Staphisagria

A toxic plant native to southern Europe, traditionally used to expel lice and parasites. The seeds are rich in alkaloids, notably delphinine, which acts as a strong neurotoxin.

Historically used in folk medicine for lice and scabies; as a local irritant and cathartic in ancient Greece; not employed in modern allopathic practice due to toxicity.

First proved by Samuel Hahnemann and included in Materia Medica Pura; later confirmed clinically and expanded by Allen, Hering, and Clarke.

• Genito-urinary organs – especially male sexual system and bladder
• Teeth and gums – caries, pain, and neuralgia
• Nervous system – oversensitivity, tremors, sexual neurasthenia
• Eyes and lids – styes, chalazion, eyelid inflammation
• Skin – itching, eruptions, acne, suppressed skin diseases
• Emotional and mental plane – suppressed anger, humiliation, wounded pride
• Right side – many symptoms predominantly right-sided

• Warmth
• Rest
• After breakfast
• Gentle motion
• Lying on back
• Passing urine (for abdominal complaints)

• Suppressed emotions, especially indignation or anger
• Touch, even light touch
• Coitus or sexual excess
• Loss of fluids
• After surgery or instrument trauma (e.g. catheterisation)
• Night
• Cold air
• Mental exertion

• Ignatia – Acute grief and changeability, but more dramatic and hysterical
• Natrum muriaticum – Reserved grief and dignity, but more introverted and thirsty
• Nux vomica – Irritable, competitive, and easily angered, but expressive rather than suppressive
• Pulsatilla – Yielding and weepy, but lacks the righteous indignation
• Thuja – Sensitive, shame-filled, with delusions of deformity, but more sycotic suppression

• Complementary: Thuja, Pulsatilla, Natrum mur.
• Antidotes: Coffea, Chamomilla
• Follows well: Ignatia in lingering grief; Nux vomica in irritable collapse
• Precedes well: Natrum mur. in deeper introversion
• Inimical: Mercurius (in sensitive patients)

Staphysagria captures the core theme of inward suppression of anger, sexual shame, or humiliation, which then manifests in somatic dysfunction. The remedy suits individuals who have been wounded in their dignity—through insult, abuse, surgical invasion, or betrayal. They maintain outward politeness, even gratitude, while their vitality silently collapses under unexpressed emotional burdens. Their complaints often emerge after violated boundaries: emotionally, physically, or sexually. The essence is the “beautiful soul trapped behind silent suffering.”

• A top remedy for post-surgical pain, especially after catheterisation or dental extraction
• Useful for sexual trauma, vaginismus, or impotence after abuse
• Indicated when urinary or digestive complaints follow emotional insult
• Excellent for recurring styes and chalazia, especially when upper lid is affected
• A remedy of choice in introverted, oversensitive patients with suppressed rage

Mind

• Ailments from indignation
• Suppressed anger
• Silent grief
• Oversensitive to rudeness
• Aversion to coition

Urinary

• Pain after urination
• Retention after surgery
• Tenesmus of bladder

Female Genitalia

• Painful coition
• Vaginismus
• Leucorrhoea acrid, post-coital

Eyes

• Styes, upper lid, recurring
• Lids inflamed and tender
• Twitching of lids

Teeth

• Pain after dental work
• Toothache from touch
• Caries at roots

Skin

• Eczema behind ears
• Warts on genitals or fingers
• Acne in sensitive youth

• Samuel Hahnemann – Materia Medica Pura: Original proving and primary proving symptoms
• T.F. Allen – Encyclopaedia of Pure Materia Medica: Expanded proving data and neurotic presentations
• John Henry Clarke – Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica: Deepened indications for sexual and emotional trauma
• C. Hering – Guiding Symptoms: Clinical confirmations for dental and genito-urinary issues
• William Boericke – Pocket Manual: Practical applications in surgery, ophthalmology, and psychology
• J.T. Kent – Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica: Psychological core and portrait of the remedy