Ginseng Quinquefolium
Ginseng · Clarke - Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica · John Henry Clarke · 12,693 chars · source ↗
General
Ginseng.
Panax quinquefolium. (L.); Aralia quinquefolia (Grey). Schinseng. N. O. Araliaceae. Trituration and tincture of the root.
Clinical
Appendicitis. Debility. Headache. Lumbago. Rheumatism. Sciatica. Sexual excitement.
Characteristics
The symptoms of the Chinese and the American Ginseng are taken together, as the two are probably identical. The name is said to signify "the resemblance of a man" or man's thigh. The root is forked like that of the mandrake. Fabulous prices are given for it in Manchuria, as much as £40 per pound being paid for certain qualities of it.
The wild Ginseng of Siberia is said to be the best. The natives along the Ussuri river use it boiled for headaches, colds, fevers, stomach pains. In America it is a domestic remedy for the after-pains of labour. The shape of the root might indicate an action on the pelvis and lower limbs, and J.
H. Henry (H. R., xi. 493) says it acts on the lower part of the spinal marrow; is indicated by "bruised pains in small of back and thighs (on rising from bed), and great languor, with paralytic, rheumatic pains in lower limbs, arthritic swelling of the foot, which had been exerted a long time, violent pain in big toe." He mentions also "Nightly digging in right lower limb from hip to big toe, cramp, pains from right hip to toes; lancinating, tearing in right tarsal joint." He considers it specific in lumbago, sciatica and chronic rheumatism, with frequent desire to urinate, and sexual excitement.
Lembke and others have proved it. It is an aromatic stimulant and removes feelings of fatigue, imparting a joyous sense of vigour and elasticity to the limbs, especially the upper limbs, and clearness of mind. The opposite condition of malaise is also produced. Yawning, and drowsiness.
Drowsiness with headache. Feeling of extreme heat and intense coldness, longing to expose the body to cool air. The right side of the body is most affected. There is pain in right side. of hypogastrium, extending into groin.
Dry mouth, tongue, and lips. Vertigo. The respiratory organs are affected as with Aralia racem. Mouth and throat are sensitive to the ordinary air of room; are < in free open air and from talking, > at dinner.
Many symptoms are < in open air; at night bending or turning; descending stairs; sitting.
Relations
Compare Aralia rac., Hedera, Coca. In "Drowsiness with headache": Brucea, Herac., Gels., Nat. sul., Nux mos., and Sul. In dry lips, Bry.
Mind
Mood quiet and contented, with good courage
Mind generally calm; but impatient impulses, fear of accidents
Thinking difficult
Memory weak
Disposition to weep; anxious about the future.
Head
Vertigo, cloudiness, confusion, giddiness, and heaviness of the head
Vertigo on going down winding stairs
While standing, the ground seems to waver
Reflection difficult; tendency to forgetfulness
Reeling sensation in occiput
Reeling sensation in occiput, with grey spots before eyes
Head seems at times enlarged and to sway to one side
Pressure in longitudinal sinuses
Drawing in r. side of frontal bone; in muscles of neck and loins
Drawing in occiput; he involuntarily bends head backward
Painful sensitiveness of the head
Semilateral cephalalgia
Lancinations from r. side of the forehead as far as the orbit, with heaviness of the eyelids, irrepressible inclination to sleep, heat of the head, and heaviness in the temples
Sudden shock in occiput, followed by pain, as of a bruise.
Eyes
Pressure on the eyes, which seems to force them inwards; the upper eyelids fall (esp. r.)
Great difficulty in opening the eyelids, which are heavy and painful; itching of the eyelids
Biting and itching in margins of lids
Unpleasant sensation of coldness on surface of eyeball
Pupils alternately large and small
Vision indistinct
Sensation of fatigue when exposed to the light; objects appear double when looked at fixedly; in reading, the characters become confused.
