Allium cepa

Cepa. Common Red Onion. N. O. Liliaceae. Tincture of the onion ; or of whole fresh plant gathered from July to Angust.

Clinical

Anus, fissure of. Ascites. Catarrh. Cold, Coryza. Cough. Diarrhoea. Facial paralysis. Feet, easily galled. Hay-fever. Hernia. Influenza. Laryngitis. Panaritium. Pneumonia. Trauma. Whitlow. Whooping-cough. Yellow fever.

Characteristics

Allium cepa covers more symptoms of common cold than any other remedy, as the well-known effect of onions in producing tears would suggest. It will cure a large proportion of cases of cold in the head, but the conditions which most particularly indicate it are : Cough, or cold, or headache < in warm room, > in open air, < again on returning to warm room. It causes burning of eyelids, nose, mouth, throat, bladder, skin. Inflammation and increased secretion of mucous membranes: neuralgic pains like a long thread; in face, head, neck, and elsewhere ; < evening ; towards ear from deep within head. The toothache of Cepa is > by cold air or cold washing. It is suited to traumatic neuritis. Hurts do not heal. The feet are easily galled by walking. It was recommended by Dioscorides as a remedy for this condition, and homœopathy has confirmed his observation. Desire for raw onions is an indication for it. Thread-like pains are common in various parts and are characteristic of Cepa. Thread-like pains in face. Left-side facial paralysis has been cured by Cepa. The cough of Cepa is caused by tickling in larynx ; constant inclination to hack in order to relieve it. It has cured violent catarrhal laryngitis ; hoarse cough with feeling as if it would split and tear the larynx, causing watering of eyes. Cough from inhaling cold air. Cepa has yawning and drowsiness. A raw onion eaten just before going to bed is a popular remedy for sleeplessness. Cepa is a left-side medicine primarily. Symptoms go from left to right. Left eye ; left facial paralysis ; left inguinal ring. Rest < ; motion >. < Afternoon and evening ; when lying down. Damp cold wind and weather r= colds and toothache. But cold water and open air > ; warm room <. Picking or sucking teeth > toothache. Eyes sensitive to touch.

Relations p. 54

Compare: Al. sat., Alo., Conval., Lil. tig, Scilla (botan.) ; Antidoted by : Arn. (toothache) ; Cham, (abdominal pains) ; Nux V. (coryza recurring in August) ; Verat (colic, with despondency) ; Thuja (offensive breath and diarrhoea after eating onions). Roasted coffee will remove onion breath. Followed by Calc. c. and SiUc. in polypus. Incompatible : All. sat., Alo., Scilla. Complementary : Phos., Puls., Sars., Thuj. Compare also: Aco., Chlorum, Ipec; Lach. (left to right).

Causation p. 54

Effects of exposure to damp cold winds and weather. Colds of spring ; hay-fever of August ; epidemics of spasmodic cough in autumn. Wet feet. Eating spoiled fish. Injuries. Surgical operations (fine shooting pains after).

Mind p. 54

Very melancholy. — Fears pains will become unbearable. — Often very anxious, with catarrh, dulness of intellect.

Head p. 54

Dulness. — Dull headache, with coryza, < in the evening ; > in the open air ; but < when returning to a warm room. — Pains in temples, most in right ; aggravated by winking ; extending over forehead, worse on 1. side. — Pain in occiput and down the neck.

Eyes p. 54

Flow of (mild) tears. — Excessive non-excoriating lachrymation; I. eye worse, with redness of the eyeball; sensitive to light; worse evenings.---Sensation as if eye were hanging by a string or torn. — Itching, biting, burning in the eyes. — Dulness of the eyes, with aversion to light, and coryza. — Letters appear smaller. — Near objects seem distant with yawning. — Swelling around the eyes.

Ears p. 54

Earache. — Discharge of pus from the ear. — Hardness of hearing.

Nose p. 54

Profuse watery discharge from the nose, with sneezing, acrid burning, excoriating the nose and upper lip. — Fluent coryza, with running of water from the eyes, headache, heat, thirst, cough, trembling of the hands ; < in evening and in a room ; > in the open air. — Ichor oozing out of nose ; second stage of scarlatina. — Bleeding of the nose. — A sort of hay-fever every August, morning coryza, violent sneezing, sensitive to the odour of flowers and skin of peaches. — Nasal polypi.

Face p. 54

Paralysis of l. half of face, also in limbs of same side.

Throat p. 55

Sensation as of a lump in the throat. — Expectoration of a hnnpy mociis through the posterior nares. — Pain in throat extending to the ear.— Bad odour from the mouth and throat.

Stomach p. 55

Canine hunger. — Appetite, increased or diminished. — Strong craving for raw onions ; cannot take any other nourishment. — Pressure

Stomach p. 55

Pain in region of pylorus. — Thirst, with heat and coryza. — Nausea, coming from stomach up the throat into the fauces. — Weak, empty feeling in stomach. — Sour eructations.

Abdomen p. 55

Rumbling in bowels. — Very offensive flatus. — Belching, with rumbling in and puffing up of the abdomen. — Violent cutting pain in the left lower abdomen, with frequent desire to micturate, and burning micturition—Pains in hepatic region, spreading into the abdomen.—- Violent pains in L hypogastrium, with urging to urinate, urine scalding.— (Strangulated hernia has been known to follow the eating abundantly of cooked onions.) — Abdomen distended, rumbling, urging, and finally diarrhoea.

Stool and Anus p. 55

Diarrhoea after midnight and in the morning. — Flatus very offensive. — Haemorrhoids, tearing, jerking pains in anus. — Stitches in the rectum. — Rhagades at the anus. — Itching at the anus (worms).

Urinary Organs p. 55

Strangury after wet feet. — Dribbling or spouting of urine in old people. — Frequent and copious urination. — Urine red, with much urn and burning in urethra. — Pressure and other pains in the region of the bladder. — Sensation of weakness in the bladder and urethra.

Respiratory Organs p. 55

Oppressed breathing, from pressure in the middle of the chest ; worse in the evening. — Cough when inhaling cold air. — Catarrhal hoarseness. — Acute bronchitis going from l. to r. — Tickling in throat, with aching in larynx. — Constant inclination to hack. — Hacking cough from inhaling cold air. — Violent catarrhal laryngitis ; the hoarse cough seemed to split and tear the larynx. — Much sneezing ; he inflates the lungs, raises himself on his toes, then gives a hearty sneeze.

Neck and Back p. 55

Intense pain in nape of neck. — Chilly crawls run down the back, most at night, with frequent urination, followed by heat and thirst

Upper Limbs p. 55

Much pain under r. shoulder-blade. — Sore, tired feeling of the limbs, esp. arms. — Trembling of the r. hand. — Panaritium. Painful affections of the fingers about the nails, red streaks running up the ann.

Lower Limbs p. 55

Soreness; the skin is rubbed off by the shoes, esp. on the heel — Pain on most external soft part of r. big toe and 1. middle finger.

Generalities p. 55

Stitches and burnings ; aching. — Stitches (head, eyes, ears rectum, skin). — Burning (eyelids, throat, nose, mouth, bladder, skin). — Bad effects from wet feet. — Phlegmasia alba dolens. — Traumatic neuritis, pains violent and continuous, wearing out patient. — Inflammation and increased secretions of the mucous membranes. — Senile gangrene. — Trismus after injuries. — Weak and tired; has to lie down.— Aching throughout the body.— Neuralgia from old injuries. — Neuralgic pains, like a long thread, in face, head, neck, and elsewhere ; < evenings.

Skin p. 55

Pricking as from pins.— Redness ; nettle-rash, measles, scarlatiiia, when the complaints are characterised by the characteristic gums. — During night, and in the morning, troublesome feeling as of a hair on her tongue; renewed on waking.— Tongue pale-red with effaced papillae. — Dryness of palate. — Very copious flow of sweetish saliva into the mouth in the forenoon, after meals; more esp. after supper and during the night. — Hot taste in mouth, proceeding from throat, strongly reminding him of garlic, immediately after taking the medicine, and returning after breakfast to such a, degree as to cause a flow of sahva.The symptoms of the mouth are < by reading. Q. Throat. — Sensation as of something cold rising in throat — Sensation as of a hot and smarting vapour rising in the throat. — Mucous accumulations in the throat, in the morning, with heavy head. — Sticky feeling in throat with dryness, tickling, heat, and raw feeling in larynx. 10, zi. Appetite and Stomach. — Voracious appetite.— Great hunger from weakness of stomach without appetite. — Desire for butter. — Thirst ; preventing sleep. — Burning eructations, after a meal. — Eructations exciting copious salivation. — The slightest deviation in diet disturbs the bowels and digestion. — Complaints from bad water ; from gluttony. — Chest complaints < after eating. — Burning in stomach, which is not painful when not touched, but is very sensitive to the least pressure. — Lancinations. — Weight in stomach which prevents sleep. — Pressure inward asaf rom a stone in epigastrium. — Pressure in upper abdomen ; > -by sitting bent and pressing with both hands ; pain became unendurable on walking out. 12. At>domen. — Wind colic ; twistings and pinchings round navel. — Incomplete (as if interrupted) emission of fetid flatus. — Every step on the pavement caused excruciating pain as if the intestines would be torn apart, > by lying down. — Everything seemed to drag downward. — Weight in hypogastrium, immediately after a meal, without urging to stool or urinate.

