Origanum vulgare

A strongly aromatic labiaceous herb whose essential oil is rich in phenolic monoterpenes (notably carvacrol and thymol). Folk and medical writers long noted its stimulant, carminative, emmenagogue, and antispasmodic properties; the volatile oil is a cutaneous and mucosal irritant in concentration [Hughes], [Clarke]. The homeopathic tincture is prepared from the fresh flowering tops, and clinical tradition collects a picture concentrated in erethism of the sexual sphere, pruritus of the genital–anal region, and hysteriform neuro-vegetative states—especially nymphomania, masturbation in children, pruritus vulvae/ani, and pelvic congestion with great itching and restless excitation [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger]. These toxicologic and empirical notes ground its affinity for pelvic organs, skin/mucosae, and the reflex nervous system.

No classical Hahnemannian proving extant; the pathogenesis is drawn chiefly from fragmentary provings, toxicologic observation, and clinical confirmations: nymphomania, masturbation (even in children), pruritus vulvae/ani, leucorrhoea with irritation, pelvic congestion with hysterical weeping, restlessness, and insomnia from sexual thoughts [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke]. Tags: [Clinical] [Toxicology].

Essence: Origanum is the remedy of perineal pruritus driving sexual erethism. The itch of vulva (and often anus) lights the mind with erotic images; the patient becomes restless, tearful, and importunate for caresses, sleeps poorly, and seeks handling for relief. This cycle is psoric at the skin–mucosa and sycotic in its recurrent sensual excitations. The thermal law is clear: warmth—of bed, room, baths, clothing—aggravates; cold—ablution, air, drinks—soothes. The disorder is not essentially moral, psychotic, or urinary; it is cutaneous–pelvic with a hysteriform overlay. Children exhibit masturbatory movements and simulate coitus; women confess to handling themselves for sleep; men complain of itch with nocturnal erections and emissions that bring little contentment.

Polarities & pace: Worse night, warmth, friction/touch, sexual thoughts, menses, uncleanliness; better cold ablutions, cool air, firm pressure, diversion, post-menstrual. The pace is relapsing—paroxysms rise in the dark quiet of night; the day calms with cooling and occupation. Differentiation: choose Orig-v. over Hyos./Platina when there is no delirium or haughty mental pose, but there is simple importunate desire and itch-driven handling; over Canth. when urinary burning/tenesmus are absent; over Murex when pruritus outranks uterine pains; over Caladium when there is desire (erethism) rather than aversion/impotence; over Kreos. when discharge is not primary. Management is half the cure: prescribe cool ablutions, scrupulous cleanliness, loose, cool linen, avoid hot bathing, and enforce mental diversion in the evening; then the dose meets a disciplined terrain and breaks the cycle [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger].

• Female genitalia / pelvic plexus — Nymphomania, violent pruritus vulvae, erotism with pelvic congestion and desire to be caressed; symptoms often worse at night and from warmth of bed [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Childhood sexual reflexes — Masturbation in children, especially girls, with itching of genitals and restless excitability; imitates the sexual act [Hering], [Clarke].
• Male sexual sphere — Erethism with pruritus and tendency to onanism; emissions with irritation rather than weakness (contrast Staph., Selenium) [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Perineal skin / mucosa — Pruritus ani with burning after scratching; anal and vulvar itching alternate; sweat and warmth aggravate [Hering], [Boger].
• Nervous system (hysteriform) — Weeping, laughing and crying by turns, restlessness, insomnia from sexual thoughts, hyperaesthesia to touch in erogenous zones [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Uterus / menses — Pelvic fullness and dragging; menses may be too early or too profuse with increased itching and desire [Clarke], [Allen].

