Silicea - General symptoms - Clarke

GENERAL

General

Silicea terra. Pure Flint. Silex. Silicic anhydride. Silicon dioxide. SiO2. Trituration of pure, precipitated Silica.

Abdomen, distended. Abscess. Acne. Anaemia. Ankles, weak. Anus, fissure of.

perspiring. Fester. Fibroma. Fistula. Foot-sweat.

chronic. hereditary. Rickets. Sinuses. Somnambulism. Spermatorrhoea. Spinal irritation. Strains. Strangury. Suppuration. Teeth, caries of. Tenesmus. Trachea. Tumours. Ulcers. Urethra, stricture of. Urine, incontinence of. Vaccination. Vagina, spasms of. Vertigo. Walking, delay in. Whitlow. Worms. Writer's cramp.

it corresponds to the chronic form of such diseases as Pulsatilla ^Puls. cures when acute Rush of blood to the head, especially to the right temple and vertex.

headache everyday. photophobia.

lachrymation. loss of taste.

aversion to fat food with rancid or oily taste in mouth, &c. The symptoms of Sil. differ from those of Pulsatilla ^Puls. in being more constant, more deep-seated, and lasting longer.

for instance, the mucous secretions of Pulsatilla ^Puls. become easily purulent under the action of Sil. Teste points out that Pulsatilla ^Puls. flourishes best on sandy soils (as Belladonna ^Bell. does on calcareous soils). Schüssler, who was a homoeopathist before he was a Biochemist, describes the sphere of Sil. from the Tissue-Remedy point of view as follows "Silicic Acid is a constituent of the cells of the connective tissue, of the epidermis, the hair and the nails.

Sil. may also cause the absorption through the lymphatics of an effusion of blood in any tissue. If the reabsorption of a sero-albuminous exudation in a serous sac cannot be effected through Calc Carb ^Calc. Phosphorus ^phos., then Sil. may be used.

for the delay in the absorption may also be caused by deficiency of Sil. in the subserous connective tissue.

When a number of cells in the connective tissue are gradually deprived of Sil., they become atrophied. Such a disease is by no means rare in the external meatus auditorious with old people. The meatus in such a case is dry and enlarged," (Schüssler adds that he generally gives the 12x trituration.) The indications of Schüssler correspond so exactly with those already pointed out by Hahnemann that we are left in doubt as to how much he was indebted to Hahnemann for his facts and how much to his own theories. Be that as it may, the relation of Sil. to the connective tissues is a very real one. Sil. is a great evacuant. Sil. produced in the provings sensation of "splinter in the finger," of "a pin in the throat," and whenever foreign bodies have became embeded in the tissues.

or whenever portions of the tissues have become necrosed and quasi-foreign, Sil. will set up suppuration in the vicinity and bring about their expulsion. (It is this property which makes it necessary sometimes to use Sil. with caution; if there are deposits which have became encysted and so far rendered harmless, the administration of Sil. might set up suppurative action, to the risk of the patient's life.) Sil. both matures abscesses and reduces excessive suppuration. It will also resolve indurations left after suppuration.

this has been particularly noted in the case of tonsils which refuse to heal after the pus has been evacuated, and in abscesses which leave sinuses and fistulae. Sil. affects the nails, cripples them, and produces inflammation around and under them. "Sensation as if the finger-tips were suppurating" is one of the symptoms which led to its use in such cases. Sil. causes inflammation, swelling and suppuration of all the lymphatic glands and also the glands of the skin. The skin is unhealthy and every little injury ulcerates. Hands and feet are sweaty, and the sweat is generally offensive. The feet may give off an intolerable odour without any sweat. The head sweats, and this may be offensive. Sil. corresponds perfectly to many cases of rickets children with large heads.

