Sulphur
Substance Background
Prepared from sublimed flowers of sulphur by trituration to form the mother substance for potentisation. In crude form sulphur exhibits keratolytic, antiparasitic, and antiseborrhoeic actions; inhalational exposure yields airway irritation and vascular flushing. In homoeopathy, Sulph. stands as a grand polycrest—a constitutional regulator of reactivity, heat, cutaneous elimination, portal congestion, and psoric dyscrasia. Its sphere ranges from skin (itching, burning, eruptions) to mucosa (catarrh), liver-portal system (haemorrhoids, piles, venous stasis), circulation (flushes, congestion), and nervous/mental states of lofty theorising with domestic slovenliness—the classic “ragged philosopher” [Hahnemann], [Hering], [Kent], [Clarke], [Allen], [Boericke]. Toxicologic and empirical observations (dermal irritation, vasodilatory heat) are echoed in the remedy’s keynotes: burning with a desire for open air, standing aggravates, itching that burns on scratching, unwashed odours, offensive perspiration, morning diarrhoea at 5 a.m., red orifices, and aversion to bathing [Hering], [Kent], [Tyler], [Phatak].
Proving Information
Hahnemann’s provings and vast clinical confirmations delineate: pruritus (worse warmth of bed); burning pains (“burning feet at night, must put them out of bed”); flushes and vertex heat; congestive headaches; catarrhs; sour, offensive sweats; portal congestion with piles; morning diarrhoea (about 5 a.m.); redness of mucous orifices (lips, anus, vulva); eruptions of every form; lassitude standing; intellectual brilliance with physical neglect; and religious/philosophic speculations coupled with indolence [Hahnemann], [Allen], [Hering]. Repeated [Clinical] confirmations cement its use in eczema, psoriasis, tinea, acne/rosacea, otorrhoea/coryza, blepharitis, gastric-catarrhal dyspepsia, haemorrhoids, constipation alternating with early-morning diarrhoea, asthma with gastric symptoms, congestive headaches, chronic rheumatisms with heat aggravation, suppuration tendency, and convalescence slowness [Kent], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Tyler], [Nash], [Phatak].
Remedy Essence
Sulphur is the combustion engine of psora—heat, reactivity, expression. It drives outward: itch, eruption, sweat, flush, diarrhoea at dawn, piles, catarrh, boils—all safety valves for internal congestion. When these outlets close (by suppression, strong drugs, or hygienic over-zeal), pressure mounts—head/chest congestion, palpitation, oppression, confusion, faintness on standing. The person mirrors this physiology: brilliant flame of mind, untidy hearth of body—creative, proud, argumentative, averse to bathing, physically hot, itchy, burning, craving cool air and freedom. The modal quartet—worse heat, worse warmth of bed, worse standing, worse bathing/suppression; better open air, coolness, uncovering feet, rest—recurs across organs and days.
As an antipsoric cornerstone, Sulph. often begins the chronic cure: it rekindles reaction, reopens the skin, normalises the bowels, and clarifies the case so that deeper congeners (Calc., Lyc., Sep., etc.) can finish the work. The cure vector is classic: from within outward, above downward, more vital to less vital—return of old eruptions; easing of dawn diarrhoea; cooling of vertex and soles; piles cease to burn; the ragged philosopher bathes without aggravation, becomes tidier, and finishes what he starts. Pathophysiologically, Sulphur’s vasodilatory and keratolytic signatures metaphorically align with congestion-relief and desquamation; clinically we do not treat chemistry but the coherent picture [Hahnemann], [Hering], [Clarke], [Kent], [Boger], [Nash], [Tyler], [Phatak].
Choose Sulph. when heat + itch + burning + orifice redness + 5 a.m. stool + standing aggravation + aversion to bathing converge; when suppression is the backstory; when the mind burns with theory and the body protests with flame. Then cool the man by freeing his surfaces, and the interior will breathe again.
Affinity
- Skin & appendages — polymorphic eruptions (papular, pustular, vesicular, scaly), itching worse warmth of bed, burning after scratching; unhealthy skin that suppurates easily. See Skin. [Hering], [Kent].
- Portal system & rectum — venous stasis, haemorrhoids, burning anus, morning 5 a.m. diarrhoea, constipation with ineffectual urging; red orifices. See Rectum. [Clarke], [Allen].
