Capsicum annuum
Latin name: Capsicum annuum
Short name: Caps
Common name: Cayenne Pepper | Red Pepper | Chili Pepper | Paprika | Bird Pepper
Primary miasm: Psoric, Sycotic
Kingdom: Plants
Family: Solanaceae
- Symptomatology
- Remedy Information
- Differentiation & Application
Prepared from the dried, ripe fruit of the plant Capsicum annuum, belonging to the Solanaceae family. The tincture is made from finely powdered dried pods macerated in alcohol. The plant is native to tropical America but cultivated worldwide for its pungent fruit, rich in capsaicin, which gives it its characteristic heat.
Culinary spice and food preservative; traditionally used in herbal medicine as a stimulant, digestive aid, and circulatory tonic. Capsaicin is employed in topical analgesic creams for neuralgia and arthritis.
Proved by Hahnemann and his colleagues, published in the Materia Medica Pura, with later confirmations by Hering, Allen, and Hughes.
- Mucous membranes – Particularly of the nasopharynx, Eustachian tubes, bladder, and rectum [Hering].
- Throat and ears – Catarrhal inflammation with burning pains, especially in cold, sluggish constitutions.
- Digestive tract – Stomach and intestines with a tendency to haemorrhoids and sluggish peristalsis.
- Urinary tract – Bladder irritation, tenesmus, and mucous discharge.
- Respiratory system – Chronic, indolent coughs with expectoration.
- Circulatory system – Passive venous congestion.
- Mind – Homesickness with sleeplessness and bodily complaints.
- Warmth in general, warm drinks, warm surroundings.
- Eating, especially warm food.
- Rest, avoiding exertion.
- Open air, especially cold drafts [Hering].
- After exposure to cold and damp, particularly when overheated
- Beer drinking (provokes haemorrhoids, bladder irritation).
- Mental dwelling on homesickness or grief.
- After stool (exhaustion, tenesmus, burning).
- Pulsatilla – Also for homesickness, but Puls. is weepy and yielding; Caps. is sullen and irritable.
- Aurum – Homesickness with profound depression; more suicidal tendency than Caps.
- Kali carb. – Catarrhal ear complaints, but without the burning-throat-to-ear keynote.
- Nux vomica – Irritability with digestive disturbances, but Nux is more restless and oversensitive
- Complementary: Carbo veg., Pulsatilla.
- Antidotes: Camphor, Coffea.
- Inimical: Unknown.
- Follows well: Arsenicum album, Nux vomica.
A sluggish, chilly, homesick constitution, where body and mind are both slow to react. Burning pains in mucous membranes, especially in throat and ears, with a sullen, irritable mental state. The sufferer withdraws into memories of home, resenting present circumstances, and responds poorly to change or disturbance.
- Excellent for Eustachian catarrh with burning from throat to ear.
- Consider in haemorrhoids with marked burning after stool.
- A useful remedy for homesickness with bodily ailments.
- Catarrhal conditions in sluggish, flabby patients after exposure to damp cold.
Mind:
- Homesickness, sleepless from.
- Dwells on past disagreeables.
- Peevish, offended easily.
Head:
- Headache from neck to forehead.
- Congestive headache after cold exposure.
Ears:
- Burning pain extending from throat.
- Catarrh of Eustachian tube.
Throat:
- Pain on swallowing, extending to ear.
- Chronic pharyngeal catarrh.
Rectum:
- Burning after stool.
- Haemorrhoids, painful, burning.
Generalities:
- Chilly, sluggish, fat constitutions.
Aggravation from beer.
- Hahnemann, S. – Materia Medica Pura: Original proving symptoms.
- Hering, C. – Guiding Symptoms: Homesickness, burning ear-throat connection.
- Allen, T.F. – Encyclopaedia: Detailed proving notes and modalities.
- Clarke, J.H. – Dictionary: Clinical notes on ear and throat catarrh.
- Kent, J.T. – Lectures: Constitutional notes on sluggish, chilly types.
- Hughes, R. – Cyclopaedia: Pharmacodynamic remarks on capsaicin effects.
- Boericke, W. – Pocket Manual: Keynotes, sluggish constitution type.
- Lippe, A. – Keynotes: Aggravation from beer, burning pains.
- Farrington, E.A. – Clinical MM: Intermittent fevers in climate change.
- Nash, E.B. – Leaders: Burning haemorrhoids, homesickness.