Open fontanelles and sutures.

much sweating about the head, which must be kept warm.

distended abdomen. weak ankles.

slow in learning to walk. This constitutes type No. 1, to which Sil. is particularly suited. It is also suited to (2) Nervous, irritable persons, with dry skin, profuse saliva, diarrhoea, night-sweats. (3) Weakly persons, fine skin, pale face, light complexion.

lax muscles. (4) Constitutions which suffer from deficient nutrition due to lack of assimilating power.

oversensitive physically and mentally. (5) Scrofulous children who have worm diseases during dentition. (6) Stonecutters' ailments (chest affections and total loss of strength.).

The action of Sil. on the connective tissues may end in new growth as well as in suppuration and ulceration. It has a specific relation to scarred tissue.

and I have cured with it a case of recurrent cheloid Eleanor W., 14, had a growth on left temple. Five months before she had been an inmate in St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and had had a tumour removed from the spot, the tumour having existed for two years. A month after the operation a new growth appeared on the scar. Two months later this was removed. But it rapidly recurred, and when I saw her there was a linear elevation an inch long, three lines wide, and raised about two lines. It was red, shiny, and slightly nodulated.

was tender to touch and the seat of Shooting pain. Before the first operation there had been no pain and no discoloration of the skin. Hahnemann gives this symptom in the proving of Sil. "Stitching, aching pain in the spot where an ulcer had been formerly on the leg." Sil. 3 gr. iii., night and morning, was prescribed. There was no further increase in the size of the growth, though it was still painful, the pain being apparently somewhat increased. In three months there was evident diminution in size, and from that time the pain began to diminish. In seven months the growth had entirely disappeared.

The sensitiveness of Sil. is one of its keynotes, and an over-susceptibility to nervous stimuli is a frequent accompaniment of conditions requiring Sil.

The surface is tender and the least touch is painful.

The senses are morbidly keen.

Brain and spine cannot bear even ordinary vibrations.

Silicea condition may be caused by losses of fluids as in spermatorrhoea; by over-worked brain.

Sil. causes tendency to paralysis and paralytic weakness from defective nutrition of nerves of brain and spinal cord.

Constipation is often an accompaniment of these conditions.

There may be epileptic convulsions.

These have a well-marked course, starting from the solar plexus; are agg. at full and new moon; and agg. from any overstrain of mind or emotions.

Sil. is indicated in locomotor ataxy when the fingers feel stiff with loss of power in them.

There is spinal irritation.

The neck is stiff causing headache.

The small of the back aches as if beaten.

The part of the body lain on goes to sleep.

The headaches of Sil. present one of the grand characteristics of the remedy.

They are of the chronic kind, and may owe their origin to some severe disease of youth.

They ascend from the nape of the neck to the vertex, as if coining from the spine, and locate in one eye, especially the right; agg. from draught of air or uncovering head; amel. pressure and wrapping head up warmly; amel. profuse urination.

The vertigo of Sil. in the same way ascends from the back of the neck; as if one would fall forward (sometimes backward); agg. looking up; closing eyes; lying on left side.

The sensitiveness of Sil. comes out in the mental symptoms "Sensitive to noise.

and anxiety therefrom." "Sensitive, weeping mood." "Yielding, faint-hearted." "Children become obstinate, headstrong.

cry when kindly spoken to." A curious symptom and one of great value is this "Fixed ideas the patients thinks only of pins, fears them, searches for them, and counts them carefully." This symptom enabled me to make a rapid cure of post-influenzal insanity in the case of a man of bad family history, one of whose sisters had become insane and had drowned herself, another sister being affected with lupus.

The patient's wife told me one morning that he had "been looking everywhere for pins." Sil. 30 rapidly put an end to the search and restored the patient to his senses.

Sil. has another link with insanity in its aggravation at the moon's phases epilepsy and sleep walking are agg. at the new and full moon.

The Sil. patient likes to be magnetised, and is amel. by it.

Silicea is related to the persistent want of vital heat which characterises the Sil. condition; even exercise will not get up any warmth.

The constipation of Sil. is characteristic.

The stool is difficult as from inactivity of rectum; with great straining as if rectum was paralysed; when partly expelled recedes again.

Faeces remain a long time in rectum.