- Circulation/thermoregulation — heat at vertex, flushes, hot feet, intolerance of heat, desires windows open; offensive, sour perspiration. See Generalities/Fever. [Hering], [Kent].
- Mucosae (eyes, ears, nose, chest) — chronic catarrh/blepharitis/otorrhoea/coryza; thick, acrid secretions with burning excoriation. See Eyes/Ears/Nose/Respiration. [Clarke].
- Gastro-hepatic — acid, hungry 11 a.m. dyspepsia; heartburn, regurgitation, aversion to fats or craving sweets; liver congestion. See Stomach/Abdomen. [Allen], [Hughes].
- Feet & extremities — burning soles at night, must uncover or put them out of bed; rheumatic flush-type pains worse heat. See Extremities. [Hering].
- Mind/Will — ideas brilliant, execution poor; ego warmth with indolence; pride, theorising, slovenly; religious speculations; aversion to bathing. See Mind. [Kent], [Tyler].
- Openings/orifices — redness of lips, nostrils, eyelids, anus, vulva—congestive ring sign. See Face/Rectum/Female. [Hering].
- Suppuration tendency — unhealthy tissue; boils recur; discharges offensive; promotes drainage when indicated. See Skin/Generalities. [Hering], [Boger].
- Left-sided congestions — vertex/left forehead, left chest; yet generalisation is broad [Kent].
Better For
- Open, cool air; throwing off bedclothes; uncovering feet at night. [Hering], [Kent].
- Dry warmth to skin sometimes soothes chill stage, but cool room preferred overall (thermal paradox). [Clarke].
- Lying (rather than standing); resting, idling. [Hering].
- After stool (for abdominal distension); after passing flatus. [Allen].
- Warm drinks for gastric catarrh; small frequent meals for 11 a.m. sinking. [Allen], [Tyler].
- Scratching temporarily (itch shifts to burning). [Hering].
- Bathing warm if patient is not the classic “hates water”; otherwise gentle cleaning with emollients. [Clarke].
- Elevation of legs (piles, venous stasis). [Clarke].
- Cold applications to burning eruptions or burning eyes. [Hering].
- Company/interest that engages the mind, improving indolence. [Kent].
- Left side lying for some congestive headaches (variable). [Tyler].
- Fresh linen and air movement around feet at night. [Hering].
Worse For
- Heat in all forms: warm room, heat of bed, hot bathing, hot weather, sun. [Hering], [Kent].
- Standing (especially long standing): faintness, back/variceal pains, piles bulge. [Hering], [Clarke].
- Night (after midnight): itching, heat of feet, flushes, asthmatic oppression. [Hering].
- Bathing/washing (aversion or aggravation of skin and catarrhs after bath). [Hering], [Clarke].
- Suppressed eruptions or stopped discharges (internal congestion ensues). [Kent], [Boger].
- Milk/fats (disagree), alcohol (flush, catarrh), sweets (craved yet aggravate). [Allen].
- Stooping (vertigo, rush of blood to head); ascending (palpitation, heat). [Kent].
- Left side congestive headaches; morning on rising (looseness, faintness). [Hering].
- Seasonal transitions; spring for skin; autumn for catarrh. [Clarke].
- Pressure of clothing (cannot bear tight waist). [Hering].
- Suppression of perspiration (chills, catarrh). [Hering].
- Spices, vinegar (heartburn) in gastric Sulph. [Allen].
Symptomatology
Mind
The Sulphur temperament burns with ideas and self-regard yet shrinks from sustained labour; creative, speculative, inventive, but careless in person and surroundings—the “ragged philosopher” type [Kent], [Tyler]. Pride and egotism intermix with indolence; he begins many projects, completes few. Irascible, critical, dogmatic; loves to argue theories—metaphysics, theology—yet neglects daily duties; aversion to washing and cleanliness leads to unkempt appearance (Mind ↔ Skin) [Hering], [Clarke]. Anxiety at 11 a.m. from gastric sinking; faintness if he waits for food. Fears: of poverty, contagion, standing in crowds, confined spaces, and sometimes heights with vertigo; children fear ghosts yet are precocious and imaginative [Kent], [Tyler]. Religious melancholy—self-accusation, scruples of conscience—alternates with boasting. Oversensitive to criticism yet insensitive to odours of his own body. Aversion to bathing is mental as well as physical (discomfort from water); worse after a bath when eruptions flare [Hering]. Restless at night with heat of feet; mentally active at midnight when body is hot. Case sketch: an inventor, unkempt, itchy eczema, burning feet, piles, heartburn, loathes bathing, diarrhoea 5 a.m.—Sulph. 200C restored skin function, settled morning stools, and tempered his irritable theorising [Kent], [Tyler].
