• Larynx and trachea (primary): Tickling in the throat-pit extending down to the tracheal bifurcation; least cold air or deep inspiration, touch/pressure on the trachea, and talking instantly excite dry, hacking, fatiguing cough; > covering mouth/head, warm room. Cross-ref. Throat, Respiration, Sleep, Modalities. [Hering], [Boericke], [Clarke], [Nash], [Kent]
• Bronchi/chest wall: Rawness behind sternum; stitching or smarting pains (often left); cough < lying left side; pulsations felt through chest with tickling. Cross-ref. Chest, Heart. [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Skin: Intense itching, especially on undressing and on exposure to cold air; > warmth; urticaria/prurigo/lichen noted. Cross-ref. Skin, Modalities. [Boericke], [Nash], [Allen]
• Bowels (enteric morning looseness): Early-morning diarrhoea, pasty or brownish, offensive, driving from bed 5–10 a.m.; urging sudden; often painless. Cross-ref. Abdomen, Rectum. [Allen], [Nash]
• Voice/phonation: Hoarseness; voice uncertain after exposure; speaking provokes cough, so patients avoid speech. Cross-ref. Mouth, Throat, Respiration. [Allen], [Kent], [Boericke]
• Bladder/pelvic floor (reflex): Involuntary spurting of urine with cough, particularly in women and elderly—mechanical, not renal. Cross-ref. Urinary. [Allen], [Clarke]
• Lymphatic tissue: Lymphatic enlargement (nodes/glands) noted with skin and mucous reactivity. Cross-ref. Skin, Generalities. [Boericke]

• Covering mouth and head; breathing warm air under bedclothes stops cough. [Boericke], [Nash]
• Warm room, wraps, and warm drinks; avoiding cool draughts. [Clarke], [Allen]
• Holding breath or breathing very shallowly for a few moments to abort a paroxysm. [Kent], [Clarke]
• Sitting up (less tracheal tickle than recumbency), especially if left-side lying aggravates. [Clarke]
• Warmth to skin (hot bath/blankets) for itch. [Allen], [Boericke]
• After the first loose stool on some mornings (bowel pressure relieved)—often short-lived. [Allen]
• Silence/minimal talking during irritable laryngeal phases. [Hering]

• Inspiring the least cold air; going from warm room to cold air or any change of temperature. [Boericke], [Nash], [Clarke]
• Pressure/touch on the trachea or throat-pit; buttoned collars. [Hering], [Boericke]
• Talking, reading aloud, laughing—instant tickle-cough. [Hering], [Clarke]
• Lying down (especially left side), on first retiring, and towards midnight; cough prevents sleep. [Clarke], [Hering]
• Undressing/uncovering; cold air on the skin—itch/cough both flare. [Allen], [Nash]
• Tea (Clarke notes susceptibility); cold drinks; fruit air; milk in some. [Clarke], [Allen]
• Early morning (5–10 a.m.)—sudden urging to stool; offensive, brownish diarrhoea. [Allen], [Nash]

Mentally low-spirited with a serious expression, easily irritated during cough paroxysms and averse to mental exertion when the larynx is hyperaesthetic [Lippe]. Patients become strategically cautious—fearing the least draft, they muffle the mouth and avoid speech to prevent a fit, which mirrors the remedy’s Better covering / Worse speaking & cold air modalities already noted [Hering], [Boericke]. The mood lightens as soon as the tickle is pacified by warmth, showing the periphery-to-mind direction that is typical in Rumex. Unlike Spongia or Hepar, there is little anxious panic; the state is defensive and practical. Children may grow peevish at bedtime because the moment of lying down heralds the tickle-cough that will keep them from sleep—behaviour that cross-links to Sleep below.

Headache accompanies each explosive bout—“cough hurts the head”—with frontal heaviness and vertex heat during long paroxysms; it subsides as the cough quiets, confirming the mechanical driver [Hering]. Sudden exposure of the head to cool air can renew tickling in the throat-pit and the head distress follows. The Rumex subject often keeps the head under the bedclothes at night to take in warmed air, which also eases cephalic throbbing by cutting off the cough trigger [Boericke].

Lachrymation and burning appear during cough, with momentary dimness from the strain; lids feel dry and sore in the evening, matching Lippe’s note of dryness and inflammation of lids towards night. There is no intrinsic ocular disease; the phenomena ride on the laryngeal irritability and vanish with it.

Deep ear-itching is recorded by Lippe, often noticed when undressing (cold air on the canal); roaring or humming may follow a coughing spell, a purely reflex occurrence, and fades with quiet breathing.

Alternating dry/running coryza with violent sneezing—evening and night—parallels the laryngeal hyper-reactivity; the least draft excites sneezing and cough in sequence [Lippe], [Clarke]. Rawness at the posterior nares appears after repeated paroxysms, stitched to the cold-air aggravation and warm covering relief.

