Sulphur
By Adolph von Lippe — Text Book of Materia Medica
Mind and Disposition
Peevishness; irritability; restless, quick temperament.
Melancholy, with great inclination to philosophical and religious speculations; with anxiety about the salvation of one's soul, and great indifference to the welfare of others.
Hypochondriac mood (through the day, in the evening he inclined to be merry).
Dulness: difficulty of thinking; misplaces, or cannot find the proper words when he speaks.
Fantastic illusions.
Head
Vertigo when sitting; with bleeding of the nose; when stooping; when rising from the bed; in the morning; with nausea; with inclination to fall to the left side; with vanishing of sight.
Congestion of blood to the head with heat in it; the blood rising up to the head from the chest; better in the room.
Heaviness and fulness in the forehead, worse when raising the head and after sleeping and talking better when sitting or when lying high with the head.
Tearing or stitches in the forehead or temples, from within to without, worse from eating or stooping, better when pressing the head together, or when moving about.
Sensation of emptiness in the back part of the head, worse in the open air and when talking, better in the room.
Pulsation in the head with beat in the brain, pulsation of the carotid arteries and of the heart, worse on waking in the morning, when moving about, on stooping, when talking, in the open air; better when at rest and in the warm room.
Painful tingling on the vertex and in the temples.
Tension in the forehead and in the eyes on exercising the brain; worse when lifting up the eyes, after sleeping; better when sitting and in the room.
He feels every step painful in the head.
Headache generally worse in the open air, better in the room.
Sensitiveness of the vertex, pressing when touching it, worse from the heat of the bed, in the morning when waking, on scratching it, it bites and burns.
Feeling of coldness about the head.
The roots of the hair are painful, especially when touched.
Dry (seldom humid) offensive, scabby, easily bleeding, burning, and sore paining eruption on the back part of the head and behind the ears, with cracks, better from scratching (Tinea capitis).
Contractive pain as from a hand around the cranium, with the sensation as if the flesh were loose around it, followed by inflammation and swelling of the bones and caries; worse in wet, cold weather and when at rest; better from motion.
Falling off of the hair, with great dryness of the hair, painfulness of the scalp to the touch and violent itching in the evening when getting warm in bed, with swelling of the glands on the neck (also in lying-in women).
Fontanelles remain open too long.
Exanthema and itching on the forehead.
Eyes
Dryness of the eyes in the room, lachrymation in the open air.
Running of the eyes.
Photophobia with stitches, worse in sultry weather.
Specks or ulcers on the cornea.
Obscuration of sight; blindness; dim-sightedness, cataract.
Like gauze before the eyes.
Halo around the candle.
Inflammation of the eyes or of the eyelids.
Stinging in the eyes, especially in the sunshine and from the light of a candle, or burning in the eyes.
Painful inflammation of the eye from a foreign body coming, into the eye.
Eyelids burning; twitching (lower), itching.
Ulceration of the margins of the eyelids.
Itching of the eyebrows.
Ears
Stinging in the ear (left).
Wabbling in the ears as if water was in them.
Otorrhœa; discharge of pus from the ear.
Humming of the ears.
Hardness of bearing; over-sensitiveness of hearing.
Itching in the external ear.
Nose
Blood comes from the nose whenever blowing it.
Bleeding of the nose (3 P.M. or with vertigo), afterwards it feels sore when touched.
Swelling and inflammation of the nose.
Dry ulcers or scabs in the nose.
Smell before the nose as from an old catarrh.
Freckles and black pores on the nose.
Herpes across the nose, like a saddle.
Burning coryza in the open air, obstructions of the nose in the room.
Dryness of the nose.
Face
Face pale, yellow color of the face.
Circumscribed red spots on the cheeks.
Red blotches on the face.
Erysipelas of the face (beginning on the right ear and spreading over the face).
Freckles on the face; red roughness of the face.
Exanthema on the upper lip.
Tinea faciei.
Crusta lactea.
Sunken eyes with blue margins.
Swelling of the (upper) lips.
Yellow spots on the upper lip.
Red lips.
Lips dry, rough, and cracked.
Burning of the lips.
Trembling and twitching of the lips.
