Ustilago

A parasitic basidiomycete of the family Ustilaginaceae, forming black teliospore masses (“smut”) on maize. Homeopathic preparations are made from the fresh fungus or dried spores by trituration/tincture. Classical authors ascribed to it a uterine haemorrhagic and trophic action with affinity to ovaries, uterus, and female breast, and a secondary influence on hair/nails/skin, producing alopecia and nail dystrophy in provers and clinical reports [Hale], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke]. Toxicology/physiology notes include pelvic congestion, uterine atony, and dark, clotted bleeding, with congestive headaches when menses are checked or flow irregular [Hale], [Hughes], [Clarke]. [Proving] [Clinical] [Toxicology]

Collected from small provings and abundant clinical confirmations in American practice (Hale, Allen), then adopted by Clarke and Boericke. Recurrent threads: menorrhagia/metrorrhagia of dark clots, fibroid bleeding, threatened abortion from pelvic congestion, subinvolution after labour, left ovarian pains, pruritus vulvae, and trophic changes—alopecia, brittle nails, hangnails, skin excoriations—with anaemic exhaustion and congestive vertex/occipital headache when flow is suppressed or irregular [Hale], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Farrington], [Boger]. [Proving] [Clinical]

Ust. speaks in a pelvic dialect of dark clots and ooze, with congestion that lifts under rest, coolness, and support. Its particular grace is to gather uterine haemorrhage, left ovarian irritation, fibroid/subinvolution states, and pruritus vulvae into one coherent picture—and then to underscore that same picture with hair and nail frailty: alopecia (even pubic), brittle ridged nails, hangnails, slow-healing excoriations. In attacks, motion, standing, and warmth inflate the flow; firm bandaging, lying still, cool applications, and evacuation of clots reduce the storm. If the bleeding is bright and gushing, Trillium speaks louder; if stringy and dark with “something alive,” Crocus does; if thin, dark, foul in a cold woman who desires cold, Secale leads; if bright with sacrum-to-pubes pain and a fiery sexual climate, Sabina. Ust. carries the middle register—dark, clotty, oozing, congestive, itching—and is at its best when the trophic signatures keep pace with the uterus. Clinical craft pairs the remedy with regimen: pelvic rest, support bandage, cool air, bowel regularity to avoid straining, and scrupulous but non-occlusive local care for pruritus. As these converge, haemorrhage shortens, intervals lengthen, headaches soften when flow is properly established, pruritus abates, and hair/nails slowly recover tone [Hale], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Farrington], [Boger], [Dewey], [Phatak], [Tyler], [Nash], [Morrison], [Shore].

• Uterus (primary haemorrhagic sphere): Menorrhagia and metrorrhagia with dark, clotted blood and continuous oozing between gushes; fibroids, subinvolution, and post-partum bleeding patterns figure strongly. Cross-ref. Female, Fever, Generalities. [Hale], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Allen]
• Ovaries (esp. left): Congestive, burning, pressing pains, ovarian irritation with pruritus; reflex headaches and nausea with suppressed or profuse flow. Cross-ref. Female, Head, Stomach. [Clarke], [Farrington]
• Pregnancy/parturition: Threatened abortion, post-abortive and post-partum haemorrhage with atony; lochia too long, dark, clotty. Cross-ref. Female, Generalities. [Hale], [Boericke]
• Breast and pelvic tissues: Engorgement, tenderness; subinvolution sensations (weight, dragging), better firm support. Cross-ref. Female, Back. [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Hair and nails (trophic): Alopecia (scalp, eyebrows, pubic hair), brittle/ridged nails, hangnails, paronychia tendency—often with pelvic disorders. Cross-ref. Skin, Generalities. [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Recto-anal venous plexus: Bleeding piles with dark clots and pelvic congestion; postpartum exacerbations. Cross-ref. Rectum, Female. [Boericke], [Boger]
• Vulvo-vaginal: Pruritus vulvae, excoriation, worse at night and with pelvic heat; often accompanies fibroid/ovarian states. Cross-ref. Female, Skin. [Clarke], [Allen]

