Kreosotum

Kreosotum is a distillation product of wood tar, particularly from beechwood, consisting mainly of phenolic compounds such as guaiacol and creosol. It is a corrosive, pungent liquid known for its strong antiseptic and preservative properties. In homeopathy, Kreosotum exhibits a profoundly irritating action on the mucous membranes, especially the female genital tract, gums, urinary system, and respiratory passages, and holds a key place in ulcerative, haemorrhagic, and putrid states.

First proved by Stapf and later verified clinically by Hering, Jahr, and others. Symptoms confirmed through toxicological accounts and clinical cases.

Kreosotum represents a state of acrid discharge, ulceration, and erosion—both physical and emotional. The patient feels corroded by her own internal fires: burning pains, putrid secretions, and emotional anguish. Its sphere is one of oversensitivity—to physical pain, emotional insult, and internal dysfunction. It is especially suited to women who feel disrespected or sullied, manifesting this as gynaecological pathology. The essence is burning, both literal and symbolic.

• Female genitalia – ulceration, leucorrhoea, haemorrhage
• Teeth and gums – rapid decay, swelling, bleeding
• Urinary tract – irritation, incontinence, excoriating urine
• Respiratory tract – hoarseness, rawness, ulcerative tendencies
• Digestive tract – nausea, vomiting of blood
• Skin and mucous membranes – burning, ulceration, offensive discharges
• Mind – anxiety, restlessness, especially at night

Anxious, restless, and overwhelmed by dark thoughts, particularly at night. A keynote is dread of being alone and sensitive to the least noise [Kent]. Depression deepens in the evening. Suited to oversensitive women, often suffering from indignation or grief after humiliation. Irritability with sudden weeping. Weak memory and inability to focus. Easily startled. Children become cross and irritable during teething or illness, crying out in sleep or clinging to the mother.

Restless sleep with jerking and crying. Dreams of fire, misfortune, or death. Waking from pain or excoriating discharges. Drowsy during day but sleepless at night. Teeth grinding in children.

Frightful, vivid dreams. Of robbers, falling, or disgrace. Dreams disturb sleep and cause anxious waking.

Burning, acrid discharges and ulceration are keynote. Haemorrhagic tendency. Offensiveness pervades—discharges, perspiration, breath. Weakness after slight exertion. Aggravation from warmth, especially of bed. Suited to women with chronic gynaecological complaints, children with dental decay, and elderly with urinary troubles. Oversensitive, excitable constitutions.

Chill predominates, followed by heat and sweating. Night sweats offensive. Burning in limbs. Fever may alternate with diarrhoea or leucorrhoea. Offensive perspiration.

Chill begins in back or extremities. Heat with redness of face. Sweat offensive, especially during sleep. Copious sweating with exhaustion.

Heavy, congestive headaches with a feeling as if the brain were bruised or sore. Pulsating pain in temples with restlessness. Head feels too large. Scalp sore to touch. Vertigo on rising or turning the head, especially in the elderly or in uterine disorders. Headache follows suppressed discharges or menses. The vertex may feel hot, the occiput icy cold. Falling of hair with itching and burning of scalp.

Burning, smarting, and lachrymation with inflamed lids. Ulcers or styes on lids. Vision dim with sensitivity to light. Flickering before the eyes. In children, blepharitis with thick crusts, worse during dentition. Eyes feel full or strained after weeping. Discharge from eyes acrid, causing rawness around eyes.

Noises in ears – buzzing, ringing, roaring. Offensive otorrhoea in scrofulous children. Ears sensitive to wind or pressure. Diminished hearing after suppressed skin eruptions. Pain in ears extending to teeth or throat. Itching deep in ear canals, leading to scratching and excoriation.

Nose bleeds easily, especially in menstruating women or during fevers. Discharges are acrid, offensive, and sometimes blood-streaked. Tip of nose red and burning. Crust formation in nostrils with raw surfaces underneath. Coryza alternating with leucorrhoea or skin eruptions. Smell impaired during catarrhal states.

Pale, sunken, or bloated. Bluish discoloration around mouth or under eyes. Lips cracked, bleeding, or covered with crusts. Cheeks flushed in fever. Facial neuralgia with burning or shooting pain, often linked with dental complaints. Expression anxious, distressed, particularly during menses.

Notable for early decay of teeth, especially in children – black, crumbling, painful even before eruption [Boericke]. Gums spongy, bleeding, and sensitive. Bad breath, especially in the morning. Saliva foul-smelling, yellowish, and copious. Tongue coated white or yellow, with burning sensation. Taste bitter or metallic. Dryness of mouth in the morning.

Rapid decay, even of newly erupted teeth. Pain worse from warmth, sweets, and during menses. Teething children scream in agony and often develop diarrhoea. Looseness and sensitivity with bleeding. Toothache extends to ear, jaw, and neck.

Raw, burning, with constant need to swallow. Ulceration may develop with bleeding. Hawking of tough mucus. Feeling of a lump or plug in the throat. Voice hoarse or lost. Swallowing painful, especially liquids. Stinging pain radiates to ears. Mucous membranes dry, cracked.

