Spiranthes spira.

Homœopathic Materia Medica

William Boericke · Homœopathic Materia Medica · 9th edition

Common name

Lady's Tresses (SPIRANTHES)

General

Has been used for milk-flow in nursing women, lumbago and rheumatism, colic, with drowsiness and spasmodic yawning. Is an anti-phlogistic remedy akin to Acon its symptoms showing congestion and inflammation. Acidity and burning in œsophagus with eructation.

Female

Pruritus; vulva red; dryness and burning in vagina. Burning pain in vagina during coition. Leucorrhœa, bloody.

Extremities

Sciatic pain, especially right side. Pain in shoulders. Swelling of veins of hands. Pain in all articulations of hands. Coldness of feet and toes.

Fever

Flushes of heat. Sweat on palms. Hands alternately hot and cold.

Dose

Third potency.

A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica

John Henry Clarke · A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica · 1st edition (1900-02, three volumes); homeoint.org / Médi-T HTML digitization

General

Spiranthes autumnalis. Lady's Tresses. N. O. Orchidaceæ. Tincture of the root.

Clinical

Breasts, painful. Breath, putrid. Burns. Coryza. Dysparunia. Eczema. Hysteria. Kidneys, pain in. Lumbago. Milk, excessive. Skin, affections of. Vision, dimness of.

Characteristics

The genus to which this orchid belongs received its name from the spiral arrangement of the flowers. The tuberous roots of Spir. autum . were "formerly esteemed as an aphrodisiac" ( Treas. of Bot .). The tincture of the root was proved by Dr. Patti Chagon, Duc de Sorentino, who says of it: "The action of this drug begins with decided symptoms of inflammation of the eyes, chin, chest, which become red and hot; the whole skin is dry and hot; the hands are burning, the extremities of the feet are cold most of the time; there is a sensation of oppression and heat, with palpitation and a desire to uncover." This condition lasted two hours and gave place to others, including desire to meditate and complain, vertigo, pains in shoulders, ennui , loss of appetite. The last symptoms to appear are: pains in scalp, on vertex, distress in kidneys and intestinal troubles after eating. The secretions of urine and milk were first diminished, afterwards increased. The aphrodisiac property of Spiran . was shown in some of the symptoms of the proving, and this bears on the increased secretion of milk. A number of symptoms appear in the lower abdomen, and the globus hystericus rises from thence to œsophagus. Heat in lower abdomen; preceding eructations; caused by laughing. Among the Peculiar Symptoms are: cerebral troubles on bending or raising the arm. Sensation of a band tied round head. Sensation of a foreign body in throat. Coldness of teeth. Pulsation in arteries over whole body. Coldness of the affected part. Preference for lying on left side; or else on back. Pain followed by numbness. The symptoms are < by touch. < Bending or raising arm. < Raising breast. Laughing = heat in lower abdomen. Least emotion = palpitation. < Mental effort. > Lying on left side. > Lying on back. < Bending over (rheumatism of shoulders). < Stooping.

Relations

Compare: Botan., Cypr. Skin and mucous membranes, Ar. t. Desire for tight clothing; dryness of vagina, Nat. m. Pain followed by numbness, Gnaph.

Mind

Melancholy. ─ Complaining and sobbing. ─ Ill-humour. ─ Confusion of ideas. ─ Indolence and ennui .

Head

Vertigo: obliged to lean head against wall; on rising from bed; < sitting or lying. ─ Heaviness and heat in brain. ─ Brain troubles < bending or raising arm. ─ Sensation of band tied about head. ─ Weight on forehead. ─ Pain in forehead and nasal bone. ─ Pain in roots of hair. ─ Hair falls out.

Eyes

Eyes brilliant; fixed. ─ Pain in eyes on looking up. ─ Burning in eyes and lachrymation. ─ Heaviness of brows. ─ Lids swollen. ─ Eyes hot, inflamed. ─ Vision: dim; obscured, with sleepiness; instantaneously lost; objects at a distance seem to move; on closing lids, sees wheels of fire.

Ears

Pain in l. auditory canal. ─ Itching in ear, externally and internally.

Nose

Dry coryza. ─ Epistaxis: in clots. ─ Dripping of water from nose. ─ Pain in (r.) nasal bones. ─ Burning itching at root of nose. ─ Itching of r. ala. ─ Smell very acute.

Face

Face: swollen; red and hot; blackish; pale. ─ Fixed, meditative expression. ─ Burning in upper lip. ─ Chin: red; pain in.

Mouth

Pain and elongation of teeth. ─ Toothache only at night. ─ Sensation of coldness in teeth. ─ Gums red and burning. ─ Numerous small excrescences on palate, which was bloody. ─ Putrid odour from mouth. ─ Irritation of sublingual glands. ─ Taste: acid; sweetish, like nitre; bitter in morning. ─ Salivation with dryness of mouth.

Throat

Globus rising from lower abdomen to œsophagus. ─ Sensation of foreign body in throat. ─ Incessant desire to clear throat, caused by a thick mucus. ─ Tickling in throat, provoking cough. ─ Burning in pit of throat. ─ Irritation of tonsils. ─ Sensation of acidity and burning in œsophagus. ─ Incarceration of air in œsophagus. ─ Pain on swallowing.

Stomach

Desire for acid food. ─ Loss of appetite. ─ Constant thirst. ─ Regurgitations. ─ Eructations: preceded by heat in lower abdomen and lancinations in colon; acid; bitter; difficult; empty. ─ Nausea: after eating. ─ Vomiting; of food after eating. ─ Epigastrium: distended, intolerant of touch; painful after a meal, the pain corresponding to the pain in loins. ─ Heat rising from stomach to head.

Abdomen

Pain: in liver; and spleen; on pressure. ─ Intermittent pressure in umbilical region. ─ Pain; weakness; tympanites; after a meal. ─ Borborygmi. ─ Desire to tighten clothes. ─ Piercing, lancinating, insupportable pain in colon; on becoming erect. ─ Laughing = heat in lower abdomen. ─ Eruption in groin.

Stool and Anus

Burning and itching in anus < during evacuation. ─ Stool preceded and followed by prickling and itching in anus. ─ Diarrhœa or constipation; stools sour in children.

Urinary Organs

In kidneys: cramp-like pain at night, obliging change of position; burning; pain preventing stooping; < going up stairs, > lying on back; coldness and heat. ─ In bladder: pain on urinating; pain and burning after waking. ─ Urine: abundant; scanty; decomposes rapidly; deposits a gelatinous red sediment.

Male Sexual Organs

Erections, on waking; constant. ─ Pricking pain in cords. ─ Great desire for, or repugnance to, coition.

Female Sexual Organs

Redness of vulva with pruritus. ─ Pressing pain in uterus. ─ Bloody discharge from vagina. ─ Yellowish leucorrhœa. ─ Burning in vagina. ─ Burning pain in vagina during coition. ─ Dryness of vagina.

Respiratory Organs

Burning in larynx. ─ Hacking cough, caused by tickling in larynx. ─ Dry cough at night, with burning in throat. ─ Dry cough. ─ Respiration: difficult; short; panting on walking.

Chest

Sensation of dilatation of l. lung. ─ Sensation of weakness of lungs. ─ Pleuritic and intercostal pains, < l. side. ─ Milk, abundant: more in l. breast. ─ Pain in breast on raising it. ─ Burning on tips of breasts, esp. l.

Heart

Pain in heart. ─ Palpitation: with difficult respiration; from least emotional excitement. ─ Pulse full and hard at beginning of proving, afterwards small and quiet.

Neck and Back

Cramp-like pain in neck at night compelling change of position. ─ Lumbago preventing walking. ─ Pain in centre of scapula. ─ Pain in scapula, when standing, < walking.

Limbs

Trembling in limbs; weakness.

Upper Limbs

Shoulders: heavy pain in; boring in r., extending to r. breast and preventing breathing; pressure on and in chest; lancinations < bending over. ─ Arms: trembling; weakness; numb and heavy (esp. r.); desire to stretch. ─ Pain in forearms by the pulse; in r. pulse. ─ Rigidity of muscles of forearm. ─ Sudden pain in forearm followed by numbness. ─ Hands: swollen, esp. r.; veins swollen; blackish; yellowish; red and perspiring; burning, numb. ─ At night numbness of hand on which he rested cheek. ─ Pressing pain in extremities.

Lower Limbs

Eruptions on nates; in groins; on thighs. ─ Sciatic pain in limbs, esp. r. ─ Drawing pain in r. limb. ─ Knees: weak; pain in; pain in r. ─ Pain in r. malleolus. ─ Feet (esp. r.) swollen. ─ Pain in heels.

Generalities

One appears intoxicated. ─ Pulsations in arteries over whole body. ─ Lies on l. side rather than r.

Skin

Dryness of skin. ─ Whole skin red; red in spots. ─ Jaundice. ─ Yellow spots. ─ Miliary rash. ─ Eruption of red points on nates with itching and heat. ─ Vesications as from a burn, with purulent secretion from the groin, and in folds of skin about neck. ─ Pricking over whole body. ─ Burning itching in l. cheek near mouth. ─ Itching: in axillæ; in pubes; scrotum; forearms at night; backs of hands; tip of l. thumb.

Sleep

Incomplete, yawning. ─ Sleeping during day. ─ Starting up during sleep. ─ Late falling asleep, evening. ─ Sleeplessness in infants. ─ Lascivious dreams with emissions.

Fever

Coldness, evening, esp. of hands. ─ Alternations of cold and heat. ─ Affected part colder than rest of body. ─ Coldness of feet; and toes. ─ Fever, followed by thirst. ─ Fever at night, sweat in morning. ─ Heat of whole skin; flushes of heat in head, followed by sensation of cold. ─ Heat of head on waking. ─ Heat and itching over head. ─ Heat and redness; external ear. ─ Heat of face, esp. r. side. ─ Hands very hot. ─ Sweat of palms.

Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica

James Tyler Kent · Lectures on Homoeopathic Materia Medica · homeoint.org / Séror HTML text (Kent d. 1916; public domain)

Pains

Spigelia is especially known by its pains.

It is indicated in persons who are debilitated from taking cold and who have become rheumatic, run down, victims of pain.

Hardly a nerve in the body escapes; shooting, burning, tearing, neuralgic pains; they are most marked about the eyes and jaws, neck, face, teeth, shoulders, burning like hot needles through the face and neck in any direction, stitching, tearing, worse from motion, from doing anything, even thinking, mental exertion, worse from eating.

Pains in the neck and shoulders are better from heat; those about the eyes are better from cold. Shooting, tearing pains in the extremities like hot wires.

Sometimes the pains are worse from lying down, but most commonly better from keeping still; worse from light, eating, motion, jarring; so sore in the painful region that any gentle exercise like going up or down stairs, or riding in a carriage that jar, makes the pain unbearable.

The Spigelia patient is sensitive to cold, to atmospheric changes, he is a rheumatic patient, but the nerves a-re attacked by neuralgia.

Eyes

Violent pains about the eyes.

Routine practice limits the use of the remedy to this region. Worse from hard pressure though sometimes better from it, if gentle and prolonged, firm pressure, but any movement of the pressing hand aggravates. The part is turgesced and inflamed. Eyes red and engorged.

Chest: Neuralgic affections of the muscles of the chest.

Many of the Spigelia pains in the chest are attributed to the heart, but there is intercostal neuralgia; tearing pains shooting into the shoulders and neck, especially the left side and down the arm. Pains shooting hither and thither.

Irregularity of the heart. Painful complaints associated with valvular troubles, especially growing out of rheumatism. Pericarditis and endocarditis of rheumatic character. Thrusting pains in the chest like a knife, in the eye like a knife.

Mind

This remedy needs further proving, its mental symptoms are scarcely known.

"Weak memory; disinclination to work; restless and anxious, solicitude about the future; gloomy, suicidal mood; afraid of pointed things, pins, etc.; easily irritated or offended."

This is all that is thought worthy of admission into the Guiding Symptoms, showing that the mental state has not been well brought out.

Many complaints are manifested in the morning; tired in the morning and full of tearing pains.

Old anemic subjects where there has been a transfer of the complaints to the nerves; broken down, pallid, nervous, with neuralgia, palpitation, irregular pulse. Vertigo on rising; gets up with violent pains and dizziness. So nervous that she must "fly," full of excitement, cannot keep still, cannot keep control of herself.

Head

Pulsating and stitching in the head; sometimes better lying with the head high; worse from stooping, motion, and from noise.

Sometimes better from washing in cold water when the pain is about the eyes and head, but worse after washing; better while the cold water is applied. With these headaches and neuralgias there is stiff neck and shoulders, an apparent stiffness in that he cannot move on account of pain.

He sits in a chair as if transfixed, is aggravated from noise, light, from seeing things move in the room, which he must follow with his eyes.

"Fine burning, tearing pains in the brain."

It seems to be in the brain, but is more likely in the nerves of the scalp.

"Violent pain in the left parietal bone on motion or walking or making a misstep; toward evening-violent pressure and pressing outward in the forehead, worse from stooping, worse from pressure with the hand; tensive tearing pain in the forehead, especially beneath the frontal eminence, extending towards orbitis."

Notice the intensity of the pains. Burrowing, tearing pain in the occiput, in the left side of the vertex and forehead, worse from motion, from loud noise, and when he speaks loudly or even on opening the mouth slightly; better when lying down.

Pressive pain in the right side of the forehead, involving the right eye, in the morning in bed, but still more after rising; pain deeply seated, unaffected by pressure, very acute on motion, on suddenly turning the head, the brain seemed to be loose; worse from every joy, step, or straining at stool.

When moving the muscles of the face, there is a sensation as if the head would burst. Sensation as if a band were about the head. Neuralgic pain settles in and above the left eye, or below it, from cold in damp, rainy weather; hyperesthesia of the filaments of the fifth pair.

On the pain first beginning there is not so much hyperesthesia, but as it goes on this increases and the eye becomes congested. I have seen the pains so severe that they produced perfect prostration, cold sweat, vomiting.

The Hepar patient is so sensitive to pain that he becomes unconscious; faints with the pain. Cham. feels pain with such intensity that he gives way to violent frenzy, irritability, and outbursts of anger.

The Spigelia patient suffers intensely and the pain leaves its mark, the part becomes red and inflamed and sensitive. The head pains are worse from warmth; better temporarily from cold; the pains in other regions are the reverse.

The Phos. head and stomach symptoms are better from cold; the chest and body are better from warmth. In Ars. the head is often better by washing in cold water, while the patient himself is sensitive to the cold and wants warmth in the rest of his complaints.

Eyes again

Spigelia is full of visual symptoms; visual symptoms bring on complaints; at times he can do nothing but look straight ahead, for he has vertigo even when there is no pain, from looking downwards, every, thing goes round in a whirl.

Such a state is common to many people when they look down from a height, but Spigelia has it from looking down along his nose, so he sits and looks straight ahead.

Esophoria; exophoria disturbances in accommodation all sorts of tiny spasmodic conditions it is most difficult to fit glasses no settled focus, no fixed vision. Spigelia has from a mere neuralgic state what Ruta has from eye strain. Latent errors of vision.

Eyes that are always changing need a remedy. Stabbing pains in and around the eye, often radiating in every direction from one point. Eye-ball sensitive to touch. Eyes worse when thinking about them. Worse at night. Intolerable, pressing pain, worse on turning the eye, dizzy on attempting to move the eyes, must turn the whole head to see.

Pain radiates to the frontal sinuses and head. Sensation as if the eye were too large for its orbit. I remember a patient who had been traveling about from oculist to oculist, who had many visual troubles and no glasses would suit.

She had one sharp, stinging pain over the left eye day and night and she could only sleep when worn out. Lac fel. cured. Constant, fine, stinging pain over left eye was brought out by the provers of cat's milk.

This medicine has cured a pterygium, probably a false pterygium, that came from violent neuralgia, prolonged and lasting for months.

Chest

Stitching pains in the chest, worse from the least movement, breathing, sensation of tearing in the chest; trembling feeling in the chest when moving the arms or from any movement.

Can lie only on the right side with the head high. Rheumatic troubles especially in the left side of the chest. Feeling as if the heart were compressed with a hand. Purring feeling over the region of the heart, wave-like motion not synchronous with the pulse.

Waving palpitation not synchronous with the pulse. Trembling of the carotids. Acute pericarditis with anxiety and weight in the praecordium. These troubles following a rheumatic attack, at its close or many months after the fever has subsided. Spigelia is seldom indicated in rheumatism of the heart in phlegmatic persons who do not feel intensely.

When a rheumatic affection attacks the venous side of the heart, and there is a sense of stuffiness, of fullness through the whole body, limbs swollen, but do not pit on pressure, face mottled, it is a serious case and may end in Bright's disease and death.