• Sensitiveness to cold air, pain, touch, etc
• Sensation of a splinter and splinter-like pains

Source: Mineral kingdom
Synonyms: Sulphuret of line, Hepar sulphuris calcareum, Liver of sulphur, an impure sulphide of calcium
Formula: CaS
Prover: Dr Hahnemann
Duration of Action: 40 to 50 days
Miasmatic Background: Psora
Temperament: Very irritable
Diathesis: Scrofulous and lymphatic
Thermal Relationship: Very chilly patient

Introduction and History: It is one of the artificial compounds used in homeopathy. In 1794, Hahnemann used this drug internally to remove the bad effects of the intake and topical application of mercury, the use of which was very common. It is a constitutional remedy. It is the surgeon amongst our homeopathic remedies. Due to the administration of this remedy in homeopathy the distracted patient escaped and saved himself from mutilation. Hepar sulphuris is one of our leading and strongest antipsorics. It is antisyphilitic too. It’s action in old syphilitic cases, when indicated by symptoms is very deep and radical in character. Being a chemical combination of Calcarea carbonica (oyster shell) and Sulphur, it has, as one might naturally expect, points of resemblance with Calcarea carbonica and Sulphur.

Description: It is a white, porous, friable mass or a white amorphous powder. It has the odour and taste of sulphurated hydrogen. It is insoluble in water. It is also insoluble in alcohol but soluble in hot HCl with evolution of hydrogen sulphide.

It responds to all the reactions which are characteristic of calcium and of sulphides. Hepar sulphuris is prepared by mixing Calcarea carbonica and Sulphur. It’s symptoms, however, show a wide range of similarity and variations in contrast to Sulphur and Calcarea carbonica.

Preparation: Triturations are prepared from the impure sulphide of calcium, from which higher potencies are prepared according to the directions given in the homeopathic pharmacopoeia.

Constitution and Physiognomy

1. It is best adapted to scrofulous, psoric and lymphatic constitutions in which
   there is a tendency to have eruptions and glandular swellings.
2. Torpid constitutions with lax fibre.
3. Persons with light hair and complexion, muscles are soft and flabby, unhealthy skin.

Ailments From: Cold, dry wind, injury, abuse of mercury, suppressed eruptions, suppression of syphilis and gonorrhoea.

Seat of Action (Pharmacodynamics): Nervous system, skin, kidneys, connective tissues, respiratory system, lymphatic and glandular system, mucous membrane, etc.

Physio-pathological Changes (Pathology)

1. It acts upon nerves and causes great oversensitiveness, hypersensitiveness and irritability. Slight pain causes the patient to faint.
2. It acts upon the mucous membrane of the respiratory system causing excessive secretion and copious catarrhal inflammation.
3. It acts on lymphatic glands producing enlargement and suppuration.
4. Acts on skin producing ulcers, Suppuration, eruptions, unhealthy skin and a condition of non-healing, moist eruptions in the folds of skin.
5. It prevents the formation of pus and hastens the pointing of an abscess. Ulcers have a tendency to burrow deep causing necrosis and caries in the bones.
6. It acts on the urinary bladder and produces atony of the urinary bladder.

Characteristic Mental Symptoms (Psychology)

1. Great weakness of memory, with irritability.
2. The patient is very impulsive. Impulse to do violence and to destroy, for example a mother may have the impulse to throw her child from the gallery or throw the child into the fire.
3. The patient is very quick in action, very depressed and hypochondriacal. Great anxiety in the evening, low spirited, thoughts of suicide.
4. The patient is very irritable and oversensitive mentally.
5. Patient becomes angry very easily at least trifles and is very peevish.
6. Sad mood for hours, very quarrelsome, hard to get pleased.
7. Anguishness marked in the evening and at night. The slightest cause irritates him and makes him extremely vehement.

Characteristic Physical Guiding Symptoms

The letter ‘H’ can be used to recollect the characteristic symptoms of this medicine:

• Hoarseness: Hoarseness in the morning.
• Hastens suppuration: This medicine hastens suppuration
• Hypersensitive: Patient is hypersensitive physically and mentally.
• Hot fomentation: Patient gets relief by hot fomentation.
• Hyperimpulsive: Patient is over impulsive.
• Hasty: Patient is hasty in drinking and in speech.
• Heavy sweating: Heavy sweating even after slight exertion.
• Highly chilly: Patient is highly chilly in nature.

Oversensitiveness: Patient is very oversensitive, both physically and mentally; especially hypersensitive to cold air, pain and touch.

Sourness: Everything is sour, for example, the child smells sour despite frequent washing, sweat smells sour and offensive, stool is whitish and sour Smelling.

Suppression: Diarrhoea, dysentery, asthma, after suppression of Scabies and other skin affections.

Sweat: Sweats day and night without relief, sweats easily after slightest physical or mental exertion; profuse sweating with sour and offensive smell.

