Ginseng.
Panax quinquefolium. (L.); Aralia quinquefolia (Grey). Schinseng. N. O.
Araliaceć. Trituration and tincture of the root.Clinical.─
Appendicitis. Debility. Headache.
Lumbago. Rheumatism. Sciatica. Sexual excitement.
Characteristics.─
The symptoms of the Chinese and
the American Ginseng are taken together, as the two are probably identical. The name is said
to signify “the resemblance of a man” or man’s thigh. The root is forked like that
of the mandrake. Fabulous prices are given for it in Manchuria, as much as Ł40 per pound
being paid for certain qualities of it. The wild Ginseng
of Siberia is said to be the best. The natives along the Ussuri river use it boiled for
headaches, colds, fevers, stomach pains. In America it is a domestic remedy for the
after-pains of labour. The shape of the root might indicate an action on the pelvis and
lower limbs, and J. H. Henry (H. R., xi. 493) says it
acts on the lower part of the spinal marrow; is indicated by “bruised pains in small of
back and thighs (on rising from bed), and great languor, with paralytic, rheumatic pains in
lower limbs, arthritic swelling of the foot, which had been exerted a long time, violent
pain in big toe.” He mentions also “Nightly digging in right lower limb from hip
to big toe, cramp, pains from right hip to toes; lancinating, tearing in right tarsal
joint.” He considers it specific in lumbago, sciatica and chronic rheumatism, with
frequent desire to urinate, and sexual excitement. Lembke and others have proved it. It is
an aromatic stimulant and removes feelings of fatigue, imparting a joyous sense of vigour
and elasticity to the limbs, especially the upper limbs, and clearness of mind. The opposite
condition of malaise is also produced. Yawning, and drowsiness. Drowsiness with headache.
Feeling of extreme heat and intense coldness, longing to expose the body to cool air. The
right side of the body is most affected. There is pain in right side. of hypogastrium,
extending into groin. Dry mouth, tongue, and lips. Vertigo. The respiratory organs are
affected as with Aralia racem. Mouth and throat are
sensitive to the ordinary air of room; are < in free
open air and from talking, > at dinner. Many symptoms
are < in open air; at night bending or turning;
descending stairs; sitting.
Relations.─
Compare Aralia rac., Hedera, Coca. In
“Drowsiness with headache”: Brucea, Herac., Gels., Nat. sul., Nux mos., and Sul.
In dry lips, Bry.
SYMPTOMS.
1. Mind.─
Mood quiet and contented, with good
courage.─Mind generally calm; but impatient impulses, fear of accidents.─Thinking
difficult.─Memory weak.─Disposition to weep; anxious
about the future.
2. Head.─
Vertigo, cloudiness, confusion,
giddiness, and heaviness of the head.─Vertigo on going down winding
stairs.─While standing, the ground seems to waver.─Reflection
difficult; tendency to forgetfulness.─Reeling sensation in occiput.─Reeling
sensation in occiput, with grey spots before eyes.─Head seems at times
enlarged and to sway to one side.─Pressure in longitudinal sinuses.─Drawing
in r. side of frontal bone; in muscles of neck and loins.─Drawing in
occiput; he involuntarily bends head backward.─Painful sensitiveness of
the head.─Semilateral cephalalgia.─Lancinations from
r. side of the forehead as far as the orbit, with heaviness of the eyelids, irrepressible
inclination to sleep, heat of the head, and heaviness in the temples.─Sudden
shock in occiput, followed by pain, as of a bruise.
3. Eyes.─
Pressure on the eyes, which seems to
force them inwards; the upper eyelids fall (esp. r.).─Great difficulty
in opening the eyelids, which are heavy and painful; itching of the eyelids.─Biting
and itching in margins of lids.─Unpleasant sensation of coldness on
surface of eyeball.─Pupils alternately large and small.─Vision
indistinct.─Sensation of fatigue when exposed to the light; objects
appear double when looked at fixedly; in reading, the characters become confused.
