In any chronic skinconditions it is better to take a constitutional medicine. Patient’s previous history of treatment and other illnesses are impotent in case taking. Patient will have to take medicine for a particular period of time according to the seat of disease.
I have listed some common homeopathic medicines with their skin symptoms, generalities and mental symptoms. You cannot take homeopathic medicines by your own without a classical homeopaths advice.
ALUMINA
The key word is dryness. There is, however, a lot more to it than that,
and the idea of dryness should not be allowed to eliminate it from consideration in certain other situations. Alumina is a great polychrest with a rich picture. Its essence and mental symptoms should be understood well. It is also often possible to recognise it when there is little or no symptomatology on a mental level. This is most often the case in infants, although they will usually display some general symptom of the remedy too.
and the idea of dryness should not be allowed to eliminate it from consideration in certain other situations. Alumina is a great polychrest with a rich picture. Its essence and mental symptoms should be understood well. It is also often possible to recognise it when there is little or no symptomatology on a mental level. This is most often the case in infants, although they will usually display some general symptom of the remedy too.
Characteristic Skin Symptoms
Dryness and roughness and thickening. Inability to perspire. Cracks and fissures.
Cracks that can be deep and bloody, worse for washing, worse in winter.
Eruptions worse in winter. Dry eruptions that bleed after scratching.
Dry eruptions that discharge after scratching. White scaly eruptions.
Most Useful General Symptoms
Chilly but worse for warmth. Better damp, worse dryness. Worse and averse potatoes. Desires indigestible things, charcoal, chalk, etc. Worse in the morning, better in the evening.
APIS MELLIFICA
Apis is well known for such conditions as erysipelas and urticaria, but is not one of the remedies first thought of for eczema. It can however be very useful in the treatment of eczema where the symptoms agree
Characteristic Eczema Symptoms
Eruptions on perspiring parts. Eruptions worse from cold air, even though generally worse for heat. Red stinging eruptions. Dermographic skin.
Dryness, desquamation and inelasticity. Itching and stinging vesicles. Suppressed eruptions. Shiny red eruptions. Swelling of affected parts. Waxy appearance of skin. Allergic eruptions.
Itching worse from cold air, although generally averse to heat. Itching on perspiring parts. Burning and smarting.
Itch is worse becoming warm in bed.
Characteristic Mental Symptoms
Busy, industrious people, better when occupied. Fruitlessly busy.
Jealousy. Awkward, clumsy, fidgety. Says he is well when sick.
Ailments from suppressed sexuality or sexual excess. Ailments from anger, bad news, grief.
Most Useful General Symptoms
Aggravation from warmth of any kind - warm rooms, heat of a fire, saunas, warm bath are all intolerable. Right-sidedness. Effects of suppression of any kind. Worse from touch and pressure. Oedematous swellings. Thirstlessness.
ARSENICUM ALBUM
Can be any of the following:
Dry and very scaly. Dry, bleeding after scratching. Hard and thickened. Inelasticity.
Vesicular, including black and bloody vesicles. Crusty, white or black.
Discharging, especially a corrosive discharge. Ulcerated, suppurating.
Eruptions alternating with internal/respiratory symptoms. Eruptions from cold air and becoming cold. Eruptions after scratching, and thickening after scratching.
Burning after scratching. Swelling of affected area, swelling after scratching.
Itch better for warmth. Even scalding water ameliorates. Itching alternating with burning.
Better when bleeding. Worse at night.
Characteristic Mental Symptoms
Insecurity, dependence. Fearfulness - death, poverty, disease, being alone, robbers, cancer.
Fastidious, orderly and conscientious. Censorious. Miserly, possessive. Restless anguish.
Most Useful General Symptoms
Restlessness. Cold. Better warmth. Acridity, burning sensations and discharges.
Night time aggravation, especially midnight to 3am. Periodicity.
Desires fat, sour things, cold drinks in frequent sips.
Averse to sweets (may desire), fat, farinaceous foods. Worse for cold food, fruit, fat
BELLADONNA
Characteristic Eczema Symptoms
Fiery red eruptions. Blotches. Shiny eruptions like Apis. Red streaks after scratching.
Dry burning eruptions with desquamation. Eruptions moist after scratching.
Suppressed eruptions. Swelling of affected parts. Inflamed painful vesicles and vesicles that appear after scratching.