The mental picture is dominated by erotic preoccupation: ideas of sex arise involuntarily, crowding out other thoughts, and with them come palpitant restlessness, weeping, and a craving for caresses that is not purely sentimental but distinctly sensual; this tallies with the worse from thinking/talking of sexual matters in the modalities [Clarke], [Boericke]. There is alternation of laughing and crying, a hysteriform lability whose trigger is usually pelvic and cutaneous rather than moral; slight contradiction or loneliness intensifies the desire for contact (Generalities/Female cross-link). Sleep is driven away by recurring sexual images, and the patient confesses to handling herself for relief, after which there is a brief calm followed by shame and renewed itching (Sleep/Skin links) [Hering], [Clarke]. Children show a naïve imitation of the sexual act, pulling at the genitals and rocking for relief; when reproved they become peevish and tearful, demonstrating how the reflex itch commands the mood [Hering]. Unlike Hyoscyamus, which couples lasciviousness with jealous folly, or Platina, which veils desire under haughty coldness, Orig-v. is simple, importunate, pruritic and restless. There may be transient despair at night, born of sleeplessness and uncontrollable urges, which softens by day with cold ablutions and diversion. The moral sense remains, but is overridden by local itch and pelvic fullness, underlining the remedy’s peripheral–central feedback loop [Clarke], [Boger].

Sleepless from sexual thoughts, itching, and restless desire; when sleep comes it is short and unrefreshing; after handling or cold ablution she may doze until the warmth builds again (modal echo) [Hering], [Clarke]. Children sleep lightly, wake to rub the parts, then doze; reprimand brings weeping.

Amorous dreams; dreams of being embraced; waking with itching and desire which are worse in warmth and better from cooling measures [Clarke]. Children dream confusedly and grind teeth.

Origanum binds a psoric–sycotic loop of perineal pruritus and sexual erethism to hysteriform restlessness and insomnia. The master modalities are: worse at night, in warmth of bed/rooms, from friction/touch, sexual thoughts, before/during menses, and with uncleanliness; better from cold ablutions, cool open air, firm pressure, diversion, clean, bland care, and in the post-menstrual quiet. Cross-links recur: Mind’s importunate desire rises from Skin’s itch; Female pelvic congestion amplifies Head fullness; Rectal itch alternates with vulvar. Differentiate from Hyoscyamus (lascivious mania with jealous folly and nudity), Platina (haughty, proud, numbness with exalted sexuality), Cantharis (ferocious sexual and urinary burning), Murex (uterine engorgement with desire and pelvic pains), Medorrhinum (promiscuous hypersexuality, thrills, and restlessness), Caladium (itching genitals with impotence/aversion), Kreosotum (corroding discharges with pruritus), Ratanhia (anal itch > cold), and Staphisagria/Selenium (after-effects of onanism, more weakness than erethism) [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger], [Phatak].

No continued fever; transient flush heat during paroxysm, with hot skin locally; temperature otherwise normal. Heat provokes rather than results from disease.

Heat predominates in warm bed, skin hot and itching; chill follows cool ablution, bringing calm; sweat local and irritating in folds, a practical aggravation of pruritus [Hering]. The thermal axis is central to management.

Congestive fullness in head accompanies pelvic turgescence, with flushing of face during paroxysms of itching and excitement; headache is dull, frontal, and worse at night when warm in bed, better on cooling measures and after discharge/relief (Generalities cross-link) [Clarke]. Noise and light are generally tolerated; the head responds to the genital state more than to sensory stimuli. After long wakefulness the temples throb faintly and the scalp is sensitive to warm hats; washing with cool water refreshes. Comparing Murex, the head is less congestive and more reactive to itch–desire cycles; compared with Cantharis, less burning, less urinary association.

Eyes are bright, moist, and watchful during excitement; lids feel heavy after wakeful nights. No constant catarrh belongs, though rubbing from general restlessness may redden the margins. Vision blurs from fatigue, not from strain; cool applications soothe when headache coexists. The ocular signs are accessory to the pelvic–cutaneous storm [Clarke].

A transient roaring or sense of rush in ears may accompany flushing and head-fullness at climaxes of erethism; otherwise unremarkable [Clarke]. Children are quick to start at reproof at night, less in day, echoing the hysteriform tone.