Rushmore (H. P., xii. 530) verified a peculiar symptom of Sil. in a lady suffering from scirrhus of left breast.

She had a feeling of dryness in her finger-tips, as if made of paper; at night. Antimonium Tartaricum ^{Ant. t}. and Sil. have this symptom, but only Sil. in afternoon.

Sil. removed this and took away sharp, stinging pains in the tumour as well.

Peculiar Sensations of Sil. are Susceptibility to nervous stimuli, to magnetism.

As if she would die. As if gradually losing senses.

As if feeling for pins.

Sensation as if she were divided into halves and that the left side does not belong to her.

As if one would fall forward.

Vertigo as if drunk. As if head were teeming with live things whirling around in it.

Headache as if beaten.

As if everything would press out and burst skull.

As if brain and eyes were forced forward.

As if head would burst with throbbing in it, internal and external at same time.

As if forehead would be torn asunder; as from a heavy weight over eyes.

As if head were forced asunder.

As of water-pipes bursting in head.

As if tremendous weight were falling on vertex.

Head as if in a cushion and some one were pressing two fingers into it at occiput.

As if brain collided with skull.

Head as if bruised. As if waves of water from occiput over, vertex to forehead.

Sick-headaches as if coming from spine and locating over one eye.

Head as if too large. As if head were falling off; as if it were hanging by a piece of skin at nape.

As if right side of head paralysed.

As if looking through a grey cover.

As if cornea were a mass of hypertrophied tissue.

Eyes as if too dry and full of sand.

As of a splinter in upper lid.

As if both eyes were dragged back into head by strings.

Objects as if in a fog.

As if something alive were in ears.

As if nasal bone has been beaten.

As if a hair were on tip of tongue extending into trachea.

As of a lump on right side of throat.

As of a pin in throat.

Throat as if filled up.

As if he could not swallow.

As if he swallowed over a sore spot.

As of a load in epigastrium.

As if knives were running into stomach.

As if there were no power in rectum to expel stool.

As if rectum paralysed.

As if anus constricted.

As of a heavy lump in anus.

As if vulva were enlarged.

As if tied round chest with a tape.

As if sternum were grasped.

As of a stone under sternum.

As if mould were forming over whole body.

As if a hand had grasped her breastbone.

Cords of neck as if pulled.

Small of back as if beaten; as if dead.

Arms and hands as if filled with lead.

As of a splinter in finger.

As if a panaritium would form in index finger.

As if tips of fingers were suppurating.

As if finger were thick and bone enlarged.

As if joints of fingers were being pulled out of sockets.

Limbs and feet as if paralysed.

Femur as if beaten. Knees as if too tightly bound.

Calves as if too short.

As if spasms in ankles.

As if toe-joints being pulled out of sockets.

Nails as if decayed. As if beaten all over.

As if he had lain in an uncomfortable position.

The direction of the Sil. action is upward and outward there are shootings out through eyes and out of ears.

The symptoms are agg. By touch; contact; combing hair.

Binding tightly amel. headache; but pressure of hat = pain.

Pressure agg. Rest amel.

Motion agg. Lying down agg. asthma; = headache.

Lying right side agg. pains in liver.

Lying left side = vertigo.

Sitting agg. Gaping or swallowing amel. stoppage of ear.

Opening eyes agg. pressive pain.

Writing = tonic spasm of hand.

Walking agg.; every step is painfully felt (incarcerated flatus).

Open-air agg. headache; = lachrymation; burning in back.

Cold air (especially on head, eyes, back of neck, back); cold draught; changing linen; uncovering agg. agg.

Washing. Change of weather agg. pain in ears; agg. pain in limbs. agg.

Before and during a storm. amel.

Summer. agg. Approach of winter. agg.

At new moon; increasing moon (hysteria); and full moon. amel.

In warm room; by warm wraps. agg.

Mental exertion; talking.

Pain in head amel. while eating. agg. after eating.

Milk agg.; = diarrhoea.

