Encyclopaedia Homeopathica 1

Alumina
(oxide of aluminum)

Pharmacy
Alum. Alumina. Argilla. Oxide of Alum. Pure Clay. Trituration. Historical dose: Trituration and all potencies, sixth to thirtieth
and higher.

History
Alumina paralyzes the bowels in the same way as lead to which it is an antidote. The action of Alumina is slow in developing
and the remedy must not be changed quickly. Teste groups Alumina with Sepia and Copaiva. He considers it the chronic of
Sepia as Sil. is of Puls.
Like its relative Alumen, Alumina produces irritation of mucous membranes with dryness or extreme secretion and paralysis
of involuntary muscles, as those of the rectum and of the nervous and muscular systems generally.
Many of the symptoms of locomotor ataxia are reproduced by Alumina and it is one of the most useful remedies in that
disease. Boenninghausen cured a case with Alum.

Homeopathic
Alumina causes dryness of skin and mucous membranes, eyes, throat, rectum etc. or irritability and relaxation. Sluggish
functions, heaviness, numbness and staggering. It affects the cerebro-spinal axis causing disturbances in coordination
and tendency to paretic muscular states.
Patient is thin inactive, wants to lie down, but it increases the fatigue. Exhaustion after talking after menses. Children with
constipation from artificial baby foods.
Even small and soft stools are passed with great difficulty. Constipation with dry stool. Pregnant women and children are
liable to this kind of constipation.
A very prominent characteristic is that a person must strain at stool in order to urinate. Vertigo on closing eyes.
Alumina has some curious symptoms in the digestive sphere. There is a craving for dry rice and dry food. It has worse from
starch, especially potatoes. Worse from salt, wine, vinegar, spirits.
Elderly people with constipation, lack of vital heat or prematurely old with debility. Disposition to colds in the head and
belchings in spare, dry, thin subjects. Tendency to induration.
Degeneration of spinal cord. Paraesthesia. Paralysis of the internal rectus muscle of the eye, causing squint. Also ptosis.
Drawing, pains appear in the limbs, a sensation of constriction in several organs. Functions become sluggish, actions are
delayed, e.g. , prick of needle will be felt with a delay, sensory impressions reach the consciousness slowly.

Clinical
Anus disorders. Boils. Bubo. Catarrh. Chlorosis. Colds. Constipation. Constipation, infants. Cough. Cracks. Debility.
Disappointment. Dryness. Dysentery. Dyspepsia. Eczema. Emaciated. Eyes, disorders. Fissures. Fistulas. Headaches.
Hernia. Irritation. Leucorrhea. Locomotor ataxia. Nails disorders. Otorrhea. Ozaena. Paraesthesia. Paralysis. Pregnancy,
disorders. Prostatorrhea. Ptosis. Scrofula. Strabismus. Taste, disordered. Tetters, moist and itching. Throat disorders.
Trismus. Typhus.

Causations
Anger. Disappointments. Lifting. Bodily exertion.

Constitutions
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Encyclopaedia Homeopathica 2
Psoric persons. Infants, constipation, especially when artificial food is used. Big bellied children. It is suited to persons of
sedentary habits who suffer from chronic ailments to constitutions with diminished animal heat. Spare habit, dry, thin
subjects. Elderly people, hypochondriacal or suffering from chronic diseases, especially catarrhs. Puberty, chlorosis with
longing for indigestible substances. Elderly people with lack of vital heat or premature old age with debility. Planets:
Moon, Saturn.

Modalities
Better evening, open air, moderate exertion and temperature. Better damp weather, cold washing. Worse periodically in
afternoon from potatoes. Worse from warmth of room of bed from artificial food, potatoes, starch, salt. Worse from
speaking, dry weather, early on awaking, sitting after menses. Worse periodically on alternate days from sex tobacco
smoke, lifting, exertion, full and new moon.