There is anxious watchfulness concerning bleeding, a dread of movement lest flooding return. The mood is worn and anaemic, with irritability disproportionate to trifles during prolonged metrorrhagia. Sexual thoughts or excitement are instinctively feared as congestive triggers, echoing worse coitus and worse excitement. When the menses are checked or suppressed, a congestive, throbbing head and pelvic fullness dominate thought until the flow returns, cross-linking to Head and Female. The patient often displays a tidy fastidiousness around local care (dressings, cleanliness) that genuinely ameliorates pruritus and soreness. Compared with Sepia, which has indifference and pelvic relaxation with bearing-down, Ust. is more haemorrhagic–congestive, with dark clots and trophic changes of hair/nails producing a self-consciousness different from Sepia’s indifference [Clarke], [Farrington], [Boericke].

Broken by itching and by anxiety during hemorrhagic nights; dozing after bleeding is checked brings relief of faintness. Dreams of accidents or of bleeding; morning dullness until food and air restore strength.

Of blood, hospitals, examinations; of losing hair or teeth—metaphors of loss and fragility that often reflect the patient’s preoccupations during long metrorrhagia.

Ustilago maydis is a pelvic–haemorrhagic remedy: dark, clotted bleeding with continuous oozing, worse exertion/motion, in the settings of fibroids, subinvolution, threatened abortion, and prolonged lochia. The left ovary, pruritus vulvae, and a stream of trophic signs—alopecia, brittle nails, hangnails, slow healing of excoriations—round the image. The patient is anaemic, faint, with congestive headaches when menses are suppressed, and she improves with firm pelvic support, cool air, rest, and evacuation of clots. Choose it where Sabina is too bright and inflammatory, Trillium too gushing and bandage-dependent, Crocus too stringy and viviparous-feeling, Secale too cold and atonic, Thlaspi too frequent and colic-ridden. When the hair–nail story accompanies the uterine one, Ust. coheres as few others do [Hale], [Allen], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Farrington], [Boger], [Phatak].

No characteristic fever; chilliness with open fontanel-like sensation at vertex in anaemic women; brief flushes in warm rooms that increase oozing.

Chill when bleeding is active; heat of bed increases pruritus and pelvic throbbing; sweat cold and clammy during faintness, neutral in odour.

Headache is congestive, often vertex/occiput heavy, throbbing with flushed face when the menses are suppressed or delayed; relief follows a proper flow, explicitly cross-referencing Better after evacuation and Female. There is faintness and blackness before the eyes on rising during a flood; the anaemic state sustains dull morning headaches. Unlike Trillium, where faintness is from sudden gushing of bright blood relieved by tight bandaging, Ust. tends toward dark clots and persistent oozing with bandaging as support rather than cure. If the left ovary is tender, pain may ascend to the left temple with a sense of pelvic–cranial reflex congestion [Hale], [Clarke], [Allen].

Paleness around the lids reflects loss; there may be dimness and muscae in anaemia. Lachrymation appears with vulvar pruritus from nervous irritation but is not characteristic. Photophobia is slight and secondary.

Ringing or rushing in ears attends loss of blood; noises are those of anaemia rather than primary otic pathology. Relief comes as haemorrhage is checked and circulation steadies.

Epistaxis is occasional in the same haemorrhagic diathesis, usually dark and clotty, worse heat of room. Nasal mucosa may feel dry and excoriated in the pruritic subject.

Face pale, at times greenish or waxy with prolonged loss; flushes come on exertion with sense of giddiness. Lips dry; mouth corners fissured in anaemia.

Taste flat; tongue pale, indented; bleeding from gums is not typical but slow healing of cracks is seen. Saliva neutral or slightly increased in pregnancy states.