Head
Congestive headaches, especially vertex heat “as if a cap of fire,” with flushed face, red eyes, worse heat/stuffy room, better cool air [Hering], [Kent]. Faintness on standing, must sit down; dizziness on stooping or ascending. Dandruff, seborrhoeic scalp, itching worse warmth of bed; unhealthy scalp—small injuries suppurate. Eruptions on hairline; tinea capitis in children [Clinical] [Clarke]. Periodic migraines on Sundays (routine change), worse fasting, better eating a little. Corymbose eruptions with burning after scratching (Skin link).
Eyes
Burning, smarting, red margins (blepharitis); lachrymation acrid, photophobia in chronic catarrhs; styes recurrent at angles [Hering]. Heat around eyes, desire to bathe with cold water. Vision blur on reading; black motes with congestive rushes. Sulph. often clears chronic granular lids or recurrent blepharitis in the warm, unwashed subject (Eyes ↔ Skin) [Clarke], [Tyler].
Ears
Otorrhoea—foetid, excoriating; eczema of auricles; meatus red and sore; itching with burning after scratching [Hering]. Noises (roaring) with congestion; hearing impaired by cerumen crusts. Worse warmth, worse bathing; better open air (Ears ↔ Skin).
Nose
Chronic coryza with thick, yellow, sometimes green discharge, excoriating nostrils; red alae; nasal bridge sore [Clarke]. Sulph. nose often dry inside, scabby, with frequent picking; epistaxis on washing face. Smell hypersensitive to others’ odours yet indifferent to his own (Mind paradox). Sneezing in morning on rising; catarrh relapses after suppression.
Face
Redness of orifices—lips chapped red; malar flush; acne rosacea with coarse pores in “sanguine-hot” subjects; tinea barbae in men [Clinical] [Clarke]. Facial seborrhoea, greasy shine, comedones (“dirty face” look however washed). Neuralgia with burning, worse heat.
Mouth
Tongue—red tip or red edges, sometimes mapped; taste sour/bitter mornings; burning in mouth. Aphthae with burning; salivation in catarrh. Offensive breath on waking. Gums bleed easily; ulcerate; teeth loosen in scorbutic subjects [Hering].
Teeth
Toothache worse warmth (bed), worse sweets, better cold water momentarily; teeth sensitive; tartar accumulates. Pulsating gums; alveolar abscess tends to point and discharge (Suppuration tendency) [Clarke]. Neuralgia after suppression of facial eruptions.
Throat
Burning rawness, lump sensation; scraping, desire to hawk thick mucus from posterior nares; worse mornings, worse warm room [Hering]. Chronic pharyngitis in “hot-headed” speakers; ulcerated tonsils when catarrh suppressed elsewhere.
Stomach
Hungry about 11 a.m.—must eat or faints, classic Sulph. sinking [Hahnemann], [Allen]. Heartburn, acid regurgitation, pyrosis from sweets, fats, alcohol, vinegar. Aversion to boiled milk; craves sweets, spices, sometimes beer—yet all aggravate. Nausea mornings, worse after bathing or odours. Epigastric burning; cannot bear tight clothing at waist [Hering].
Abdomen
Portal congestion: fullness, heat, constriction round waist; flatulence smelling offensive; colic after suppression of eruptions [Clarke]. Liver enlarged, sore to touch; haemorrhoidal constitution. Gurgling, fermentation; umbilical itching with heat.
Urinary
Burning in urethra during and after urination; nocturnal frequency from heat; dark, strong-smelling urine; brick-dust sediments occasionally [Allen], [Clarke]. Enuresis in hot, restless children who kick off covers [Clinical]. Itching at meatus (red orifice sign).
Rectum
One of Sulphur’s centres. Morning diarrhoea at about 5 a.m., driving out of bed, often painless, squirting, sour/offensive, leaving weakness—alternating with constipation of hard, knotty stools with ineffectual urging (tenesmus ineffectualis) [Hering], [Allen], [Nash]. Haemorrhoids—burning, itching, stinging, worse standing, worse heat, better cold applications; bright bleeding; sensation of a plug. Anus red, excoriated, moist eczema around; pruritus ani driving to scratch till raw (burns after). Fissures that smart and burn. Suppressed haemorrhoidal flow precipitates chest/head symptoms (relationships).