Aversion to mother's milk and vomiting whenever taking it.

Drinking cold water = dry cough.

Warm drinks. amel. cough.

Averse to warm food. amel.

From magnetism and electricity.

Head must be kept warm, Sanic., Mg. m. Ailments from suppressed foot-sweat, Cuprum Metallicum ^Cup., Graphites ^Graph., Psorinum ^Pso.

Want of vital heat, Led., Sepia ^Sep. Vertigo as if one would fall forward from looking up, Pulsatilla ^Puls. (from looking down, Kali Carb ^{K. ca.}, Spi.).

Chronic sick-headaches since some severe disease of youth, Psorinum ^Pso.

Headache amel. pressure and wrapping up warmly, Mg. m., Stron.

Constipation before and during menses (diarrhoea before and during menses, Ammonium Carbonicum ^{Am. c.}, Bovista ^Bov).

Partly expelled stool recedes, Thuja ^Thu.

Fistula in ano alternates with chest complaints, Berberis Vulgaris ^Berb., Calc phos ^{Calc. p.} Somnambulism, Luna, Kali Bromatum ^{K. bro.} Vaccination erysipelas, convulsions, diarrhoea, Thuja ^Thu. (Thuja ^Thu. when the fever is high), Apis Mel ^Apis, Sulphur ^Sul., Malan.., Vacc., Var.

Cicatrix, fissure of anus, Graphites ^Graph.

Offensive sweat (head, feet, axillae), Petroleum ^Petr.

Aversion to touch, Cin., Hep Sulph Calc ^Hep., Thuja ^Thu., Lachesis ^Lach., Asa Foetida ^Asaf. (Asa Foetida ^Asaf., offensive discharge from tissues, "intolerable soreness round the ulcer, cannot bear even the dressing").

Caries, Plat. mur., Angustura Vera ^Ang. (long bones), Stron. c. (femur, with watery diarrhoea), Gettys. (caries with ulcers about joints, discharge excoriating), Calc Carb ^Calc. (scrofulous subjects; sweat sour rather than offensive; foot-sweat does not excoriate; not sensitive like Sil.).

Sweat of head, body dry (Rhus Tox ^Rhus, sweat of body, head dry).

Last stage of phthisis, Phell.

Perforating ulcers, Nitric Acid ^{Nit. ac}., Kali Bich ^{K. bi.}.

Headache ascending from nape, Menyanthes ^Meny. (bursting; amel. pressure; not amel. warmth), Paris (head feels unusually large), Stron. c., Sanguinaria Canadensis ^Sang. (to right eye), Spi. (to left eye).

Clouded sight after headache, Sil. (before headache, Kali Bich ^{K. bi.}.). agg.

Damp change, Bar. c. Foot-sweat, scrofula, rickets, and headache amel. wrapping warmly, Mg. m. Catarrhal phthisis, Stn.

Abscess of breast, Fistulae, necrosis (of jaw), Phosphorus ^Pho. (Phosphorus ^Pho. has more erythematous blush and radiating streaks round opening).

Hay-fever, itching at Eustachian orifices, Arsenicum Album ^Ars., Rosa, Ran. b. Nervous exhaustion, Pic. ac.

Chronic suppuration of middle ear, Capsicum Annuum ^Caps.

Catarrhal diarrhoea, Pulsatilla ^Puls.

Tetanus impending, wound suddenly ceases to discharge, Nux Vomica ^Nux.

Weakness of ankles, Causticum ^Caust., Sulphur ^Sul. ac. agg.

Thunderstorms, Na. c., Phosphorus ^Pho., Rho., Pet. agg.

From cold or draught (Hydrofluoricum Acidum ^{Fl. ac.}, amel. cold applications).

Nausea when fasting, Pulsatilla ^Pul., Lycopodium ^Lyc. Calc Carb ^Calc.

Impatient, Chamomilla ^Cham., Sulphur ^Sul.

Motes, persistent speck before right eye (Sulphur ^Sul., before left; Macrot., right in morning). "Washed out," but won't give in (Pic. ac., must give in).

