Tellurium

Tellurium is a metalloid element (group 16) prepared for homeopathic use by trituration of the pure substance. Crude toxicology emphasises mucous-membrane irritation, garlic-/fishy-like fetor of exhalations, and skin eruptions; industrial exposures have long been associated with a characteristic fish-brine odour of the breath and sweat [Hughes], [Clarke]. The homeopathic pathogenesis centres on offensive suppurations (notably otorrhoea), circinate/annular eruptions (tinea-like), eczema behind and around the ears with acrid discharge, herpes zoster with neuralgia, ozaena, and coccygeal/sacro-iliac pains which are jar- and cough-aggravated [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke]. [Toxicology] [Proving] [Clinical]

Pathogenesis from provings (notably Hering’s circle) plus toxicologic records and abundant clinical confirmations: foul otorrhoea, post-scarlatinal ear suppuration, echo/autophony and noises in the ear, ozaena with excoriating discharge, eczema/impetigo behind ears, ringworm-like patches, herpes zoster with burning/itching, and coccyx/sacral soreness < jar, cough, sneezing. Warmth of bed and night typically worse; many cutaneous and catarrhal discharges are fish-brine offensive [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger]. [Proving] [Toxicology] [Clinical]

Tell. is the remedy of fetor and rings. Wherever the case shows acrid, excoriating, fish-brine offensive discharges—ear, nose, skin folds—and wherever the skin writes itself into circles or a zoster girdle, think of Tell. The patient is dogged by night-worse and warmth-worse itching/burning; the moment bed is entered the skin insists on being scratched; washing and sweating spread the excoriation; cool air and drying soothe the surface, while free drainage relieves pressure and quiets autophony in the ear [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger]. Psychologically the shame of smell is prominent: children hide their heads; adults avoid company; the fastidious over-clean and inflame the lesions—errors the prescriber must correct. The spinal coccyx–sacral keynote is not accidental: the same jar-sensitivity that makes clothing unbearable over a zoster band makes cough/sneeze/step jar the coccyx; coaching for shock-avoidance tangibly reduces pain. In differential, Psorinum is more general and despairing, Graphites thicker and honey-oozing, Mezereum crustier and bone-tender, Hepar acuter and hyper-tender, Merc. slimier and salivary, Silicea colder and fistulous, Kali-bich. stringier and ulcer-punched. Tell.’s choice rests on the fish-brine odour, retro-auricular fissures, ring-skin, autophony, and jar-to-coccyx, with the iron rule that night/heat inflame and cool/dry calm. Treatment succeeds when mechanics are respected: keep folds aired, dressings non-occlusive, ears draining by lying on the sound side and gentle toilet, and protect the zoster band from friction while allowing cool air to touch it. As these measures align with the remedy, sleep returns, fetor diminishes, circles pale at their edges, and the patient’s social confidence quietly returns.

• Ear (external/middle): Foul, acrid otorrhoea (post-scarlatinal or chronic), fissured eczema around/behind ears, drum-head involvement with echo of own voice/steps (autophony); mastoid and peri-auricular soreness; lying on affected side or jar aggravates. Cross-ref. Ears, Skin, Generalities. [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Skin (circinate/annular; zoster): Ringworm-like, circinate patches, tinea versicolor-like macules on trunk, herpes zoster with burning/itching and post-herpetic neuralgia; eruptions excoriate and exude offensive serum. Cross-ref. Skin, Back, Chest. [Hering], [Clarke], [Boger]
• Nose/naso-pharynx: Ozaena with fetid, excoriating discharge; crusts; nasal wings and upper lip raw; odour perceived as fish-brine. Cross-ref. Nose, Face. [Clarke], [Allen]
• Spine/coccyx/sacro-iliac: Soreness and bruised pain at coccyx/sacrum, < cough, sneeze, jar, sitting, with radiations down thighs; “railway-men’s backache.” Cross-ref. Back, Generalities. [Boger], [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Mucous membranes generally: Acrid, corroding secretions with foul odour—ears, nose, skin folds; intertrigo and fissures. Cross-ref. Nose, Skin, Rectum. [Hering], [Clarke]
• Respiratory/chest wall (zoster/intercostal): Herpetic girdle pains, burning/stinging along intercostals; cough and deep breath excite stitch or jar coccyx. Cross-ref. Chest, Respiration, Back. [Clarke], [Boger]
• Genital/groin folds: Tinea cruris/intertrigo—moist, offensive, itching, night and warmth of bed worse. Cross-ref. Skin, Male, Female. [Hering], [Clarke]
• Mastoid/temporal periosteum: Tenderness with otorrhoea; pain to occiput; watchfulness for mastoid complications. Cross-ref. Ears, Head. [Allen], [Clarke]

Irritability and self-consciousness arise from the offensive character of discharges; the child hides or pushes away the examining hand when the fetor from the ear or nose is remarked [Clarke]. Chronic itching at night robs sleep and produces a peevish, fretting mood by day; the patient dreads bedtime because warmth will rekindle burning and scratching. Anxiety increases when head noises and echo of the voice fill the ear; some fear mastoid disease or deafness, yet the mood is not hypochondriacal so much as ashamed of foulness. The fastidious will bathe too often and too hot, and thereby wash-worse the eczematous areas—behaviour that mirrors the modality. Children with post-scarlatinal otorrhoea become shy, fidgety, and pull the auricle constantly; adults with ozaena avoid company for fear of their fish-brine odour being noticed. Compared with Psorinum, whose despair and chilliness accompany a cadaveric general fetor, Tell. shows a localised fish-brine fetor with a more cutaneous/aural focus; compared with Graphites, the mental state is less heavy or despondent and more irritably self-protective [Hering], [Clarke], [Phatak]. Relief of mind follows mechanical improvements—when discharges are regulated, folds dried, and the coccygeal jar avoided—linking psyche directly to Modalities.

Sleep is broken by itching and by ear pain/fullness when lying on the affected side. Children toss and bore the head into the pillow, waking with fetid stains; adults stumble into brief dozes after prolonged scratching, only to wake hotter and worse. Dreams of dirtiness or being shamed in public echo the mental field. Relief comes when the room is cool, the ear drains, and folds are kept dry; the night ceases to be an enemy as management and remedy align.

Of being soiled, foul smells, insects on the skin, or acute embarrassment; dreams recede as discharge is regulated and itch abates.

Tell. organises a field of foul, acrid discharges and annular/herpetic skin with a peculiar fish-brine fetor. The poles are ear and skin, with ozaena and intertrigo as extensions, and a coccygeal–sacral axis that is jar-, cough-, and sneeze-aggravated [Hering], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Boger]. Night and warmth of bed make itch and burning intolerable; washing/sweating spread excoriation; cool air and drying calm the surface; free discharge relieves pressure and noises in the ear. Distinguish it from Psorinum (general carrion fetor, great chilliness, dirty look), Graphites (honey-like oozing, thick crusts, fissures, obese chilly subjects), Mezereum (thick crusts on scalp/behind ears with neuralgia), Hepar (extreme tenderness in acute ear suppuration), Mercurius (slimy, glandular, salivary), Silicea (indurated, fistulous chronicity), Kali-bich. (stringy ozaena, punched-out ulcers), and Rhus-tox/Mez. in zoster—Tell. is chosen when fetor, circinate rings, retro-auricular fissures, autophony, and jar-coccyx coexist and when modalities enforce cool, dry, gentle care.

No characteristic pyrexia; night heat of skin without true fever is common; local heat of zoster patches; sweat follows scratching and smells fish-brine in marked cases.

Chilliness of surface alternates with burning itch in bed; sweat after scratching or on covered parts has a fishy odour; heat aggravates the surface, while deep neuralgias accept gentle warmth.

Headaches cluster round the mastoid/temporal region when ear disease is active; throbbing and tension accompany fullness of the canal; lying on the affected side makes the temple heavy and the head noises louder [Allen]. The scalp itself may show circinate, pityriasis-like patches with pruritus worse warmth of bed; scratching enlarges the ring. From the occiput there are draws into the nape when the zoster girdle involves upper thoracic nerves. The head feels unclean from persistent ozaena and matting behind the ears; attempts at hot washing aggravate the fissures and make a bright excoriated crescent in the retro-auricular groove. The mental fog and heaviness are more from broken sleep and fetor than from primary cerebral action. Compared with Mezereum (thick crusts, bone pains, neuralgia), Tell. is thinner, more ring-edged, with stronger fetor and ear concomitants [Hering], [Clarke].

Edges of the lids may itch with a fine, pityriasis-like scaling during general ringworm outbreaks; rubbing spreads angular excoriation to the canthi. Lacrimation follows nasal excoriation during ozaena episodes; photophobia is not a keynote. When zoster traverses the ophthalmic division, burning and stabbing circlets may border the brow; touch and heat aggravate, cool air soothes, echoing skin modalities.

This sphere is cardinal. Offensive, acrid otorrhoea (often post-scarlatinal) excoriates the auricle, fissures behind the ear, and soils the pillow with a fish-brine odour [Hering], [Clarke], [Allen]. The drum feels as if it would burst; there is autophony—he hears his own voice and steps echoing in the affected ear—and a fluttering or buzzing like a trapped insect [Allen]. Lying on the ear, washing, warmth of bed, and night increase pain and discharge; cool air, drying, and free outflow relieve. Mastoid and peri-auricular tissues are tender; shooting to occiput may occur. Children are restless at night, boring the head in the pillow and scratching the groove behind the ear until it is a raw crescent. Differentially, Hepar suits earlier, acute suppuration with throbbing and extreme touch-sensitivity; Pulsatilla has bland, yellow discharge without the fish-brine fetor; Mercurius is salivary, slimy, and sweaty with glandular swelling; Silicea governs indurated, fistulous courses; Tell. stands out by fetor, retro-auricular eczema, and autophony [Clarke], [Boger], [Boericke].

Ozaena: crusts and fetid, excoriating discharge raw the alae nasi and upper lip; picking loosens foetid scabs that reform with heat of rooms [Clarke]. The odour is typically fish-brine, matching the ear discharge and sweat notes. Sneezing jars the coccyx and may start a sacral throb, an instructive cross-link. Smell may seem perverted by the omnipresent fetor. Compared with Kali-bich. (stringy, punched-out ulcers) and Merc. (thick, green, with salivation and nightly sweats), Tell. has the ring-skin companion and aural focus.

Retro-auricular fissures are almost emblematic; the malar borders may carry annular patches. The upper lip often becomes excoriated from nasal discharge; beard-area eruptions itch in warmth. Neuralgic stitches sometimes follow zoster paths if the infraorbital branch has been involved.

Taste may seem fishy after long ozaena; mouth corners crack when the pityriasis-like scaling spreads to angles. Tongue usually clean. Saliva not specially altered unless the Merc. layer is present as a differential.

Toothache is not characteristic but may appear reflexly with ear disease; the jaw feels tired from nocturnal clenching response to itch/pain.

Post-nasal fetid drip irritates the fauces; hawking excoriates tissues. Warm drinks soothe rawness, but heat applied to skin worsens the itch—dual behaviour typical of the remedy field.

Herpes zoster about the thorax with burning/stinging girdle; clothing hurts; touch and warmth aggravate. Cough jars the sacrum/coccyx and may shoot pain down thighs—signature of the Tell. spine link. Breath sounds unaffected unless ozaena drip provokes hawking.

Palpitation is reflex and anxious during sleepless, itching nights; not a nutritive myocardium remedy. Fetor and shame colour the emotion more than cardiac signs.

Deep inspiration may tug at intercostal zoster tracks; sighing common after scratching bouts. Odour in nose makes the patient court fresh air whilst cool air to skin helps itching—consistent management cue.

Nausea may come with severe fetor or during herpes-zoster pain; appetite is secondarily depressed in children with long-standing otorrhoea. No constant cravings or aversions define the remedy.

Intertriginous areas (groins, perineum) show moist, offensive excoriation; the perianal ring may carry circinate patches. Coughing or sneezing tightens abdominal walls and intensifies coccygeal pain.

Peri-anal itching and ring lesions; fissuring possible if scratched in bed’s warmth. Discharges acrid when present; stool itself not characteristically altered.

Urine may carry a faint fishy odour in pronounced systemic fetor states; otherwise unremarkable. In children with otorrhoea the night wetting may reflect sleep loss rather than urinary pathology.

No strong cravings; the smell of fish may nauseate by association; salt water on the skin aggravates ring lesions; saline used gently for cleansing mucosa may soothe, a practical nuance.

Tinea cruris with offensive, itching crescents in groin folds; night and warmth aggravate, cool drying helps. Post-zoster scrotal neuralgia is sometimes observed.

Intertrigo beneath breasts and in groins; vulvar pruritus with ring-edge lesions; leucorrhoea, if present, may excoriate and smell fishy. Menses do not define the remedy but warmth-at-night itch may peak premenstrually in some.

Coccyx and sacrum feel bruised; jars, cough, sneeze, stepping off a curb, or sitting on a hard seat set up throbs or stabs [Boger], [Clarke]. Pain may radiate to hips or down thighs; rest and careful avoidance of shock help. After herpes zoster, lingering neuralgia may stripe the dorsal region, clothing intolerable, cool air soothing over a thin silk barrier. Contrast Ruta (periosteal, after falls) and Hypericum (nerve-end injury)—Tell. is the eczema/fetor and jar-to-coccyx combination.

