Kali mur [Kali-m]
Lancinating, nightly pains from small of back to feet, worse from warmth of bed. Must rise and sit in chair for relief.
Ferrum phos [Ferr-p]
Congestive or inflammatory, from chill or cold, with pain as if a nail were being driven in. Blinding pain, one-sided, in the head, temples, or over eye, or in the jaw-bone. If this does not suffice, give Calcarea sulph., and note the tongue symptoms. Neuralgia accompanied by flushed face, burning or diffused heat, feeling of weight and pressure. Faceache with febrile symptoms. Tic douloureux. Neuralgia along inner orbit and nose. Neuralgia of the mammary glands. Right-sided pain and morning aggravation seem to be special indications.
Kali phos [Kali-p]
Neuralgic pain in any organ, depression, failing of strength, feeling of inability to rise, or to remain up, yet the pain is felt less when standing or walking about. Neuralgia with ill humor, sensitiveness to light and noise, improved or not even felt during pleasant excitement. This remedy is required to tone up the gray nervous substance. Neuralgic pains in the nervous substance threatening paralysis, with a feeling of lameness or numbness. Pains better with gentle motion, worse on rising; pains felt most when quiet or alone. Neuralgic pains and humming in the ears, failure of strength, paroxysms of neuralgic pains with subsequent exhaustion. Neuralgia of the sciatic nerve (see Sciatica). Faceache. Right-sided neuralgias relieved by cold applications. Stitches from upper teeth to ear.
Magnesia phos [Mag-p]
Intercostal neuralgia of a drawing, constrictive kind. Spasms from cold without fever. Neuralgia in the head, pains darting and very intense. Neuralgic pains in any part of the body, when the phenomena of sensation are too acute; pain excruciating or spasmodic, pains in the ends of nerve-fibres. Pains aggravated by mastication or any motion. Pains coming on periodically, being very acute, darting, or shooting along the course of the nerve. Neuralgia from exposure to a strong north wind. Spasmodic pains and affections of almost any kind. Neuralgia every night, well during the day. Typical facial neuralgias. A contra-indication for the use of the remedy is ameliorated by cold. Warm applications relieve, and especially dry warmth. This remedy is right-sided.
Natrum mur [Nat-m]
Neuralgic nerve-pains recurring at certain times, with flow of saliva or involuntary tears. Darting, shooting along the nerve-fibre with these accompaniments. Orbital neuralgia with lachrymation. Irritation of the fifth pair of nerves, also the facial nerve. Faceache with constipation, worse in the morning, from reading, writing and talking, in school girls.
Natrum phos [Nat-p]
Facial neuralgia, shooting, stitching pains, soreness of right lower jaw.
Natrum sulph [Nat-s]
Attacks of neuralgia from being in damp dwellings, cellars, etc. Tongue thick, yellow, brown coated. Dr. J.T. O’Connor, of New York, reports a cure with this remedy.
Calcarea phos [Calc-p]
Neuralgic pains deep-seated in the bones. Shocks like electric sparks. Neuralgia commencing at night, recurring periodically. Pains worse at night and in bad weather. Tics. Neuralgia ani, worse after stool, long-lasting. Pains with sensation of crawling, coldness and numbness.
Calcarea sulph [Calc-s]
This remedy occupies a ground between the very acute pains of Magnesia phos. and the paralyzing ones of Kali phos. (more in aged persons, if there be a want of regenerative force for the nervous tissue).
Silicea [Sil]
Pain mostly in teeth. Lumbo-abdominal neuralgia. Better from wrapping up warmly. Obstinate neuralgia caused by dissipation, hard work and close confinement.
NEURALGIA CASES [Neuralgia cases]
Dr. Parenteau in the Societe Francaise d’Homoeopathie at the last meeting read a paper as follows:
In 1887, in discussing Ferrum phosphoricum in this society, Dr. Nimier assured us that this remedy finds an application in supra-orbital neuralgia of the right side with a morning aggravation.
At that time I had a young patient of 15 years, an anaemic girl with imperfect menstruation, who, for three months, caused me despair of curing, owing to the tenacity of her affection, which resisted all remedies prescribed.
