Causticum

by C.M. Boger — A Synoptic Key of the Materia Medica

REGION

NERVES: Motor. Sensory.
MUSCLES: BLADDER. LARYNX. Limbs.
Respiration.
Skin.
Right side; face.

WORSE

Air: DRY COLD. Raw. WINDS. Drafts.
Extremes of temperature.
Stooping.
Suppressions.
Coffee.
3-4 A.M. OR EVENING.
Exertion.
Change of weather.

BETTER

A COLD DRINK (EVEN CHILLS).
Washing.
Warmth; of bed.
Gentle motion.

Sensitive to both heat and cold. Weakness, increasing uncertainty of control, stumbling, etc., finally PARALYSIS; of single parts. Atony. Anæsthesia. Stiff joints. Contracted tendons; palms (Nat-m.), hamstrings, etc. Deformities. Atrophy. Jerks of single muscles. Epilepsy, at puberty. Trembling. Burning. Soreness. Rawness; larynx, anus, etc. .................... Broken down; worn out; wants to die. Hopeless, despondent. Mental tire. Anxious forebodings (felt in head), < in twilight. Reticent. Oversympathetic. Empty behind forehead. Tight scalp. To and fro or nodding motions. Paralysis: of one eyelid (r), throat, bladder, etc. Heavy, drooping eyelids. Continuous eye pain. Diplopia, > looking to right. Objects look large. Cataract. Profuse acrid tears. Much, foul earwax. Echo in ears. Tinnitus. Eruption on lower nose. Prosopalgia, > cold water. Facial paralysis, < opening mouth. Swelling at root of tongue. Throat, < stooping. Urging to swallow, or swallows the wrong way. Greasy eructations. Cramp in rectum on stooping. Anus, prolapses on coughing; small, hard pustules. Stool glistens; difficult, > standing. Stooling easier by standing, but piles < standing. Must sit down to urinate. Insensible urethra or rectum; to solid stools (Alo.). Piles, < walking. Urine retained after labor. URINE SPURTS ON COUGHING; dribbles or passes slowly; > sitting. Menses by day, leucorrhœa by night. Dry, hard cough. Cough from tickling in throatpit (Sep.), or l. larynx; incessant; dry night and morning. Can't cough deep enough (Rum.); expectorate slips back again; < heat of bed, stooping, cold air; > sips of cold water. Greasy, ropy, difficult expectoration. Aphonia or hoarseness, in A.M.; of speakers; < stooping; > talking. Sore streak in larynx. Sore chest; vest seems tight. Purring in chest. Wandering chest pains, > pressure. Stiff neck or back on rising; pain goes forward or to thighs. Pain in spine on swallowing. Bursting in fingertips. Cramps in calves, feet or toes. Deep burns and their effects. Skin: cracks; ulcers. Warts, on brows, lids, nose, fingertips; seedy; bleeding; ulcerating. Coldness, not > warmth; causes paralysis, cough, diarrhœa, etc. Sweat about 4. A.M.; profuse, on slight exertion; < open air.

Complementary: Carb-v. Grap. Lach. Stap.

Related: Gel. Kali-bi. Pho. Rhus-t. Sep.

