Chamomilla


Dr. S.R. Phatak describes the clinically confirmed symptoms of the homeopathic remedy Chamomilla in his Concise Materia Medica, published in 1977….


Generalities

      It is a highly EMOTIONAL; TEMPERAMENTAL and OVERSENSITIVE remedy, oversensitiveness from abuse of coffee and narcotics. It is particularly suited to diseases of pregnant women, nurses and little CHILDREN. Bad temper, frantic irritability and snappish. Pain is intolerable; becomes mad with pain, or magnifies her pains and prostrated, with pain. Very cross, cannot be appeased. Tosses about. Cries out or walks the floor. Demands instant relief for his suffering; he would rather die than suffer. Mental and physical symptoms appear in paroxysms; irritability, restlessness, COLIC; cough etc. Numbness; after pain; on awakening. Repeated spasms; of face, arms, legs etc. Colic, diarrhoea, jaundice, twitching and convulsions after anger. Neuralgic or gouty rheumatic diathesis. Cramps; with bilious vomiting; of muscles. Convulsion during dentition. Hot and thirsty. Hot sweat, with pains. Opium of Homoeopathy. Bad effects of bad temper. During convulsions body becomes stiff, with opisthotonus; eyes roll about, face becomes wry; thumbs turn inwards.

Better

      BEING CARRIED. Mild weather. Heat. Sweating. Cold applications.

Worse

      ANGER. NIGHT. DENTITION. Cold air, damp air. Wind. Taking cold. COFFEE. Narcotics. Alcohol. Lying in bed. Music. Eructations. Heat. Warm food, covering. Touch. Being looked

at.

Mind

      UGLY in behaviour. CROSS and UNCIVIL. QUARRELSOME. Vexed at every trifle. Abrupt. Averse to being spoken to or touched; or being looked at. Children WANT TO BE CARRIED, and petted. Want many things, but refuse them when given. Piteous moaning because he cannot have what he wants. Aversion to talking. Omits words while writing and speaking. Women become suddenly capricious, quarrelsome, obstinate, before menses. Hasty, hurried. Cannot bear anyone near him.

Head

      Throbbing headache in one half of the brain; inclination to bend head backwards. As if hair stood on end, with shivering. Hot clammy sweat on forehead and scalp; during sleep, wetting the hair. Headache of delicate over fatigued women. Headache better when mind is engaged. Headache worse morning and 9 p.m.

Eyes

      Yellow conjunctiva. Spasmodic closing of lids. Bloody water from the eyes of new born babies.

Ears

      Sensitive to cold wind about ears, or noise. Earache, sticking better warmth. Ears feel stopped. Hear voices of absent persons, at night. Ringing after haemorrhages. Roaring in the ears as of rushing water. Music is insupportable. As if hot water was running out of.

Nose

      Extremely sensitive to all smells. Hot coryza, with obstruction of nose; inability to sleep. Skin wrinkled. Crawling in, until eyes water.

Face

      Swelling or REDNESS OF THE CHEEK. One cheek red and hot, other pale and cold. Face pale, sunken, distorted by pain. Neuralgia of the face, with hot sweat about the head; pain extending into ear. Jerking of facial muscles. Jaws feel tired. Sweats after eating or drinking.

Mouth

      Toothache worse after warm drinks; during pregnancy, coffee. Jerking in tongue. Thick white yellow fur on tongue. Nightly salivation of sweetish taste. Bad, sour breath. Bitter taste. Teeth feel elongated.

Throat

      Inability to swallow solid food when lying. Constricted feeling or as of a plug.

Stomach

      Eructations like bad eggs. Severe bitter bilious vomiting, with griping. Vomiting after morphia. Gastralgia as from a stone on stomach. Sweats after eating and drinking. Thirst; for cold water, sour drinks. Aversion to coffee. Violent retching before vomiting.

Abdomen

      Distended. SPELLS OF COLIC; from time to time. Pain from side to side; or going upward; after anger. Cutting wind colic worse night; worse urinating, better warm applications. STOOLS, hot SOUR; GRASS GREEN; SLIMY; HACKED; yellow green; or LIENTERIC; smelling like bad eggs. Haemorrhoids, with painful fissures. Diarrhoea, during dentition, from cold, from anger. Jaundice; after anger. Cheek becomes red during colic, with hot sweat. Anus swollen and pouting. As if bowels were knotted and abdomen empty.

Urinary organs

      Urine hot and yellowish. Stitches in urethra.

Female

      Irregular labour like pains; going up; down inner thighs; with profuse discharge of clotted, dark blood. Puerperal convulsions, after anger. Distressing after pains. Breasts sore, nipples inflamed and very tender. Infants’ breasts tender. Cramps, when child nurses. Yellow, dark lumpy acrid leucorrhoea. Membranous dysmenorrhoea, specially at puberty. Milk is spoiled, baby won’t suck. Dysmenorrhoea; from anger or emotions in those women who do not suffer from it, with sexual desire. Oozing of dark foul blood, with occasional gush of bright red blood. Menorrhagia, with black clots, profuse, with coldness of extremities and much thirst. Intolerable labour pains; sends the doctors and nurse away, then calls again. Lochia too profuse and bloody or suppressed.

Respiratory organs

      Spells of dry tickling cough. Asthma; from anger, worse dry weather, better bending head back. Rattling of mucus in child’s chest. Anger provokes the cough; in children. Whooping cough, suffocating, then vomits. Cough worse 9 to 12 p.m.; during sleep; does not wake up the child.

Back

      Severe pains in loins and hips, opposite to that on which patient is lying. Lumbago.

Extremities

      Numbness and stiffness of hands, when grasping objects. Cramps in calves. Violent rheumatic pains driving him out of bed, at night; compelled to walk about. Burning of soles, at night. Ankles give way in the afternoon. Feel as if she is walking on the ends of bones of her legs. Feet as if paralysed, cannot step on them, at night. Palms dry.

Skin

      Rash of infants and of nursing mothers. Jaundice. Burning, smarting in ulcers, at night. Skin unhealthy, every injury suppurates.

Sleep

      Drowsiness; with moaning, weeping and wailing in sleep. Pain disturbs sleep. Sleepless from abuse of narcotics. Sleeps with thighs separated. Drowsy, but cannot sleep.

Fever

      Chilly yet easily overheated; hence takes cold. Coldness of one part, with heat of another worse uncovering. Alternate chill and heat. Feverish from suppressed discharges. Sweat on head. Thirst during fever.

Related

      Nux-v; Staphysagria

Complementary

      Bell; Mag-c; Sanicula

S.R. Phatak
A pioneer of Homoeopathy in Maharashtra, Dr Shankar Raghunath Phatak was born on 6th September, 1896. He did his MBBS from Grant Medical College, in 1924. Started his practice but somehow not satisfied with Allopathic Treatment.

He was convinced about Homoeopathy while going through Sir William Osler's writings on 'History of Medicine' so switched over to an entirely Homoeopathic Practice in 1932. He also started working on Homoeopathic literature along with his Practice.

He has contributed immensely to homoeopathic literature. He was an ardent follower of Dr Boger. His Repertory is based on Boger's ''A Synoptic key to Materia Medica'.