Characteristic Mental Symptoms
Energetic, plethoric, intense temperament. Aggressive. Desire to bite, kick, strike, pull hair.
Strikes head against the wall with anger. 'An angel when well, a devil when sick.'
Fear of animals, dogs. Fearlessness, audacity.
Most Useful General Symptoms
Sudden violent onset. Right-sided. 3 p.m. aggravation.
Worse from heat, especially of the sun. Sensitive to light, jar, noise.
Worse from suppressed perspiration, touch, motion, drafts, washing hair.
BOVISTA
The puffball is an easily overlooked remedy, but with careful repertorisation it is surprising how often it is indicated in eczema cases.
Characteristic Eczema Symptoms
Cracks and burning eruptions. Eczema of the hands and hollow of the knees.
Eruptions bleeding after scratching. Most Useful General Symptoms . Tendency to puffiness.
Worse during menses. Worse at full moon. Worse becoming heated.
Better for eating . Very useful after Rhus tox to complete the cure
CALCAREA CARBONICA
Characteristic Eczema Symptoms
Eruptions on the the occiput, scalp and flexures. Crusts and scabs with bland pus.
Eruptions worse from washing. Worse in winter. Cracking that is worse in winter.
Bleeding after scratching. Eruptions may be: in patches, vesicular, crusty, dry and desquamating. Milk crust. Eruption in and around umbilicus.
Most Useful General Symptoms
Chilly. Worse cold damp, change of weather. Worse ascending, exertion.
Worse during and difficult dentition. Sour perspiration. Flabbiness.
Aversion to meat, milk, slimy foods, fat, coffee. Desire for eggs, indigestible things, chalk, ice cream, starchy foods, oysters, sweets, salt, sour. Worse from dry foods, milk.
Note: Calcarea Carbonica is in the rubric: 'Eruptions; bleeding after scratching' but not in the rubric 'Itching; must scratch until it bleeds'
CALCAREA SULPHURICA
Characteristic Eczema Symptoms
Crusty eruptions, especially yellow crusts. Unhealthy skin, poor healing, suppuration.
Pussy spots. Dryness and desquamation - yellow scales. Cracks.
Cracks that are worse after washing and worse in winter.
Scratching ameliorates. Itching with burning. Worse on becoming warm in bed.
Most Useful General Symptoms
Tendency to suppuration. Warm-blooded but heat, cold and damp aggravate.
Desire for open air but drafts aggravate. Desire for green fruit.
CROTON TIGLIUM
Vesicular and pustular eruptions. Clustered vesicles that crust when they burst.
Inflamed and scabby pustules. Affinity for the genital region, face and head.
Alternation of eczema and internal affections. 'Sensation as if hidebound.'
Most Useful General Symptoms
Diarrhoea that is worse from the least food or drink. Worse for washing.
Worse in the summer. Worse at night. Mentally better in the open air.
GRAPHITES
One of the most used medicine in skin complaints
Characteristic Eczema Symptoms
Numerous symptoms but most characteristic is the honey-like, glutinous discharge.
Cracks and fissures, deep and bloody and worse in winter. Dryness, roughness, chapping.
Moist, crusty eruptions. Crusts after scratching. Discharge is either corrosive or fetid, offensive.
Eruptions in patches. Itching, burning vesicles. Eruptions alternating with internal affections. Suppressed eruptions. Worse before and during menses.
Wandering itch. Scratching aggravates.
Most Useful General Symptoms
Chilly, sensitive to drafts, but prone to flushes of heat. Better open air.
Worse on waking. Obesity. Aggravation from suppressions. Tendency to fissures.
Worse from bright light. Averse to fish, salt, sweets, meat. Desires chicken, beer.
HEPAR SULPHURIS CALCAREUM
Characteristic Eczema Symptoms
Cracks and painful, sensitive eruptions. Worse in winter.
Unhealthy skin, inflammation, suppuration. Can be dry, moist, pimples, pustules, scabs, vesicles or patches. Fetid eruptions, especially in folds. Thin acrid discharge.
Eruptions after scratching.
Characteristic Mental Symptoms
Hypersensitive and vulnerable to everything. Irritable, impatient, hurried.
Impolite, unpleasant nature. Threatening. Violent anger. Impulse to stab or kill.