Cancer of the lips.
Cold perspiration on the face.
Painful eruptions around the chin.
Herpes on the corners of the mouth.
Mouth and Throat
Great sensitiveness of the points of the teeth.
Aching in sound and carious teeth.
The teeth feel as if they were too long.
Tearing toothache on the left side.
Pulsation and boring in the teeth, worse from heat.
Teeth feel as if they were loose.
Toothache in the open air, from the least draught of air, at night in bed, from washing with cold water; with congestions to the head, or stitches in the ears.
Swelling of the gums, with heating pain in them.
Bleeding of the gums.
Fistula dentalis.
Stomacace. (Blisters and vesicles in the mouth.) Aphthæ.
Ptyalism from the abuse of Mercury or during a fever.
Saliva tastes salt, sour or bitter, or is mixed with blood.
Breath offensive (after meals).
Tongue white, with red tip and red borders, or dry (in the morning), or brown and dry; burns, or red and cracked, or coated white.
Long-continued sensation of a lump in the throat.
Sensation as if swallowing a piece of meat during empty deglutition.
Dryness of the throat.
Stitches in the throat on swallowing.
Sensation of contraction in the throat, when swallowing.
Burning in the throat, as from sour eructations.
Elongation of the palate; swelling of the palate and tonsils.
Sensation of a hair in the throat.
Angina gangrenosa.
Stomach and Abdomen
Sour taste in the mouth all day.
Bitter taste in the morning; putrid taste in the morning.
No appetite, but constant thirst; or canine hunger.
Disgust for drinking wine; violent thirst for beer and longing for brandy.
The food tastes too salt.
Milk disagrees, causing sour taste and sour eructations.
Aversion to meat.
After eating but little he feels full in the stomach.
Water-brash.
The food rises into the throat.
Loud eructations as soon as he presses on the stomach; or empty eructations.
Qualmishness; nausea (in the morning).
Vomiting: first of water, later of solid food, or sour; of the ingesta, sour or bitter, with cold perspirations in the face, or of blood.
The region of the stomach becomes very painful when pressing upon it, even the bed-cover causes pain.
Burning in the stomach.
Spasms in the stomach immediately after a meal.
Stitches or pressing pain in the region of the liver.
Stitches in the spleen, worse when taking a deep inspiration and when walking.
Inflammation, swelling, and induration of the liver.
Stitches in the left side of the abdomen when coughing.
Painful sensitiveness of the abdomen, as if all the parts in it were raw and sore.
Rolling and rumbling in the abdomen.
Incarcerated flatulence in the left side of the abdomen, with constipation.
Colic; (hæmorrhoidal) after drinking or eating, obliging one to bend double.
Flatus stinking, and frequent discharges of it.
Incarcerated hernia.
Dropsy.
Movements in the abdomen as from a fist of a fœtus.
Stool and Anus
Constipation; frequent unsuccessful desire for stool; stool hard, knotty, insufficient.
Diarrhœa; painless; in the morning compelling one to rise from his bed; watery, of white mucus, smelling sour, undigested, involuntary.
Diarrhœa in children, green, of bloody mucus, with crying and weeping.
Dysenteric stools at night, with colic and violent tenesmus.
Colic before every loose evacuation.
Stools with ascarides, lumbrici, or tape-worm.
During stool, discharge of blood; pain in the small of the back; palpitation of the heart; congestion of the head; prolapsus recti, especially during a hard stool; itching, burning, and stinging at the anus and in the rectum.
After stool tenesmus, constriction at the anus.
Hæmorrhoids oozing or bleeding.
Swelling of the anus.
Soreness of the anus.
Stitching at the anus.
Urinary Organs
Retention of urine.
Frequent micturition, especially at night.
Discharge of urine only by drops.
Involuntary discharge of urine (and stool) at night, (wetting bed).
Burning in the orifice of the urethra during micturition.
Fetid urine; easy pellicle on the urine.
Hæmorrhage torn the urethra.
Stitches in the bladder.
Cutting pain in the urethra when urinating.
Redness and inflammation of the orifice of the urethra.
Discharge of (white) mucus from the urethra. (Secondary gonorrhœa).