Male
Pollutions frequent with lascivious dreams; prostatic irritation with burning after coitus; balanitis with red, excoriated glans; itching scrotum scratched raw (Skin link) [Hering]. Varicocele in hot-blooded sedentary men [Clinical].
Female
Menses often too early, too profuse, too prolonged, with soreness of vulva (red orifice), pruritus intolerable at night, burning leucorrhoea excoriating parts [Hering], [Clarke]. Flushes of heat with sweat, especially climacteric; vertex heat and palpitation. Nipples cracked, burning; mastitis with tendency to point and suppurate. Prolapse/relaxation with soreness of small of back worse standing.
Respiratory
Short breath in stuffy rooms; desires cool air; cough morning with tough phlegm, evening with tickle; hoarseness in warm rooms; laryngeal burning [Hering]. Whooping cough convalescence stalls until Sulph. unlocks catarrh [Clinical].
Heart
Rush of blood; palpitation on ascending, after eating, during flushes; faintness on standing with heat [Kent]. Pulse full during heat; venous stasis (varices, piles). Cardiac symptoms often track with portal/rectal state (relationships).
Chest
Oppression in warm, close rooms; must open window; asthma worse 2–4 a.m., heat, odours; better cool air; gastric asthma with heartburn (Stomach link) [Clarke]. Rattling mucus in chronic bronchitis; thick yellow sputum. Palpitation with flushes; stitching pains left chest worse heat.
Back
Weakness in small of back, cannot stand long; soreness at coccyx; stiffness worse heat, worse standing; itching between shoulders [Hering]. Redness in intertriginous folds; sweaty back with odour.
Extremities
Burning of soles at night, must uncover or put feet out of bed—cardinal keynote [Hering], [Kent]. Hands hot, palms red; hang-nails, ragged cuticles. Joint pains worse heat, worse bed warmth, better cool moving air (contrast Rhus). Varicose veins; ulcers with unhealthy granulation.
Skin
The Sulphur skin is unhealthy: small wounds suppurate, boils recur, ulcers have proud flesh, bleed easily; eruptions itch and burn after scratching, worse warmth of bed, worse bathing, worse wool [Hering], [Clarke]. Forms include eczema (flexures, scalp, retro-auricular), psoriasis (dry, scaly, burning), acne/rosacea, tinea (capitis/corporis), prurigo, intertrigo with raw redness in folds, urticaria from heat, and scabies-like itch. Orifice redness—lips, eyelids, nostrils, anus, vulva—is almost emblematic. Offensive perspiration; sour odour in children. Suppressions of skin complaints lead to internal congestion (chest, head) [Kent], [Boger].
Sleep
Drowsy by day, wakeful at night with heat, itch, and burning feet [Hering]. Cannot bear covers on feet; puts them out of bed. Dreams vivid—of fire, theft, arguments, religion, falling; wakes hot and irritable. Children cry out, kick off clothes, and sweat sourly. Worse after midnight; restlessness from itching drives scratching until burning compels uncovering. Snoring in hot rooms; mouth open from nasal crusting. Unrefreshed on waking, faintness until he eats (11 a.m. sinking pattern). Cat-naps by day; sleeps best toward morning, then driven out of bed by 5 a.m. stool (Rectum). Position: prefers on back with limbs extended to cool.
Dreams
Of fire, heat, volcanoes; of religious disputations; of work undone; of being unwashed or exposed; of falling from height with start on waking [Hering], [Tyler]. Dreams mirror psoric heat and mental pride motifs.
Fever
Flushes of heat with sweat, burning of face, vertex, palms/soles; chilliness when uncovered yet intolerance of warmth—thermoregulatory paradox [Hering], [Kent]. Low-grade evening fevers in catarrh; sour perspiration at night; offensive odour. Fever following suppression of discharge responds well to Sulph. [Boger], [Clarke].
Chill / Heat / Sweat
Chill: slight, in drafts, alternating with flushes; dislikes damp cold but worse confined heat.
Heat: marked, esp. vertex, palms/soles, face; desire for cool air, fanning.
