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.

Historically, Hepar sulph. (Liver of Sulphur) was used in traditional medicine for its antiseptic and expectorant properties. It was applied externally in skin diseases and scrofula. In chemistry, it is used in qualitative analysis for testing metals due to its sulphide content.

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 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.

• Warmth in every form (wrapping up, warm applications, warm drinks) [Boericke]
• Damp weather (in contrast to many skin remedies)
• After discharge has begun (especially pus)
• Covering the affected part
• Rest and immobilisation

• Cold, even the least draught (especially cold air on uncovered parts) [Hering]
• Uncovering any part, especially the head or neck
• Touch (even the lightest touch is intolerable)
• Pain worsens at night or early morning
• Wind, even mild
• Mercury and other metals
• Emotional disturbance and vexation

• 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

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.

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.