Face
Alternation of redness and paleness
Burning erythematous redness on r. cheek, on the ala nasi, on the chin; following chapping of the parts, with itching and heat; afterwards an eruption of small miliaria, with tingling; after this, mealy tetters on the skin, with desquamation at the end of fifteen days
Lips red, dry, rough, thick, cracked and bleeding, esp. the lower lip;
< in open air and by talking
Drawing in jaws and bones of face.
Mouth
Tongue red and smarting with thirst; then white in the middle
Tongue white, completely dry, with large glistening papillae
Mouth, lips, and teeth very dry; voice rough and scraping; swallowing of saliva very difficult on account of dryness; a swallow of water moistens only for a moment
Dry sensation in palate, with accumulation of much saliva, which is swallowed without difficulty
Green saliva.
Stomach
Great appetite at a very unusual time; risings, empty, sometimes sour; nausea and inclination to vomit, with eructations which afford relief Pressure on the stomach, with inflation, dull borborygmi in the abdomen, tension and feeling of inflation, emission of wind, uneasiness and yawning Oppression, pressure of clothing intolerable Painful drawings in the stomach, as from hunger, following shiverings, with painful lancinations in the precordial region; violent colicky pains, which pervade the abdomen; swelling and pulsation of the stomach, anguish, inclination to vomit, and pain in l. side at the heart, following shiverings, which extends to the elbow
Contractive pain in the stomach, with anguish, difficulty of respiration, drawing pains in the stomach, and lancinations in r. side, which stop respiration.
Abdomen
Pain in r. side of lower region of abdomen, extending to the groins, with painful tingling extending to the foot and great toe, where very painful lancinations are felt Pains in the lower region of the abdomen, with violent aching in the groins, inflation, tension and pressure towards the lower region; colicky pains in the lower part of the abdomen, from the r. to l., ascending to the precordial region, with inflation of the abdomen, which is relieved by emission of wind Violent cutting pains from r. coxo-femoral region to abdomen, causing a writhing of the body
Colic, which extends into the stomach, with pressure and pain when pressed externally; painful digging in r. side of abdomen extending to the groins and stomach, with cutting pains throughout the lower part of the abdomen; inclination to vomit, and pain as of excoriation in r. side, below the ribs, < by external pressure. Pains in the abdomen, as from a girdle, with digging and starting in r. hip Pain in r. side of lower abdominal region, from the hip to the ribs, with sharp pains from the precordial region; lancinations in r. side of the upper part of the abdomen, with inability to bear tight clothes, pains in the abdomen, borborygmi, emission of wind and lancinations, like thrusts of a knife in the region of the stomach
Painful inflation of the abdomen, extending on r. side, below the ribs, with pains in the region of the heart, and eructations which give relief; tense painful abdomen; > by emission of flatus downwards; inflated abdomen, painful, with pain, as of a fracture, in the loins; bruise-like pain in the iliac region, < by pressure; general uneasiness, and pains which pervade the abdomen and the chest; pressure on the stomach, and constraint from the clothes over the parts.
Stool And Anus
Evacuation difficult, without, however, being hard
Hard stool, which is not emitted without efforts, which are followed by burning at the anus
Slight sticking in rectum
Tenesmus and lancinations in the rectum
Four thin stools preceded by short violent pain, extending from within the pelvis to the thighs, as though one must sink to the ground
Liquid stools in the evening, preceded by colic.
Urinary Organs
Sticking and voluptuous twitching in navicular fossa
Pruritus and burning in urethra, with frequent urging to urinate
Yellowish lemon-coloured urine, depositing a red sediment.
Male Sexual Organs
Great excitation of the genital organs
Nocturnal erections without pollutions
Painful erections while sitting at engrossing business
Pressure in testicles
Dreams vivid, lascivious, of which the recollection remains, always after taking the medicine.