Sweat: profuse at night, sour/offensive, localised to head, axillae, perineum; sweaty feet excoriating spaces. [Hering], [Clarke].
Food & Drinks
Craves sweets, spices, alcohol, sometimes cold drinks; hunger at 11 a.m.; aversion or aggravation from milk/fats; desires eggs at times; thirst increased in heat [Hahnemann], [Allen], [Tyler]. Acids aggravate heartburn.
Generalities
Sulphur is the central antipsoric—it raises reactivity, re-opens outlets (skin, bowels), and relieves congestions that follow suppression [Hahnemann], [Kent]. Its thermal signature is internal heat with intolerance of external heat: vertex heat, burning feet, flushes, and desire for cool air while chills accompany exposure from sweat. The modal matrix—worse heat, warmth of bed, standing, bathing, suppression; better open air, coolness, uncovering feet, rest—repeats from Skin to Rectum, Head, Chest. Tissue-wise, epidermis and mucosa dominate (itch, excoriation, catarrh), with portal venous and lymphatic participation (piles, venous stasis, enlarged nodes). Sulph. patients are reactors: they flush, itch, erupt, sweat, smell, argue—expression outward; when expression is blocked, mischief rises inward to chest/brain. Mentally, brilliant but slovenly, self-assured but indolent; physically, hot, itchy, unwashed. The direction of cure is often from within outward—return of a former eruption or itch heralds progress; 5 a.m. stools regularise; burning feet calm; tolerance of warmth improves. Differentiate carefully from Psorinum (filthy chilliness, despair, worse cold, wants warm clothing; not Sulphur’s heat), Arsenicum (burning with restless anxiety, better heat, not worse; tidy and fastidious), Lycopodium (right-sided, 4–8 p.m., flatulent ego with lack of confidence), Nux-v. (chilly, irritable, over-driven, loves stimulants but sensitive to them), Graphites (oozing honey-like thick eruptions in obese chilly persons, less burning), and Hepar-s. (extreme chilliness, splinter pains, suppuration with foulness). Sulph. is often needed first to unlock cases, then followed by deeper congeners. [Kent], [Clarke], [Boger], [Nash], [Tyler], [Phatak], [Boericke].
Differential Diagnosis
Skin / Itch / Heat polarity
- Psorinum — Filthy, chilly, wants warm clothing, worse cold; despair of recovery; offensive discharges; prefers hot bath. Sulph.: hot, worse heat, bathing, warm bed; desires cool air. [Kent], [Clarke].
- Arsenicum — Burning pains better heat, anxious, tidy, fastidious; prostration with restlessness. Sulph.: burning worse heat, slovenly, optimistic pride. [Kent].
- Graphites — Obese, chilly; oozing, honey-like sticky eruptions with fissures; less burning itch. [Clarke], [Tyler].
- Hepar-s. — Extreme chilliness, suppuration with splinter pains; oversensitive to touch/cold; better warmth—opposite heat axis. [Hering].
- Mezereum — Thick crusts on scalp with neuralgia; chilliness; not hot Sulphur state. [Clarke].
- Rhus-tox. — Itch better hot water, vesicles in chains; worse damp cold with first-motion aggravation; Sulph. worse heat of bed. [Kent].
Portal/Rectal
- Aesculus — Piles with backache and fullness but no bleeding, purple haemorrhoids; not the 5 a.m. diarrhoea of Sulph. [Clarke].
- Aloe — Sudden urging, jelly-like stools, prolapse, early morning stool too but with rectal insecurity; less burning of orifice. [Allen].
- Nux-v. — Ineffectual urging, sedentary, chilly, irritable; piles with cramping; less heat polarity and itch. [Kent].
- Hamamelis — Venous bleeding, soreness; not the heat-burning-itch triad. [Clarke].
Head/flush
- Sanguinaria — Right-sided climacteric flushes, bursting headaches worse sun, better vomiting; Sulph. broader psoric base. [Clarke].
- Glonoinum — Sun-stroke heat, throbbing, cannot bear hat; acute vasodilation; Sulph. chronic heat. [Kent].
Gastro-hepatic
- Lycopodium — 4–8 p.m. aggravation, flatulent distension, loves sweets; right hypochondrium; not so hot. [Kent].
- Carbo-veg. — Bloating, air hunger, desire fanning; collapse tendencies; Sulph. is robust-hot rather than collapsed. [Clarke].
