A tincture is made of the fresh plant (except the root) of Euphrasia officinalis, L.
General Action
A “catarrhal” remedy, with special reference to the mucous membranes of the eyes and nose.
Allies– Sulphur; Pulsatilla cold and open air. Compare also Allium Cepa, nose and eyes.
Generalities
Sticking here and there; in muscles; (<)adductors of r. thigh and last phalanx of the finger which carries the thimble and which had been bruised a few weeks previously; S. jumping about in hands, spine, arms, legs and genitals; frequent S. in l. side of head, liver and spleen (wherever there was sticking there was a sensation as if warmth penetrated); S. and burning pain in l. scapula, liver and diaphragm, in the latter, especially, renewed by deep inspiration. Pain in adductors; r. Bruised sensation in morning. Uneasiness at night, with urging to urinate.
Weariness; in morning; during the day, and sleeplessness till 2 A.M.; lasting into the night; as after fasting; obliging her to lie down towards evening, with heat of hands and rapid pulse (as she thinks), upper arms were as heavy as lead, wrists felt as if they had been squeezed, in spite of partial sleep she heard everything, and on closing eyes large heads appeared making grimaces, she woke with chilliness over the whole body, (<) thighs and knees, then pressure in stomach as if overloaded. Symptoms coffee.
Mind
Irritable. Reflective and disinclined to speak. Indolent, hypochondriac, external objects had no life for him.
Head
Sticking. Aching in morning on waking, (<) forehead; A. externally, (<) forehead. Emptiness in morning, riding. Confusion; on waking, (>) a cold sponge bath, with pain in sinciput; at 10 and 11 A.M., with emptiness; after dinner, with heaviness of head and sleepiness; in evening, with bruised pain (and fluent catarrh), so that he must lie down earlier than usual, though the headache was (<) lying; C. on blowing nose, with pain in nose.
Sticking in r. side of forehead. Tearing above r. eye, extending into middle of forehead and becoming a pressure. Frontal pain; at 9 A.m., open air; and orbital, with photophobia and lachrymation; extending into eyes, open air; intermittent, at 9 A.M., when waking in open air, extending into eyes. Sticking in r. temple; externally in l. Pain in temples, with heat in forehead. (Confusion and pressure externally in vertex) Sticking in r. side of brain; in brain beneath r. parietal bone; in upper part of l. side of brain; in r. side of brain on stooping; in brain, more in l. than in r. side, and (<) in the room; in sides of head, putting his cool hands to the temples. Headache in l. side at 9 A.M., beginning with ringing in ears, cold applications, with heat in head and loss of appetite for dinner. Tearing sticking in l. side of occiput in afternoon.
Eyes
Cornea feels as if covered with mucus, it obscures vision and obliges him to press the lids together, in morning. Vessels running through white nearly to cornea (therewith a pressure and a dark spot on cornea that had lasted a long time disappeared within two days). Sticking in r. Biting at times, biting water runs from them; frequent burning biting, obliging winking at noon, increased lachrymation. Pressure in r., then l., extending from inner canthus, with lachrymation, the lids seem smaller, pupil dimmer and eye cold; P. in r. morning and evening, with lachrymation; in r. in bed at 11 P.M.; the dark, with frequent winking as from twinging in eyes; when writing, on finding eyes for a long time vision vanishes and eyes water profusely; causing frequent blinking; as if sleepy; as if some one were pressing upon them at 2 P.M., (>) a nap. Pain from glare of light, as from insufficient sleep. Counteractive feeling on walking in open air; C. feeling in r., with lachrymation; C. from both sides, (<) upper lids, in evening, causing frequent winking.
Itching; of l. in afternoon on going out, obliging frequent winking and wiping of eyes, with increased lachrymation. itching tension, now in one, now in other, (<) upper lid, becoming a burning on scratching. Burning till noon, with lachrymation; (<) r., and the letters run together on exertion by reading. Dryness; so that he must close them when reading or writing; as from loss of sleep. Lachrymation; so that he was almost blind; in morning. Sticking in ball.
Lids.– Burning and swelling (Apis., Sulphur), (<) morning on waking, till towards 11 A.M., with misty vision, next day with redness; B, and S. of margins. Redness and swelling in forenoon, with burning and tension in r. ball; R. and S. of margins (Sulphur), (<) l., with intermittent itching burning in them and increased lachrymation. Frequent inclination to blink. Blinking during the day as from twinging; B. in morning, looking at the reflection of the moon on the curtains. Dryness. Burning in margins (Sulph); (<) forenoon, with swollen sensation; (<) canthi, in morning on waking, with tension; alternating with itching; as from too little sleep, also with tension.