Nails/skin rather than teeth show the trophic imprint; nonetheless teething-like gum soreness may mirror overall epithelial fragility in some women.

An empty, sinking feeling accompanies flooding; swallowing does not relieve. Globus arises with anxiety and pruritus, but throat is not a primary seat.

Palpitations from anaemia and anxiety; shortness of breath on going upstairs renews oozing; sighing after exertion. No primary bronchial disease.

Soft systolic murmurs may appear in marked anaemia; pulse soft, quick, easily excited. Palpitation worse exertion, better rest and cool air.

Shallow with faintness; a deep breath may renew giddiness if bleeding is active; cool, quiet air steadies respiration.

Nausea with faintness during heavy flow; desire for cold water sipped frequently; appetite small. Food aggravations are less decisive than the haemorrhagic state; vomiting may follow a sudden gush and syncope.

Pelvic weight and bearing-down as if everything would escape; better with firm support. Left iliac fossa often tender with ovarian pains radiating to groin and back. Bowel distension or constipation intensifies pelvic engorgement and may renew bleeding, directly tying to Worse straining [Clarke], [Boger].

Bleeding piles with dark clots accompany uterine congestion; the rectal plexus is full, sore, and relieved by cool applications and light dressings. Pruritus ani may match vulvar pruritus; scratching excoriates. Stools are sluggish during weakness; straining rekindles pelvic throbbing.

Frequent urging from pelvic congestion; urine pale in anaemic states; tenesmus vesicae may accompany uterine haemorrhage, a reflex irritability that subsides as flow moderates.

Desire for cold water in sips; aversion to rich foods; craving for salt occasionally noted in anaemia. Small, frequent feedings better than large meals.

Seldom prescribed in men, but piles with dark clots, pruritus ani, and alopecia/nail dystrophy constitute a minor parallel when pelvic venous engorgement is present.

This is the centre. Menorrhagia and metrorrhagia with dark, clotted blood, oozing between gushes, and renewal from slight motion are keynotes [Hale], [Clarke], [Boericke], [Allen]. The uterus feels heavy, relaxed, sometimes atonic after childbirth or abortion; subinvolution with dragging and backache improves with firm bandaging and rest. Fibroids are frequent contexts, the flow dark, clotty, prolonged, with pruritus vulvae and vaginal excoriation from acrid secretions. Left ovarian burning or pressing pains precede or accompany the menses; when menses are checked, congestive headache supervenes until discharge resumes. Threatened abortion in early months from pelvic congestion, and lochia too long and dark after labour, belong to its orbit. Distinguish from Sabina (bright blood, pain from sacrum to pubes, excitable sexual state, worse least motion), Trillium (gushing, bright, faintness better tight bandage), Crocus (dark stringy blood, sensation of movement in abdomen), Secale (dark, thin, foul oozing in a cold, atonic patient craving cold), Thlaspi-b-p. (very frequent periods with clots and uterine colic) [Farrington], [Boericke], [Clarke].

Lumbosacral aching with bearing-down; sacral weight better bandaging and recumbency; dorsal fatigue from long loss. The backache accompanies subinvolution and prolonged lochia.

Cold hands and feet; trembling after small exertion; ankles swell late day in anaemic subjects. Cramps in calves at night with pruritus episodes.

Alopecia—diffuse or patchy—especially in women with chronic pelvic disease; loss of pubic hair may be noted [Allen], [Clarke]. Nails become brittle, ridged, with hangnails and paronychia tendency; small excoriations heal slowly. Vulvar and perineal skin itch, worse warmth of bed, better cool bathing and air; scratching excoriates, echoing worse warm/occlusion.