No characteristic coryza; occasional sneezing paroxysms after warm baths that also heighten genital itching, confirming the warmth-aggravation axis [Hering]. Odours and spices may stimulate in sensitive women, but this is idiosyncratic rather than pathognomonic.

Face flushed, then pale after indulgence in scratching or handling; lips moist, mouth partly open in broken sleep. A soft, beseeching expression appears during desire for caresses; tears come readily, again mapping to the mental lability [Clarke]. There is little eruption; any perioral irritation is secondary to weeping and sweat.

Mouth dry towards midnight from wakefulness; desire for cool drinks accompanies heat of skin. Tongue clean or lightly coated; taste flat after restless nights. No ulcerative stomatitis belongs; the mouth mirrors the nervous state.

Teeth grit or gnash in sexually restless children; the act often precedes handling of parts, a nursing clue to the syndrome [Hering]. Pain is not a feature.

Throat dry in warm rooms at night; swallowing cool water is grateful. Globus-like ball in throat may appear in women during paroxysms of weeping and desire—a hysteriform sign that fades with cooling and composure [Clarke]. No chronic tonsillitis belongs.

Breasts may be tingly and full in excited women; palpitation from emotion and erotic images occurs and subsides with cooling and composure [Clarke]. No organic chest disease belongs.

Pulse quickened during paroxysms; afterwards soft and slow. Anxiety is sensual–restless, not cardiac. Quiet and cold sponging steady it [Clarke].

Sighing during weeping; a sense of oppression in close, warm rooms which abates in cool air; breathing otherwise normal. The chest reflects the nervous and thermal modalities rather than an airway disorder.

Appetite is capricious; night hunger appears in wakeful women, but eating does not allay pelvic unrest. Warm drinks may increase flush and itch; cool drinks soothe temporarily [Clarke]. Nausea may follow long wakefulness; bowels and stomach settle when sleep returns.

A sense of fullness and dragging in the hypogastrium accompanies the sexual wave; tight clothing increases discomfort and itching (Female cross-link). Flatulence is incidental; warmth of bed augments abdominal vascularity and pelvic turgescence, aggravating the picture [Clarke], [Boger]. Cool air and light coverings mitigate.

Pruritus ani is frequent, alternating with or accompanying pruritus vulvae; burning after scratching and after warm stools; relief from cool ablution and firm pressure on sitting [Hering], [Boger]. Haemorrhoids may be irritable in the warm night. The rectal outlet participates in the same psoric itch field that drives the genital unrest.

Urging slight; urine generally normal. Smarting at meatus after scratching the vulvar region may be complained of, without true cystitis. Cantharis differs in violent urinary burning and incessant urging; Orig-v. remains cutaneous–sexual [Clarke].

Warm drinks/food may increase flush and itch; cool drinks soothe transiently [Clarke]. Spices and alcohol may stimulate in sensitive subjects; a simple diet reduces mucosal sting.

Men show erethism with pruritus and a tendency to masturbation; erections are frequent at night from itching and erotic images, not from robust desire; after relief, a short sleep ensues, then the cycle returns [Clarke], [Boericke]. Emissions may occur with excitation and little satisfaction. Compared with Caladium (itching with impotence and aversion to coitus), Orig-v. has importunate excitation with itch as driver.

The keynote field. Nymphomania with violent vulvar itching, desire for caresses, weeping, restlessness, and sleepless erotic thoughts; she handles herself for relief and begs to be soothed (not necessarily to cohabit), a distinction from the jealous exhibitionism of Hyos. or pride of Platina [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke]. Menses may be early/profuse and increase itching; leucorrhoea thin or irritating; warmth of bed and baths aggravate; cool ablutions relieve. Pelvic congestion and fullness make sitting in cool air welcome; tight clothing aggravates. In children, masturbation is frank; the child simulates the act and is peevish if restrained [Hering].