Wants to set things on fire. Dreams of fire. Most Useful General Symptoms
Very cold. Draft aggravates. Uncovering aggravates. Sensitive to pain.
Offensiveness. Splinter-like pains. Glandular swelling.
Worse in dry air, better for damp. Better from warmth. Worse in winter.
KALI SULPHURICUM
This remedy is included here to represent all the Kali salts, any of which can have eczema in their picture. Kali Sulphuricum is the one most likely to be helpful, possibly because of the sulphur element in the compound.
Characteristic Eczema Symptoms
Scaly, profuse desquamation, especially yellow scales. Crusty eruption. Moist yellow crusts. Cracks. Moist eruption, especially yellow discharge. Suppurating eczema.
Characteristic Mental Symptoms
Proper, rigid, inflexible attitude. Hurried and irritable. Anxiety ameliorated in the open air.
Fear of death, falling, people. Worse from consolation.
Most Useful General Symptoms
Worse from warmth. Better in the open air. Worse from warmth but drafts aggravate (Sulphur). Tendency to suppuration. Aversion to eggs, fats, fish, meat and warm things. Desires sweets. Better from motion, especially in the open air.
MERCURIUS SOLUBILIS
Mercurius appears in 458 rubrics in the 'Skin' section of the Complete Repertory
Characteristic Eczema Symptoms
Moist and bleeding eruptions. Bleeding after scratching.
Foetid, offensive odour from the eruption, even if the discharge is scanty.
Thick crusts, vesicular or pustular eruption. Deep, bloody cracks. Worse in winter.
Worse on hairy parts. Discharge destroys hair. Worse in evening and at night.
Warmth aggravates. Wool aggravates. Perspiration aggravates.
Mental Symptoms
Closed, unconfident people.
Delusion that everyone is an enemy. Easily offended. Stammering. Violent impulses.
Internal hurried feeling with slowness of execution. Anarchist, disobedience, defiance. Most Useful General Symptoms
Worse at night. Worse from perspiration and easy perspiration.
Worse on becoming heated, or heat and cold aggravates. Sensitive to weather changes and draughts. Offensiveness. Glandular affections, salivation. Worse lying on right side.
Trembling and restlessness. Desire for bread and butter, lemons.
Aversion to sweets, coffee, salt, fat.
MEZEREUM
Characteristic Eczema Symptoms
Crusts and scabs with purulent matter underneath. Also pustules and vesicles and desquamation. Eruptions alternating with asthma. Washing aggravates. Worse in winter. Eczema after vaccination. Often eruptions on the face, around eyes and mouth. Bleeding after scratching.
Characteristic Mental Symptoms
Anxiety felt in the stomach. Anticipatory. Indifference. Desire for company. Most Useful General Symptoms Worse at night. Worse from suppressions. Lack of vital heat (although skin worse for warmth). Affinity for nerves and bones. Effects of vaccination. Herpetic tendency.
NATRUM MURIATICUM
All the Natrum salts can have eczema in their pictures, and sometimes differentiating between them is not easy
Characteristic Eczema Symptoms
Mostly affects the margins of the hair, eyelids, around mouth, hands and flexures. Raw, red inflamed eczema. Crusty eruption with corrosive discharge. Eruptions on hairy and perspiring parts. Worse at the seaside and from excessive salt. Worse from the sun and exertion. Tendency to urticaria and vesicular eruptions. Chapping and cracking of the skin. Dryness, inability to perspire. Greasy skin. Worse before menses.
Characteristic Mental Symptoms
Ailments from grief and disappointment. Silent grief. Desire to be alone yet fear of rejection. Self-reliant. Dwells on past disagreeable occurrences. Resentful. Avoids causing and being hurt. Defensive. Sympathetic. Guilt. Consolation aggravates. Closed, reserved and serious.
Most Useful General Symptoms Worse from the heat of the sun. Worse with the sun. Worse or better by the seaside. Worse 9-11 a.m. Periodicity. Worse from sympathy. Better in the open air. Desires salt, bitter, bread, fish, oysters, chocolate, coffee. Aversion to salt, fat, coffee, fish, bread, chicken, slimy.
NITRIC ACID
Characteristic Eczema Symptoms
Deep, bloody cracks. Bleeding after scratching. Painful eczema, especially burning and splinter-like pains. Sensitive eruptions, e.g. to touch. Eczema around the anus and genitals. Eruptions on hairy parts. Eruptions, especially crusts, in patches. Discharging after scratching - corrosive or pus. Fetid, offensive eruption.