Hoarseness with rawness of larynx. Burning pain in chest. Cough dry, spasmodic, worse lying down. Cough with yellowish or blood-streaked expectoration. Sensation of weight on chest. Difficult respiration during night. Offensive breath during coughing. Painful soreness in chest muscles.

Palpitation with anxiety, especially during menses. Irregular pulse in chronic uterine disorders. Feeling as if heart would stop. Cold extremities during heart weakness.

Difficult, short, and superficial. Aggravated in warm room. Burning in trachea. Cough excites gagging or vomiting. Voice hoarse or lost. Spasmodic constriction of chest.

Nausea from smell of food. Vomiting of food, bile, or blood-streaked mucus. Burning in epigastrium. Craves stimulants or indigestible things (pica). Great thirst for cold water but vomits soon after drinking. Appetite variable. Sour eructations, sometimes offensive. Stomach sensitive to touch.

Burning, distension, and cramping pains. Flatulence with gurgling. Colic before stool or during menses. Diarrhoea with cutting pains. Abdomen bloated, especially in children with dental or uterine complaints. Griping relieved by bending double.

Diarrhoea during dentition or menses, with offensive, watery, or frothy stools. Excoriating discharge causing redness around anus. Itching and burning. Constipation alternating with diarrhoea. Haemorrhoids bleed and burn. Tenesmus with incomplete evacuation.

Excoriating, burning urine, causing pain and redness around genitals [Clarke]. Urination frequent, with urgency and inability to retain urine. Worse at night. Incontinence in children and elderly. Dark, foul-smelling urine. Sediment copious. Urinary tract infections with intense burning before, during, and after urination.

Aversion to meat, milk. Craves stimulants, pungent things. Nausea from smell of food. Desire for indigestible things (chalk, slate). Food may be vomited shortly after eating.

Erections painful or absent. Emissions frequent, debilitating. Sexual thoughts lead to exhaustion. Discharges corrosive, with soreness. Offensive sweat in genitals. Itching of scrotum. Seminal weakness after coition.

Profuse, acrid leucorrhoea, excoriating and staining yellow or brown [Kent]. Worse between menses or during pregnancy. Uterine haemorrhage with dark, offensive clots. Menses irregular, early, profuse, and offensive. Vagina raw, burning, bleeding after coition. Itching, swelling, and soreness of labia. Pain radiating to thighs or back. Tendency to carcinoma of cervix with ulceration and offensive discharges. Disposition to abortion. Nausea during pregnancy with vomiting of blood.

Burning and soreness between scapulae. Backache during menstruation or leucorrhoea. Spine feels weak and aching. Sensation of weight in sacral region. Chills along spine. Lumbar pain after exertion.

Cold hands and feet, especially at night. Itching and burning in palms. Swelling of joints. Neuralgic pains, especially in lower limbs. Cramps in calves or soles. Weakness and trembling, particularly after menses.

Burning, itching, excoriating eruptions. Ulcers with foul discharges. Skin unhealthy, even minor injuries ulcerate. Discharges acrid and offensive. Eczema and intertrigo in children. Worse in warmth, better in cold air. Foul perspiration.

• Sepia – Leucorrhoea worse after menses, but less acrid and not haemorrhagic
• Mercurius – Offensive discharges and ulceration, but more glandular involvement
• Arsenicum album – Burning pains, but with more restlessness and anxiety
• Nitric acid – Acrid discharges and bleeding, but more stitching and splinter-like pains
• Sulphur – Acrid, offensive discharges, but more constitutional heat and burning
• Calcarea carb – Children with dental issues, but less offensive discharges

• Complementary: Sulphur, Lycopodium, Calcarea carb
• Antidotes: Nux vomica, Camphora
• Follows well: Sepia in chronic uterine affections

• Top remedy for ulcerative cervicitis with burning and bleeding
• Use in children with rapid tooth decay, even before teeth erupt
• Valuable in offensive leucorrhoea, especially excoriating
• Helpful in incontinence in elderly women
• Consider for burning haemorrhoids with offensive discharge

Mind

• Anxiety, evening
• Sensitive to noise
• Dread of being alone

Teeth

• Decay before eruption
• Pain during menses
• Sensitive to warmth
• Female Genitalia
• Leucorrhoea acrid, excoriating
• Haemorrhage, dark, clotted
• Burning after coition

Urine

• Incontinence, night
• Burning, excoriating
• Frequent, small quantities

Skin

• Ulcers, offensive
• Burning, itching eruptions
• Excoriation in folds

• Samuel Hahnemann – Chronic Diseases: Primary proving symptoms and notes on ulceration
• J.T. Kent – Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica: Female complaints, mental picture
• William Boericke – Pocket Manual: Clinical emphasis on dental decay, acrid discharges
• C. Hering – Guiding Symptoms: Ulcerative affections and urinary details
• John Henry Clarke – Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: Expanded gynaecological and urinary symptoms
• Allen’s Encyclopaedia: Toxicological symptoms and broader clinical contexts