Vertigo: Vertigo in the morning and when closing the eyes with nausea, when riding in a carriage or when shaking the head.

Faintness: Fainting from the slightest pains in the evening.

Chilliness: Patient is very chilly and sensitive to cold air; must be wrapped up to the face even in summers. Imagines that he can feel the air if a door is opened in the next room.

Periodicity: Periodicity is very well marked in Hepar sulphuris – everyday, every four weeks, every four months, every winter, spring and autumn.

Suppurating tendency: Skin is unhealthy, even slight injuries and scratches on the skin suppurate.

Splinter sensation: Sensation of a splinter or a fish bone in the throat.

Offensiveness: Ulcers and all discharges like leucorrhoea, lochia, pus, stool have a disgusting and offensive odour.

Semi-paralytic condition: Urine flow intermittent, cannot empty the bladder thoroughly, seems as if some urine always remains; urine passes slowly without force, drops vertically down.

Wheezing and rattling: Wheezing and rattling in asthma, moist breathing, worse in dry cold air, better in damp. In chest – wheezing, purring and rattling sound is prominent.

Glands affinity: Glands of neck, axilla, groin and the mammae swell, become hardened and have the tendency to suppurate.

Cough: Cough when any part of the body is uncovered; croupy, choking, strangling cough from exposure to dry west winds.

Skin: Skin affections, extremely sensitive to touch, cannot bear even clothes to touch the affected parts, but can bear hard pressure.

Diarrhoea: Diarrhoea of small children with a sour odour.

Important Characteristic Features

Skin: It is a very good remedy for skin diseases. For example, psoriasis, abscesses, eczema, eruptions, boils, itch, acne, rash, urticaria, herpes, etc. Moist eruptions in folds of skin and itching in the bends of joints; skin is extremely sensitive and suppurates easily; pimples form around ulcers. Humid eczema of the scalp, sore and sensitive to touch. Eczema of the scrotum and genital organs; boils.

Every little injury suppurates. In boils and abscesses where suppuration is inevitable, Hepar, if given in low potency hastens suppuration and heals quickly. However, if given in high potency it aborts the abscess. Ulcers are very sensitive to contact, bleed easily, burn and sting. Cannot bear to be uncovered; wants to be wrapped up warmly and relieved by hot application. Discharges of Hepar are corroding and smell like old cheese. Hepar skin sweats profusely without any relief. It has splinter-like pains.

Cough and asthma: It is very useful in cough and lung affections. There is loose choking cough and fever. Aggravation is from cold air and towards the morning, along with much sneezing. Cough is rattling and choking. Dry, croupy cough, deep, rough, barking and gagging with great Soreness of chest. Asthma occurs due to suppression of skin eruptions. Difficult breathing with ratting and wheezing sound in the chest. The patient must bend head backwards and sit up which gives him temporary relief. The patient has to take a deep breath with threatened suffocation. Splinter-like sensation in throat, as if a fish bone or plug is sticking in the throat. Very sensitive to touch. Much sweating without any relief. Better by damp wet weather and warmth but gets worse from cold drinks, at midnight, in the evening, form cold air and exposure to dry west winds in the morning.

Abscess of lungs: It is capable of checking the progress of tuberculosis if it has not yet advanced too far; it greatly ameliorates if the case is too far advanced to hope for a radical cure. Deposits of tubercular character are often located in a place that can be easily suppurated out. In such cases, Hepar will abolish a crop of boils all over the economy, because the small accumulations of sebaceous matter in the skin will be suppurated out.

General Modalities

Aggravation: Lying on the painful side, cold air, uncovering, touching affected parts, night waking, while swallowing, while urinating, in dry weather, from slightest draught, eating and drinking cold things.

Amelioration: Passing flatus, eructation, warmth in general, damp wet weather, after eating, from wrapping up.

Remedy Relationships

Complementary: Calen.

Follows well: Bell, Bry, Nit-ac, Sep, Sil, Spong.

Antidotes: Ars, Bell, Cham.

Antidoted by: Merc, Iod, cod liver oil.

Potency: 3x, 6x, 12x, 30, 200, 1000 and above.

Dosage: First to 200c. Lower potencies promote suppuration whereas the higher potencies abort suppuration. 6x is of great use in removing the bad effects of mercury.

Repetition: Low potencies bear repetition very well. High potencies are to be given in single doses.

Therapeutic Value: Abscesses, Asthma, Boils, Breast affections, Burns, Carbuncles, Chilblains, Chlorosis, Cold, Cough, Diarrhoea, Ear affections, Eczema, Eye affections, Headache, Hoarseness, Jaundice, Liver affections, Marasmus, Menstrual disorders, Pneumonia, Rheumatism, Skin affections, Suppuration, Tuberculosis, Whooping cough.

Note

1. Lower potencies promote suppuration whereas the higher potencies abort Suppuration.
2. High potencies of Hepar are contraindicated in encysted tubercle in the lungs.
3. High potencies are found useful when constitutional symptoms are present.