Stool and Anus p. 58

Expels flatus. — Stool first fecal, then watery and hot. — Involuntary stools. — Diarrhoeic stool, 3 a.m., preceded, accompanied, and followed by cuttings in abdomen and loins. — Normal stool immediately after a meal. — Stool delayed from morning until after dinner, great urging ; with stool heat in rectum. — Constipation with almost constant dull pain in bowels. — Haemorrhoids. — Prolapsus ani.— Worms.

Urinary Organs p. 58

Urine increased. — Whitish very abundant urine, becoming cloudy from nitric acid. — A kind of diabetes. — Dark brown with copious sediment. — Lessened urine.

Female Sexual Organs p. 58

Menses too early ; headache and dizziness lessen as the flow becomes established. — Suppurating pimples on vulva. — Suppurating pimples on vulva during menses. — During menses extensive excoriations of skin of internal portions of thighs. — Bright red spots, with itching and smarting on the inside of the labia majora and at entrance of vagina. — (Said to be injurious during pregnancy and nursing.>~Retained placenta. — Dull stitches in r. mamma. — Breasts swell after weaning. — Swelling of breasts, sensitive to touch. — Eruption of red blotches between the breasts and around the nipples.

Respiratory Organs p. 58

Difficult respiration as if sternum compressed. — Periodic asthma. — Painful irritation of windpipe when coughing. — Scraping in larynx exciting dry cough. — Almost continuous mucous rales in bronchi. — Cough seeming to come from stomach. — Cough giving rise to perceptible fetid smell. — Dry cough after eating. — Morning cough, after leaving his bedroom, with extremely copious mucousexpectoration. — Sudden paroxysms of hard, dry cough while smoking, compelling him to desist. — Great difficulty in expectorating a glutinous mucus. — Expectoration of thin, yellowish, pmknt-looking blood-streaked mucus of putrid odour. — Cough < bending had ; after eating ; by open air.

Chest p. 59

Pain in L chest with dark urine. — Darting pain in the chest wlucfa prevents sleep.

Heart p. 59

Leaping beats of the heart.

Neck and Back p. 59

Red spots like ringworm on the back. — Itching between shoulders. — Tearing pain in sacrum. — Cutting pain in sacrum in morning. — Simple pain in coccyx.

Upper Limbs p. 59

Painful feeling of contraction in arm. — Pain in forearm ; seems as if paralysed. — Burning then moisture in palms. — Some red spc appear on hands.--Skin peels off the hands. — Tearing pains in fingers extending below the nails.

Lower Limbs p. 59

Rheumatism of hip.— Tearing pain in hip. — Intolerable pain in common tendon of psoas and iliacus muscles ; < from least movement ; trying to cross legs causes him to cry out ; but this causes no pain if he lifts the limb gently with his hand ; < 8 p.m. in bed, cannot then change his position or sleep. — Weakness in lower limbs ; painful weariness in the thiols. — Legs do not grow as rapidly as the rest of the body. — Pain as from a sprain in ankle-joint; in toe-joints. — Tining in feet; burning in soles ; stiffness in feet — Pains < by changes of temperature.

Skin p. 59

Skin sensitive. — Loose; dry; wilted skin. — Swelling with itching and burning. — Red spots ; on hands, on chest, on back. — Herpetic itching burning red or whitish spots on a swollen surface.

Sleep p. 59

Drowsiness after a meal. — Muscles twitch on falling asleep. —Seep prevented by : stitches on chest ; weight on stomach ; thirst. — Coldness felt in sleep and awakening him frequently. — Dreams : of water and storms ; of rapid transit from place to place ; anxious ; continuing after midday.

Fever p. 59

Chilliness on one side only. — Shivering before midday and m evening. — During coldness, redness of face. — Vomiting during the fever. — Sweat in afternoon. — Sweat : acrid ; causing itching ; fetid.