Plantago

A perennial of the Plantaginaceae found on paths and waste ground; the fresh aerial parts and root contain iridoid glycosides (notably aucubin), mucilage, tannins, allantoin, and flavonoids—a profile explaining astringent, vulnerary, and soothing actions on mucosa and skin [Hughes], [Clarke]. In crude use it is a classic leaf poultice for stings, bites, abrasions, and ulcers, and an infusion for catarrh and diarrhoea; local anaesthetic and trophic effects on the sensory nerves and salivary glands are repeatedly noted [Hughes], [Clarke]. In homeopathy, tincture from the fresh plant yields a picture with marked action on the trigeminal/dental nerves, ears, salivary glands, urinary bladder (especially nocturnal enuresis), and skin, with neuralgic pains darting and shooting, copious salivation, and oversensitiveness to touch and cold air; several authors record a useful disgust for tobacco arising under its action [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke]. [Proving] [Clinical]

Nineteenth-century provings and clinical records collated by T. F. Allen and Hering, with detailed therapeutic notes by Clarke and Boericke. Salient features include trifacial neuralgia with dental focus, toothache darting to ear, earache shooting to teeth, profuse salivation, intolerance of cold air and touch, nocturnal enuresis in children, and astringent benefit in diarrhoea [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke]. [Proving] [Clinical]

Core Themes / Remedy Essence. Plantago major is a sensory-nerve astringent: it focuses the prescriber on trigeminal/dental and aural pains that shoot to and fro between teeth and ear, on copious salivation with oversensitiveness to touch and cold air, and on the child’s nocturnal enuresis with deep first sleep and reflex irritability by day [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke]. The psychological hue is not dramatic—irritability springs from pains and tender surfaces rather than from moral conflicts; once warmth and stillness are provided, the patient grows tractable, which correlates with the warmth-/quiet-better polarity. Kingdom signature shows the astringent–vulnerary plant calming raw, tender edges (aphthae, ulcer margins, chapped skin), just as it calms the dental pulp and ear; mucilage and tannins explain soothing and astringent actions, whilst the nerve keynote accounts for the darting quality and salivary reflex [Hughes], [Clarke]. Miasmatically psora–sycosis colour the picture with functional hyperaesthesia, mucosal catarrh, and habit (tobacco), without deep tissue destruction.

Selection keys. Choose Plan. when (1) toothache ↔ earache reciprocity is explicit; (2) touch and cold air instantly aggravate, warmth and a still room ameliorate; (3) salivation accompanies pain without fetor; (4) a child wets the bed in first sleep yet is otherwise sensitive to draughts; (5) stings/bites or tender ulcer edges demand a vulnerary–astringent with sensory affinity [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke]. Clinically, progress appears as longer pain-free intervals, saliva normalising, a child sleeping through without wetting after bladder emptying and foot-warming, and ear–tooth reciprocity breaking as the cold-air reactivity softens. Compare Coffea/Cham. in teething, Merc. in ulcerative mouths, Spigelia in ocular–trifacial neurology, Equisetum/Causticum in enuresis, and Puls. when catarrh predominates; the Plan. signature remains sensory + astringent + warm stillness. [Clinical]

• Trigeminal/dental nerves. Neuralgic toothache with shooting to ear, marked tenderness and salivation; dental pulp irritability a keynote [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Ear (auditory nerve and middle ear). Otalgia (often nocturnal) radiating to teeth; catarrhal earache of children; sensible to cold air [Clarke], [Hering].
• Salivary glands and oral mucosa. Copious saliva, aphthous and ulcerative states; mouthwash/poultice reputation reflected in remedy action [Clarke], [Hughes], [Allen].
• Urinary bladder (children). Nocturnal enuresis with deep sleep and sensory irritability by day; sometimes secondary to worms or ear–tooth pains [Hering], [Clarke].
• Gastro-intestinal mucosa. Astringent diarrhoea (green, watery) in children; bowel irritability with tenesmus [Allen], [Clarke].
• Skin. Stings/bites, ulcer margins tender, eczema/urticaria with itch–sting quality; edges of wounds sore to touch [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Respiratory passages. Tickling cough with throat rawness in cold air; reflex from dental/ear irritation [Boericke], [Clarke].
• Habits (tobacco). Disgust/aversion to tobacco, useful in smokers wishing to desist; salivary and sensory reactivity as basis [Clarke], [Allen].
• Genital sphere (female). Pruritus vulvae and raw soreness with astringent comfort; second-line but recorded [Clarke].
• Peripheral sensory nerves (general). Sudden darting, shooting, stinging pains with oversensitiveness to touch, cold, and draughts [Hering], [Clarke].