Causticum across the other classic books

Causticum appears in 12 of the 13 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 HC — The keynotes that separate this remedy from its nearest neighbours.
“Hahnemann's (Tinctura acris sine Kali) Adapted to persons with dark hair and rigid fibre; weakly, psoric, with excessively yellow, sallow complexion ; subject to affections of respiratory and urinary tracts. Children with dark hair and eyes, delicate, sensitive, skin prone to intertigo during dentition (Lyc.), or…”
Allen TF — The raw proving record — symptoms as the provers reported them, unedited.
“"Tinctura acris sine Kali." Preparation , Distil a mixture of slaked lime and a solution of Potassium sulphate according to directions given in the Homœopathic Dispensatory. The distillate contains Potassium hydrate, but no lime nor Sulphuric acid. Some effects of Caustic potash (Kali causticum, Potassium hydrate) are…”
Boericke — The quick clinical read — keynotes, modalities and the conditions it is actually prescribed in.
“Hahnemann's Tinctura acris sine Kali Manifests its action mainly in chronic rheumatic, arthritic and paralytic affections, indicated by the tearing, drawing pains in the muscular and fibrous tissues, with deformities about the joints; progressive loss of muscular strength, tendinous contractures. Broken down seniles…”
Boger (GA) — Which general headings this remedy belongs under — the analytical scaffolding.
“ACRIDITY, excoriations, etc. BREATHING, DEEPLY, Agg. CHILLY, cold CLOTHES, pressure of, Agg. COATED FEELING COLD AND HEAT, Agg. COORDINATION, disturbed COUGH. COUGH, incessant COUGH, painful CRACKING JOINTS CRAMP, colic, etc. DIRECTION of sensations, Radiating DRAWING DRINKING, AMEL. DRY, CLEAR OR COLD WEATHER, AGG…”
Clarke — The widest entry — sources, provings, clinical uses, relationships and antidotes in one place.
“Tinctura acris sine Kali. Potassium Hydrate. Obtained by distilling a mixture of slaked lime and a solution of potassium sulphate. Tincture with spirit. Acne rosacea / Agalactia / Amaurosis / Apoplexy / Arthritis deformans / Bladder, affections of / Bronchitis / Burns / Cataract / Chorea / Coccygodynia / Constipation…”
Hering — Graded symptoms, each weighted by how often provers and practice confirmed it.
“Tinctura acris sine Kali. Causticum was first mentioned by Hahnemann in his Apothekerlexicon. His views are fullyset forth in the first volum, published in the year 1793, under the word "Feuer," on p. 293, and in the last volume, published in 1799, under "Spiesglanztinctur," p. 256. His mode of preparation is found in…”
Kent — The mental and general picture — who the patient is, before what the remedy cures.
“Causticum is a very searching medicine, suitable in old, broken down constitutions, suffering from chronic diseases. Only occasionally is it indicated in acute diseases. Its complaints are such as are progressive, slow, and accompanying a declining state of the economy. Muscular power: Gradual decrease of muscular…”
Lippe (KN) — Only the symptoms Lippe considered reliable enough to prescribe on.
“Rheumatic and gouty tearing in the limbs, relieved by warmth, especially by the heat of the bed. Tension in the limbs with paralysis, especially of the extensor muscles. Paralytic trembling, debility of the limbs when out of bed. Numbness of the single parts or of the right side of the body. In children, soreness…”
Lippe (MM) — The strict Hahnemannian reading — the symptom picture without clinical interpretation.
“Melancholy, peevish. Low-spirited, with fearful anxiety, day and night. Attacks of anger, with scolding. Afraid at night (in the dark room; the child does not want to go to bed alone). Giddiness, with sensation of weakness in the head. Stitches in the temples. Tension and tightness in the head, and of the scalp…”
Lippe (Red) — Keynotes with the most-trusted ones marked as red-line symptoms.
“Common name: hahnemann's tinctura acris sine kali. Adapted to persons who are subject to affections of respiratory and urinary tracts (Lyc., Merc., Nat-M.) (A.). Useful for dark-haired persons with rigid fibres, psoric constitutions, suffering from long ago suppressions of skin diseases (N.). Disturbed functional…”
Nash — The comparisons — the remedy set beside the ones it is most often confused with.
“Great weakness, faint-like goneness, culminating in local paralysis (vocal organs, tongue, muscles of deglutition, eyelids, face, bladder and extremities). Obstinate neuralgias, especially of psoric origin; pains of a cramping, drawing nature. Sensation of sore, rawness (scalp, throat, larynx and trachea, chest…”

Causticum in Kent's Repertory

Kent's Repertory lists Causticum in 4,835 rubrics. These are the ones where it carries the highest grade — the symptoms Kent treated as most characteristic. Most of them sit in EXTREMITIES (974), GENERALITIES (403), HEAD (396), MIND (320), SKIN (235).

CHEST - ERUPTIONS - Mammae - herpes
CHEST - PAIN - stitching - Sternum - lifting,from
EXTERNAL THROAT - PAIN - Throat Pit - hawking of mucus
EXTREMITIES - CONTRACTION of muscles and tendons - Upper Arm - tendons
EXTREMITIES - DISCOLORATION, - Leg - marbled
EXTREMITIES - DISCOLORATION, - Thigh - marbled
EXTREMITIES - MOTION - constant - sleep,during
EXTREMITIES - PAIN - Foot - back of - warmth of bedamel.
EXTREMITIES - PAIN - Foot - warm - amel.
EXTREMITIES - PAIN - drawing - Foot - air,open,agg.
EXTREMITIES - PAIN - drawing - Knee - air,open,agg.
EXTREMITIES - PAIN - drawing - Leg - warmth - amel.
EXTREMITIES - PAIN - drawing - Thigh - air,open,agg.
EXTREMITIES - PAIN - sore,bruised - Thigh - morning - in bed
EXTREMITIES - PAIN - tearing - Knee - air,open,agg.
EXTREMITIES - PAIN - tearing - Knee - warmth - amel.
EXTREMITIES - PAIN - tearing - Leg - air,open,agg.
EXTREMITIES - PAIN - tearing - Lower Limbs - air,open,agg.
EXTREMITIES - PARALYSIS - appearing gradually
EXTREMITIES - RESTLESSNESS - Lower Limbs - morning,bed,in

Search all 7 classical repertories

More remedies in this book

Previous remedy: Caul Next remedy: Cean

Carb-an Carb-v Card-m Castm Cedr Cham Chel Chen-al

Explore the full Similia platform

Access 13 classic materia medica books, 7 classical repertories, AI semantic search, and basic case management — free.

View Pricing