Helleborus niger



Head

Giddiness on stooping. Stupefying headache, with coryza (4 to 8 p.m.), worse from stooping, better a rest and in the open air. Stupefying pain, and sensation of bruising in the head. Pressive and numbing headache. Pressive headache from outward to inward, with stupefaction and heaviness of the head, worse on moving the head, from exertion, better in open air and from distraction of mind. Inflammation of the brain, with stupefaction, heat and heaviness of the head, worse from thinking of the pain. Hydrocephalus with stupefaction, stupor, boring with the head in the pillows, coldness of the body, worse from stooping. Painful heaviness, with burning pain in the head, coldness of the fingers, sensation of general shivering, and paleness of the face. The headache is more bearable on keeping quiet, and endeavoring to sleep. Bruised pain externally on vertex and occiput, especially during the febrile chill, at every movement, especially when stooping and going upstairs, the pain changes into a violent twitching in integuments of head better by external pressure. Painful sensitiveness of the exterior of the head, and especially at the occiput, as if it were bruised, on its being touched, and on moving the head. Uninterrupted pressive pain in occiput extending toward nape on neck. Headache extending from nape to vertex. Jerking in the integuments of the head, during movement, when stooping, and when going up stairs. Disposition to bury the head in the pillow, when sleeping. Small swellings in the skin of the forehead, with bruise-like pain. Moist scabs on the scalp. Falling off the hair (on the head and on the whole body), with pricking pain on the scalp, especially on the occiput, with pale dropsical swelling of the face and body.

Eyes

Pain in the eyes, as if a nail were driven into the orbital margins. Pressive heaviness in the eyes, in a downward direction. Pupils dilated (one pupil right large than the other) without inflammation. Involuntary fixedness of look one the single point. Twitching in the levatores palpebrarum and the cheeks, with heat in the face. Night-blindness. Photophobia by day.

Ears

Shootings in the ears, day and night, with searching piercing.

Face

Face pale, sometimes yellowish. Pale and oedematous swelling of the face. Forehead wrinkled. White vesicles on the lips, which are swollen. The upper lip is cracked. Soreness of the corners of the mouth. Dull aching pain in the cheek-bone.

Teeth

Toothache at night, with shooting and tearing pains, worse by cold and heat.

Mouth

Troublesome dryness in the palate, with incisive and scraping pain during deglutition. Constant accumulation of saliva in the mouth, and salivation, with excoriation of the commissures of the lips. Vesicles and aphthae in the mouth, and on the tongue. Numbness and swelling of the tongue. Pimple on the tip of the tongue, painfully stinging when touched. Dry, white tongue (in the morning). Bitter taste in the throat, worse by eating.

Throat

Scraping feeling on back of palate. Tiresome dryness on palate and cutting and scraping pain on moving the parts in swallowing. Aching, sore throat on swallowing, feels excoriated.

Stomach

Nausea, sometimes with excessive hunger. Speedy satiety, with repugnance as to rest of meal. Has appetite, but on eating has no taste, and becomes suddenly nauseated, which ceases immediately after eating. (Nausea of palate and throat.) Nausea rising up from pit of stomach. Nausea in whole abdomen, with frequent empty eructations. Dislike to food, especially meat, green vegetables, and sauerkraut. Green, blackish vomiting, with pains in the abdomen. Heaviness, fullness, and inflation of the stomach. Inflation of the epigastrium, with pain of ulceration, and impeded respiration. Sensation of excessive uneasiness of the epigastrium. Painful pressure on the epigastrium at every step. Sensation of retraction in the pit of the stomach. Painfulness of the stomach when coughing and walking. Burning pain in the stomach. Burning and scraping in the stomach.

Abdomen

Pinchings in the abdomen. Sensation of coldness in the abdomen. Heaviness in the abdomen. Dropsical swelling in the abdomen. Clucking in the abdomen, especially on breathing deeply, as if there were water in the intestines. Rumbling and borborygmi in the abdomen. In right inguinal region single pressures ending in a stitch, a sensation as if a hernia would ensue. Severe hard pressure on middle of os pubis.

Stool and Anus

Tenesmus, with discharge of (white) gelatinous mucus, preceded by pinchings in the umbilical region. Stools consisting of pure, tenacious, white mucus. Stools like frog-spawn. Diarrhoea, with pain in the abdomen, and nausea. Watery and frequent evacuations. Hard, scanty stools, during and immediately after which violent cutting, shooting in rectum, from below up, just as if it contracted tightly, and as if a body with cutting edges stuck there. After an evacuation, burning hot smarting at the anus. Feeling as if intestines had no power to evacuate faeces, during soft stool. Involuntary stools. Blennorrhea of rectum with spasm of bladder. Haemorrhoids.

