morning, in cold air

Skin

• Abscesses, tendency to
• Eruptions, suppurating
• Boils, painful, recurrent
• Ulcers, offensive, slow healing

Generalities

• Pain, sensitive to, slightest
• Cold, air, from, aggravates
• Warmth, desires
• Offensive discharges, pus, sweat, stool

Samuel Hahnemann – Materia Medica Pura: Original proving, particularly sensitive mucous symptoms and skin eruptions.
James Kent – Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica: Mental symptoms and core personality themes of oversensitivity and irritability.
William Boericke – Pocket Manual: Modalities and clinical applications, especially in abscesses and skin diseases.
John H. Clarke – Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: Detailed physical descriptions and connections to syphilitic tendencies.
Hering – Guiding Symptoms: Rich repertorial references and confirmation of fever, throat, and suppuration indications.
F. Allen – Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica: Expanded proving symptoms and glandular affinities.