Asa foetida
Ferula assa-foetida (gum resin) · Asafetida, devil’s dung. · Plant · Apiaceae
People who respond best to this remedy tend to be in a rather nervous, hysterical, hypersensitive, and hypochondriac state. This nervous state extends to the physical symptoms, which generally focus on digestive disorders and on nervous twitching. The stomach may feel as if it is pushing upward so that everything will burst into the mouth, or there may be a sensation as if a lump in the stomach is rising upward into the throat.
Key symptoms
- Reverse peristalsis; sensation as if esophagus were driven from stomach to throat
- Globus hystericus; ball rises in throat
- Flatulence with great distention and regurgitation of liquid
- Deep ulcerations and caries of bones with extreme sensitiveness and nightly throbbing pains
- Pressive pain from within outward in head
- Offensive purulent otorrhea with boring pains in mastoid bone
- Syphilitic iritis with boring throbbing pains at night
- Caries of nasal bones; syphilitic ozena with very offensive discharge
- Hysterical and hypochondriacal patients
Worse (aggravation)
Better (amelioration)
Gum of the Stinkasand (ASAFOETIDA)
The flatulence and spasmodic contraction of stomach and œsophagus with reverse peristalsis are the most marked symptoms. In its selection, its relation to the hysterical and hypochondriacal patients, must be borne in mind. Besides these superficial symptoms, it has been found to affect favorably deep ulcerations, caries of bones, especially in the syphilitic organism; here the extreme sensitiveness and terrible throbbing, nightly pains, guiding to its use.
Head
Irritable; complains of her troubles; sensitive. Boring above eyebrows. Pressive pain from within outward.
Eyes
Orbital neuralgia; better, pressure and rest. Iritis and intraocular inflammations, with boring, throbbing pains at night. Stitches under left frontal eminences. Boring pains in and around eyes. Syphilitic iritis. Superficial corneal ulcer with digging pains; worse at night.
Ears
Offensive otorrhœa, with boring pains in mastoid bone. Mastoid disease with pain in temporal region with pushing out sensation. Offensive, purulent discharge.
Nose
Syphilitic ozæna, with very offensive purulent discharge. Caries of nasal bones (Aurum).
Throat
Globus hystericus. Ball rises in throat. Sensation as if peristaltic motion were reversed, and œsophagus were driven from stomach to throat.
Stomach
Great difficulty in bringing up wind. Flatulence and regurgitation of liquid. Hysterical flatulence. Great distention. Sensation of emptiness and weakness, with distention and beating in stomach and abdomen. Forcible eructation of gas. Pulsation in pit of stomach. Violent gastralgia; cutting and burning in stomach and region of diaphragm. Gurgling and rolling of wind, which escapes afterwards with loud and difficult eructation.
Female
Mammæ turgid with milk in the unimpregnated. Deficient milk, with oversensitiveness.
Rectum
Distended, griping, with hunger. Obstinate constipation. Pain in perineum, as if something dull pressed out. diarrhœa, extremely offensive, with meteorism, and regurgitation of food.
Chest
Spasmodic tightness, as if lungs could not be fully expanded. Palpitation more like a tremor.
Bones
Darting pain and caries in bones. Periosteum painful, swollen, enlarged. Ulcers affecting bones; thin, ichorous pus.
Skin
Itching, better scratching; ulcers painful on edges. Suppressed skin symptoms produce nervous disorders.
Modalities
Worse, at night; from tough; left side, during rest, warm applications. Better, open air; from motion, pressure.
Relationship
Antidotes: China; Mercur.
Compare: Moschus; China; Mercur; Aurum.
Dose
Second to sixth potency.
Narthex asafœtida. N. O. Umbelliferæ. Tincture of the gum resin (obtained by incision from the living root).
Clinical
Asthma. Bone, disease of. Chorea. Diarrhœa. Dyspepsia. Flatulence. Headache. Heart, affections of. Hypersensitiveness. Hysteria Iritis. Lactation, disorders of. Mercury, effects of. Neuralgia. Obesity. Orbital neuralgia. Ozæna. Syphilis. Tympanitis. Ulcers. Whitlow.
Characteristics
The symptoms of Asafœtida present an almost perfect picture of hysteria, of the flatulent order. Reversed peristalsis of stomach and bowels. Excessive abdominal distension and sensation as if everything in the abdomen would burst through the mouth. After belching of wind strong rancid taste in mouth. Sinking sensation at epigastrium, < 11 a.m. Hysteria from suddenly suppressed discharges. Many of the discharges of Asaf. are fetid: watery stools of most disgusting odour; profuse and greenish; fetid flatus. Eructations smelling like garlic. Hiccough-like contractions of diaphragm. Griping (into a ball) pain below …
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Sensation of a ball rising in the throat obliging frequent swallowing to keep it down, and causing at times difficult breathing.
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Particularly adapted to nervous, hysterical, scrofulous individuals, with venous, hemorrhoidal constitutions.
Classical texts are in the public domain. Educational reference only — not medical advice.
