Skin. Itching over the whole body. Intertrigo during dentition. Excessive itching; moist tetter on the neck. Eruption of pimples on tip of nose. Injuries of the skin which had healed become sore again.
Sleep. Uneasy, restless sleep. Yawning and stretching. Many motions with arms and legs during sleep. Intense sleepiness; cannot resist it; must lie down. Startings from sleep.
Aggravation. Generally morning and evening; in open air.
Conditions. Persons of dark hair and rigid fibre most affected.
Compare Ammonium mur., Bromium, Calcarea c., Gelsemium, Ignatia, LAch., Nux v., Phosphorus, Pulsatilla, Rhus tox., Spongia, Stannum, Sepia, Sulphur, Zincum met.
Antidotes. Asafoetida, Coloc., Coffea, Nux v., Sp. nitr. d.
Causticum Antidotes. Mercurius, Sulphur
THERAPEUTICS.
The most important clinical use of Causticum is in the treatment of paralytic conditions of single parts; facial paralysis, especially from exposure to dry cold winds; paralysis of upper lids; paralysis of the lips, tongue; larynx (difficult speech); glosso-pharyngeal muscles (difficult deglutition); bladder (enuresis), etc. Paralysis following rheumatism, diphtheria, etc. Hemiplegia after cerebral haemorrhage or softening. Causticum is a valuable remedy for aphonia, which may result from laryngeal paralysis, as is usually the case. it is indicated, but it is also useful in catarrhal aphonia, from taking cold, even acute laryngitis, the hoarseness and aphonia being always worse mornings and evenings, and accompanied by rawness and scraping in the throat. The cough of Causticum is hollow and spasmodic, worse form warmth of bed and better from sips of cold water. There is also oppressed breathing, soreness, etc. thus often indicating the drug in phthisis, especially laryngeal or bronchial. Epileptiform attacks during puberty. Chorea, especially affecting the right side. Neuralgia. Intertrigo in folds of skin. Unhealthy skin. Warts and horny growths (Antim crud.). Varices. Ulcers. Net-like appearance of capillaries. Haemorrhages of very dark blood. Acid dyspepsia. Gastralgia. Haemorrhoids, painful. Constipation from partial paralysis of the parts; stool passed better when standing. Fissures of anus. Pruritus ani. Causticum is a useful remedy in rheumatic and arthritic inflammation, with contractions of flexors and stiffness of joints. A sort of rheumatic paralysis, so frequently observed, often finds in Causticum an excellent remedy. Indeed in almost any trouble where Causticum is indicated there is a tendency to paralytic weakness, either general, or, more often, of single parts. The patient is usually anaemic, apprehensive, anxious, and has neither disposition or ability to make any physical or mental exertion.
ALLEN CORSON COWPERTHWAITE was born at Cape May, New Jersey, May 3, 1848, son of Joseph C. and Deborah (Godfrey) Cowperthwaite. He attended medical lectures at the University of Iowa in 1867-1868, and was graduated from the Hahnemann Medical College of Philadelphia in 1869. He practiced his profession first in Illinois, and then in Nebraska. In 1877 he became Dean and Professor of Materia Medica in the recently organized Homeopathic Department of the State University of Iowa, holding the position till 1892. In 1884 he accepted the chair of Materia Medica, Pharmacology, and Clinical Medicine in the Homeopathic Medical College of the University of Michigan. He removed to Chicago in 1892, and became Professor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics in the Chicago Homeopathic Medical College. From 1901 he also served as president of that College. He is the author of various works, notably "Insanity in its Medico-Legal Relations" (1876), "A Textbook of Materia Medica and Therapeutics" (1880), of "Gynecology" (1888), and of "The Practice of Medicine " (1901).