Between toes and fingers intertriginous moist patches itch worse warmth; ring margins advance centrifugally. Nails may become brittle where eruptions long persist; scratching produces thin, acrid ooze with fetor. Neuralgic tracks along ribs and arms in post-zoster cases are sensitive to clothing.

This is the signature: circinate, annular, spreading patches—tinea-like or pityriasis versicolor-like—with itching, burning, night/warmth worse, and a tendency to excoriation with fish-brine odour of exudate [Hering], [Clarke]. Retro-auricular fissures that weep and crack are classic; herpes zoster with vivid burning and a long neuralgic tail is frequent. Intertrigo of folds is offensive and stubborn. Scratching improves for the second but broadens the ring; washing hot excites more burning; cool air/drying calms the surface while deep neuralgia may accept gentle warmth—the split-level modality that so often confirms the choice.

• Otorrhoea / post-scarlatinal ear disease
  • Hepar — Acute, throbbing, touch-intolerant suppuration; warmth >; fetor not specifically fish-brine. Tell.: chronic/foul with retro-auricular eczema and autophony. [Hering], [Clarke]
  • Pulsatilla — Bland, yellow discharge; gentle, tearful; little fetor. Tell.: acrid, foetid, fish-brine; night/warmth itch. [Clarke]
  • Mercurius — Profuse, slimy, glandular swelling, nightly sweats; saliva offensive. Tell.: thinner, more acrid, retro-auricular fissures. [Allen]
  • Silicea — Fistulous, indurated, carious tendencies; chilly, sweaty feet. Tell.: fetor and ring-skin predominate. [Boger]
• Ozaena / fetid coryza
  • Kali-bich. — Stringy, viscid mucus; “punched-out” ulcers. Tell.: acrid fetor with ring-skin/ear links. [Clarke]
  • Psorinum — General carrion odour, filthy aspect; great chilliness, despair. Tell.: more localised fish-brine fetor with eczematous ear belt. [Phatak]
• Eczema behind ears / intertrigo
  • Graphites — Thick, honey-like exudation; obese, chilly; cracks. Tell.: fish-brine, ring-edge, wash-worse, night-worse itch. [Clarke], [Hering]
  • Mezereum — Thick crusts, neuralgia; bone-tenderness. Tell.: thinner, annular, fetid, ear-centred. [Hering]
• Herpes zoster (burning/stinging girdle)
  • Rhus-tox — Vesicular erysipeloid rash, restless, better motion; less fetor or ring tendency. Tell.: night/warmth itch, clothing intolerable, cool air to skin helps. [Boger]
  • Mezereum — Severe neuralgia with thick crusts; more scalp focus. Tell.: intercostal girdle + fetor context. [Clarke]
• Coccyx/sacrum jar-pains
  • Hypericum — Nerve-end injuries after falls; exquisite spinal sensitivity. Tell.: jar-from cough/sneeze, ear/skin fetor concomitants. [Boger]
  • Ruta — Periosteal bruising after falls; strain. Tell.: annular skin + otorrhoea background. [Clarke]

• Complementary: Pulsatilla—after Tell. has drained a foul ear, Puls. may complete bland catarrh; or Puls. opens, Tell. clears fetor/eczema. [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Complementary: Kali-bich.—ozaena layer (stringy crusts) alternating with Tell.’s fetor/eczema layer. [Clarke]
• Follows well: Hepar in acute, then Tell. as discharges become acrid/fetid with retro-auricular fissures. [Hering]
• Precedes well: Silicea where fistulisation/induration threatens after Tell. has reduced fetor. [Boger]
• Related: Graphites, Mezereum, Psorinum—skin relations to be contrasted around fetor, exudate quality, and modalities. [Clarke], [Phatak]
• Management/antidotal notes: Heat, washing, friction, occlusion aggravate; cool air, drying, gentle cleansing are half the cure while dosing. [Boericke], [Clarke]

