Camphora
Clarke - Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica · John Henry Clarke · 14,482 χαρακτήρες · πηγή ↗
General EN
Camphora.
Camphor. C10 H16 O. - N. O. Lauraceae. A gum obtained from Laurus camphora. Solution in rectified spirit.
Clinical EN
Angina pectoris. Bed-sores. Cholera Asiatica. Chordee. Cold. Convulsions. Epilepsy. Eruptions, suppressed. Erysipelas. Gonorrhoea. Heart affections. Hyperpyrexia. Influenza. Measles. Memory, loss of. Priapism. Rheumatism. Sexual mania. Sleeplessness. Snake-bites. Spasms. Strangury. Sunstroke. Taste, disordered. Tetanus. Tobacco habit. Twitching. Urethra, spasmodic stricture of. Urine, suppression of.
Characteristics EN
"Chill; cramp; convulsion with mental anguish"—these give an idea of the essential action of Camphor. It causes retreat from the circumference to the centre; and its chief remedial action is in correcting just such conditions—cold, collapse, repercussed eruptive diseases. "Great coldness of surface, with sudden and complete prostration of the vital forces." Feeling as if a cold wind were blowing over body. In all kinds of sudden internal pains arising from chill, or other causes, Camphor in rapidly repeated doses will be very likely to prove Curative.
In these conditions it is often prescribed on broad indications and given in the lower potencies, but those whose knowledge of Camphor is confined to its coarser actions will never understand what a great remedy it is when used according to its fine symptomatic indications and given in the higher potencies. Camph. produces tetanic spasms, with showing of teeth by drawing up the mouth corners (like Nux and Phytolacca, but the deathly coldness of Camph. distinguishes it from both).
Camph. has internal heat and external coldness. In the collapse of cholera it corresponds rather to the initial chill before either vomiting or diarrhoea. (The collapse of Carbo v. is rather the result of alvine discharges.) The tongue is cold. If he can speak, the voice is either high pitched or husky.
The cramps of Camph. are less pronounced than in Cupr.; but cramps with icy coldness of limbs is characteristic of Camph. The coldness of Camph. resembles that of Verat., but with the latter the discharges are copious, and Camph. has marked nausea, and the expression of nausea, upper lip drawn up. In some epidemics, Camph. given early has alone cured a large majority of the cases treated, and that whether given in drop doses of the tincture or in the 30th. Salzer (On Cholera, p. 68) says the cases calling for it are those in which "arterial spasm," with difficult breathing (spasm of pulmonary arteries), coldness and lividity are the leading features.
In its actions on the genito-urinary sphere Camph. approaches Canth. in intensity, and is one of the antidotes to the latter. Strangury and priapism are among its effects. Camph. is indicated in many conditions of sudden collapse from overpowering influences acting on the nervous centres. For example, sunstroke: vitality ebbing away; fainting spells growing worse; body icy cold and bathed in cold sweat.
Some characteristics are: Most pains are felt during a half-conscious condition, and disappear when thinking of them. Afraid of his own thoughts; wants to be diverted from thoughts of himself. Fears to be left alone. Memory lost.
Great sensitiveness to cold and cold air; which < pains takes cold easily. Surface cold to touch, yet throws off all covering. Extremities cold, with cramps. Awkwardness.
Spasmodic movement of head; head drawn to r. side; rest of body relaxed; unconscious. Spasmodic drawing of head laterally or backwards with deathly coldness. Erysipelas spreading to central membranes. Repercussed eruptions.
Soft parts drawn in. Skin painfully sensitive. In the form of the ordinary Camphor pilules, I have found it an excellent remedy for simple sleeplessness. In this, as in its effect on colds, it resembles Acon.
Irritable, weakly blondes most affected. Scrofulous children most sensitive to Camph.
Relations EN
Camph. has very important antidotal relations. It is antidoted by: Op., Sp. nit. dulc., Dulc., and Phos. It antidotes: Am. c., Canth., Carb. v., Cup., Lyc, Squil., Nat. m., so-called worm-medicines, tobacco, bitter almonds, and other fruits containing prussic acid; also the secondary affections remaining after poisoning with acids, salts, metals, poisonous mushrooms, &c. Incompatible: Nitrum.
Tea, coffee, and lemonade, as a rule, do not interfere, but sometimes coffee <. Compare: Alo.; Carbo v. (coldness from undeveloped exanthema, collapse; epistaxis, dark, persistent; low haemorrhages generally);
Canth.; Cup.; Dulc.; Sec.
(skin cold with desire to uncover); Lyc. (head drawn to one side-Lyc. to left, Plumb. and Stram. to right, Bufo to either); Op.
