Hippocastanum vulgaris. Horse-chestnut. (Northern India and North America.) *N. O. Sapindaceae. Tincture of ripe kernel, trituration of dry kernel. Tincture of fruit with capsule (according to Hering, this is the best).
Clinical
*Anus, *affections of. *Back, *affections of. *Constipation. *Cough. *Haemorrhoids. Headache. *Hernia. Intermittents. Jaundice. Liver, affections of. *Lumbago. Prostate gland, affections of. *Sacrum, *pain in. *Taste, *altered. *Throat, *affections of. *Tongue, *affections of. Uterus, prolapse of.
Characteristics
*Aescul. *hip. is a great pile remedy. In some districts it is a popular custom to carry a chestnut in the pocket as a preventive. It produces many symptoms of disordered liver: Malaise, dulness of head and mind, Fulness at root of nose. Follicular pharyngitis with dryness, burning, roughness, contraction in throat, as in follicular pharyngitis. There is soreness and Fulness in liver region, the abdomen is sore to touch. There is jaundice with bileless stool. Throbbing in abdomen, especially hypogastrium.
The most intense action is on the lower bowel and pelvic organs. There are Haemorrhoids, blind or bleeding, if they bleed it gives relief. Feeling of dryness in rectum as if little sticks or splinters were pricking the folds of mucous membrane, with weak feeling in sacroiliac joints, as if legs would give way. (*Arg-n. has also pain in sacroiliac joints and sensation as if the bones were loose.) Constipation, Stool large, hard, followed by feeling of prolapse of rectum. General aching in lumbar and sacral regions, with stiffness in the back, almost impossible to walk. Tearing in the small of the back and hips.
Poisoning with the green rind of horse-chestnut has produced the following symptoms in a boy: Pupils widely dilated in bright light. Face flushed, pulse full. Drowsy and apparently slept, but the sleep was interrupted at short intervals by sudden awakenings and screams. Great terror as from a dreadful dream, or apparition on opening his eyes. Questioning failed to elicit the cause of his terror.
*Aesculush. patients are, as a rule, despondent and irritable. Walking greatly worse all symptoms. Cold air and cold seasons worse, nose and throat very sensitive when inhaling, worse after washing. Better Summer, worse winter (haemorrhoids).
Relations.
*Compare: Aesc-g., Aloe, Collinsonia, Mercurius, Nux-v., Podophyllum, Sulphur Nux-v. *antidotes the pile symptoms. It *follows well: Collinsonia, Nux-v., Sulphur *Compare also: Kali-bi. (throat, but Aesculus h. has not the stringy mucus); Phytolacca (follicular pharyngitis).
Mind
Depressed, gloomy, low-spirited, irritable. Loses temper easily, regains in slowly. Unable to fix his attention.
Head
Dull pressure in forehead, slight nausea in stomach, followed at once by stitches in right hypochondrium. Severe lancinating headache at base of brain, as if too full, tympany, tongue white. Confused feeling, with giddiness, worse rising from a seat. Frequent flying pains through the temples. Flushes of heat over the occiput, neck, and shoulders. Head too heavy to hold up without balancing, all head symptoms accompanied by haemorrhoidal, rectal, or sacral symptoms.
Eyes
Weight in the eyes, they feel heavy and dull. Eyes feel heavy and hot, balls sore. Painful aching over left eye. Flickering before the eyes.
Nose
Stinging and burning in posterior nares and soft palate. Dryness of posterior nares and throat, sneezing, followed by severe coryza. Pain in right nasal bone, soreness in left.
Face
Pale, miserable appearance. Flying heat and redness of left side of face. Face swells enormously after washing in water.
Mouth
Tongue coated white or yellow. Thick yellow phlegm in the mouth. Taste sweet, bitter, metallic (coppery, with salivation). Tongue feels as if it has been scalded.
Throat
Prickling, formication, burning and stinging in fauces, shooting in left side. Feeling as if something had lodged in fauces causing constant inclination to swallow. Feeling of dryness and roughness (or rawness and burning) in throat, as from taking cold. Constrictive feeling in fauces. Neuralgic pains in fauces. Dark congested fauces with a full feeling and irritation. Sore throat, chronic, with haemorrhoidal difficulty.