• Post-scarlatinal otorrhoea with retro-auricular fissures, fish-brine fetor, autophony: Tell. 6C–30C once to t.i.d.; insist on cool-air drying, non-occlusive dressings, lying on sound side at night; reserve Hepar for frankly acute, throbbing stages. [Hering], [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Ozaena with acrid, fetid discharge excoriating alae/upper lip: Tell. 6C–12C b.i.d.–t.i.d.; gentle saline irrigation without rubbing; compare Kali-bich. if strings and ulcer-punches dominate. [Clarke], [Boger]
• Herpes zoster (burning band; clothing intolerable; night/heat itch): Tell. 30C–200C; protect with light silk, allow cool air; alternate/compare Rhus-tox/Mez. according to restlessness vs crusts. [Boger], [Tyler]
• Coccyx/sacrum jar-pains (cough/sneeze/step) with Tell. skin/ear context: Tell. 30C q.d.–q.o.d.; coach shock-control (stool-softening, cough bracing, cushions). [Clarke], [Boger]
• Intertrigo/tinea cruris (offensive, ring-edge, night/heat worse): Tell. 6C–30C and rigorous dry-cool care; if thick, honey crusts develop, review Graphites. [Hering], [Clarke]

Ears

• EAR — DISCHARGES — fetid — fish-brine odour — excoriating. — Hallmark Tell. otorrhoea.
• EAR — AUTOPHONY — hears own voice/steps in affected ear. — Drum involvement.
• EAR — PAIN — mastoid region — tenderness — lying on affected side — aggravates. — Watch mastoid; posture cue.
• EAR — ECZEMA — behind ear — fissures — night — warmth — aggravates. — Retro-auricular crescent.

Nose / Face

• NOSE — OZAENA — fetid — discharge excoriates — crusts. — Tell. ozaena signature.
• FACE — ERUPTIONS — retro-auricular — fissured — excoriating. — Ear belt eczema.

Skin

• SKIN — ERUPTIONS — circinate / ringworm-like — spreading edge — warmth of bed — aggravates. — Annular hallmark.
• SKIN — HERPES ZOSTER — burning/stinging — clothing — aggravates — cool air — ameliorates. — Girdle pain pattern.
• SKIN — INTERTRIGO — moist — offensive — folds — night worse. — Folds management.

Back / General

• BACK — COCCYX — pain — jar, cough, sneeze — aggravates — sitting — aggravates. — Railway-men’s backache.
• GENERALITIES — NIGHT — aggravates; HEAT — of bed — aggravates. — Global surface modality.
• GENERALITIES — WASHING — aggravates — excoriation spreads. — Care error rubric.
• GENERALITIES — AIR — cool — ameliorates — itching/burning. — Simple counter-measure.

Sleep

• SLEEP — DISTURBED — itching — warmth of bed — aggravates. — Night enemy rubric.

Hering — The Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica (1879): core picture—fetid otorrhoea, retro-auricular eczema, ring eruptions, zoster, modalities.
Allen, T. F. — Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): autophony, ear/mastoid notes, ozaena, cutaneous circles; toxicology.
Clarke, J. H. — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): fish-brine fetor, ear and skin spheres, coccyx jar-pains; differentials (Hepar, Puls., Graph.).
Boericke, W. — Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica (1901): retro-auricular fissures; ozaena; ringworm and zoster; modalities.
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica (1915): modality grid—night/heat/wash worse; jar-coccyx; relations (Rhus-t., Mez., Sil.).
Hughes, R. — A Manual of Pharmacodynamics (1870s): element background; industrial fetor notes; rationale for mucous/skin action.
Kent, J. T. — Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica (1905): remarks on acrid discharges and ring lesions; comparisons to Graph., Psor.
Nash, E. B. — Leaders in Homoeopathic Therapeutics (1907): succinct notes—fetid otorrhoea; night-worse itch; cool-air relief.
Phatak, S. R. — Concise Materia Medica (1977): keynotes—fish-brine odour; ear eczema; ozaena; ringworm; modalities.
Tyler, M. L. — Homoeopathic Drug Pictures (1942): bedside portraits—zoster girdle; care of folds; cool-dry management.
Farrington, E. A. — Clinical Materia Medica (late 19th c.): differentials in skin/ear sphere—Graph., Mez., Hepar, Merc., Sil.
Dewey, W. A. — Practical Homoeopathic Therapeutics (1901): therapeutics—ozaena/otitis regimens; ear toilet; non-occlusive dressings.
Shore, J. — Portraits of Homoeopathic Medicines (20th c.): modern clinical confirmations—ringworm/zoster patterns with fetor.
Morrison, R. — Desktop Guide to Keynotes & Confirmatory Symptoms (late 20th c.): confirmatory keynotes—retro-auricular eczema, fish-brine odour, autophony.