Dry mucus in canthi; in inner. Sticking in outer C., with burning, then lachrymation. Pressure in l. inner c.; in l. C., which seems protruded and cold, with sticking in ball and pressure in it. Frequent itching burning in l. C., within tension above both eyes (at noon, with migraine). Tension in outer C. Pain in upper orbital regions at 6 P.M., (>) lachrymation, with pinching in eyes. Vision dim on looking at a distance; when walking in open air; D. in evening; of r. eye, (>) after a sticking from forehead out of r. eye; by candle-light; sometimes the light seemed to burn brightly, sometimes dimly. Everything seemed enveloped in mist and moving. Vision bad in evening. Sensitiveness to light; to candle-light.
Clinical Conjunctivitis; the inflammation of the eyes calling for Euphras. is, above all, catarrhal in nature, subacute, characterized by free discharge of matter which seems to be acrid, making the lids somewhat sore; the margins of the lids even may become ulcerated, there may be burning lachrymation, or the discharge may be thick and yellow and somewhat acrid; one very prominent; characteristic of the drug is the tendency to an accumulation of sticky mucus on the cornea, which is removed by frequent winking. It is found useful in a large number of cases of cold in the eye and nose, with acrid water from the eyes, while the discharge from the nose is generally quite bland. It is said to have cured inflammation of the cornea and even ulceration with burning, smarting, tears, running from nose, etc., and various forms of superficial inflammations of the eyes and lids are treated successfully by Euphras. when there is this peculiarity to the discharge. (It is even reported to have cured iritis.)
Ears
Sticking; in r. mastoid process. Boring outward in region of r. drum. Pain in r., with sensation as if hot water penetrated it. Tension in l. Dragging outward and a spitting noise.
Nose
Swelling of mucous membrane of l. nostril in morning. Dryness. Itching in nostrils. Sneezing; (frequent, with discharge of much watery mucus); with profuse fluent coryza, whereby much mucus was discharged through nose and posterior nares; irritation to sneeze all day without cause. Profuse fluent coryza in morning, with much cough and expectoration; fluent C. at 5 A.M., on waking, (>) at 6 after a cold sponge bath, with pressure in forehead near root of nose.
Face
Redness and heat; of cheeks. Pallor. Pain in facial nerve below eye in afternoon. Stiffness of l. cheek when speaking and chewing, with heat and sticking. Sticking in chin; with internal heat in the same place. Sticking through r. lower jaw; S. forward through l. lower jaw at noon when eating, hindering chewing; forward beneath r. lower, near throat, (>) touch. Drawing pain transversely across upper jaw. Drawing in r. lower jaw in afternoon, with indications of aching in r. ear. Excoriations in corners of lips.
Mouth and Throat
Sticking in lower teeth; S. in a hollow tooth in afternoon when walking in open air, (>) entering warm room; also in r. lower jaw. Intermittent pain which has been sensitive several months. (Throbbing in two teeth.) Profuse bleeding of gum. (Inflamed swelling on gum near last molar, which had been loose and painful for weeks) Pain in r. lower gum on rising, where there is an inflamed ring around incisor. Tongue coated in morning; with earthy taste. Hesitation after the periods in order to select another expression, and repetition of the first words. Dry mouth. Taste clayey. T. insipid. Unnatural T. to food at noon. Bitter T. to tobacco- smoke in morning. Isthmus faucium painful,.
Stomach
hunger at noon without appetite. Appetite lost. Little A. for dinner; and breakfast, with pasty taste. Little relish for cigars. No relish for cigars. Thirst in evening. E. of food in afternoon. Hiccough. Nausea; on beginning to smoke; from tobacco- smoke, which has a bitter, biting taste; (>) a swallow of water; with emptiness in stomach; with griping in abdomen. Sticking in epigastric region; beneath pit of stomach on inspiration and expiration in evening when sitting. Gnawing at noon after eating. Pressure; as from fulness. (>) eructations. Pulling at noon during dinner. Tensive pain in epigastric region at non. Heartburn, with frequent empty eructations. Distended feeling, (>) afternoon, with frequent eructations of food. Discomfort; increasing in the room to nausea and uprising of heat, gradually affecting the whole body.
Born in 1837in Westminster, Vermont. . He was an orthodox doctor who converted to homeopathy
Dr. Allen compiled the Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica over the course of 10 years.
In 1881 Allen published A Critical Revision of the Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica.