Camphora

as William Boericke recorded it in Homoeopathic Materia Medica, 1927

Camphor

This is one author on one remedy. The concise clinical Materia Medica that most Indian colleges teach from, in full. Read Camphora in every book at once →

General

Hahnemann says: "The action of this substance is very puzzling and difficult of investigation, even in the healthy organism because its primary action, more frequently than with any other remedy, alternates and becomes intermixed with the vital reactions (after effects) of the organism. On this account it is often

difficult to determine what belongs to the vital reactions of the body and what to the alternating effects due to the primary action of the camphor." Pictures a state of collapse. Icy coldness of the whole body; sudden sinking of strength; pulse small and weak. After operations, if temperature is subnormal, low blood pressure, 3 doses camph. 1x, 15-minute intervals. This condition is met with in cholera, and here it is that Camphor has achieved classical fame. First stages of a cold, with chilliness and sneezing. Subsultus and extreme restlessness. Cracking of joints. Epileptiform convulsions. Camphor has a direct relationship to muscles and fascia. In local rheumatic affections in cold climates necessary. Distention of veins. As a heart stimulant for emergency use of Camphor is the most satisfactory remedy. Drop doses on sugar as often as every five minutes. It is characteristic of Camphor that the patient will not be covered, notwithstanding the icy coldness of the body. One of the main remedies in shock. Pain better while thinking of it. Very sensitive to cold and to touch. Sequelæ of measles. Violent convulsion, with wandering and hysterical excitement. Tetanic spasms. Scrofulous children and irritable, weakly blondes especially affected.

Modalities

Worse, motion, night, contact, cold air. Better, warmth.

Head

Vertigo, tendency to unconsciousness, feeling as if he would die. Influenza; headache, with catarrhal symptoms, sneezing, etc. Beating pain in cerebellum. Cold sweat. Nose cold and pinched. Tongue cold, flabby, trembling. Fleeting stitches in temporal region and orbits. Head sore. Occipital throbbing, synchronous with the pulse.

Face

Pale, haggard, anxious, distorted; bluish, cold. Cold sweat.

Eyes

Fixed, staring; pupils dilated. Sensation as if all objects were too bright and glittering.

Nose

Stopped; sneezing. Fluent coryza on sudden change of weather. Cold and pinched. Persistent epistaxis, especially with goose-flesh state of skin.

Stomach

Pressive pain in pit of stomach. Coldness, followed by burning.

Stool

Blackish; involuntary. Asiatic cholera, with cramps in calves, coldness of body, anguish, great weakness, collapse, tongue and mouth cold.

Urinary

Burning and strangury, with tenesmus of the neck of the bladder. Retention with full bladder. Male––Besire increased. Chordee. Priapism. Nightly emissions.

Respiratory

Præcordial distress. Suffocative dyspnœa. Asthma. Violent, dry, hacking cough. Palpitation. Breath cold. Suspended respiration.

Extremities

Rheumatic pain between shoulders. Difficult motion. Numbness, tingling and coldness. Cracking in joints. Cramps in calves. Icy cold feet, ache as if sprained.

Skin

Cold, pale, blue, livid. Cannot bear to be covered (Secale).

Sleep

Insomnia, with cold limbs. Subsultus and extreme restlessness.

Fever

Pulse small, weak, slow. Icy coldness of the whole body. Cold perspiration. Congestive chill. Tongue cold, flabby, trembling.

Relationships

Camphor antidotes or modifies the action of nearly every vegetable medicine––tobacco, opium, worm medicines, etc. Laffa acutangula (whole body ice-cold, with a restlessness and anxiety; burning thirst). Camphoric acid––(a prophylactic against catheter fever; cystitis 15 grains three times a day; also for prevention of night sweats). Incompatible: Kali nit. Complementary: Canth. Antidotes: Opium; Nitr sp dulc; Phos. Compare: Carbo; Cuprum; Arsenic; Veratr.

Dose

Tincture, in drop doses, repeated frequently, or smelling of Spirits of Camphor. Potencies are equally effective.

What the other books say about Camphora

The same remedy read by a different author. They disagree, and the disagreements are where the remedy becomes recognisable.

  • Camphora in Allen's Keynotes — The few symptoms that, when genuinely present, point at one remedy and not its neighbours.
  • Camphora in Kent — Kent teaching a class, one remedy at a time — fewer remedies, far more on each.
  • Camphora in Boger — A compressed key — the generals and the characteristic modalities, with very little narrative.

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Cite this page. William Boericke. Homoeopathic Materia Medica. 9th edition (preface dated San Francisco, June 1927). Camphora — General. HomeopathyWorld, https://homeopathyworld.in/materia-medica/books/boericke/camphora. Published 1927: public domain in the US (since 2023) and in India (author died 1929). Reproduced as the author wrote it; a historical reference for students and practitioners, not medical advice.