Affections of one side of tongue, Calc Carb ^Calc., Thuja ^Thu. (ulcer right border, Sil., Thuja ^Thu.; left, Apis Mel ^Apis; left side swollen with loss of speech, Laurocerasus ^Lauro.).

Hungry but cannot get the food down, Sil., Lycopodium ^Lyc.

Hair-sensation on tongue, Nat Mur ^{Nat. m}., Kali Bich ^{K. bi.}. (on back part).

Children are obstinate, headstrong, cry when spoken kindly to, Iodium ^Iod.

Nipple drawn in like a funnel, Sarsaparilla ^Sars.

Unhealthy skin, every little injury suppurates, Graphites ^Graph., Hep Sulph Calc ^Hep., Petroleum ^Petr., Merc Viv ^Merc.

Crippled nails, Antimonium Crudum ^{Ant. c.} Ingrowing toenails, Mgt. aust.

Takes cold from exposure of feet, Conium Mac ^Con., Cup.

Takes cold by uncovering head (Belladonna ^Bell., by hair-cutting).

Difficulty in holding up head, Antimonium Tartaricum ^{Ant. t}.

Callosities in feet, Antimonium Crudum ^{Ant. c.} agg.

After coitus, Kali Carb ^{K. ca.} Evacuant of foreign bodies, Lobel. i. Drinking cold water = dry cough (Causticum ^Caust., amel.).

Ganglion, Benzinum ^Benz. ac., Sulphur ^Sul.

Chronic and hereditary rheumatism, Led. (but Led. has agg. by warmth, and symptoms extend from below upward, whilst Sil. affects particularly the shoulders and joints).

Fibroma, Nat. sf. Cheloid and scars, Thios.

Homesickness, Capsicum Annuum ^Caps., Acid Phos ^{Ph. ac.} Brachial neuralgia, Calc Carb ^Calc. (see case under Calc Carb ^CALC.).

Causation.

Characteristics

Outside homoeopathy Flint as an internal remedy is practically unknown. Hahnemann introduced it into medicine, and it was his method of attenuating insoluble substances that enabled him to discover its powers. Silica forms one of the most important remedies of the Chronic Diseases. A large proportion of the earth's crust is composed of Silica. Sea sand (Silica marina) is mainly composed of it. The spicules of many sponges are made up of Silica. Silicates are taken up by plants and from them Silica is often deposited on the surface or in the interior of their stems. The strength of straw is due to Silica. Equisetum Hyemale ^Equisetum generally contains as much as 18 per cent. of Silica to the fresh plant. Flint supplies the "grit" of the earth's crust, of plant life, and to a large extent of animal life also. "Want of grit, moral or physical," is a leading indication for Sil. in homoeopathic practice. Teste puts Sil. in his Pulsatilla ^Pulsatilla group of remedies, the other members of it being Calc Carb ^Calc., Hep Sulph Calc ^Hep., Graphites ^Graph., Phosphorus ^Pho. According to Teste, Sil. is the "chronic" of Pulsatilla ^Puls.,

If a suppurative centre is formed either in the connective tissue or in a portion of the skin, Sil. may be used.

After the functional ability of the cells of the connective tissue, which had been impaired by the pressure of the pus, has been restored to its integrity through a supply of molecules of Sil., these cells are thereby enabled to throw off inimical substances (the pus). In consequence, the pus is either absorbed by the lymphatics or it is cast out. In the latter case there is a so-called spontaneous breaking open of the suppurative centre.

Sil. will also cure chronic arthritic-rheumatic affections, as it forms a soluble combination (Sodium silicate) with the soda of the urate of soda; this combination is then absorbed and removed through the lymphatics. For the same reason it may also be used in renal gravel.

Sil. can also restore the perspiration of the feet when this has been suppressed, and is thus an indirect remedy in diseases arising in consequence of such suppression (e.g., amblyopia, cataract, paralysis, &c.).