(narcotism, heart affections); Pho. (anguish and burning in cholera). Sp. dul. nit., Squil., Verat.
Teste puts Camph. in his Belladonna group, with Agar., Lach., Cedr., Stram., Tabac., and others. He notes that it acts much more powerfully on carnivorous animals than on herbivora.
Causation EN
Shock from injury. Eruptions, suppressed. Cold air. Sunstroke. Vexation.
Mind EN
Anxiety with fretfulness
Great anguish and discouragement
Afraid of his own thoughts
Quarrelsome and combative humour; mania to dispute
Dulness of the senses
Loss of consciousness
Confusion of ideas; delirium
Rage
Loss of memory.
Head EN
Dizziness, as if from intoxication, esp. on walking
Giddiness, with heaviness of the head and vanishing of the senses
Vertigo, and heaviness of the head, which obliges the patient to incline the head backwards
Headache, as if the brain were bruised, or sore from a wound
Dull headache above the os frontis, with inclination to vomit
Constrictive headache, esp. in the occiput and above the root of the nose, greatly aggravated by stooping, by lying down, or by the touch, and disappearing when the attention is directed to the pain
Incisive shocks in the head on lying down
Pulsative headache at night, with shootings in the forehead and heat of the body
Congestion in the head
Inflammation of the brain
Inflammation of the brain (after sunstroke), with pulsation and sensation of constriction in the brain, spasmodically turned head (to the side or backward), < from movement or in the cold air;
> when lying down, or when thinking of it
Spasms, which draw the head on one side.
Eyes EN
Inflammation of the eyes
Red spots on the eyelids
Trembling of the eyelids
Staring, wild look
Eyes sunken
Eyes haggard, and turned convulsively upwards
Contraction of the pupils
Obscuration of the sight
Visions of strange objects
Photophobia
Everything appears too bright and brilliant.
Ears EN
Heat and redness of the ears, esp. in the lobes.—Abscess in the meatus auditorius, with deep redness and pressive shooting pain.
Nose EN
Dry coryza
Coryza fluent or dry
Sneezing, beginning of coryza
Catarrhal affections with headache, from sudden change of weather
Nose-bleed
Nose cold and pointed
Violent stitching or crawling, from root of nose almost to tip.
Face EN
Face deadly pale; or deep red
Icy-cold, livid, pale face
Erysipelas in the face
Convulsive distortion of the features
Convulsive clenching of the jaws
Hippocratic face
Foam at the mouth
Cold sweat on face, upper lip everted.
Teeth EN
Toothache, as if from swelling of the sub-maxillary glands, with sensation of lengthening of the teeth
Acute shocks in the roots of the incisors
Painful looseness of the teeth
Flying toothache, gnawing boring in molars, mostly in hollow ones; much < if even a soft little crust of bread touches the affected tooth;
< from drinking coffee or spirituous liquors;
> after drinking beer or cold water; but < from water kept in mouth;
> by coition.
Mouth EN
Breath fetid in the morning
Foam at the mouth
Abundant accumulation of a viscid and slimy saliva.
Throat EN
Soreness in the throat on swallowing, as if from excoriation of the throat, which is felt even at night
Dry, scraping sensation of the palate
Burning heat in the throat, extending from the palate to the stomach
More decided relish for all food, and esp. for broth
Bitter taste of tobacco and of food, esp. of meat
Dislike and repugnance to tobacco smoke
Excessive thirst.
Stomach EN
The pit of the stomach is very sensitive to the touch
Almost continual eructations after dinner; nausea > by eructation
Inclination to vomit, followed by attacks of vertigo
Vomiting of bile or of blood
At the commencement of the vomiting, cold sweat, chiefly on the face
Sensation of burning and heat in the stomach
Pain, as from a bruise, in the epigastrium
Strong pressure in the epigastrium.
Abdomen EN
Cramps in the abdomen
Cutting colic at night
Belly-ache as if diarrhoea would follow
Drawing pain, as from a bruise, on the entire of r. side of the abdomen
Sensation of fulness in the abdomen
Sensation of cold or of burning heat in the epigastrium and in the abdomen.
Stool And Anus EN
Constipation
Difficult evacuation, as if from inactivity of the intestines, or from contraction of the rectum
The rectum feels narrow and swollen; is painful during the emission of flatulence
Asiatic cholera, with cramps in calves, coldness in body, anguish, burning in oesophagus and stomach
Diarrhoea: with colicky pain, esp. when caused by cold; attack very sudden; sudden and great sinking of strength
Involuntary diarrhoea
Blackish faeces.