6. Face.─
Alternation of redness and paleness.─Burning
erythematous redness on r. cheek, on the ala nasi, on the chin; following chapping of the
parts, with itching and heat; afterwards an eruption of small miliaria, with tingling; after
this, mealy tetters on the skin, with desquamation at the end of fifteen days.─Lips
red, dry, rough, thick, cracked and bleeding, esp. the lower lip; <
in open air and by talking.─Drawing in jaws and bones of face.
8. Mouth.─
Tongue red and smarting with thirst;
then white in the middle.─Tongue white, completely dry, with large
glistening papillć.─Mouth, lips, and teeth very dry; voice rough and
scraping; swallowing of saliva very difficult on account of dryness; a swallow of water
moistens only for a moment.─Dry sensation in palate, with accumulation
of much saliva, which is swallowed without difficulty.─Green saliva.
11. Stomach.─
Great appetite at a very unusual
time; risings, empty, sometimes sour; nausea and inclination to vomit, with eructations
which afford relief.─Pressure on the stomach, with inflation, dull
borborygmi in the abdomen, tension and feeling of inflation, emission of wind, uneasiness
and yawning.─Oppression, pressure of clothing intolerable.─Painful
drawings in the stomach, as from hunger, following shiverings, with painful lancinations in
the precordial region; violent colicky pains, which pervade the abdomen; swelling and
pulsation of the stomach, anguish, inclination to vomit, and pain in l. side at the heart,
following shiverings, which extends to the elbow.─Contractive pain in
the stomach, with anguish, difficulty of respiration, drawing pains in the stomach, and
lancinations in r. side, which stop respiration.
12. Abdomen.─
Pain in r. side of lower region of
abdomen, extending to the groins, with painful tingling extending to the foot and great toe,
where very painful lancinations are felt.─Pains in the lower region of
the abdomen, with violent aching in the groins, inflation, tension and pressure towards the
lower region; colicky pains in the lower part of the abdomen, from the r. to l., ascending
to the precordial region, with inflation of the abdomen, which is relieved by emission of
wind.─Violent cutting pains from r. coxo-femoral region to abdomen,
causing a writhing of the body.─Colic, which extends into the stomach,
with pressure and pain when pressed externally; painful digging in r. side of abdomen
extending to the groins and stomach, with cutting pains throughout the lower part of the
abdomen; inclination to vomit, and pain as of excoriation in r. side, below the ribs, < by external pressure. Pains in the abdomen, as from a
girdle, with digging and starting in r. hip.─Pain in r. side of lower
abdominal region, from the hip to the ribs, with sharp pains from the precordial region;
lancinations in r. side of the upper part of the abdomen, with inability to bear tight
clothes, pains in the abdomen, borborygmi, emission of wind and lancinations, like thrusts
of a knife in the region of the stomach.─Painful inflation of the
abdomen, extending on r. side, below the ribs, with pains in the region of the heart, and
eructations which give relief; tense painful abdomen; >
by emission of flatus downwards; inflated abdomen, painful, with pain, as of a fracture, in
the loins; bruise-like pain in the iliac region, < by
pressure; general uneasiness, and pains which pervade the abdomen and the chest; pressure on
the stomach, and constraint from the clothes over the parts.
13. Stool and Anus.─
Evacuation difficult,
without, however, being hard.─Hard stool, which is not emitted without
efforts, which are followed by burning at the anus.─Slight sticking in
rectum.─Tenesmus and lancinations in the rectum.─Four
thin stools preceded by short violent pain, extending from within the pelvis to the thighs,
as though one must sink to the ground.─Liquid stools in the evening,
preceded by colic.
14. Urinary Organs.─
Sticking and voluptuous
twitching in navicular fossa.─Pruritus and burning in urethra, with
frequent urging to urinate.─Yellowish lemon-coloured urine, depositing a
red sediment.
15. Male Sexual Organs.─
Great excitation of the
genital organs.─Nocturnal erections without pollutions.─Painful
erections while sitting at engrossing business.─Pressure in testicles.─Dreams
vivid, lascivious, of which the recollection remains, always after taking the medicine.
17. Respiratory Organs.─
Voice rough and hoarse.─Dry
cough in paroxysms.─Short anxious respiration; or slow and deep with
exertion.─Frequent deep inspiration, and tightness of chest as if he
could not get enough air; > while walking.─Contractive
pain across lower thorax.