Lumbosacral ache from pelvic congestion and nocturnal restlessness; heat of bed worsens, cool surfaces ease. Sacral pruritus sometimes alternates with anal/vulvar itch (Rectum link) [Boger].

Fidgety restlessness; must change posture in bed; hands are busy and stray to the itching parts. No fixed articular pattern. After cold ablutions she lies still.

Keynote: Pruritus vulvae (and often ani) with burning after scratching, warmth aggravation, cooling relief [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke]. Excoriations from rubbing; mucocutaneous borders red and tender; sweat/smears sting. The skin outside the perineum is usually quiet; the perineal field is the stage. Compare Kreos. (excoriating discharge), Ratanhia (pruritus ani > cold), Sulph. (general itch, heat).

Nymphomania / Erotic excitement

• Hyoscyamus — Lascivious mania with jealous, shameless display; Orig-v. is pruritic, importunate, not delirious [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Platina — Haughty sensuality, exalted pride; less itch-driven; Orig-v. is humble, restless, and relieved by cooling [Clarke].
• Cantharis — Furious sexual desire with urinary burning and tenesmus; Orig-v. lacks the urinary fire [Boger].
• Murex — Uterine congestion with desire, worse touch, better pressure; Orig-v. has dominant pruritus and night warmth aggravation [Clarke].

Masturbation / Children

• Staphisagria — After-effects of onanism: shame, weakness, genital soreness; Orig-v. chiefly prevents/controls by allaying itch and erethism [Hering], [Clarke].
• Bufo — Masturbation with epileptiform tendency; mental obtuseness; more destructive habit; Orig-v. without convulsive sphere [Boger].
• Cina — Worms with genital rubbing, irritable child; Orig-v. has erotic handling without worm-signs [Clarke].

Pruritus vulvae / ani

• Kreosotum — Excoriating leucorrhoea corroding parts; Orig-v. pruritus with minimal discharge [Clarke].
• Ratanhia — Anal itch severe, better cold; akin for the anal side of Orig-v. [Boger].
• Sulphur — General itch, heat, unclean skin; Orig-v. local perineal field, erotically charged [Kent], [Clarke].

Hysteria / Neuro-vegetative

• Ignatia — Grief, paradoxes, globus; sexuality secondary; Orig-v. sexual itch–desire primary [Clarke].
• Lilium t. — Pelvic rush with cardiac see-saw, anxiety; Orig-v. calmer affect, more pruritic driver [Clarke].

• Complementary: Ratanhia — For pruritus ani residuum when genital symptoms have abated under Orig-v. [Boger].
• Complementary: Kreosotum — When corroding leucorrhoea emerges after pruritus quiets [Clarke].
• Complementary: Staphisagria — For after-effects (mental shame, soreness) of masturbation once erethism is calmed [Hering].
• Follows well: Sepia — If bearing-down and pelvic slackness persist after itch–desire cycle is controlled [Clarke].
• Follows well: Nux-v. — In nervous, oversensitive women with night wakefulness and erethism aggravated by stimulants [Clarke], [Boger].
• Precedes well: Caladium — If the case turns to itch with impotence/aversion in men after initial erethism [Clarke].
• Related: Hyos., Platina, Canth., Murex, Medorrhinum — erotism cluster; select by urinary fire, pride/insanity, uterine engorgement, or promiscuous restlessness.
• Antidotes (functional): Cold ablutions, cleanliness, cool air, firm pressure, mental diversion; Camphor for drug over-stimulation [Clarke], [Hughes].

• Pruritus vulvae with nymphomania: Night, warmth, sexual thoughts aggravate; cold ablutions, firm pressure, and cool air relieve—Orig-v. is often decisive [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Masturbation in children (girls or boys): Handling of parts, rocking, peevishness if restrained; rule out worms, then give Orig-v. with strict cooling/cleanliness measures [Hering], [Clarke].
• Pruritus ani alternating with vulvar itch: Anal burning after scratching, better cold—interleave Orig-v. with Ratanhia if anal side dominates [Boger].
• Dosing: Acute erethism/pruritus—6C–30C every few hours, then space; chronic night cycles—30C–200C once daily or every few days; change only on clear shift (e.g., discharge → Kreos.; urinary fire → Canth.) [Boericke], [Boger].