- Pulsatilla — Fat intolerance, bland catarrh, thirstless; mild, weepy, seeks open air but not hot. [Clarke].
Respiratory
- Phosphorus — Burning chest, thirst for cold drinks, open affections; haemorrhagic tendency; heat less oppressive than in Sulph. [Kent].
- Calc-carb. — Dyspnoea on exertion with chilliness, sweat head/feet; lacks burning itch and heat aversion. [Tyler].
Mental
- Lachesis — Loquacious, jealous, hot, worse after sleep, cannot bear tight clothes; more toxic-syphilitic intensity than Sulph. [Kent].
- Nux-v. — Efficient taskmaster, tidy, oversensitive to stimuli; Sulph.: indolent, slovenly, speculative. [Kent].
- Nat-mur. — Reserved grief; dryness; worse sun; not the hot, itching, burning Sulph. [Kent].
Remedy Relationships
- Complementary: Calc-carb. — “Sulph.–Calc.–Lyc.” axis in chronic psora; Calc follows Sulph to consolidate structure after reactivity rises. [Kent], [Tyler].
- Complementary: Nux-v. — In portal/rectal states; Nux may tidy function, Sulph. unlocks psora. [Clarke].
- Complementary: Aloe/Aesculus locally for piles while Sulph. covers constitutional burning-itch. [Clarke].
- Follows well: Psorinum when chilliness and despair predominate and heat later breaks out as Sulphur picture emerges. [Kent].
- Follows well: Merc. after ulcerative catarrh when heat and itch persist; or precedes Merc. when psoric blaze blocks healing. [Hering], [Clarke].
- Precedes well: Lyc. in chronic flatulent dyspepsia once heat/itch rectified. [Kent].
- Precedes well: Sepia/Sanguinaria at climacteric once psoric surface cleared. [Clarke].
- Compatible: Hepar-s./Sil. in suppuration phases by stage; Ars. in severe burning anxious states if heat modality flips. [Hering], [Kent].
- Antidotes (functional): Open air, cool applications, return of skin eruption after suppression. Camph. sometimes antidotes medicinal excess. [Hering].
- Inimical: Cautions against routine alternation with Calc. without indications; avoid suppressive local treatments during Sulph. course. [Kent], [Boger].
Clinical Tips
- Chronic eczema/psoriasis with itch worse warmth of bed, burning after scratching, orifice redness: Sulph. 30C–200C as a constitutional; avoid suppressive topicals; expect a clearing phase [Hering], [Clarke].
- Portal piles with morning 5 a.m. stool and burning anus: Sulph. 200C intermittent; adjuvant sitz baths cool, elevation, fibre; differentiate Aesculus/Aloe by pain/urgency profile. [Allen], [Clarke].
- Dawn asthma in a hot, itchy subject better open window: Sulph. intercurrently between acute remedies; track heat tolerance as KPI. [Clarke].
- Stalled chronic case after suppression (e.g., steroid-suppressed skin): give Sulph. to reopen outlets before deeper prescription; warn about return of old eruption. [Kent], [Boger].
- Children with sour, offensive sweat, itchy scalp, aversion to washing, restless feet at night: Sulph. weekly high potency may regularise catarrh and bowel. [Tyler].
- Pearl cases
-
- Rosacea with burning, worse warm rooms; piles burning; 5 a.m. stool: Sulph. 200C every 10 days—flushes abated, bowels regularised, eruptions dried without suppression. [Clarke].
- Eczema flexural in a scratch-till-burns child, sour sweat, hates bathing: Sulph. 30C t.i.d. × 3 days then weekly—itch nocturnal phase broke; skin healed outward. [Hering].
- Chronic bronchitic hot man, window-needer, gastric heartburn: Sulph. intercurrent unlocked response to later Phosphorus. [Kent].
Selected Repertory Rubrics
Mind
- Egotism; scornful; dogmatic—boastful with neglect of details. [Kent].
- Aversion to bathing/being washed—mental + physical aggravation. [Hering].
- Anxiety at 11 a.m. from gastric sinking—needs food. [Hahnemann], [Allen].
- Indolence; procrastination despite mental activity. [Kent].
- Religious ideas—mystical, speculating; scruples alternating with pride. [Tyler].
- Irritable at trifles; quarrelsome when opposed. [Kent].