Face flushes with effort during coughing; lips grow dry in breathers who hold respiration to suppress tickle. The look is pinched at bedtime with anticipatory avoidance of drafts; once wrapped and quiet, colour returns. These signs again are secondary to, and relieved by, warmth and quiet inspiration.

Tongue may feel burnt after long paroxysms (Clarke cross-references the “burnt tongue” sensation), and saliva is scant during tickle fits; voice becomes uncertain and hoarse after exposure to cold [Allen], [Clarke]. Some patients notice that cold water sipped reflexly worsens cough by cooling the laryngeal inlet; tepid sips fare better—an observation consistent with Better warm and Worse cold.

No specific dentine sphere; dental jolts with cough may occur, but Rumex is not a teeth remedy. If cough provokes spurting of urine, the jaw is often clenched to brace—mechanical, not odontic.

The centre: tickling in the suprasternal fossa rushing down toward the bifurcation of the bronchi, with rawness of larynx and trachea. Touching the throat-pit, buttoned collars, or pressure on the trachea instantly excite coughing; speaking and deep inspiration do the same [Hering], [Boericke], [Clarke]. Patients reflexly cover the mouth and head to inspire warmed air, which immediately allays the tickle and breaks the paroxysm—this precise thermal reflex is the Rumex hallmark, separating it from Iod., Kali-bi., Caust. and others with raw larynx [Boericke], [Nash].

Little intrinsic pathology; tea and cold draughts may provoke gastric qualm in susceptible subjects, but any nausea is essentially reflex from laryngeal storms. Clarke flags “effects of tea”, another small modality that belongs under practical management.

Borborygmi and a sense of impending stool precede early-morning looseness; peristalsis seems to “wake early” and the patient is hurried out of bed about 5–10 a.m. [Allen], [Nash]. Except for this clock-sensitivity, abdominal pain is modest; relief follows stool, though the cough can briefly re-appear with the chill of rising—cold-air trigger again.

Involuntary spurting of urine with cough—a mechanical stress in women or older men; otherwise urine bland. This minor keynote is useful for bedside certainty when paired with the throat-pit picture [Allen], [Clarke].

Pasty/brownish, sometimes watery stools, offensive, often painless but urgent, driving from bed early; some note shudder or chill at the act and slight anal burning after wiping—non-specific, and far less than the respiratory keynote. Differentially this morning-driven loosening stands with Sulph., Aloe, Podoph., Nat-s., but Rumex is chosen when throat-pit tickle + cold-air cough rule the case [Allen], [Nash], [Clarke].

No distinct sexual symptomatology beyond cough-related leakage; late-evening exposures outdoors readily set off night cough in men who work in draughts—an occupational note more than a gonadal one.

Postpartum or multiparous stress incontinence may be unmasked by the Rumex cough, improving as paroxysms cease; pregnancy hoarseness from cold air can respond if the tickle-in-pit modality is primary.

Patients breathe cautiously, or even hold the breath, to avoid the tickle; attempts at deep inspiration bring instant coughing [Hering]. Open air provokes; warm, humidified, and still air soothes—practical cross-link to Modalities.

Pulsations felt through the whole body during excitement of cough; palpitations settle as soon as the tickle is quieted—secondary, not cardiac disease [Clarke].

Raw, smarting sensation behind sternum with dry cough; stitches in chest (often left), worse lying left side; pulsatory feeling during paroxysms [Clarke]. With prolonged teasing cough the chest wall grows sore; expectoration is scant and tenacious when present—confirming the dry irritative nature of the remedy, unlike Kali-bi. with ropes of mucus.

Inter-scapular aching after a bad night’s cough; dorsal muscles ache from repetition; heat to the back eases the residual soreness—again, warmth helps both skin and chest wall states.

Chilliness on exposure; skin-itch flares on undressing the limbs for bed, relieved after re-covering; patients sometimes rub or slap rather than scratch to avoid rekindling the tickle by cold air. [Allen], [Nash]

A marked tendency to itch—intense on undressing, on exposure to cold air, better warmth—with occasional urticaria, prurigo and lichen mentioned in the old texts. The skin/larynx coupling is striking: the same cold-air excitability that makes the larynx tickle also flares the skin, hence the classic image of a patient who can barely uncover without cough or itch [Boericke], [Nash], [Clarke].

Sleep is broken on lying down by the instant throat-pit tickle; many are forced to bury the head and mouth under the bedclothes to warm the inspired air, after which they can drift off. Any turning to the left may renew coughing. As rooms cool towards midnight, paroxysms recur until the patient either sleeps well muffled or the ambient air warms; by early morning, bowel urging may then drive from bed—a full Rumex night [Clarke], [Hering], [Allen].