I, therefore, resolved to give her Ferrum phosphoricum in the 6x potency, and I had the surprise and satisfaction to note that scarcely two days after the administration of the first dose a certain amelioration was produced. Naturally I continued the remedy, and at the end of eight days the amelioration was such that the patient thought herself cured. However, I advised her to continued the treatment for a week longer and then report. She did not come until two months afterwards, but the cure was absolute and without relapses.
It is unnecessary to state that whenever I found a supra-orbital neuralgia of the right side, I hastened to give this remedy, but several experiments of this kind having been followed by absolute failure, I was about to believe that my first observation was a simple case of spontaneous cure, when recently I had successively two cases of cure which convinced me that the explanation given by Dr. Nimier was absolutely exact.
In the second case observed, it was not a young girl but a young woman of 27 years, modiste, and who for months had had attacks of right-sided supra-orbital neuralgia with morning aggravations or coinciding with the menstrual periods which were very irregular and with uterine haemorrhages, etc.
After having vainly tried Nux vomica, then Chamomilla, Belladonna, colocynth, Ignatia, etc., I tried Ferrum phosphoricum.
As in the first case three days had not passed before the patient returned greatly relieved. I continued the remedy in the 6x dilution for eight days, followed by the 12x ad the 18x, and at the end of three weeks the cure was complete without relapse.
The third case was similar to the two others, and I believe that I am able to complete the indications furnished by Dr. Nimier.
As he has said Ferrum phosphoricum is useful in supra-orbital neuralgias of the right side with morning aggravation, but it exerts its influence especially on the female sex and notably in young persons. The patients suffer from irregularities in menstruation and often have special uterine troubles with tendency to haemorrhages. From this condition there almost always results persistent cephalalgias and an anaemia, which may be more or less marked, according to the case.
The following from the pen of Dr. C.C. Huff, of Huron, N.D., from vol. i, of the Minn. Medical Monthly, No. 9, illustrates the use of one of these remedies in neuralgia:
“Schussler describes Magnesia phos. as the earthy constituent of muscles and nerves. Dalton says the salts of magnesium have been found to be in larger quantity than those of lime in the muscles. Grant this fact, then, and we have Magnesia phos. acting as a nerve remedy, and any disturbance of the system causing a molecular change in the nutritive elements of this salt would produce the characteristic pains of this remedy. They are described as being of a shooting character, like lightning, drawing and tearing, inclined to move from place to place; they, moreover, assume a periodicity of recurrence, not, however, having any regard for regularity. We likewise find these pains in headache, generally frontal, in faceache, neuralgia of the stomach and bowels, of the ovaries and often in the limbs. Stomach-pains frequently radiate from the umbilicus, and are relieved by pressure (resembling in this respect Coloc., Aloes, Caustic., Nux vomica, Iris vers. and Sulphur) and warmth, especially dry heat, best applied by means of an inverted hot plate, lined with flannel. In England the farmers use the remedy with prompt results for flatulent colic in horses. The following is my experience with the remedy, and all my results have been from 12x trituration:
“Case 1. Miss S., aet. 24, dark complexion, nervous temperament, clerk. She had been under treatment for facial neuralgia for two weeks previous, the principal remedy being morphia, without relief. On being called to the case, I found the patient much prostrated, the right side of the face and supra-orbital region somewhat swollen, pains very severe of a crampy, shooting, darting nature. There was also much tenderness over the affected side. The pains were of an intermittent character, and seemed to affect different parts of the head and face on different days. Magnesia phos. cured this case in twelve hours.
“Case 2. Miss B., aet. 22, dark complexion, nervous temperament, slight build, has neuralgia, from exposure to a strong north wind, and was under the so-called ‘regular’ treatment for three days before I was called, and had taken massive doses of Bromide of potash and Chloral hydrate, with no relief. I found her in bed, almost frantic with pain, flushed face, eyes injected, with a high degree of photophobia; pain was left-sided and involved the supramaxillary portion of the trigeminus. In character the pain was lancinating, crampy, darting and shooting, frequently extorting cries. Magnesia phos. was given and resulted in a speedy recovery.
Professor of Materia Medica in the University of Michigan Homeopathic Medical College. Member of American Institute of Homeopathy. In addition to his editoral work he authored or collaborated on: Boericke and Dewey's Twelve Tissue Remedies, Essentials of Homeopathic Materia Medica, Essentials of Homeopathic Therapeutics and Practical Homeopathic Therapeutics.