Dolichos pruriens

Cowhage

by William Boericke — Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica & Repertory

Historical reference for practitioners and students.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.

(DOLICHOS PURIENS - MUCUNA)

A right-sided medicine, with pronounced liver and skin symptoms. A general intense itching without eruption. Exalted nervous sensibility. Senile pruritus. Hæmorrhoidal diathesis.

Throat

Pain in throat, worse swallowing, below right angle of jaw, as if splinter were imbedded vertically . Pain in gums prevents sleep.

Abdomen

Colic from getting feet wet. Constipation, with intense itching; bloated abdomen . White stools. Swelling of liver. Hæmorrhoids , with burning sensation.

Skin

Intense itching , with no swelling or rash; worse across shoulders, also about elbows and knees and hairy parts. Jaundice. Yellow in spots; itching excessively at night. Herpes zoster ( Ars ).

Modalities

Worse , at night, scratching, right side.

Relationship

Compare: Rhus; Bell; Hep; Nit ac; Fagopyr .

Dose

Sixth potency. Tincture, drop doses, in hæmorrhoids.

Dolichos pruriens across the other classic books

Dolichos pruriens appears in 7 of the 21 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.

Allen TF — A compiled symptom record drawing on proving reports and other named observations.
“Mucuna pruriens, D. C. (Dolichos pruriens, L.) Natural order , Leguminosæ. Common names , Cowhage, Cow-itch; (Fr.) Pois à gratter or pouillieux; (G.) Juck-borsten. Preparation , Trituration (or tincture) of the whole pod. Authority. Dr. Jacob Jeanes, N. Am. J. of Hom., "I took a portion of the 2d cent. dilution." A…”
Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“pruriens. Mucuna pruriens. Cowhage. Cow-itch. N. O. Leguminosæ. Trituration or tincture of whole pod. Cough / Dentition / Gums, neuralgia of / Herpes zoster / Jaundice / Jaundice, irritation of / Jaw, pain in / Neuralgia / Pruritus / Sore throat The most characteristic symptoms of Dolichos are . a general intense…”
Guernsey — The leading characteristics — a compact bridge from repertory result to remedy study.
“Intense itching of the skin with no appearance of swelling or rash. Constipation with this intense itch, but no rash. Jaundice, yellow in spots or all over, and itching excessively at night.”
Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Cowhage, or Cowitch. Leguminosæ. A climbing plant, native to the West Indies and tropical America, synonymous with Mucuma pruriens, bears a fruit pod, about four inches long, covered with bristly hairs, from which the alcoholic tincture is prepared. Introduced and proved by Jacob Jeanes. CLINICAL AUTHORITIES…”
Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Gums (upper) irritated, tumid, excessively painful; can scarcely take food or drink in the mouth. Pain in the gums prevents sleep. Painful sensation of the throat below the angle of the lower jaw on the right side; it was; as if a splinter of three-quarters of an inch in length was imbedded vertically in that spot…”
Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Violent itching over the body, without any visible eruption; jaundice; white stools.”

Dolichos pruriens in Kent's Repertory

Kent's Repertory lists Dolichos pruriens in 59 rubrics. These are the ones where it carries the highest grade — the symptoms Kent treated as most characteristic. Most of them sit in SKIN (11), COUGH (9), MOUTH (6), GENERALITIES (5), EXTREMITIES (4).

THROAT - PAIN - splinter, - as from a
RECTUM - CONSTIPATION - pregnancy,during
EXTREMITIES - ERUPTION - Leg - dry
SKIN - BURNING - night
SKIN - ITCHING - eruption,without
GENERALITIES - PAIN - splinters,sensation of
EYE - OPEN lids
SKIN - ITCHING - warm - on becoming
MOUTH - DISCOLORATION - Gums - redness
MOUTH - PAIN - Gums
SKIN - ITCHING - night
SKIN - ITCHING - scratching - agg.
MOUTH - PAIN - sore - Gums
FEMALE GENITALIA - ITCHING
MOUTH - SWELLING - Gums
SKIN - ITCHING
CHEST - PAIN - Lungs - apex
COUGH - AFTERNOON - 4 p.m.until morning
EXTREMITIES - ERUPTION - Upper Limbs - dry
MOUTH - TASTE - bloody - coughing - when

Search all 7 classical repertories

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Dam Daph Dig Dios Diosm Dros Dubo-m Dulc

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