Alumen
Potassium aluminium sulfate · Potash alum, double sulfate of aluminum and potassium,Aluminum potassium sulphuricum · Mineral
People for whom Alumen is best suited are extremely anxious and sad. They are usually very nervous, experiencing tremors on hearing bad news, or palpitations on thinking about any illness that may affect them. They have a fear of falling, and may mistrust others. Sleep is light or elusive, and they tend to stay in bed more than necessary. Illness tends to develop during sleep. Alumen is often given to the elderly.
The typical symptom picture for Alumen is of bowel problems and paralytic, sluggish weakness of the muscles. Disturbances of the bowel include dysentery and bloody diarrhea,painful ulceration in the rectum, bleeding hemorrhoids, and a deep anal ache. There may be severe constipation, possibly due to uterine or rectal cancer.
Key symptoms
- Hemorrhage of uterus, profuse and bright red
- Tumors and glandular swellings with induration
- Chronic hoarseness with relaxation of uvula
- Hard, difficult stool with straining
- Indurations of tongue, cervix, and rectum
- Tissue hardening and induration tendency
- Frequent urination with burning
Worse (aggravation)
Better (amelioration)
Common Potash Alum
The clinical application of this remedy points to its bowel symptoms, both in obstinate constipation and in hæmorrhage from bowels in the course of typhoid-one phase of the paralytic weakness of the muscles in all parts of the body. Tendency to induration is also marked, a low form of tissue-making is favored. Hardening of tissues of tongue, rectum, uterus, etc; ulcers with indurated base. Adapted to old people, especially bronchial catarrhs. Sensation of dryness and constriction. Mental paresis; dysphagia especially to liquids. Tendency to induration, Scirrhus of the tongue.
Head
Burning pain as of weight on top of lead better by pressure of hand. Vertigo, with weakness in pit of stomach. Alopecia.
Throat
Throat relaxed. Mucous membrane red and swollen. Cough. Tickling in throat. Tendency to throat colds. Enlarged and indurated tonsils. Burning pain down the œsophagus. Complete aphonia. Every cold settles in throat. Constriction of œsophagus.
Heart
Palpitation, from lying down on right side.
Rectum
Constipation of the most aggravated kind. No desire for stool for days. Violent ineffectual urging to stool. No ability to expel stool. Marble-like masses pass, but rectum still feels full. Itching after stool. Itching in anus. Long lasting pain and smarting in rectum after stool; also hæmorrhoids. Yellow, like an infant's. Hæmorrhage from bowels.
Female
Tendency to induration of neck of uterus and mammary glands (Carb an; Con). Chronic yellow vaginal discharge. Chronic gonorrhœa, yellow, with little lumps along urethra. Aphthous patches in vagina (Caul). Menses watery.
Respiratory
Hæmoptysis, great weakness of chest; difficult to expel mucus. Copious, ropy morning expectoration in old people. Asthma.
Skin
Ulcers, with indurated base. To be thought of in indurated glands, epithelioma, etc; veins become varicose and bleed. Indurations resulting from long-continued inflammatory irritations. Glands inflame and harden. Alopecia, Scrotal eczema and on back of penis.
Extremities
Weakness of all muscles, especially arms and legs. Constricted feeling around limbs.
Modalities
Worse, cold except headache, which is relieved by cold.
Dose
First to thirtieth potency. The very highest potencies have proved efficacious. Powdered alum, 10 grains, placed on tongue, said to arrest an attack of asthma.
Weakness
This medicine, like Alumina, seems to produce a peculiar kind of Paralytic weaknessof the muscles in all parts of the body, a sort of lack of tone.
The extremities are weak. This weakness is felt especially in the rectum and bladder. The stool becomes impacted from want of ability of the rectum and colon to expel their contents.
The bladder is also slowed down in its action, and it is with great difficulty that the urine is voided. After urinating, the bladder often remains half full. The urine is very slow to start, and when the patient stands to urinate the urine falls down perpendicularly, as in Hepar. From this we see the sluggish action. The paralytic condition extends also to the veins producing a vaso-motor paralysis.
Potassic-Aluminic Sulphate. Potash Alum. K2 SO4 Al2 S04 24H2O, Trituration of the pure crystals.
Clinical
Alcohol, effects of. Anus, affections of. Bronchitis. Catarrh. Cancer. Chilblains. Colic. Constipation. Cough. Diabetes. Diarrhœa. Dysentery. Eczema. Eyes, affections of. Eyes, operations on. Gleet. Gonorrhœa. Hæmorrhages. Hoarseness. Lead colic. Leucorrhœa. Locomotor ataxy. Noma. Œsophagus, stricture of. Paralysis. Polypus. Pruritus. Scurvy. Skin, rough. Strabismus. Teeth, operations on. Throat, affections of. Typhoid, hæmorrhage in. Ulcers. Uterus, affections of. Uvula, relaxed. Vaginismus.
Characteristics
The well-known astringent action of Alum. gives a leading indication for its use in practice. Sensations of dryness and contraction are prominent in various parts. I have frequently removed with it constipation of the most aggravated kind, as in cases of cancer of uterus and rectum. Stools as hard as stones is the leading indication. No desire for stool for days. Contractive sensation in …
Anus and Stool
Stools at long intervals, faeces being dry, hard, black, sometimes large, sometimes small, like sheep dung, and voided with great difficulty.
Phatak's chapter on Alumen is available in the app.
Read Phatak in the appClassical texts are in the public domain. Educational reference only — not medical advice.