The temper is peevish and reactive when shooting pains disturb the face and ear; children start, cry, and clutch the ear or cheek, demanding warm coverings and a still room, which tallies with better warmth/quiet and worse draughts/touch already noted [Hering], [Clarke]. Sleep is broken by pains or wetting, and the resulting daytime fretfulness abates as the local irritation settles—an instructive mind–body pendulum [Clarke]. Adults become oversensitive to minor stimuli—noise, cold breath, even the brush of air on the teeth—revealing the sensory-nerve keynote that runs throughout the remedy [Allen], [Clarke]. Aversion to tobacco may appear suddenly with nausea and profuse saliva in smokers, and with it a tranquil mood as the habit recedes; the mental relief closely follows the glandular and dental quieting [Clarke]. Unlike Chamomilla, anger is not the centre; unlike Coffea, there is no ecstatic excitability—Plan. is hurt by touch and cold, soothed by warmth, and marked by a salivary and sensory reactivity [Kent], [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Sleep is disturbed by neuralgia and wetting; first sleep is deep, then enuresis occurs, after which the child sleeps restlessly and seeks warmth; amelioration follows quiet rooms, warm wraps, and emptying the bladder beforehand—faithful reflections of earlier modalities [Hering], [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Children dream of fright with sudden waking and crying during teething/earache nights; the dreams ebb as pains and bladder irritability are controlled—slight value but consistent with the case rhythm [Clarke]. [Clinical]

A sensory-nerve remedy with astringent mucosal and vulnerary signatures: toothache darting to ear, earache shooting to teeth, copious salivation, oversensitiveness to touch and cold air, nocturnal enuresis in children, astringent diarrhoea, and tender skin lesions—all worse from cold air/draughts, touch, chewing, night, sweets, cold drinks, and tobacco, and better from warm applications, tepid sips, gentle pressure, quiet still air, emptying the bladder before sleep, and local plant applications [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Hughes]. Differentiate from Coffea (toothache > cold water; joyous excitability), Chamomilla (angry, intolerant child), Mercurius (fetid saliva, ulceration, night sweats), Spigelia (left-sided face–eye stabbing), Mag-phos. (cramping > heat/pressure but without salivation), Pulsatilla (soft child with bland otorrhoea, needs cool air), Equisetum/Causticum (distinct enuresis types) [Kent], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Phatak]. [Clinical]

Low-grade feverishness with neuralgia, drooling, and ear–tooth reflexes; chill from cold air excites pains; warmth restores comfort; if high fever with throbbing head supervenes, think Bell. rather than Plan. [Clarke], [Boericke]. [Clinical]

A chill easily felt on the face and ear in draughts, with pains rising at once; heat of local applications soothes; sweat attends salivation in smokers under the remedy’s influence; night sweats argue more for Mercurius than Plan. [Clarke], [Allen]. [Clinical]

Headache is reflex from the teeth/ear, often temporal with shooting darts to the auditory canal or upper molars; warm wraps and a still room relieve, whereas cold air or chewing renew the pain—modalities echoing precisely the lists above [Allen], [Clarke]. Scalp is sensitive to touch and draughts; a tight cap may ease; children hold the head to one side to fend off air to the ear (Head ↔ Ear) [Hering], [Clarke]. If true vascular throbbing dominates with hot head, seek Belladonna; if stringing pains follow exposure to wind, compare Aconite; Plan. remains the dental–aural nerve remedy [Clarke], [Boericke]. [Clinical]

Watering with smarting when the face is chilled; rubbing the outer canthus eases; photophobia is slight and secondary to facial neuralgia; warmth and shelter from draughts help, echoing the environmental polarity [Clarke]. The conjunctival irritation may accompany catarrh in children during teething episodes (Eyes ↔ Teeth) [Hering], [Clarke]. [Clinical]

