Symphytum officinale

Comfrey (Borraginaceae)

by H. C. Allen — Keynotes And Characteristics With Comparisons of some of the Leading Remedies of the Materia Medica · 1899

Historical reference for practitioners and students. The statements below reflect the named author’s homeopathic teaching and do not establish treatment effectiveness. This text is not medical advice and must not replace appropriate diagnosis or care.

Facilitates union of fractured bone (Cal. p.); lessens peculiar pricking pain; favors production of callous; when trouble is of nervous origin. Irritability at point of fracture; periosteal pain after wounds have healed. Mechanical injuries; blows, bruises, thrusts on the globe of the eye. Pain in eye after a blow of an obtuse body; snow ball strikes the eye; infant thrusts its fist into its mother's eye (to soft tissues around the eye, Arn.).

Relations . - Compare: Arn., Calend., Cal. p., Fluor. ac., Hep., Sil. Follows well: after Arnica for pricking pain, and soreness of periosteum remaining after an injury.

Symphytum officinale across the other classic books

Symphytum officinale appears in 9 of the 27 classic books on Similia. Each was written to do a different job — here is what each adds on this remedy, with the opening of its entry.

Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Comfrey-Knitbone (SYMPHYTUM) The root contains a crystalline solid, that stimulates the growth of epithelium on ulcerated surfaces. It may be administered internally in the treatment of gastric and duodenal juries to sinews, tendons and the periosteum. Acts on joints generally. Neuralgia of knee. Of great use in…”
Boger (Syn) — Generals and modalities in a short analytical portrait rather than a symptom list.
“CARTILAGE. PERIOSTEUM. Flat bones. INJURIES. Blows from blunt instruments. FRACTURES. Excessively painful (old) injuries; to periosteum or cartilage. Comminuted fractures. Prickling, stitching pains. Eye and face injuries. Non-union. Deficient callus. Coldness. Related: Calc-p. SYPHILINUM (See Luesinum)”
Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“officinale. Bone-set. Healing Herb. Comfrey. N. O. Boraginaceæ. Tincture of fresh root-stock collected before flowering and in autumn. Tincture of fresh plant. Abscess / Backache, from sexual excess / Bone, cancer of; injuries of / Breasts, sore / Eyes, pains in; injuries of / Fractures / non-union of; nervous /…”
Guernsey — The leading characteristics — a compact bridge from repertory result to remedy study.
“Where there is excessive pain from broken or injured bones; when they do not heal readily.”
Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Comfrey ; Healing Herb. Borraginaceæ. A native of Europe, where it grows on banks of streams and in meadows ; also found in United States. The tincture is prepared from the fresh root. Introduced by Jeanes. Fragmentary proving by Macfarlan. CLINICAL AUTHORITIES. Injury to eye , Gross, Rück. Kl. Erf., vol. 1, p. 317 …”
Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Mechanical injuries, bad effects from blows, bruises, thrusts on the eye. Pain from fractured bones.”
Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: comfrey. Comminuted fractures (B.). Is an excellent remedy for broken bones where the bones refuse to knit (Calc-P.) (N.). It facilitates union of fractured bones, lessens peculiar pricking pain, and favours production of callus (Calc., Calc-P.) (A.). Irritability at the point of fracture (Hyper.) (A.)…”
Tyler — The whole picture — temperament and leading symptoms drawn as one portrait.
“ONE of the invaluable remedies of “smashed and bruised humanity” is Symphytum—Comfrey: “Bone-set,”—“Healing herb.” For accidents, extravasations and bruises, we have quite a number of priceless remedies; and, while any one on the list will be helpful in any and every case, whether in dilute tincture form, or freshly…”

Symphytum officinale in Kent's Repertory

Kent's Repertory lists Symphytum officinale in 17 rubrics. These are the ones where it carries the highest grade — the symptoms Kent treated as most characteristic. Most of them sit in EYE (4), GENERALITIES (4), FACE (2), ABDOMEN (1), BACK (1).

EYE - PAIN - sore,bruised,tender - blow,from
EYE - PAIN - blow,from a
EYE - INJURIES,from
GENERALITIES - BRITTLE bones
GENERALITIES - INJURIES (including blows,falls and bruises) - bone
GENERALITIES - SLOW repair of broken bones
GENERALITIES - INJURIES (including blows,falls and bruises)
EYE - PAIN - sore,bruised,tender
ABDOMEN - PAIN - cutting - warmth of bed amel.
NOSE - PICKING - nose - constant desire
BACK - ABSCESS - psoas
EXTREMITIES - ABSCESS, - Lower Limbs - psoas
FACE - INFLAMMATION - bone,of
FACE - INFLAMMATION - periosteum
CHEST - PAIN - sore - bruised - Mammae
STOMACH - VOMITING - pregnancy,during
EAR - STOPPED sensation

Search all 8 classical repertories

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