Symptoms

Mind
Memory weak or loss. Alzheimer's Disease. Senility and dementia. The consciousness of reality and judgment is disturbed.
Confused as to personal identity. When he sees or states something, he has the feeling, as though another person had
said or seen it or as though he was placed in another person and could see only then.
Ill effects of disappointments. Sad, apprehensive, wants to get away. Mental symptoms mostly come on in the morning on
waking. Depressed on awakening. Everything is viewed in sad light.
Alternating moods. Always groaning, moaning, worrying, fretting. Laughs and talks between paroxysms of spasms. Sneers at
everything. Grumbles. Peevish.
Hasty, hurried. A feeling of hurry follows, things do not move fast enough. Fears going crazy, (Med.) Hasty but slow of
execution, hence makes mistakes in speaking and writing. Impulses. Suicidal tendency when seeing knife or blood.
Things seem unreal. Time passes slowly. Better as day advances. Illusions of being larger, numb, smooth, heavy. Timorous.
Sensation as if he would fall forwards, which he greatly fears.

Abdomen
Colic whenever the body is exposed to a chill. Lead colic. Painter's colic. (Plb.) Left-sided abdominal complaints. Protrusion
and incarceration of inguinal hernia. Pressing in both groins toward sexual organs.

Back
Stitches. Gnawing pain, as if from hot iron. Pain along spinal cord with paralytic weakness. Pain in the back, as if hot irons
were thrust through lower spine. Violent stitches in back. Back feels bandaged by a cord.

Breasts
Nipples itch, burn, look angry during pregnancy.

Chest
Chest feels constricted, worse sitting bent or stooping. Soreness of chest on talking, on lifting.

Ears
Eustachian tube feels plugged. Heat and redness of one ear. Humming, roaring. Crackling noises and buzzing in ears when,
chewing or swallowing.

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Encyclopaedia Homeopathica 3

Eyes
Chronic conjunctivitis. Eyes are inflamed, burning, agglutination at night, lachrymation during day. Eyes feel cold. Ptosis.
Strabismus. Eyelids are weak, falling, thickened, dry, burning, smarting. Double squint, worse teething. Objects look
yellow. White stars before the eyes with vertigo.

Face
Feels as if albuminous substance had dried on it. As of white of egg or a cobweb on face. Rush of blood to face after eating.
Old look, dusky, wrinkled. Blood-boils and pimples. Involuntary spasmodic twitchings of the lower jaw. Maxillary joints
feel tight, while chewing or opening mouth.

Female
Girls, dried up and wrinkled, at puberty. It takes a woman all her time to recuperate from one menstrual period to the next.
Menses too early, short, scanty, pale, followed by great exhaustion. (Carb-an., Cocc.) Leucorrhea acrid, profuse,
transparent, ropy with burning, runs to feet. Worse during daytime and after menses. Relieved by washing with cold
water. Intolerable bearing down pain. Tickling and itching in genitals with strong desire for embrace.

Food
Potatoes disagree. Abnormal cravings for coarse food, chalk, charcoal, dry food, clean white rags, tea or coffee grounds.
Desires fruits, vegetables, dry rice and indigestible things. Irregular appetite. No desire to eat. Has no appetite, food
has no taste. Desire for fruit and vegetables. Aversion to meat, meat has no taste. Thirst all day. Aversion or beer.
Aversion to potatoes which disagrees.

Head
Stitching, burning pain in head with vertigo, worse in morning, but relieved by food. Throbbing headache with constipation.
Pressure in forehead as from a tight hat.

Head
Chronic catarrh of head. Inability to walk except with eyes open. Falling out of hair, scalp itches and is numb. Violent
stitches in the brain with nausea. Headache, as if one were dragged by the hair. Falling of hair, scalp itches and is numb.
Headache better by lying quiet in bed. Dry hair.

Heart
Palpitation and shocks at heart. Wakes at 4 to 5 a.m. with anxiety at heart, better after rising.

Kidneys
Muscles of bladder paretic, must strain at stool in order to urinate. Pain in kidneys with mental confusion, worse dancing.
Frequent desire to urinate in old people with slow flow. Difficult starting. Fears he will wet the bed. Retention with
dribbling. Smarting while urinating. Feeling of weakness in bladder and genitals.

Limbs
Pain in arms and fingers, as if hot iron penetrated. Arms feel heavy, as if paralyzed, short, go to sleep. Legs feel asleep,
Especially when sitting with legs crossed. Locomotor ataxia. Staggers on walking. Legs feel numb, especially when

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Encyclopaedia Homeopathica 4
sitting cross legged. Heels feel numb when stepping. Soles tender, on stepping, feel soft and swollen. Pain in shoulder and
upper arm. Gnawing beneath finger nails. Brittle nails. Gnawing under nails. Spinal degeneration and paralysis of lower
limbs. Festination. Inability to walk except when eyes are open or in daytime. Totters if eyes were closed. Soles are
painful on stepping on them, as if they were too soft and on walking. Cramps when crossing legs. Bones feel squeezed.

Liver
Painful sensibility of the liver on stooping, followed sometimes by shooting pains.

Lungs
Cough with involuntary emission of urine in old withered looking people. Hoarse, aphonia, tickling in larynx, wheezing, rattling
respiration. Cough on talking or singing in the morning. Sudden loss of voice on taking cold. Cough, is constant, dry and
hacking. Sneezing interrupts breathing, worse after waking in the morning.

Male
Excessive desire. Involuntary emissions when straining at stool. Prostatic discharge. Voluptuous itching or tickling in
genitals. Involuntary emission, while straining for stools. Pains in the perineum during sex and while erection continues.
Priapism at night.

Mouth
Dry and Sore. Musty bad odor from mouth. Gums sore, bleeding. Tensive pain in articulation of jaw when opening mouth or
chewing. Mouth feels dry with increased saliva. Tingling, itching on tongue.

Nose
Pain at root of nose. Sense of smell diminished. Fluent coryza. Point of nose cracked, nostrils sore, red, worse touch. Scabs
with thick yellow mucus. Tettery redness. Ozaena atrophica sicca. Membranes distended and boggy.

Rectum
Stools of small balls, hard knots or bright clots of blood. Hard, dry, knotty stools with no desire. Rectum sore, dry
inflamed, bleeding. Itching and burning at anus. Even a soft is passed with difficulty. Great straining. Constipation of
infants (Coll., Psor., Paraf.) and old people from inactive rectum and in women of very sedentary habit. Diarrhea on
urinating. Evacuation preceded by painful urging long before stool and then straining at stool. Pains from rectum to
ankle. Can only pass stool when standing.

Sensations
Sensation of constriction. Pulsations are felt in various parts and pains go upwards.

Skin
Eczema. Inability to perspire. Dry, rough, cracked skin. Chapped and dry tettery. Itching, burning, over seat of pain.
Intolerable itching when getting warm in bed. Must scratch, until it bleeds. Brittle nails. Veins distended. The slightest
injuries of the skin smart and become inflamed. Skin symptoms, worse winter, full and new moon.

Sleep
Anxious, restless with confused dreams, about thieves, ghosts of boats foundering. Sleepy in morning.

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Stomach
Belchings, sour and acrid and heartburn. Heartburn, stomach feels constricted. Potatoes disagree. No desire to eat. Can
swallow but small morsels at a time. Constriction of esophagus. Nausea, with faintness. Frequent nausea and inclination to
vomit. Pain, as from excoriation, in the pit of the stomach. Feels food, whole length of esophagus. Constriction of
esophagus. Pain lasting 3 hours after meals.

Teeth
The teeth covered with sordes. Teeth feel long, pain extends to other parts down larynx, neck, shoulders.

Temperature
Chilliness, better open air. Heat with itching. Shivering, even when near a fire, and at night, in bed, not able to warm
oneself. Fever towards the evening with chilliness. During the day chill, during the night, fever.