Urinary Organs

Frequent want to make water, with scanty emission. Scanty urine, with sediment like coffee grounds. Feeble stream. Deep-coloured urine. A large quantity of pale, watery urine is emitted.

Male Sexual Organs

Suppression of sexual desire, with flaccidity of the genital parts.

Female Sexual Organs

Pain under left nipple, pains all over her, forced her menses on, had to get up at night to pass water. Suppression of menses.

Amenorrhea: from disappointed love, from damp feet, and getting wet through.

Respiratory Organs

Sighing respiration. Breathes easier lying down. Breathing difficult with anxiety, worse every evening, must sit up. Cough: dry, hacking, worse at night, with gagging, comes suddenly while smoking. Suffocating constriction in the throat and nose. Short, dry cough, with painful tension in the left hypochondrium. Difficult respiration, as from hydrothorax. Accelerated, or deep and slow respiration.

Chest

Constriction of the throat, nose, and chest. Heat in the chest.

Heart

Palpitation of the heart. Anxiousness about heart which prevents him resting anywhere.

Neck & Back

Stiffness and painful sensibility of the neck and the nape of the neck during movement. Swelling of the glands of the neck. Contractive pain in the loins. Gnawing and obtuse lancinations of the spine. Pain, as from a bruise, between the shoulder-blades.

Upper Limbs

Tearing in the bones of the arms and joints, and in the upper parts of the fingers. Jerking in the muscles of the arms. Piercing and shooting in the hands and joints of the fingers. Want of strength in the hands. Spasmodic stiffness of the fingers. Humid, painless vesicles between the fingers. Ulceration around the nails.

Lower Limbs

Violent lancinations, and burning pressure in hips. Pricking pain in the left hip. Want of stability in the legs, with yielding of the knees. Stiffness and tension in the thighs and hams. Obtuse and piercing lancinations in the joints of the knees, and of the feet. Humid, painless vesicles between the toes.

Generalities

Shooting and piercing pains in different parts, and especially in the periosteum, worse by fresh air, corporeal fatigue, eating and drinking. Pullings and tearing in the limbs. Shooting pains in the joints. Sudden relaxation of all the muscles. The muscles refuse to perform their office, unless sustained attention be paid to them, staggering gait, suffering objects to fall which are grasped by the hand. Convulsive twitching of the muscles (during sleep). Relief is found in the open air, and sensations are felt as when recovering from a long illness. All things have a freshness about them. Convulsions. Cramps. Syncope. Dropsical swellings. Falling off of the hair and nails.

Skin

Paleness of the skin. Military eruptions. Leucophlegmatic swelling of the skin of the whole body, anasarca. General desquamation of the skin. The hair and nails fall off.

Sleep

Stupor, sopor. Sleepiness, with eyes half open, and pupils turned upwards. Confused, anxious dreams, the remembrance of which is not retained. Sleeplessness. Tossing in the bed.

Fever

Pulse, small, slow, almost imperceptible. Shiverings, alternating with shooting pains in the limbs. Chilliness predominates during the day, as long as he remains out of bed, with heat of the face and drowsiness. Chill, with goose-flesh and pain in the joints. The chill spreads from the arms. Coldness of the whole body, and especially of the extremities. General shivering, with corrugated skin, and tenderness of the scalp when touched, and on moving the head, pullings and tearings in the limbs, lancinations in the joints, and absence of thirst. In the evening, after lying down, burning heat throughout the body, and chiefly in the head, with internal shuddering and shivering, without thirst, dislike to liquids, when attempting to drink, very little can be taken at a time. Nocturnal sweat, towards the morning. After lying down in bed, the heat comes on immediately, generally accompanied by perspiration. Heat followed by chill, with colic. Cold, at times clammy perspiration.

John Henry Clarke
John Henry Clarke MD (1853 – November 24, 1931 was a prominent English classical homeopath. Dr. Clarke was a busy practitioner. As a physician he not only had his own clinic in Piccadilly, London, but he also was a consultant at the London Homeopathic Hospital and researched into new remedies — nosodes. For many years, he was the editor of The Homeopathic World. He wrote many books, his best known were Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica and Repertory of Materia Medica