A cardinal sphere: otalgia that shoots to teeth, especially upper molars, worse night, worse cold air or jaw motion, better warmth and quiet—a perfect mirror of the modalities [Clarke], [Hering]. In catarrhal otitis of children the child rubs the ear, drools, and cannot bear a draught; if discharge supervenes with fetid odour and ulceration, move toward Mercurius [Clarke], [Boericke]. Ringing or a full feeling may accompany the pain and subsides as the dental trigger is quieted (Ear ↔ Teeth). [Clinical]

Watery coryza in cold air with sneezing; nose and upper lip become sore to touch; warm room (without draughts) settles it; coryza often accompanies ear–tooth episodes in children [Allen], [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Neuralgia of the trifacial nerve, darting, shooting, with hyperalgesia of the skin; warmth and gentle pressure soothe; cold air excites; a pale, drawn look appears during nocturnal pains [Clarke], [Hering]. Compare Spigelia (left-sided, stabbing with eye involvement) and Mag-phos. (cramping, better heat and pressure but less salivation) [Kent], [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Salivation is copious with tooth pains; aphthae, ulcerated patches, and raw mucosa sting and are tender to touch, relieved by tepid rinses or local application of the tincture (homeopathic use), echoing better warm applications [Allen], [Clarke]. Taste may be flat or metallic; cold drinks touch the teeth and aggravate their pains, whilst tepid sips calm both mouth and ear, tying Mouth to Teeth and Ear in one reflex arc [Allen], [Clarke]. [Clinical]

The toothache picture is decisive: darting, shooting, jerking pains extend to the ear; teeth and gums are exquisitely sensitive to touch and cold air; chewing or even jaw motion renews the pains; warmth, gentle pressure, and a still room ameliorate [Allen], [Hering], [Clarke]. Profuse salivation attends; sweets and cold drinks excite the pulp; teething children drool and rub the ear, and may have reflex cough from throat tickle [Hering], [Clarke]. Differentiate from Coffea (toothache > cold water; joyous excitability), Chamomilla (angry, intolerant child; pains drive to despair), and Mercurius (offensive saliva, spongy bleeding gums) [Kent], [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Rawness and tickle from post-nasal catarrh stirred by cold air; tepid drinks soothe; throat symptoms often subside when dental–ear focus is relieved—again underscoring the reflex chain [Clarke], [Boericke]. [Clinical]

Tickling cough from cold air when teeth/ear are excited; cough eases in a still, warm room or after tepid drinks; no deep bronchitic picture unless catarrh extends, when Puls. may replace Plan. [Boericke], [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Palpitation is reflex from pain or tobacco use; rest and warmth quiet it; if persistent independent of neuralgia, look beyond Plan. [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Short coughs in draughts; open but still air suits if not cold; breath is shallow during pain paroxysms and steadies as neuralgia abates—another reflex confirmation [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Nausea with salivation in smokers who take the remedy—a phenomenon utilised to induce disgust for tobacco; appetite small during dental crises; warm broths are preferred to cold [Clarke], [Allen]. [Clinical]

In children, green, watery diarrhoea with tenesmus, particularly during teething or catarrhal states; warmth and small sips of tepid fluid soothe; stools diminish as the mouth–ear complex is quieted [Allen], [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Tenesmus with small green stools in infants; perineal skin tender; astringent influence appears as lessened frequency with comfort; if painless, profuse diarrhoea predominates, compare Phos-ac. [Allen], [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Nocturnal enuresis in children, especially first sleep, with deep, dead sleep; by day, bladder is irritable from sensory excitations, but without marked pain; emptying the bladder before bed and warming the feet reduce episodes—pragmatic ties to the modalities [Hering], [Clarke]. Differentiate from Causticum (wets on coughing, weak sphincters), Equisetum (full bladder sensation with dribbling), and Sepia (girls, bearing-down with enuresis) [Clarke], [Boericke]. [Clinical]

Sweets and cold drinks excite tooth pains; tepid drinks ameliorate; tobacco produces nausea and salivation, the patient turning away with aversion—a prescribing cue for habit management [Allen], [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Occasional prostatic irritation with frequency and rawness; sexual function not central; tobacco-induced nausea and salivation may dull desire transiently; warmth and abstinence from irritants favour recovery [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Pruritus vulvae with raw soreness relieved by tepid cleansing; catarrhal ear–tooth states around dentition of children often exhaust nursing mothers; Plan. sometimes serves both infant and mother by calming the sensory irritability [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Cervico-mastoid stiffness from holding the head to avoid air to the ear; warmth and rest relieve; not a primary spinal remedy [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Fidgety from pain; children draw up legs with abdominal tenesmus or during tooth crises; warmth of the feet before sleep helps enuresis and restlessness, neatly cross-linking modalities to urinary outcomes [Hering], [Clarke]. [Clinical]