Dreams of suffocation or of seeking shelter from wind appear in some cases; these vanish once cough is controlled by covering/heat—more a memory of nightly behaviour than a primary oneiric theme.

No inherent fever state; slight heat of face with cough strain; chills at the skin when undressing; thermal changes are reactive to airway sensitivity, not constitutional.

Chill from the least uncovering; heat locally from chest effort; sweat minimal unless the room is over-warm. The key is sensitivity to air movement and temperature shifts, not a fixed febrile curve.

Worse from cold drinks and tea in sensitive subjects; better for tepid sips and warm vapour. Eating little at night and avoiding exposure on stepping outdoors prevents “bedtime tickle” in many [Clarke], [Allen].

Rumex concentrates on exalted laryngo-tracheal sensibility and cold-air hyper-reactivity: dry, teasing, tickling cough from the suprasternal fossa, worse least cold air / deep inspiration / speaking / pressure, > covering mouth & head, warm room; allied features are itching skin on undressing with cold-air <, early-morning diarrhoea driving from bed, hoarseness, and urinary spurting with cough [Hering], [Boericke], [Clarke], [Nash], [Allen], [Kent]. Differentiate from Hepar (croupy, painful cough, great chilliness, wants to be wrapped, but more suppurative tone), Spongia (dry, barking, laryngeal dryness, less cold-air tickle from pit), Drosera (spasmodic, after midnight, whooping character), Phosphorus (tickling larynx with chest weakness, thirst for cold, haemorrhagic tendency), Causticum (rawness, urinary spurting with cough, but voice fatigue and morning hoarseness predominate), and Acon. (first chill-cold exposure with hot anxious fever but less throat-pit focus). For bowel timing, compare Sulph., Aloe, Podoph., Nat-s.; for skin, compare Dulc. (damp-cold), Psor. (itch < warmth of bed), and Urt-u. (urticaria after shellfish/cold bath).

• Dry, tickling cough from throat-pit; cold air–triggered
  • Hepar — Croupy, painful, great chilliness, wants wrapping; cough often loose by morning. Rumex is purely tickling-dry, from pit, and instantly < cold air; the blanket is used to warm inspired air, not for constitutional chill. [Clarke], [Kent]
  • Spongia — Dry, barking, sawing laryngeal tone; less pit-tickle; warm drinks >, but cold air not so pathognomonic as in Rumex. [Kent], [Clarke]
  • Drosera — Whooping, spasmodic, after midnight, retching; tickle not confined to pit; Rumex has marked air-temperature trigger. [Clarke]
  • Phosphorus — Tickling cough with chest weakness, thirst for cold, hoarseness; not stopped by covering mouth as in Rumex. [Clarke], [Kent]
  • Causticum — Rawness, voice fatigue, urinary spurting with cough overlaps; but the pit-tickle / cold-air signature belongs to Rumex. [Clarke]
  • Aconite — First hours of cold, dry wind exposure, feverish anxiety; Rumex later when reflex tickle is established. [Kent], [Clarke]
• Morning diarrhoea (5–10 a.m.)
  • Sulphur — Early-morning drive from bed, burning, constitutional heat; Rumex is more regional and tied to air sensitivity. [Allen], [Clarke]
  • Aloe — Urgency with jelly-like mucus, gurgling; less respiratory cross-link. [Allen]
  • Podophyllum — Profuse, gushing, painless morning stool; Rumex has pasty/brown, offensive, and a concomitant airway itch/cough. [Allen], [Nash]
  • Natrum sulph. — Morning looseness in damp weather; Rumex guided by cold-air tickle and undressing itch. [Allen], [Clarke]
• Skin itching, cold-air/undressing <
  • Dulcamara — Damp-cold urticaria; weather change key; Rumex is air-on-skin immediate. [Clarke]
  • Psorinum — Itch < warmth of bed, dirty skin; Rumex > warmth and < uncovering. [Allen]
  • Urtica urens — Urticaria from shellfish/cold bathing; Rumex is not food-linked but air-linked. [Clarke]

• Complementary: Sulph.—constitutionally supports chronic Rumex cases with morning diarrhoea and itch, once acute laryngeal hypersensitivity has been checked. [Kent], [Allen]
• Complementary: Caust.—when urine spurts with cough persists after Rumex has calmed laryngeal tickle. [Clarke]
• Follows well: Acon. or Bell.—after first inflammatory chill has passed and the case settles into reflex pit-tickle with cold-air <. [Kent]
• Precedes well: Phos. or Kali-bi.—if weakness of chest or tough mucus develop after the Rumex phase. [Clarke]
• Compare (skin): Nash emphasises Rumex itch on undressing as a bedside discriminator against Psor. and Dulc..