Characteristic Mental Symptoms
Anxiety about health, fear of death. Resentful, hatred, bitter, revengeful, litigious. Dwells on past disagreeable occurrences. Tormenting thoughts. Anger with cursing. Discontented. Quarrelsome. Sensitive to all external impressions. Selfish. Most Useful General Symptoms Worse from slight causes. Worse for touch, jarring, noise. Coldness. Better for gentle motion. Splinter-like pains. Strong urine. Affinity for angles and mucocutaneous margins. Desires fat, salt, lime, fish. Averse to cheese, meat.
RHUS TOXICODENDRON
This is another remedy which, when well indicated, is fairly easy to recognise owing to its clear characteristic general and particular symptoms.
Characteristic Eczema Symptoms
Vesicular and crusty eruptions. Eruptions alternating with internal affections. Cold air aggravates. Worse in the winter, spring and from change of weather. Worse on perspiring parts. Corrosive discharge. Fissures, worse after washing. Eruptions after scratching. Swelling of affected part. Eruptions around genitals and of hairy parts. Hardness, thickening and inelasticity. Tendency to urticaria and herpes.
Better for warmth and worse in cold air. Better for hot bathing. Worse on hairy parts. Worse from perspiration and on perspiring parts. Scratching can aggravate or ameliorate. Wool aggravates.
SARSAPARILLA
Sarsaparilla has deep bleeding cracks like Petroleum. The cracks can be anywhere, including the hands, but a characteristic of this remedy is cracks on the feet. It is mainly a sycotic remedy
Characteristic Skin Symptoms
Deep cracks. Worse in the spring and summer, as markedly as Petroleum's winter aggravation. Worse before and during menses. Eruptions that date from vaccination. Worse from washing. Eruptions in patches and blotches. Shrivelled-looking skin.
Most Useful General Symptoms
Worse at close of urination. Worse in spring. Worse at night. Worse for cold damp. Suppressed gonorrhoea. Marasmus. Gouty tendency.
STAPHYSAGRIA
A Staphysagria eczema case will always have an emotional component to it, with the well known 'ailment from suppressed anger' being the most likely underlying cause of the skin problems.
Characteristic Eczema Symptoms
Moist crusty eruptions. Eruptions after scratching. Offensive discharge. Suppressed eruptions. Eruptions in patches. Scabs on the scalp. Unhealthy skin, easily suppurating.
Characteristic Mental Symptoms
Ailments from suppressed emotions, especially anger. Ailments from grief, wounded honour, embarrassment, indignation, rudeness of others, reproaches, mortification. History of physical or emotional abuse. Sensitive to discord and easily offended. Mild and yielding temperament. Conscientious about trifles.
Most Useful General Symptoms
Worse from sexual excess. Generally worse from emotions. Worse for touch. Systemic effects of wounds, especially lacerated wounds. Worse from tobacco. Averse to milk, cheese. Desires sweets, spicy, tobacco, soup, milk, rice.
SULPHUR
Sulphur is the king of polychrests and the best known 'skin remedy'. It is also the most overprescribed remedy, as it is easy to make Sulphur fit almost any situation in which there is an eruption. It is very much in the category of the 'unsuppressors' - it has a particularly powerful centrifugal action, in that it brings symptoms to the surface.
Characteristic Skin Symptoms
Itch worse from warmth. Eruption worse from water. Itch worse at night. (Can also be worse morning and evening.) Eruption bleeding after scratching. Cracking, worse from water and in winter. Redness. Itching with burning. History of suppressed eruptions. Eruptions alternating with respiratory complaints. Eczema dating back to vaccination.
Characteristic Mental Symptoms
Theorising, intellectual. Selfish, egotism. Critical. Lazy, tendency to take short cuts. May have: disgust, fastidiousness, anxiety for others; fear of heights, failure, narrow places, disease; hoarding, avarice. Most Useful General Symptoms Worse from warmth, desire for air but worse from draughts. Uncovers feet. Worse for bathing. Worse from suppression, and a history of suppressions. Hungry at 11 a.m. Stoop-shouldered. Offensiveness. Desires chocolate, spices, fat, alcohol, sweets, apples, ice cream. Averse to eggs, fish, sweets, vegetables.
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