18. Chest.─
Aching and oppression in the chest,
with great difficulty of respiration.─Oppression of the chest, with
anxiety and lancinations in pit of stomach, and in lumbar region.─Prostration
of strength, and lassitude in the limbs.
19. Heart.─
Severe pain; dagger-like lancinations
and stitches in prćcordia.─Some violent beats while sitting, and
followed by sensation of floundering of heart, with rapid, small, indistinct pulse.─Pulse
very irregular.
20. Neck and Back.─
Frequent cracking in upper
cervical vertebrć on moving head.─Heaviness and stiffness in nape.─Drawings
in cervical muscles.─Pulsation in vessels of r. side of neck.─Painful
lassitude along back, with bruised feeling down to and in sacrum.─Stiffness
in back.─Pressure in dorsal vertebrć.─Deep
lancinations around loin &-Lancinations between the shoulder-blades, extending to r.
shoulder, or else along the dorsal spine to the sacrum, esp. on standing upright,
accompanied by difficulty of respiration.─Weight in nape of neck, with
contusive pain along back of sacrum.
21. Limbs.─
Much cracking in joints on moving.─Peculiar
lightness, vigour, and flexibility of limbs in spite of much walking or a bad night.─Painful
lassitude in limbs.─Bruised pain in limbs alternating in different
parts.
22. Upper Limbs.─
Pain in shoulders, with cracking
in them.─Peculiar sensation of coldness and crawling in r. elbow and
parietal eminence.─Violent compressing pain in muscles of lower l.
forearm, as if a hoop were tight around them.─Object dropped from hands
easily, hastiness in his movements.─On closing hands sensation as if
they were swollen and the skin tight.─Contraction of the fingers of r.
hand and stiffness in their joints.
23. Lower Limbs.─
Retraction of muscles of r. leg;
great weakness of r. leg.─Staggering gait.─Sticking
in r. tibia.─Lancinating tearing in r. ankle joint.─Lancinations
alternately in both great toes.─Painful stiffness of l. thigh, from the
hip to knee.─Heaviness of the lower limbs, contraction of the muscles of
l. leg, with bruise-like pain in the coxo-femoral articulation.─Difficulty
in walking, tingling and stiffness from the thigh to the foot; pain in the knee, and violent
incisive pain in the r. hip, which extends to the abdomen, and occasions writhing of the
body.─Contusive pains in the thighs and loins, with great lassitude in
the morning on rising, with rheumatic and paralytic pains in the lower limbs.─Nocturnal
digging pain in r. leg, from the hip to the great toe, in which are experienced violent
lancinations.─Violent lancinations in l. great toe, already suffering
from arthritic swelling.─Alternate lancinations in one of the great
toes.─Cramp-like pain, extending from r. hip, along the leg, to the
points of the toes.─Lancinating tearing in the articulation of r. foot.
24. Generalities.─
Painful lassitude of the
extremities, superior and inferior.─Coldness, trembling, and numbness of
the hands, with deadness of the fingers.─Tendency of the symptoms to
show themselves more particularly on r. side.─As during fever,
uneasiness, with inclination to sleep; internal shivering, with heat externally, tingling in
the fingers, yawning and stretching, trembling, shivering, thirst, dryness of the mouth,
draggings in the stomach, and weakness of the legs, as after a severe illness.─Great
sensitiveness to cold, and tendency to feel bruised all over.─After a
walk, inability to obtain warmth.─Pulse natural.
25. Skin.─
Itching pimples on the skin of the
neck, and of the chest.─Itching below r. foot.
26. Sleep.─
Much yawning and drowsiness.─Awakens
with difficulty or else with a start.─Pleasant voluptuous very vivid
dreams, constantly repeated every time he takes the drug.
27. Fever.─
Coldness, numbness, trembling of
hands, fingers white.─Chilliness through the back extending into arms.─Coldness
pierces into interior of occiput.─Coldness in back extending into bones
of back, cold hands, blue nails.─Coldness in spine.─A
small glass of Malaga wine caused remarkable heat of body, esp. back, with distended veins.─Violent
burning heat in tips of fingers.® 2000
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