Ichthyolum
Alias: Ichth.
Pocket Manual of Homoeopathic Materia Medica, William Boericke
A Combination of Sulphonated Hydrocarbons, a Fossil Product of Complex Structure found in Tyrol, supposed to be Fish Deposits, contains 10 % Sulphur.
Its action on skin, mucous membranes, and kidneys is prompt and useful. It is strongly antiparasitic; redness, pain and inflammation; decreases tension. Excellent in winter coughs of old people. Polyarthritis. Chronic rheumatism. Uric acid diathesis. Hay-fever. Chronic hives. Tuberculosis, aids nutrition. Alcoholism when nothing will stay on stomach.
Mind.--Irritable and depressed. Forgetful, lack of concentration.
Head.--Dull, aching; better cold, pressure. Dull frontal and supra-orbital headache; worse moving eyes, cold air; better, warmth.
Face.--Skin feels dry and itches. Acne on chin.
Throat.--Irritated; pain to ears; sore, dry, with hawking and expectoration.
Eyes.--Burn, red; worse, any change of temperature.
Nose.--Bland coryza; stuffed feeling; feels sore inside. Irresistible desire to sneeze.
Stomach.--Disagreeable taste, burning sensation, very thirsty. Nausea. Increased appetite.
Abdomen.--Disposition to soft, shapeless stools. Griping in umbilical and left hypogastric region. Early morning diarrhoea.
Urine.--Increased in quantity and frequency. Burning pain in meatus. Uric acid deposits.
Female.--Fullness in lower abdomen. Nausea at time of menses.
Respiratory.--Coryza; dry, teasing cough. Bronchiectasis and phthisis. Bronchitis, especially of the aged.
Skin.--Heat and irritation; itching. Scaly and itching eczema. Crops of boils. Pruritus of pregnancy. Psorisis, Acne, rosacea, erysipelas.
Extremities.--Lameness in right shoulder and right lower extremity.
Relationship.--Compare: Hepar; Calc; Silica; Sulph; Ars; Petrol.
Dose.--Lower potencies.
Externally, it is used as an ointment, with Lanoline 20 to 50 per cent; for chronic eczema and psoriasis, also acne rosacea and gouty joints. Chilblains, scabies. Rectal suppositories for senile prostate.
A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica, John Henry Clarke
Ammonium Ichthyol Sulphonate. C28 H36 S3 O6 (NH4)2. The most important of the salts of ichthyosulphonic acid, prepared from a bituminous mineral of Tyrol, which is rich in fossilised remains of fish. A clear, reddish-brown viscid liquid. Solution.
Clinical.─Arthritis. Gonorrhoea. Neuralgia. Phthisis. Pruritus vulvae. Rheumatism. Skin, affections of.
Characteristics.─This is an unproved remedy which has been used in old-school therapeutics as an external application, and internally in skin affections, rheumatism, scrofula, nephritis, and gonorrhoea. It is a powerful antiseptic. As an external application to rheumatic joints it has achieved marked results. A solution of equal parts of Ichthyol and water is warmed and applied to the affected joint on calico and covered with heated cloths, outside of which is an impervious fabric to prevent evaporation. Pure Ichthyol or an ointment of Lanoline and Ichthyol maybe used instead. Gouty joints have also been benefited. Ichthyol appears to act by virtue of its power of allaying pain and inflammation, but there can be no doubt that a thorough proving would bring out a specific relationship to the maladies in which it has been used with success. Scarpa claims to have used it with excellent effect in a large number of cases of phthisis.
Relations.─Ichth. belongs to the Petroleum class of remedies. Compare also Calc. caust. (lime-water compresses to allay inflammation); Sulph. Plantago (anodyne application); Carbol. ac.