• Uterine haemorrhage / metrorrhagia (fibroids, subinvolution, lochia)
  • Sabina — Bright red blood with clots; pain from sacrum to pubes; least motion renews; sexual excitement marked. Ust.: dark clots, persistent ooze, trophic hair/nails, pruritus. [Clarke], [Farrington]
  • Trillium pend. — Gushing bright blood, faintness better tight bandaging; sacral and hip pains; less trophic change. Ust.: bandage helps but flow is dark/clotty. [Boericke], [Dewey]
  • Crocus — Dark, stringy blood; sensation as of something alive in abdomen; hysterical swings. Ust.: clots without strings; pruritus and nail/hair signs. [Clarke]
  • Secale — Thin, dark, offensive oozing in cold, atonic subjects craving cold; uterus relaxed. Ust.: dark clots with oozing; not so cold; pruritus vulvae common. [Hale], [Farrington]
  • Thlaspi bursa pastoris — Very frequent menses, clots, uterine cramps; habitually returns early. Ust.: bleeding tied to fibroid/subinvolution terrain; trophic signs. [Clarke], [Boger]
  • Hamamelis — Venous oozing, bruised sore veins; less uterine–ovarian irritability. Ust.: uterine focus with ovary pains and pruritus. [Clarke]
• Ovarian pain / pelvic congestion
  • Lachesis — Left ovary pain worse pressure, intolerance of tight clothes, loquacity; relief as discharges appear. Ust.: pressure supports; pruritus and dark clots key. [Farrington]
  • Sepia — Pelvic relaxation, bearing-down, indifference; not chiefly haemorrhagic; hair/nail changes less linked. Ust.: haemorrhagic and trophic. [Clarke]
• Alopecia / nail dystrophy with gynaecology
  • Fluoric acid — Brittle nails, onychia; heat and venous states; less uterine tie. Ust.: nail/hair changes ride with uterine bleeding. [Allen], [Phatak]
  • Natrum mur. — Scalp thinning with menses disturbances; emotional aetiology; bleeding not dark/clotty signature. Ust.: haemorrhagic stamp. [Tyler]

• Complementary: Trillium pend. in bright gushing phases; Ust. in the dark-clot phase of the same case. [Dewey], [Clarke]
• Complementary: Thlaspi b-p. where frequent, painful menses persist after Ust. has steadied fibroid bleeding. [Clarke], [Boger]
• Follows well: Acon./Bell. for acute pelvic congestion; Ust. when the case settles into dark, clotty metrorrhagia with pruritus. [Farrington]
• Precedes well: Sepia or Calc. constitutionals once haemorrhage ends and pelvic relaxation remains. [Clarke], [Tyler]
• Compare: Sabina, Crocus, Secale, Hamamelis, Erigeron, Helonias, Murex, Lachesis across uterine spheres. [Farrington], [Boericke]

• Fibroid menorrhagia/metrorrhagia, dark clots with persistent oozing; worse motion; better firm support: Ust. 6C–30C every 2–4 hours during flooding, then at wider intervals; insist on bed rest, pelvic band, cool applications. [Hale], [Clarke], [Boericke]
• Subinvolution with dragging, prolonged dark lochia, pruritus vulvae: Ust. 6C–12C t.i.d.; local cooling, non-occlusive care; avoid warm baths at night. [Clarke], [Allen]
• Threatened abortion from pelvic congestion (early months), flow dark/clotty: Ust. 30C at once and repeat cautiously; strict recumbency, silence, cool room; compare Sabina, Secale, Trillium as indicated. [Hale], [Farrington]
• Alopecia with uterine disorder; brittle nails/hangnails: Ust. 6C–30C over weeks; correct haemorrhage terrain; gentle scalp/hands regimen; review Fl-ac., Nat-m. if trophic issues persist after pelvic cure. [Allen], [Phatak]
• Bleeding piles with pelvic congestion and dark clots (post-partum): Ust. 6C b.i.d.–t.i.d.; stool softening, cool compress, avoid straining. [Boger], [Boericke]

Female

• UTERUS — HAEMORRHAGE — dark — clots — with oozing between.
• MENSES — PROFUSE — clotted — motion aggravates; standing aggravates.
• METRORRHAGIA — fibroids — with pruritus vulvae.
• SUBINVOLUTION — uterus — lochia prolonged — dark clots.
• OVARIES — PAIN — left — pressing/burning — congestion.
• PRURITUS — VULVAE — warmth of bed aggravates — cool bathing ameliorates.
• ABORTION — threatened — congestion — early months.