Stomach
Belching, nausea, vomiting. Violent vomiting, great burning distress in the stomach. Heartburn and gulping up of food after eating. Pressure as from a stone in pit of stomach. Eructations of wind, empty.
Abdomen
Tenderness in the right hypochondrium. Much distress in liver and epigastrium. Fulness in liver and abdomen. Constant severe aching from pit of stomach to right lobe of liver. Abdomen and liver region tender to touch. Sensation of Fulness, flatulency, and colicky pains, haemorrhoidal colic. Emission of fetid flatus, rumbling in bowels. Cutting in right inguinal region (hernia).
Stool and Anus
Dry, uncomfortable feeling in rectum, as if it were filled with small sticks. Soreness, burning, itching, raw feeling, and Fulness at anus. Pain like a knife sawing backwards and forwards through anus. Haemorrhoids like ground nuts, purple, painful sensation of burning, generally blind, aching and lameness or shooting in the back. Haemorrhoids blind and painful, rarely bleeding, worse standing or walking. Stool and Anus. hard, dry, and passed with difficulty. Sensation of rigid hardness before Stool and Anus.. Stool hard and black, natural consistence and white. Backache after a difficult, large, and hard Stool and Anus.. Prolapsus ani after Stool and Anus.. Several large piles which seem to block up the rectum, little or no bleeding, great suffering, constipation. Chronic diarrhoea, with characteristic backache or Haemorrhoids. Piles develop and become particularly troublesome in climacteric years.
Urinary Organs
Pain in region of left kidney. Frequent scanty urination. Urine dark and muddy, dark-brown sediment, yellow, with thick mucous sediment. Urine hot.
Male Sexual Organs
Discharge of prostatic fluid at every Stool and Anus., and at micturition, seminal loss during sleep. A variety of suffering about the generative organs.
Female Sexual Organs
Inflamed cervix uteri, retroversion, prolapsus, enlargement and induration, when characterized by great tenderness, heat and throbbing. Old cases of leucorrhoea, of a dark yellow colour, thick and sticky, worse after menstrual period, increased by walking, corrodes the labia, with aching in the sacrum and knees. Uterine soreness with throbbing in hypogastrium. During pregnancy sacroiliac symphysis gives out while she walks, must sit down, feels best lying.
Respiratory Organs
Short cough, increased by swallowing and breathing deeply. Hoarseness. Raw feeling in chest. Tightness in chest. Abundant raising of mucus in morning. Cough, with sensation of stiffness in the throat and suffocation in the upper chest. Oppression, stitches, soreness and other troubles of chest. Catarrhal affections causing hoarseness and cough.
Heart
Twitching over region of heart. Stitches and neuralgic pains in region of heart, especially apex, and forehead. Functional disturbances of the heart from haemorrhoidal complaints.
Back
Constant backache affecting the sacrum and hips, very much aggravated by walking and stooping forward, almost impossible to rise after sitting down. Back gives out when walking. Aching between the shoulders. Spine feels weak. The sacrum, back, neck, head, chest, heart, and abdomen, all seem in remarkable sympathy with the rectum and its vessels.
Upper Limbs
Rheumatic pains in right scapula and right side of chest, worse during inspiration. Shooting, drawing, and tearing pains in shoulders, arms, hands, and fingers. Paralytic feeling in arms, legs, and spine.
Lower Limbs
Legs so weak she can hardly walk. Left knee swollen, painful, stiff, cannot bear slightest pressure. Tendo Achillis sore.
Generalities
Paralytic feeling in arms, legs, and spine. Feels faint, weak, and weary. Disposition to stretch and yawn. Fulness in various organs, as if they contained too much blood. Mucous membranes dry, swollen, burn and feel raw.
Fever
Chill at 4 p-m., fever from 7 to 12 p-m. During fever no thirst, bursting headache, photophobia, profuse hot sweat, heart beats violently.