Head
- Vertex heat; head feels hot, burning cap. [Hering].
- Headache—worse heat, stuffy rooms; better open air. [Kent].
- Dandruff—itching scalp; unhealthy. [Hering].
- Vertigo—on stooping/ascending. [Kent].
- Congestion—flushed face, throbbing. [Clarke].
- Tinea capitis—suppurating (constitution). [Clarke].
Eyes
- Blepharitis—red margins, burning. [Hering].
- Photophobia with chronic catarrh. [Clarke].
- Styes recurrent—angles. [Hering].
- Lachrymation—acrid excoriating. [Clarke].
- Itching lids—worse warmth of bed. [Hering].
- Desires cold applications to burning eyes. [Hering].
Ears
- Otorrhoea—foetid, excoriating. [Clarke].
- Eczema auricles—itch burn after scratching. [Hering].
- Cerumen—excess, crusts. [Clarke].
- Noises—roaring with congestion. [Hering].
- Worse warmth/bathing, better air. [Hering].
Nose/Face
- Coryza—thick, yellow/green—excoriating. [Clarke].
- Alae nasi—red, sore. [Hering].
- Nasal scabs/ulcers—picking. [Clarke].
- Acne/rosacea with burning. [Clarke].
- Lips—red, cracked (orifice sign). [Hering].
Stomach/Abdomen/Rectum
- Hunger—11 a.m. sinking. [Allen].
- Heartburn—after sweets/fats. [Allen].
- Portal congestion—fullness, heat. [Clarke].
- Diarrhoea—morning 5 a.m.—driving out of bed. [Hering], [Nash].
- Constipation—ineffectual urging. [Hering].
- Haemorrhoids—burning, itching—worse standing, heat. [Clarke].
- Anus—red, excoriated; pruritus ani. [Hering].
Chest/Respiration/Heart
- Asthma—worse warm rooms; better open window. [Clarke].
- Cough—morning thick sputum; evening tickle. [Hering].
- Oppression—stuffy room. [Hering].
- Palpitation—on ascending; during flushes. [Kent].
- Flushes with sweat (climacteric). [Clarke].
Back/Extremities
- Back—weak small of back—cannot stand long. [Hering].
- Soles—burning at night—must uncover. [Hering].
- Hands—hot; hang-nails. [Hering].
- Varicose veins—burning. [Clarke].
- Rheumatic pains—worse heat/bed warmth. [Kent].
Skin/Generalities
- Itching—worse warmth of bed; burning after scratching. [Hering].
- Eruptions—polymorphic; unhealthy—suppurate. [Hering].
- Boils—recurrent; ulcers—proud flesh. [Clarke].
- Perspiration—offensive, sour. [Hering].
- Worse heat; worse standing; worse bathing. [Hering].
- Better open air; better uncovering feet. [Kent].
References
Hahnemann — Chronic Diseases (1828): antipsoric doctrine; keynotes (5 a.m. stool, heat, itch).
Hahnemann — Materia Medica Pura (1821–34): primary proving data (skin, heat, gastric).
Hering — The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica (1879): polymorphic eruptions, burning modalities, portal–rectal sphere.
Allen, T. F. — Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): provings—11 a.m. hunger, heartburn, diarrhoea/constipation alternation.
Clarke, J. H. — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): constitutional portrait; catarrh; piles; relationships.
Kent, J. T. — Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica (1905): “ragged philosopher,” heat intolerance, suppression doctrine.
Boericke, W. — Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica (1901): keynotes—burning feet, orifice redness, 5 a.m. stool.
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key (1915): antipsoric staging; direction of cure; suppression cautions.
Nash, E. B. — Leaders in Homoeopathic Therapeutics (1899): 5 a.m. diarrhoea; piles; asthmatic warm-room aggravation.
Hughes, R. — A Manual of Pharmacodynamics (1870s): topical sulphur actions; inferential organ affinities.
Tyler, M. L. — Homoeopathic Drug Pictures (1942): vivid sketches—mind, bath aversion, burning feet.
Phatak, S. R. — Materia Medica of Homoeopathic Medicines (1977): terse generals—heat, itch, suppression.
Farrington, E. A. — Clinical Materia Medica (1887): comparisons (Ars., Psor., Lyc., Nux, Graph.).
Dunham, C. — Lectures on Materia Medica (1879): psoric manifestations; catarrhal relations.
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