Generalities

• GENERALITIES — MOTION — least — aggravates haemorrhage.
• GENERALITIES — PRESSURE — firm bandaging — ameliorates pelvic symptoms.
• GENERALITIES — COOL AIR — ameliorates; HEAT — of bed/room — aggravates.
• GENERALITIES — LOSS OF FLUIDS — from haemorrhage — weakness — headaches.
• GENERALITIES — CONGESTION — pelvic — with reflex headaches when menses suppressed.

Head

• HEAD — CONGESTION — menses — suppressed — with relief when flow returns.
• HEADACHE — VERTEX/OCCIPUT — congestive — uterine disorders — with faintness.

Rectum

• HAEMORRHOIDS — bleeding — dark — clots — postpartum.
• PRURITUS ANI — warmth of bed — aggravates — excoriation from scratching.

Skin / Hair / Nails

• HAIR — FALLING — alopecia — with uterine disease.
• NAILS — BRITTLE — ridged — hangnails — paronychia tendency.
• EXCORIATIONS — vulvar/perineal — slow healing — warm/occlusion aggravates.

Heart/Respiration

• PALPITATION — anaemia — haemorrhage from.
• RESPIRATION — SHORTNESS — ascending — with renewal of uterine flow.

Sleep

• SLEEP — DISTURBED — itching of genitals — at night — warmth aggravates.

Hale, E. M. — New Remedies, Clinical and Pathogenetic (late 19th c.): primary uterine sphere—fibroids, metrorrhagia, subinvolution; threatened abortion; clinical confirmations.
Allen, T. F. — Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica (1874–79): proving/clinical notes—dark clots, pruritus vulvae, alopecia/nail changes.
Clarke, J. H. — A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica (1900): uterine haemorrhage portrait; modalities; ovarian pains; relationships (Sabina, Trillium, Crocus, Secale).
Boericke, W. — Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica (1901): keynotes—menorrhagia/metrorrhagia with dark clots; subinvolution; pruritus; alopecia.
Hughes, R. — A Manual of Pharmacodynamics (1870s): drug background; comparison with ergot-like uterine effects; haemorrhagic indications.
Farrington, E. A. — Clinical Materia Medica (late 19th c.): differentials—Sabina, Trillium, Secale, Crocus; ovarian–uterine reflexes.
Boger, C. M. — Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica (1915): modality grid—motion <, pressure/support >; rectal bleeding with pelvic congestion.
Dewey, W. A. — Practical Homoeopathic Therapeutics (1901): menorrhagia/fibroid therapeutics; post-partum and subinvolution management.
Phatak, S. R. — Concise Materia Medica (1977): keynotes—dark clotting; pruritus vulvae; trophic hair/nail notes.
Tyler, M. L. — Homoeopathic Drug Pictures (1942): portraits—uterine haemorrhage types; constitutional follow-ons after bleeding control.
Nash, E. B. — Leaders in Homoeopathic Therapeutics (1907): succinct markers—motion renews haemorrhage; uterine atony cases.
Morrison, R. — Desktop Guide to Keynotes & Confirmatory Symptoms (late 20th c.): confirmatory—fibroids dark clots, pruritus; clinical pearls.
Shore, J. — Portraits of Homoeopathic Medicines (20th c.): modern confirmations—alopecia/nail changes with gynaecologic pathology.
Vithoulkas, G. — Essence of Materia Medica (late 20th c.): essence—congestive, haemorrhagic female remedies; placement of Ustilago among them.