Berberis
Berberis vulgaris
Origin
Native to Europe and naturalized in North America. Grows wild in woods and hedges, and on bushy chalk hills, and is commonly cultivated as a garden plant or herb.
Background
Traditionally used in many cultures to treat digestive and gallbladder complaints, and also thought to lower fever, control bleeding, and reduce inflammation.
Preparation
The bark of the small or medium-sized root branches is dried and chopped, then steeped in alcohol, filtered, diluted, and succussed.
Common Names
Barberry, pipperidge bush.
Native to Europe and naturalized in North America. Grows wild in woods and hedges, and on bushy chalk hills, and is commonly cultivated as a garden plant or herb.
Background
Traditionally used in many cultures to treat digestive and gallbladder complaints, and also thought to lower fever, control bleeding, and reduce inflammation.
Preparation
The bark of the small or medium-sized root branches is dried and chopped, then steeped in alcohol, filtered, diluted, and succussed.
Common Names
Barberry, pipperidge bush.
BARBERRY
The astringent
and antiseptic properties of this
bitter herb make it an effective
digestive tonic for gastrointestinal
infections and peptic ulcers.
Key Symptoms
colicky kidney pains, radiating pains, lethargy and listlessness, colicky pains in the region of the gallbladder-
This strongly astringent and healing plant was used by ancient Greek
and Arabian physicians to cool the blood during fevers and to treat jaundice
and gastrointestinal disorders, while American Indians used it for peptic
ulcers. Western herbalists give barberry for liver problems caused by drug
or alcohol abuse, and Ayurvedic doctors advocate it as a detoxicant and liver
tonic. In traditional Chinese medicine it is taken for diarrhea. Barberry
contains alkaloids that are thought to inhibit cancer. It exhibits a broad
spectrum of antimicrobial activity. The homeopathic remedy was proved by
Dr. Hesse in 1835, and is taken largely for urinary and digestive disorders
with sharp or colicky pain.
Remedy Profile
People who respond well to Berberis are prone to lethargy, inertia, and listlessness. They can find it difficult to sustain any mental effort or to think straight. They can be especially anxious at twilight, when objects may appear larger than life and distorted so that they may be mistaken for monsters.Typical physical symptoms for those who need Berberis include pallor, hollow eyes and cheeks, and dry mucous membranes. Berberis is given for a particular type of pain, typically described as deep, sharp, neuralgic or colicky pain radiating outward, and often shifting from one part of the body to another. This type of sudden pain is often linked with kidney infection, arthritis, or gout. Berberis has a strong affinity with the urinary and digestive systems, and is used mainly in the treatment of kidney disorders.
Kidney disorders
Symptoms: Kidney infection with tenderness and pain in the kidney area, as if water is trying to bubble through the skin. Urine is dark yellow or green with a reddish, branlike sediment. Berberis may help kidney stones with severe, sharp, neuralgic or colicky pain radiating from the kidneys to the bladder and down the legs.Symptoms better: For rest; for lying on the painful side.
Symptoms worse: For standing; for movement; for sudden jarring or jolts.
Cystitis
Symptoms: Burning or sharp, cutting pains from the bladder to the urethra, with green or dark yellow urine that contains a reddish, branlike sediment. Pain from the spermatic cord to the testes may make sexual intercourse painful.Symptoms better: After urinating.
Symptoms worse: On urinating; for standing.
Gallbladder problems
Symptoms: Sharp, radiating, tearing pain in the area of the gallbladder, extending toward the stomach. Colic may cause a stabbing, stitchlike pain that radiates from the liver area. There may be an inflamed gallbladder or gallstones with associated biliary colic (pain in the upper abdomen), which may sometimes develop into jaundice with pale stools.Symptoms better: For rest.
Symptoms worse: For pressure on the upper abdomen; for standing; for movement.
Lower-back pain
Symptoms: Pain in the lower back that radiates outward or down the thigh, accompanied by stiffness and possibly by a stitch in the abdomen or the side of the body.Symptoms better: For rest.
Symptoms worse: For lying; for sitting; for standing; for movement; for treading heavily while going down stairs.
Joint pain
Symptoms: General joint and muscle aches in the arms and legs, with sharp pains radiating outward and down the limbs. Gout and arthritic pain may also respond to Berberis.Symptoms better: In the afternoon.
Symptoms worse: For movement; for treading heavily while going down stairs.
© 2024 KnowHomeopathy | All rights reserved