Graphites

Latin name: Graphites

Short name: Graph

Common name: Graphite | Black Lead | Mineral Carbon | Plumbago | Pencil Lead

Primary miasm: Psoric Secondary miasm(s): Sycotic, Tubercular

Kingdom: Minerals

Family: Elemental Carbon

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Symptomatology
Remedy Information
Differentiation & Application

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Head

Headaches in Graphites are often dull, heavy, and pressing, with a sensation as if a band were tightened around the forehead. Vertigo is common, particularly on rising or looking up, and may be accompanied by nausea. Scalp is dry, scaly, and itchy, with eruptions that ooze a sticky, honey-like fluid. Hair may fall out in patches, especially after suppressed skin complaints or during hormonal shifts. [Hering] notes soreness of the scalp on touch, and eruptions behind the ears or on the occiput. Head symptoms are often worse from cold air, before menses, and from washing.

Eyes

Eyes feel dry, irritated, and weak, with occasional burning and watering. Lids are swollen, red, and often glued shut in the morning. There may be eczema of the lids, with cracking and crusting, especially at the outer canthi. Vision becomes blurred on reading or during headaches. Photophobia is mild but present in inflamed states. [Boericke] mentions lachrymation and marginal blepharitis with thick crusts and excoriation. Style formation is frequent, especially after suppressed discharge or cold.

Ears

One of the keynotes of Graphites: moist eruptions behind the ears, with fissures and a sticky exudation that hardens into crusts. The ears may be sore, cracked, and offensive-smelling, especially in children. There may be diminished hearing, tinnitus (ringing or buzzing), and sensation of fullness or blockage. [Clarke] emphasises this as a guiding symptom, especially in chronic otorrhoea. The external auditory canal may also be involved with eczematous patches and scaliness.

Nose

Dryness, crusting, and occasional ulceration of nasal mucosa. Nasal discharge may be thick, yellow, and sticky, occasionally offensive. There is often scabbing inside the nostrils, with soreness and pain on touch. Loss of smell may follow chronic catarrh. Sneezing is rare, but if present, worse in morning. Epistaxis may occur in young girls at puberty.

Face

The face is pale, puffy, and may have a shiny, oily appearance. Skin is prone to cracking, particularly at the corners of the mouth and nose. Eczema or acne is frequent, especially in the chin and nasolabial region. In some, there is swelling or induration of the submaxillary glands. Wrinkled forehead and expression of sadness may be seen. [Kent] remarks on a dark or dirty hue to the skin despite good hygiene.

Mouth

Lips are dry, cracked, especially in the centre of the lower lip. Taste may be metallic or sour. Tongue is often coated, sometimes cracked, or swollen with imprints of the teeth. Gums bleed easily. Mouth feels dry on waking, with increased salivation during the day. Aphthous ulcers may occur in chronic cases.

Teeth

Toothache worse at night and from cold drinks. Teeth may feel loose or painful when biting. Decay may begin at the roots. Gums are spongy and bleed easily. Cracks at the corners of the mouth may extend into the mucosa, causing pain while chewing or speaking.

Throat

Dryness, roughness, and occasional stitching pains. There may be a sensation of a lump or foreign body in the throat, particularly during menses. Swelling of cervical glands is frequent. Chronic hoarseness or loss of voice may follow suppression of eruptions or cold exposure.

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Graphites is a naturally occurring mineral form of carbon (chemical formula: C), historically referred to as “plumbago.” It is a soft, black, lustrous substance, used industrially in pencils, lubricants, and electroplating.

Widely used in manufacturing pencils, crucibles, and lubricants; also as a refractory in metallurgy. Medicinally, it had no significant use prior to its proving.

First proved by Samuel Hahnemann and published in Materia Medica Pura. Expanded through extensive clinical use by Hering, Clarke, and Kent.

Skin – eczematous eruptions, cracked skin, oozing discharges
Glands – induration, swelling, especially cervical and inguinal
Female genitalia – delayed menses, leucorrhoea, cysts
Digestive system – constipation with fissures and mucous discharges
Ears and eyelids – crusting, discharges, eruptions
Nervous system – depression, sluggishness, confusion
Nails and hair – thickening, brittleness, falling

Warmth
After meals
Open air (some complaints)
Gentle motion
Continued pressure

Cold, especially cold damp weather
Suppression of eruptions or discharges
During menstruation
Morning on waking
Night (many complaints)
Milk, sweet things, and meat

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Sulphur – Also covers skin and chronic psora; more heat and intellectual intensity
Petroleum – Cracks and eruptions, worse in winter; more offensive discharge
Lycopodium – Digestive and skin issues; more focused on right-sided complaints and anticipation
Sepia – Hormonal disturbances, but more indifference and prolapse
Calcarea carb. – Obesity, sluggishness, but more sweat and bone issues

Complementary: Lycopodium, Argentum nitricum, Nux vomica
Antidotes: Aconite, Nux vomica
Follows well: Sulphur, Calcarea
Precedes well: Natrum mur., Sepia

Graphites is the archetypal sluggish, chilly, overweight individual—prone to stagnation on every level, be it skin, digestion, mind, or hormones. Its hallmark is incompleteness: incomplete stool, delayed menses, incomplete suppression, or mental clarity that feels fogged. It suits those with slow metabolism, suppressed discharges, and a tendency to chronicity—especially where skin eruptions and glandular swellings dominate the picture.

One of the top remedies for eczema with cracks and honey-like oozing
Useful in constipation with mucous stools and anal fissures
Indicated in women with delayed menses, obesity, and thick leucorrhoea
Great for cracked nipples, deformed nails, and post-scarring complaints
Follow with caution after Sulphur or Calcarea

Mind

Indecision
Timidity, bashful
Weeping from music

Head

Eruptions, oozing honey-like fluid
Hair, falling out

Ears

Moist eruption behind ears
Otorrhoea, offensive

Skin

Cracks, dry, fissured
Eczema, crusty, sticky
Ulcers, old, indolent

Digestive

Constipation, large, knotty stools
Mucus-covered stools
Fissures of anus

Female

Menses, delayed
Leucorrhoea, thick, white, sticky
Nipples, cracked, bleeding

Samuel Hahnemann – Materia Medica Pura: Original proving and foundational skin/glandular symptoms

James Tyler Kent – Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica: Mental, female, and constitutional themes

John Henry Clarke – Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: Expanded skin, ear, and rectal pathology

William Boericke – Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica: Gastrointestinal and practical notes

C. Hering – Guiding Symptoms of Our Materia Medica: Rich detail on ears, skin, and emotional modalities

Graphites

Mind

Sleep

Dreams

Generalities

Fever

Chill Heat Sweat

Head

Eyes

Ears

Nose

Face

Mouth

Teeth

Throat

Chest

Heart

Respiration

Stomach

Abdomen

Rectum

Urinary

Food

Male

Female

Back

Extremities

Skin

Mind

Sleep

Dreams

Generalities

Fever

Chill Heat Sweat

Head

Eyes

Ears

Nose

Face

Mouth

Teeth

Throat

Chest

Heart

Respiration

Stomach

Abdomen

Rectum

Urinary

Food

Male

Female

Back

Extremities

Skin

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