Sexual Organs
Men. Involuntary discharge of semen, with burning in the urethra.
Too quick discharge of semen during coition.
Coldness of the penis (prepuce); weak sexual powers; impotence.
Inflammation, swelling, and phymosis of the prepuce, with deep rhagades, burning, and redness.
Deep suppurating ulcer on the glans and prepuce, with puffed edges.
Discharge of prostatic fluid, also after micturition.
Phymosis, with discharge of fetid pus.
Stitches in the penis.
The testicles hang down loosely.
Hydrocele.
Offensive perspiration around the genitals.
Soreness and moisture of the scrotum.
Soreness between the thighs when walking.
Women. Menstruation too late, of too short duration, too scanty, or suppressed; first menses delaying, or too profuse and too early.
Menstrual blood acrid, corroding the thighs, smelling sour, or else too pale.
Before menstruation, headache; bleeding from the nose; itching on the genitals.
Daring menstruation, bleeding from the nose; congestion of blood to the head; spasms in the abdomen.
Bearing-down in the pelvis; congestion to the uterus.
Sterility, with too early and profuse menstruation.
Leucorrhœa, of yellow mucus, corroding, preceded by pains in the abdomen.
Respiratory Organs
Hoarseness and roughness in the throat, with much mucus on the chest.
Deep, rough voice -aphonia.
Coldness in the throat during an inspiration.
Dry cough day and night, with spasmodic constriction of the chest.
Cough, with expectoration during the clay, without expectoration at night.
Short, dry cough, with stitches in the chest, or stitches in the (left) shoulder-blade.
When coughing, pain in the head and in the abdomen.
Cough after a meal, or only when walking in the open air.
Spasmodic hooping-cough in successive double attacks, shortly following one another, from tickling in the larynx, as from dust; only with expectoration during the day, of either dark blood or yellow-greenish purulent matter, or of cold, milk-white mucus, generally tasting sour, or putrid, or salty, or like old catarrh.
Congestion of blood to the chest, with sensation of fulness in it.
Heaviness in the chest (when walking).
Stitches through the chest, extending into the left shoulder-blade; worse when lying down on the back, during the least motion, when drawing a deep breath, when lifting up the arms (over the head).
Pain in the chest from overlifting or after inflammation of the lungs.
Sensation as if the lungs were touching the back.
Burning in the chest, up to the face.
Sensation of coldness in the chest.
Sensation of weakness in the chest when talking.
Dyspnœa; shortness of breath and oppression of breathing on bending the aims backwards.
Asthma at night.
Palpitation of the heart; anxious, and visible (when ascending).
Sensation as if the heart were enlarged.
Swelling of the mammæ.
Nodosites in the mammæ.
Nipples cracking, stinging, and burning.
Back
Cracking in the vertebræ of the neck, especially on bending backwards.
Stiffness in the neck.
Drawing in the back.
Pain in the small of the back on rising from a seat.
Gnawing pain in the small of the back.
Pain as if sprained, or as if bruised in the left shoulder.
Stitches in the shoulder-blades.
Pain in the small of the back, not permitting one to stand erect.
Curvature of the vertebræ.
Extremities
Upper. Tearing in the joints of the arms, hands and fingers.
Rheumatic pain in the shoulders, especially the left.
Erysipelatous swelling on the fingers, numbness of the fingers.
Offensive perspiration in the arm-pit.
Perspiration of the hands; in the palms of the hands.
Trembling of the hands when writing. Cold trembling hands.
Rhagades on the hands, especially between the fingers, on the joints of fingers, in the palms of the hands.
Hang-nails.
Panaritium.
Lower. Heaviness of the legs.
Swelling of the knee (white, or shining).
Erysipelas of the legs. Phlegmasia alba dolens.
Stiffness of the knee and ankle-joint.
Cramps; in the legs (calves) at night; in the soles of feet at every step.
Cold sweat on the feet.
Burning of the soles of the feet.
Red, shining swelling of the toes.
Corns paining, pressing and stinging.
Cold feet and hands; cold soles of the feet.
Itching in the toes that bad been formerly frozen.
Ulcer on the instep.