Urinary Organs EN
Retention of urine
Strangury, with tenesmus of the neck of the bladder
Urine flowing slowly and in a small stream, as if the urethra were contracted
Urine of a yellowish green, turbid, and of a mouldy smell
Haematuria
Burning pain during the emission of urine
Urine thick and red, with turbid and thick sediment.
Male Sexual Organs EN
Inceased desire
Erethism
Attacks of violent priapism during dreams
Absence of sexual desire, and impotence
Sudden laxness of penis
Nocturnal emissions
Involuntary masturbation
Sensation of contraction in the testes
On l. side of root of penis, while standing, a pressure outwards as if a hernia would protrude
Strangury from stricture.
Female Sexual Organs EN
Sexual orgasm
Erethism of sexual system
Labour-like pains
Menses too profuse; or absent.
Respiratory Organs EN
Voice husky; weak; mucus in air passages, not removed by hacking; high and squeaky
Constriction of larynx, feeling as if throat tied
Cutting, cold feeling deep in windpipe; causes a slight cough
Dry feeling at bifurcation of trachea.
Breathing: anxious; oppressed; sighing; quiet; deep and slow; snoring; almost completely arrested
Asthma, < from bodily exertion
Hot breath (with acute eruptive diseases)
Cool breath
A cold feeling in chest followed by cold breath
Fatiguing, hacking, dry cough
Every inspiration starts the cough.
Chest EN
Suffocating oppression of the chest, and constriction of the larynx, as if from the vapour of sulphur
Excessive accumulation of mucus in the respiratory organs, with danger of suffocation
Cramps in the chest
Shootings in the chest.
Heart EN
Palpitation of the heart, which can be heard striking against the side, esp. after a meal
Anxiety at heart
Spasmodic stitches in region of heart, with oppression of chest when lying on l. side, > when turning on r. side.
Neck And Back EN
Tension and stiffness of the neck on moving it
Heat with an inward vibration spreads from neck and from between shoulders into limbs
Drawing stitches through and between shoulder-blades, extending into chest when moving arms
Pressure in small of back with leaden-like heaviness of lower limbs
Coldness in small of back and loins; inner coldness < by walking a few steps
Sensation as if cool air was blowing on back.
Upper Limbs EN
Drawing lancinations between the shoulder-blades, while moving the arms
Convulsive movement of the arms, which describe circles
Pressure and acute drawing in the arm and forearm
Hands icy cold
Hands do not feel anything he touches
Fingers stiff, open, distorted; thumb drawn back.
Lower Limbs EN
Pains, as from a bruise, in the thighs and in the knees
Great weakness of the legs
Cramp-like pains and acute drawings in the legs, and in the instep
Cramps in the calves of the legs; with icy coldness
Acute drawing in the extremities of the toes and under the nails, on walking.
Generalities EN
Convulsions and cramps of different kinds Tetanus, with loss of consciousness, and vomiting Attacks of epilepsy, with rattling in the throat; face, red and puffed; convulsive movements of the limbs, and even of the tongue, of the eyes, and of the muscles of the face; hot and viscid perspiration on the scalp, and on the forehead; after the fit, comatose drowsiness He falls down insensible
Diminished circulation of the blood to the parts most distant from the heart Uneasiness, relaxation, and heaviness over the whole body Sinking of all strength Fainting fits
Cracking in the joints Rheumatic lancinations in the muscles Difficulty in moving the limbs Painful sensibility of the periosteum of all the bones
Sufferings in consequence of a chill Icy coldness of the whole body, with paleness of the face The majority of the symptoms appear during movement, or else at night, or are aggravated by cold, the open air, and contact The symptoms often disappear as soon as attention is called to them.
Skin EN
Skin sorely sensitive, even to the slightest touch
Erysipelatous inflammations
Skin, bluish and cold, with coldness of the body
Dryness of the skin.
Sleep EN
Strong desire to sleep in the day
Coma, with incoherent words
Nocturnal sleeplessness, from nervous excitement
Snoring and tossing during sleep
During sleep, the inspirations are shorter than the expirations
Dreams: anxious; fearful; visions of spirits; about what Is intended or what has happened in morning hours
Extreme restlessness with anxiety.
Fever EN
Excessive sensibility to fresh air, and tendency to take cold
Cold over the whole body, with deadly paleness of face, shivering, and chattering of the teeth
Icy coldness of the whole body, with congestion to the head and chest
Heat of the body, with redness of face, esp. in the cheeks, and in the lobe of the ear
General heat, which becomes excessive on walking
Heat with distended veins, aggravated from every movement
Pulse remarkably small and slow, or excessively quick and full
The blood does not circulate to the parts distant from the heart
Sensation of dryness on the whole cutaneous surface.
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