Throat
Irritable and relaxed throat. Looks parched and glazed. Clergyman's sore throat in thin subjects. Dry and sore throat.
Food cannot pass, esophagus contracted. Feels as if splinter or plug were in throat. Thick, tenacious mucus drops from
posterior sinuses. Dry, feels full of sticks or constricted, food cannot pass. Constant inclination to clear the throat.
Tightness from pharynx down to stomach as if food could not pass, can swallow but small morsels. Swallowing painful,
worse solids. Better from empty swallowing, warm drinks. Elongated uvula from condiments or eating irritating things,
talking or singing. Throat sore from eating onions. Uvula hangs down.

Vertigo
Vertigo in elderly people with atheromata or earthy deposits on the cerebral or cardiac arteries. Vertigo with nausea,
better after breakfast. Worse talking, on closing or opening eyes, before breakfast. Vertigo with white stars before the
eyes. Eyes suddenly went out of focus, one has to wait for normal vision, better wiping eyes.

Comments
A remedy for the elderly and feeble, especially in senile dementia. Great general fatigue, even after a short walk, but
chiefly after speaking. Frequent stretching while sitting. The buttocks go to sleep while sitting. Drags the legs,
especially the left one.
Sluggishness of action is characteristic of this medicine. Urine is slow in passing. Great straining to pass even a soft stool,
can only evacuate bowels when standing, has to strain as if abdomen and rectum were paralyzed, (Caust. has defecation
only when standing, but the straining is less.) Sensation are slow in being transmitted to the centers.
Several painful symptoms after the midday meal and continue until evening, when they disappear or are replaced by others
which begin only then. On the other hand the pains which appear in the morning or in the evening are abated after eating.
Trembling, convulsive movements of the limbs and head, spasms with tears and laughter alternately. There is exaltation of
the whole nervous system. Trembling of the whole body with desire to lie down, which, however, worse the fatigue.
Catarrh is a very general feature. Catarrh with dryness of mucous membranes, The throat looks parched and glazed.
The nose is stopped, feels dry and the point of it is cracked. Alum. has the fish-bone sensation in the throat on swallowing.
There is profuse leucorrhea running down to the heels, sometimes excoriating.
As with the mucous membrane so with the skin: itching eruptions, worse from warmth of bed. Eruptions of all indurations,
ulcers. Granular eyelids. Hairs fall out all over body. The skin of the face feels as if covered with dried white of egg or
as if a cobweb was on it. Fissures.
Burning pains in the back are very characteristic and especially a sensation as if a hot iron were forced through the lower
vertebrae. There are pulsations in various parts.
The pains go upward. Upper left, lower right affected (opposite of Lyc.) The symptoms are worse on alternate days,

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Encyclopaedia Homeopathica 6
periodically.

Compare
(1) Bry. Plb.
(2) Aluminum chloridum. Pains of loco-motor ataxia. Lower trits in water.
(3) Slag Silico, Sulphocalcite of Alumina 3x - anal itching, hemorrhoids, constipation, flatulent distention.
(4) Sec., Lath., Aluminum acetate solution.
(5) Alumen, Arg-n. (clergyman's sore throat, paralysis),
(6) Bar-c. - hypochondriasis of elderly, constipation, Bry., Calc.,
(7) Con. (old people, squint),
(8) Ferr. - chlorosis, relaxed abdomen, disgust for meat, etc.
(9) Ferr-i. - profuse transparent leucorrhea.
(10) Graph. - chlorosis, skin rough, chapped, itching, nails, blepharitis, etc.
(11) Lach. - sad on waking, menopause.
(12) Ruta - loss of power of internal recti.
(13) Sepia - irritable, tearful, ozaena, scanty menses, puberty, prolapsus uteri, inactive rectum, weakness in urinary organs,
etc.
(14) Sil., Sulph., Zinc. - inner canthus, granular lids, worse from wine.

Relations
Antidote to: Lead. Antidoted by: Bry., Nat-m., Cham., Ip., Camph. Complementary: Bry. Plb. Follows well: Bry., Lach., Sulph.

Sources
Boericke. Clarke.

Copyright 2000, Archibel S.A.