Aloe Socotrina

A gum-resin obtained from the leaves of Aloe perryi or related aloe species native to the island of Socotra. The resin is rich in anthraquinones and traditionally known for its potent purgative properties.

Used for centuries as a strong laxative, vermifuge, and to stimulate liver function; employed in traditional medicine across Arabian, Indian, and African systems; also used externally for burns and wounds.

Proved by Dr. Helbig in Germany and confirmed by Hahnemann; further symptoms contributed by Hughes, Allen, and others through toxicological reports and clinical confirmations

• Rectum and large intestines – portal circulation, sluggish bowel, prolapse, and haemorrhoids

• Liver and digestive tract – torpor, congestion

• Pelvis and prostate – sensation of fullness and dragging

• Mind – irritability, indifference, lack of tone

• Head – headache from bowel stasis or heat

• Skin – especially peri-anal eruptions, itching and burning

• Cold open air

• Passing flatus or stool

• Warm applications (for abdominal pains)

• Lying on the abdomen

• Bending forward

• Continued motion (in some abdominal complaints)

• Morning (especially after rising and during stool)

• Heat of the bed

• Sedentary lifestyle

• After eating or drinking

• Suppression of stool or flatus

• Sudden emotions or mental stress

• Overeating rich food or beer

• Sulphur – Also haemorrhoids and early morning stool, but Aloe has more urgency and jelly-like stool
• Nux vomica – Constipation and liver complaints, but Nux is irritable, Aloe is indolent
• Podophyllum – Profuse morning diarrhoea, but Podophyllum has more gushing and painless stool
• Hamamelis – Haemorrhoids with bleeding, but Aloe has more protrusion and jelly-like mucus
• Collinsonia – Haemorrhoids during pregnancy, but without Aloe’s rectal urgency

• Complementary: Sulphur, Lycopodium
• Antidotes: Camphora, Nux vomica
• Follows well: Chelidonium, Podophyllum
• Precedes well: Nux vomica, Lycopodium

Aloe socotrina embodies the sluggish, overloaded, and congested human organism—laden with bile, burdened by lifestyle excess, and expressing its stagnation through violent evacuations and mental torpor. The remedy has a peculiar combination of urgency and inertia—an indolent temperament paired with explosive, often involuntary discharges. It suits those who are dull, lazy, overfed, sedentary, and troubled by portal congestion, venous stasis, and rectal dysfunction.

• Haemorrhoids protrude like a “bunch of grapes,” relieved by cold water
• Jelly-like mucus in stool is a reliable keynote
• Diarrhoea drives the patient from bed at 5–6 a.m.
• For irritable children with obstinate, offensive diarrhoea and anal itching
• Use in elderly with weak rectal tone and incontinence

Mind

• Indolence, aversion to mental effort
• Irritability when unoccupied
• Aversion to being touched

Head

• Headache, relieved by stool
• Congestion, heat, pulsation
• Vertigo, worse rising

Rectum

• Urging, sudden, irresistible
• Jelly-like stool
• Haemorrhoids, protruding, blue

Abdomen

• Fullness, bloating
• Rumbling and gurgling
• Dragging sensation

Stool

• Diarrhoea, early morning
• Involuntary stool on passing flatus
• Alternating diarrhoea and constipation

Generalities

• Worse in heat
• Worse in the morning
• Better from passing stool

• Samuel Hahnemann – Materia Medica Pura: Original proving and essential symptoms
• C. Hering – Guiding Symptoms: Emphasised rectal urgency, haemorrhoids, and mental state
• James Kent – Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica: Described constitutional picture and torpor
• John Henry Clarke – Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: Provided abdominal and portal system insights
• William Boericke – Pocket Manual: Gave clinical pointers on keynotes and applications