PETROLEUM

Every homeopathic remedy is explained in detail by William Boericke, M.D. in the Pocket Manual of Homeopathic Materia Medica and Repertory, a book which is highly respected by the homeopathy profession. The following text is excerpted from that book and explains the symptoms covered by this remedy:

PETROLEUM
Common name: Crude Rock-oil

Strumous diathesis, especially the dark type, who suffer from catarrhal conditions of the mucous membranes, gastric acidity and cutaneous eruptions.

Very marked skin symptoms, acting on sweat and oil glands; Ailments are worse during the winter season. Ailments from riding in cars, carriages, or ships; lingering gastric and lung troubles; chronic diarrhœa. Long-lasting complaints follow mental states-fright, vexation, etc. Chlorosis in young girls with or without ulceration of the stomach.

Mind: Marked aggravation from mental emotions. Loses his way in streets. Thinks he is double, or some one else lying alongside. Feels that death is near, and must hurry to settle affairs. Irritable, easily offended, vexed at everything. Low-spirited, with dimness of sight.

Head: Sensitive, as of a cold breeze blowing on it. Feels numb, as if made of wood; occiput heavy, as of lead (Opium). Vertigo on rising, felt in occiput, as if intoxicated, or like sea-sickness. Moist eruption on scalp; worse, back and ears. Scalp sore to touch, followed by numbness. Headache, must hold temples to relieve; provoked by shaking while coughing. Use thirtieth.

Eyes: Loss of eyelashes. Dim sight; far-sighted; cannot read fine print without glasses; blenorrhœa of lachrymal sac; marginal blepharitis. Canthi fissured. Skin around eyes dry and scurfy.

Ears: Noise unbearable, especially from several people talking together. Eczema, intertrigo, etc, in and behind ears, with intense itching. Parts sore to touch. Fissures in meatus. Dry catarrh, with deafness and noises. Ringing and cracking in ears. Chronic Eustachian catarrh. Diminished hearing.

Nose: Nostrils ulcerated, cracked, burn; tip of nose itches. Epistaxis. Ozæna, with scabs and muco-purulent discharge.

Face: Dry; feels constricted, as if covered with albumin.

Stomach: Heartburn; hot, sharp, sour eructation. Distention. Feeling of great emptiness. Strong aversion to fat food, meat; worse, eating cabbage. Hunger, immediately after stool. Nausea, with accumulation of water in mouth. Gastralgia when stomach is empty; relieved by constant eating (Anac; Sep). Ravenous hunger. Must rise at night and eat (Psorin). Odor of garlic.

Abdomen: Diarrhœa only in the daytime; watery, gushing and Itching of anus. After cabbage; with empty feeling of stomach.

Male: Herpetic eruption on perineum. Prostate inflamed and swollen. Itching in urethra.

Female: Before menses, throbbing in head (Kreos). Leucorrhœa, profuse, albuminous (Alum; Bor; Bov; Calc p). Genitals sore and moist. Sensation of moisture (Eup purp). Itching and mealy coating of nipple.

Respiratory: Hoarseness (Carbo; Caust; Phos) dry cough and oppression of chest; worse, cold air. Dry cough at night, coming deep from chest. Croup and laryngeal diphtheria.

Heart: Sensation of coldness (Carb an; Nat mur). Fainting, with ebullitions, heat and palpitation.

Back: Pain in nape of neck, stiff and painful. Weakness in small of back. Coccyx painful.

Extremities: Chronic sprains. Fetid sweat in axillæ. Knees stiff. Tips of fingers rough, cracked, fissured every winter. Scalding sensation in knee. Cracking in joints.

Skin: Itching at night. Chilblains, moist, itch and burn. Bed-sores. Skin dry, constricted, very sensitive, rough and cracked, leathery. Herpes. Slightest scratch makes skin suppurate (Hepar). Intertrigo; psoriasis of hands. Thick, greenish crusts, burning and itching; redness, raw; cracks bleed easily. Eczema. Rhagades worse in winter.

Fever: Chilliness, followed by sweat. Flushes of heat, particularly of the face and head; worse at night. Perspiration on feet and axillæ.

Modalities: Worse, dampness, before and during a thunder-storm, from riding in cars, passive motion; in winter, eating, from mental states. Better, warm air; lying with head high; dry weather.

Relationship: Compare: Carbo; Graph; Sulph; Phos.

Complementary: Sepia.

Antidotes: Nux; Coccul.