Respiratory Organs
Voice rough and hoarse
Dry cough in paroxysms
Short anxious respiration; or slow and deep with exertion
Frequent deep inspiration, and tightness of chest as if he could not get enough air;
> while walking
Contractive pain across lower thorax.
Chest
Aching and oppression in the chest, with great difficulty of respiration
Oppression of the chest, with anxiety and lancinations in pit of stomach, and in lumbar region
Prostration of strength, and lassitude in the limbs.
Heart
Severe pain; dagger-like lancinations and stitches in praecordia
Some violent beats while sitting, and followed by sensation of floundering of heart, with rapid, small, indistinct pulse
Pulse very irregular.
Neck And Back
Frequent cracking in upper cervical vertebrae on moving head
Heaviness and stiffness in nape
Drawings in cervical muscles
Pulsation in vessels of r. side of neck
Painful lassitude along back, with bruised feeling down to and in sacrum
Stiffness in back
Pressure in dorsal vertebrae
Deep lancinations around loin &-Lancinations between the shoulder-blades, extending to r. shoulder, or else along the dorsal spine to the sacrum, esp. on standing upright, accompanied by difficulty of respiration
Weight in nape of neck, with contusive pain along back of sacrum.
Limbs
Much cracking in joints on moving
Peculiar lightness, vigour, and flexibility of limbs in spite of much walking or a bad night
Painful lassitude in limbs
Bruised pain in limbs alternating in different parts.
Upper Limbs
Pain in shoulders, with cracking in them
Peculiar sensation of coldness and crawling in r. elbow and parietal eminence
Violent compressing pain in muscles of lower l. forearm, as if a hoop were tight around them
Object dropped from hands easily, hastiness in his movements
On closing hands sensation as if they were swollen and the skin tight
Contraction of the fingers of r. hand and stiffness in their joints.
Lower Limbs
Retraction of muscles of r. leg; great weakness of r. leg
Staggering gait
Sticking in r. tibia
Lancinating tearing in r. ankle joint
Lancinations alternately in both great toes
Painful stiffness of l. thigh, from the hip to knee
Heaviness of the lower limbs, contraction of the muscles of l. leg, with bruise-like pain in the coxo-femoral articulation
Difficulty in walking, tingling and stiffness from the thigh to the foot; pain in the knee, and violent incisive pain in the r. hip, which extends to the abdomen, and occasions writhing of the body
Contusive pains in the thighs and loins, with great lassitude in the morning on rising, with rheumatic and paralytic pains in the lower limbs
Nocturnal digging pain in r. leg, from the hip to the great toe, in which are experienced violent lancinations
Violent lancinations in l. great toe, already suffering from arthritic swelling
Alternate lancinations in one of the great toes
Cramp-like pain, extending from r. hip, along the leg, to the points of the toes
Lancinating tearing in the articulation of r. foot.
Generalities
Painful lassitude of the extremities, superior and inferior Coldness, trembling, and numbness of the hands, with deadness of the fingers Tendency of the symptoms to show themselves more particularly on r. side As during fever, uneasiness, with inclination to sleep; internal shivering, with heat externally, tingling in the fingers, yawning and stretching, trembling, shivering, thirst, dryness of the mouth, draggings in the stomach, and weakness of the legs, as after a severe illness
Great sensitiveness to cold, and tendency to feel bruised all over After a walk, inability to obtain warmth Pulse natural.
Skin
Itching pimples on the skin of the neck, and of the chest.—Itching below r. foot.
Sleep
Much yawning and drowsiness
Awakens with difficulty or else with a start
Pleasant voluptuous very vivid dreams, constantly repeated every time he takes the drug.
Fever
Coldness, numbness, trembling of hands, fingers white
Chilliness through the back extending into arms
Coldness pierces into interior of occiput
Coldness in back extending into bones of back, cold hands, blue nails
Coldness in spine
A small glass of Malaga wine caused remarkable heat of body, esp. back, with distended veins
Violent burning heat in tips of fingers.