Stings and bites sting and burn; edges of ulcers and chapped surfaces are tender to touch; warm compresses or poultices soothe; urticarial wheals may appear with itch–sting quality; if eruptions are offensive and ulcerative, pass to Mercurius or Hepar [Clarke], [Boericke]. [Clinical]

Dental–aural neuralgia (tooth ↔ ear)

• Coffea — Toothache > cold water, extreme sensitivity to noise; Plan.: < cold air/touch, salivation, pains to ear [Allen], [Clarke].
• Chamomilla — Toothache with anger, cannot be soothed unless carried; Plan.: quieter, warmth/pressure help, salivation prominent [Kent], [Clarke].
• Spigelia — Left-sided face–eye stabbing with photophobia; Plan.: tooth–ear reciprocity, less ocular focus [Clarke].
• Magnesia phosphorica — Cramping neuralgia > heat, pressure; Plan.: shooting, salivation, ear link [Kent].
• Mercurius — Offensive saliva, spongy bleeding gums, night sweats; Plan.: saliva not fetid, surface tender without gum sponginess [Clarke], [Boericke].

Otalgia of children

• Pulsatilla — Bland discharge, seeks cool air; Plan.: worse cold air/draughts, salivation, tooth link [Clarke].
• Belladonna — Throbbing, hot, flushed; Plan.: less vascular, more sensory and astringent [Clarke].

Nocturnal enuresis

• Equisetum — Constant full bladder sensation, day and night; Plan.: first sleep wetting, otherwise mild daytime irritability [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Causticum — Wetting from cough or laugh, sphincter weakness; Plan.: sensory-child type, reflex from ear/teeth [Clarke].
• Sepia — Girls with bearing-down; Plan.: less pelvic sag, more sensory–reflex [Clarke].

Habit—tobacco

• Tabacum — Collapse, deathly nausea; Plan.: induces disgust and salivation in smokers to help withdrawal [Clarke], [Allen].
• Nux-v. — Irritable smoker with gastric spasm; Plan.: salivary reflex and dental/ear sphere [Kent], [Clarke].

Astringent diarrhoea (children)

• Phosphoricum acidum — Painless, profuse, apathetic child; Plan.: tenesmus, neuralgic concomitants [Allen], [Clarke].
• Podophyllum — Profuse, watery with prolapse; Plan.: milder, astringent with dental/ear links [Boericke].

• Complementary: Chamomilla. Teething–earache states: Cham. calms temper/colic, Plan. quiets sensory dental–ear pains [Kent], [Clarke].
• Complementary: Pulsatilla. When catarrh supersedes neuralgia, Puls. completes with bland otorrhoea and room for cool air [Clarke].
• Complementary: Mag-phos. For residual cramping neuralgia after Plan. removed shooting pains [Kent].
• Compare: Mercurius. If fetid saliva, ulceration, and night sweats develop, change to Merc. [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Antidotal tendencies (habit): Plan. often antagonises tobacco craving and provokes disgust, useful in weaning [Clarke], [Allen].
• Follows well: Aconite in acute cold-exposure neuralgia; Plan. takes up the sensory phase [Clarke].
• Precedes well: Hepar/Merc. where suppuration of ear/tooth ensues after neuralgic stage [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Practical adjuncts: Warm compresses, tepid rinses, still room, avoid draughts, empty bladder before bed—nursing aligned with keynote modalities [Clarke], [Boericke].