• Dry, teasing cough from tickle in the throat-pit; worse on inspiring cold air; stops by covering mouth/head: Rumex 6C–30C every 2–4 hours acutely; teach thermal control (muffle mouth, avoid temperature changes), tepid sips, no tea at night. [Boericke], [Clarke], [Nash]
• Bedtime/first-lying cough, < left side: Give Rumex at retiring and again if wakened; instruct left-side avoidance and head-cover for a night or two. [Clarke]
• Itch on undressing, cold-air < (urticaria/prurigo tendency): Rumex 6x–6C nightly a few days; keep skin warm on changing; compare Dulc./Psor. if weather- or warmth-driven instead. [Boericke], [Nash]
• Early-morning diarrhoea (5–10 a.m.) with Rumex airway: Short course 6C–30C on waking; if diarrhoea remains the chief issue, review Sulph., Aloe, Podoph. [Allen], [Nash]

Mind

• MIND — LOW-SPIRITED — with cough — exertion; mental — aversion to. — Defensive mood while avoiding triggers. [Lippe]

Throat / Larynx / Voice

• THROAT — TICKLING — suprasternal fossa (throat-pit) — cough; excites. — Central Rumex generator. [Hering], [Clarke]
• LARYNX — RAWNESS — cough, during — trachea; in. — Raw, scraped feeling as paroxysm runs. [Clarke]
• LARYNX — TOUCH — trachea; pressure on — cough; excites. — Buttoned collar test. [Hering]
• VOICE — HOARSENESS — exposure to cold air — after. — Phonation flags when larynx is chilled. [Allen]

Cough / Respiration

• COUGH — DRY — teasing — tickling in pit of throat, from. — Signature. [Nash], [Boericke]
• COUGH — COLD AIR — inspiration of — aggravates — least draft. — Hair-trigger to air. [Nash], [Clarke]
• COUGH — LYING — on left side — aggravates. — Positional nuance. [Clarke]
• COUGH — TALKING — aggravates; LAUGHING — aggravates. — Phonation sparks tickle. [Hering]
• COUGH — COVERING HEAD/MOUTH — ameliorates. — Warmed air “switches off” fits. [Boericke]
• COUGH — CHANGE of temperature — aggravates (warm ↔ cold). — Doorway/bedclothes transitions. [Clarke]

Chest / Heart

• CHEST — PAIN — stitching — left — cough — with. — Left-stitch accompaniment. [Clarke]
• CHEST — RAWNESS — sternum — behind — cough — with. — Rumex chest feel. [Clarke]
• GENERALS — PULSATION — felt through body — cough — during. — Whole-body pulsings of a fit. [Clarke]

Skin

• SKIN — ITCHING — undressing — on — aggravates; COLD AIR — exposure to — aggravates; WARMTH — ameliorates. — Rumex dermatologic triad. [Allen], [Nash], [Boericke]
• URTICARIA — exposure to cold air — after. — Air-trigger hives. [Clarke]

Stool / Rectum

• STOOL — MORNING — 5–10 a.m. — driving out of bed — offensive; pasty/brownish. — Clock-specific looseness. [Allen], [Nash]

Urinary

• URINATION — INVOLUNTARY — cough — with. — Reflex leak clue. [Allen], [Clarke]

Hering — The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica (1879): laryngo-tracheal hyperaesthesia; pressure-on-trachea/talk/deep-inspiration <; paroxysm character.
Allen, T. F. — Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): early-morning diarrhoea 5–10 a.m.; skin itch < cold air/undressing; hoarseness; urinary spurting with cough.
Clarke — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): suprasternal tickle; < least cool air, < lying (left); chest stitches/pulsations; notes on tea; differentials.
Boericke — Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica (1901): “covering head and mouth stops cough”; skin itching; lymphatic enlargement.
Nash — Leaders in Homoeopathic Therapeutics (1898): violent, incessant dry cough < inspiring cold air; brownish morning diarrhoea; itch on undressing.
Lippe, A. von — Keynotes and Red Line Symptoms (late 19th c.): mental low spirits; lid dryness; ear itching; evening-night coryza; Rumex regional picture.
Kent, J. T. — Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica (1905): Rumex as a precise catarrhal remedy; breathing/holding-breath tactics; comparisons.
Hughes, R. — A Manual of Pharmacodynamics (1870s): drug background; overlap with anthraquinone-bearing docks; rationale for bowel/skin signatures.
Farrington, E. A. — Clinical Materia Medica (late 19th c.): respiratory differentials (Hepar, Spong., Drosera, Phos.); practical hints.
Tyler, M. L. — Homoeopathic Drug Pictures (1942): bedside confirmations of the cover-the-mouth habit and doorway-triggered coughing.
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica (1915): modality grid (cold air <, covering >); skin/respiratory linkages (supportive).
(Optionally) A modern ethnopharmacology review of R. crispus was consulted for historical non-homeopathic context; no clinical symptoms taken from it.