Croton tiglium
Croton. · Plant · Euphorbiaceae
People for whom Croton is most suitable tend to be “pent-up” emotionally. Often they feel anxious, as if some personal misfortune is about to befall them. They tend to be exhausted, dissatisfied, and morose, with an inability to work or think of anything except themselves.
Mirroring the uses of the oil itself, which is strongly purgative and irritant, Croton’s main affinities are with the skin and digestion. The remedy is typically used for allergic skin conditions with extreme itching, such as eczema on the scrotum, or blistering rashes on the scrotum and penis. Croton is also given for digestive problems such as nausea and urgent diarrhea immediately after eating or drinking.
A key symptom is the strange sensation that a string has been attached to the eyes or the nipples and is pulling them inward. The eyes feel as if they are being drawn backward into the head, and there is tense pain over the right eye, causing headaches.
Key symptoms
- skin affections
- Burning in the œsophagus
- Feel drawn backward
- Tensive pain above right orbit
- always forcibly shot out
- pain from nipple back
Worse (aggravation)
Better (amelioration)
Croton-oil Seed
Is a valuable remedy in diarrhœa, summer complaint, and skin affections. These may alternate with each other. Feels tight all over. It is one of the antidotes to Rhus poisoning, as is evident from its wide and intense action upon skin and mucous surface, causing both irritation and inflammation, with formation of vesicles and mucous discharges. Has elective affinity for skin of face and external genitals. Burning in the œsophagus.
Head
Pressing pain in forehead, especially orbits.
Eyes
Granular lids; pustules of cornea. Red and raw appearance. Feel drawn backward. Eruptions around eyes. Tensive pain above right orbit.
Stool
Copious watery stools, with much urging; always forcibly shot out, with gurgling in intestines; worse, drinking the least quantity, or even while eating. Constant urging to stool, followed by sudden evacuation. Swashing sensation in intestines.
Urine
Night urine foaming; dark orange color; turbid on standing; greasy particles floating on top. Day urine is pale, with white sediment.
Chest
Drawing-pain through the left chest into the back. Asthma, with cough; cannot expand the chest. Nursing women; every suck the child gives produces pain from nipple back. Inflamed breasts. Cough; as soon as he touches the pillow must get up. Sensitive to deep breathing.
Skin
Feels hide-bound. Intense itching; but scratching is painful. Pustular eruption, especially on face and genitals, with fearful itching, followed by painful burning. Vesicles; confluent oozing. Vesicular erysipelas, itching exceedingly. Herpes zoster; stinging, smarting pains of the eruption.
Modalities
Worse, least food or drink; during summer; touch, night and morning, washing.
Relationship
Compare: Momordica charantia-Hairy Mordica--(has marked drastic properties, producing colic, nausea, vomiting, cholera-like symptoms, abdomen seems full of fluid discharged explosively, thin, watery, yellow. Great thirst). Rhus; Anagallis; Anacard; Sepia.
Antidote: Ant tart.
Dose
Sixth to thirtieth potency.
Skin
Croton oil, when applied to the skin, produces both vesicles and pustules upon an inflamed base, and the part becomes very red and sore.
The inflammation often increases until it resembles erysipelas, but more commonly the eruption produced resembles a vesicular eczema. This eruption will come on for a few days and will then desiccate, and in a few days longer it will desquamate.
When one has been overdosed, as is done in a too prolonged proving, or by the crude drug, or when the prover has been markedly sensitive, we get an alternation of states, the internal alternating with the external.
After the eruption is out the internal manifestations are not present, as is seen in the rheumatic state, the cough and the bowel symptoms. If we study these groups separately we will find they are all interesting.
Tiglium. officinale. Croton oil seeds. N. O. Euphorbiaceæ. Tincture of the oil from the seeds.
Clinical
Cholera. Cholerine. Colds. Cornea, opacity of. Cough. Diarrhœa. Ear, affections of. Eczema. Eyes, affections of. Hypopion. Keratitis. Neuralgia. Nipples, painful. Ophthalmia. Proctalgia. Rheumatism. Rhus poisoning.
Characteristics
Croton oil is best known in its uses as a powerful purgative, and as an irritant of the skin. The characteristic stool of Croton is a sudden evacuation in one gush, like a shot; followed by great prostration. Colic before stool; constant urging; < from eating and drinking and from every movement. The evacuation is yellowish or yellowish green. On the skin Croton produces erythema, erysipelas, eczema, herpes pustules. The antidote to Croton is Ant. tart. Croton antidotes Rhus tox. Some peculiar sensations are: produced by Croton: "As if the skin were hide-bound", (Also mentally hide-bound; can't think outside of himself.) "As of a string pulling from one part to …
Croton Oil Seeds. (Euphorbiaccae)
Affects mucous membrane of intestinal tract, producing transudations of watery portions of blood, a copious, watery diarrhoea (Ver.), and develops an acute eczema over the whole body (Rhus). The bowels are moved as if by spasmodic jerks, "coming out like a shot" (Gamb.); as soon as patient eats, drinks, or even while eating; yellow watery stool. Constant urging to stool followed by sudden evacuation, which is shot out of the rectum (Gamb., Grat., Pod., Thuja). Swashing sensation in intestines, as from water, before stool (rumbling before stool, Aloe). Drawing pain through the chest from breast to scapula, of same side every time the child nurses; nipple very sore. Intense itching of skin, but so tender is unable to scratch; > by gentle rubbing; eczema over whole body. Intense itching of genitals of both sexes (Rhus); vesicular eruption on male; so sensitive and sore is unable to scratch. Cough: as soon as the head touched the pillow a spasmodic paroxysm of cough set in; suffocated, must walk about the room or sleep in a chair.
Abdomen
Swashing or gurgling in the intestines from water.
Anus and Stool
Swashing in the intestines as from water.
Anus and Stool
Yellow watery stools, coming out like a charge of shot, all at once, < after drink, nursing, or eating.
Male Sexual Organs
Vesicular eruption on the scrotum and penis, with frequent corrosive itching.
Female Sexual Organs
Excruciating pain drawing right through from nipple to shoulder every time the child nurses.
Skin
Vesicular eruptions, itching intensely, relieved by gentle scratching, aggravated by hard.
- Constant urging to stool, followed by a sudden, pasty, offensive evacuation of a dirty green colour, which is forcibly shot out of the rectum.
Phatak's chapter on Croton tiglium is available in the app.
Read Phatak in the appClassical texts are in the public domain. Educational reference only — not medical advice.