Mind

• Lascivious; nymphomania; desire for caresses — erotism driven by peripheral itch [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Weeping with sexual excitement; laughing and crying alternately — hysteriform lability [Clarke].
• Thoughts, sexual, obtruding at night; sleepless — mental trigger of paroxysms [Hering], [Clarke].
• Restlessness at night from genital irritation — conduct rubric [Hering].
• Children imitate sexual act; masturbation — key paediatric sign [Hering], [Clarke].
• Better from occupation/diversion — regimen pointer [Boericke].

Female

• Pruritus vulvae, violent; worse warmth, night — keynote [Hering], [Clarke].
• Nymphomania, especially at menses — pelvic–mental tie [Clarke], [Allen].
• Leucorrhoea, irritating — secondary irritant [Clarke].
• Desire for caresses rather than coitus — quality of desire [Clarke].
• Pelvic congestion/fullness — organ affinity [Boericke].
• Better cold ablutions; worse hot bathing — modality [Hering].

Male

• Erethism with pruritus; masturbation — sexual sphere [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Nocturnal erections from itching, with emissions — pattern [Clarke].
• Relief after handling; shame; relapse — cycle [Hering].
• Warmth of bed aggravates — thermal law [Clarke].
• Better cold washing — management [Hering].
• Friction of clothes excites — trigger [Boger].

Rectum / Skin

• Pruritus ani, burning after scratching — perineal field [Hering], [Boger].
• Itching perineum; warmth aggravates, cold relieves — axis [Clarke].
• Excoriations from rubbing — consequence [Hering].
• Sweat, local, irritating — aggravation [Hering].
• Cleanliness improves — nursing rubric [Clarke].
• Alternation vulva ↔ anus — pattern [Boger].

Sleep / Generalities

• Sleepless from sexual excitement and itching — core night rubric [Hering].
• Worse night; worse warmth of bed/room — modalities [Clarke].
• Better cold; better cool air — relief [Hering].
• Restlessness; frequent change of posture — behaviour [Clarke].
• Aggravation before/during menses — timing [Allen], [Clarke].
• Better after cold ablution and diversion — regimen [Boericke].

Hering — The Guiding Symptoms (1879): pruritus vulvae/ani; masturbation in children; night/warmth aggravation; relief from cold ablutions.
Allen, T. F. — Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): fragmentary proving and clinical notes—nymphomania, erotic insomnia, pelvic congestion.
Clarke, J. H. — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): sexual erethism; hysterical lability; modalities (night, warmth; cold relief); differentials.
Boericke, W. — Pocket Manual of Homœopathic Materia Medica (1901): keynotes—nymphomania; pruritus; masturbation; desire for caresses.
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key (1915): perineal pruritus; anal–vulvar alternation; modalities; remedy relations.
Hughes, R. — Cyclopaedia of Drug Pathogenesy (1870): notes on aromatic oil constituents and irritant qualities.
Phatak, S. R. — Materia Medica of Homoeopathic Medicines (1941): succinct pointers—nymphomania; pruritus; night/warmth worse.
Kent, J. T. — Lectures on Homœopathic Materia Medica (1905): comparative remarks on erotomania remedies (Hyos., Plat., Canth.).
Nash, E. B. — Leaders in Homeopathic Therapeutics (1899): clinical pearls for pruritus vulvae/ani and sexual erethism.
Dewey, W. A. — Practical Homœopathic Therapeutics (1901): therapeutic grouping for pruritus of genital–anal region and hysterical states.
Farrington, E. A. — Clinical Materia Medica (1887): remedy comparisons—Murex, Sepia, Cantharis, Platina in pelvic disorders.
Tyler, M. L. — Homœopathic Drug Pictures (1942): bedside colour—pruritic erotism; regimen counsel.