Sleep
Great drowsiness and sleepiness in day-time, especially in the afternoon and after sunset.
Goes to sleep late. Long but unrefreshment morning sleep.
Sleep with his eyes half open. Talks loudly while asleep.
Jerks and twitches in the body during asleep.
He has to lie on his back.
Anxious dreams. Nightmare. Nightly delirium.
Generalities
Tearing in the limbs, in outer arts, in the muscles and joints, from above downwards.
Arthritic swelling and heat.
Bruised pain in outer parts.
Burning pain of external and internal parts.
Cutting pain in the inner parts.
Stinging pain; in outer and inner parts; in the muscles; in the joints; from within outwards.
Biting (pungent) pain.
Inflammatory swelling of the affected parts.
Sprained pains in outer parts and in the joints.
Sensation of tension in outer parts and especially the joints.
Sensation of roughness in inner parts.
Sensation of heaviness in inner parts.
Sensation of fulness in inner parts.
Sensation of a hand (hoop) on and around parts.
Contraction of inner parts.
Trembling and shaking of outer parts.
Weakness of the joints.
Knocking in outer parts.
Humming and buzzing in the head; vibration like dun tingling in the body.
Congestion of blood to single parts (eyes, nose, chest, abdomen, arms, legs).
Dropsy of inner parts.
The limbs go to sleep.
Paralysis of the limbs (right side).
Great debility and trembling; talking fatigues.
Jerks in the muscles and single twitches in the limbs.
Epilepsy (it comes running from the arms and out of the back like a mouse).
Stooping gait (his head and shoulders are stooped when he walks).
Aversion to washing.
Fever
Pulse full, hard and quick, at times intermitting.
Swollen veins.
Chilliness from want of natural heat.
Chilliness every evening in bed, followed by heat and profuse perspiration.
Chilliness in the forenoon; heat with cold feet in the afternoon.
Chilliness externally with internal heat and a red face.
Chilliness, beginning in the toes.
Slight chill, 10 A.M., continues till 3 P.M., followed by heat lasting two hours, mostly in the head and hands, with desire for beer.
Cold nose, hands and feet.
Dry heat, with thirst.
Heat at night, with headache, and burning of the hands and feet.
Heat at night without thirst, preceded by chilliness, with thirst.
Dry heat in the afternoon and evening, with dry skin, and much thirst, alternating with chilliness.
Flushes of heat.
Want of perspiration, or great inclination to perspire.
Perspiration from the least exertion.
Perspiration in the evening, mostly in the hands.
Perspiration with anxiety, very debilitating, pungent acid smell; very seldom offensive, at times cold.
Perspiration (only on one side of the body), only on the back part of the body; worse at night and in the morning.
Skin
Swelling of the bones.
On the bones sensation of constriction, or as if a hand were around them.
Skin cold, pale, dry.
Chapped exanthema.
Itch.
Voluptuous itching and tingling, with burning after scratching, or with soreness after scratching.
Itching worse from the heat of the bed.
Liver, or scarlet-colored or yellow spots on the body.
Freckles.
Rhagades, after washing.
The nails crumble off.
Soreness in children; soreness in the folds of the skin.
Dropsical, burning swelling of external parts.
Herpes, scabby and scurfy.
Ulcers: cancerous; crusty; pricking; pulsating, swollen, tearing, with tension; pus from them offensive.
Warts.
Conditions
Complaints arising from the abuse of Mercury or China.
Aggravation in the evening or after midnight; during the full moon; periodically (headache every seven days); during sleep; on waking; on getting warm in bed; on rising; from exertion of the body; on walking quickly; from talking; while at rest; when standing; from milk after eating; from suppressed perspiration; from wet poultices; from touching the affected parts; when swallowing food; from water and washing.
Amelioration. From drawing up the limbs; during motion; while lying on the right side; by heat; in dry weather after rising.
Sulphur follows well after Pulsatilla, which also is often the antidote to it when it has been administered in too large doses.
It is most suitable for lean persons, especially if they walk stooped; it will often serve to rouse the slumbering vitality if the proper medicines have failed to produce a favorable effect, especially in acute diseases.