• Toothache darting to ear; cold air intolerable; saliva copious: Plan. 6C–30C every 2–4 hours in the acute phase; add tepid mouth-rinses; keep face warm and still [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Otalgia of teething children with drooling and ear rubbing: Plan. 6C t.i.d.; warm compress to ear; avoid draughts; if discharge becomes fetid, review for Merc. [Hering], [Clarke].
• Nocturnal enuresis (first sleep): Plan. 6C–30C at bedtime for several nights; empty bladder, warm feet; compare Equisetum/Caust. if no change [Clarke], [Boericke].
• Tobacco habit: small doses Plan. 3X–6C for some days may induce disgust and salivation that breaks the routine; counsel abstinence during the course [Clarke], [Allen]. [Clinical]

Teeth/Mouth

• TEETH – Pain – extending to ear. Signature reciprocity [Allen], [Clarke].
• TEETH – Pain – cold air aggravates; touch aggravates. Exquisite tenderness [Allen], [Clarke].
• MOUTH – Salivation – profuse – with toothache. Salivary reflex [Allen], [Boericke].
• MOUTH – Aphthae – tender – warm rinses ameliorate. Astringent relief [Clarke].
• TEETH – Children – teething – ear rubbing. Reflex otalgia [Hering], [Clarke].

Ear

• EAR – Pain – shooting – to teeth. Pathognomonic pairing [Clarke].
• EAR – Otalgia – night – cold air aggravates – warmth ameliorates. Modal polarity [Hering], [Clarke].
• EAR – Catarrh – children – teething during. Paediatric link [Clarke], [Boericke].
• EAR – Sensitive to draughts. Environmental key [Clarke].

Urinary

• BLADDER – Enuresis – first sleep – children. Core urinary rubric [Hering], [Clarke].
• URINE – Frequent – children – day irritability, night wetting. Pattern note [Clarke].
• URINATION – Before sleep – emptying ameliorates enuresis (management). Practical adjunct [Clarke].

Skin

• SKIN – Bites – stings – burning/itching – warm applications ameliorate. Vulnerary field [Clarke], [Boericke].
• ULCERS – Margins – sore to touch – warm applications ameliorate. Tender edges [Clarke].
• URTICARIA – Itching – with stinging. Sensory theme [Boericke].

Nose/Throat/Respiration

• NOSE – Coryza – from cold air – watery. Draught reactivity [Clarke].
• THROAT – Rawness – cold air aggravates – tepid drinks ameliorate. Astringent comfort [Boericke].
• COUGH – Tickling – cold air aggravates; warm room ameliorates. Reflex cough [Clarke].

Head/Face

• FACE – Neuralgia – trifacial – darting, shooting – cold air aggravates; warmth ameliorates. Sensory keynote [Clarke], [Hering].
• HEAD – Pain – temporal – from toothache/earache (reflex). Source-linked rubric [Allen], [Clarke].

Generalities

• GENERALS – Cold air – aggravates; warmth – ameliorates. Master environment rubric [Clarke].
• GENERALS – Touch – aggravates (teeth/face). Hyperaesthesia [Allen].
• GENERALS – Tobacco – desire for – diminished (aversion). Habit field [Clarke], [Allen].

Allen, T. F. — Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): proving collations; dental–aural neuralgia; salivation; paediatric notes.
Hering, C. — The Guiding Symptoms of our Materia Medica (1879): teething with ear-rubbing; enuresis (first sleep); reflex chains.
Hughes, R. — A Cyclopaedia of Drug Pathogenesy (1870): constituents (aucubin, mucilage, tannin); vulnerary/astringent actions; sensory nerve notes.
Clarke, J. H. — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): general picture; tobacco disgust; modalities; skin and wound uses.
Boericke, W. — Pocket Manual of Homeopathic Materia Medica (1901): keynotes (tooth–ear pains; salivation; enuresis); modalities and relationships.
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica (1915): sensory–nerve emphasis; modality synthesis; comparisons.
Phatak, S. R. — Materia Medica of Homoeopathic Medicines (1941): concise keynotes (tooth ↔ ear, salivation, enuresis).
Nash, E. B. — Leaders in Homeopathic Therapeutics (1899): contrasts in dental neuralgia (Coffea, Cham., Merc.) (comparative context).
Dewey, W. A. — Practical Homeopathic Therapeutics (1901): enuresis remedies; bedside regimen (empty bladder, warm feet).
Tyler, M. L. — Homoeopathic Drug Pictures (1942): bedside colour for teething/earache states; nursing adjuncts.
Kent, J. T. — Lectures on Homeopathic Materia Medica (1905): comparative differentiations (Cham., Coffea, Spigelia, Mag-phos., Merc.) (comparative context).