# Camphora (HMT)

## Remedy Classification
- **Type:** Remedy
- **Alternative Names:** Camphor
- **Miasm:** Tubercular Miasm
- **Temperament:** Neutral
- **Aggravation Time:** Neutral/Anytime

## Keynote Indications
The most salient feature of Camphor is that the skin of its patient
becomes very cold during the illness, though the patient internally
feels very warm.  He also feels very weak and debilitated.  Spasmodic
conditions are also prominent.  Camphor  will be found beneficial in
the treatment of any sickness in whic h the body is very cold and there
are cramps.  It is also very effective in the treatment of cholera,
especially where there is a frequenc y of loose stools but no pain, or
sometimes no diarrhoea either.  It quickly weakens the body so that
the entire body feels cold.  In such a condition, Camphor in a low
potency is found to be very useful.  If the cholera is associated with
cramping of the stomach, hands and feet, Cuprum would be more
optimal.  However, if the limbs feel ice- cold along with cramps  and
cold sweats, Camphor would be the ideal treatment.  In the cholera
associated with Camphor, nausea is common.  The Camphor patient
feels frightened and scared, rese mbling Aconite, except that in
Aconite there is no feeling of being cold.  The feeling of extreme cold
is the distinctive feature of Camphor.  When, like Aconite, the
sickness commences suddenly and is accompanied with fear and
convulsions but the body feels very cold Camphor, instead of Aconite,
would be more appropriate.  Aconite would certainly be more useful if
the onset of the illness is sudden and severe with the body feeling hot.

In a way, Camphor is related to Cantharis but also works as an
antidote to it.  In Cantharis, the linings of the kidney tubules become
inflamed and there is a feeling of burning along the urethra with the
urine passing in the form of drops .  These symptoms also occur in
Camphor to some extent.  Sometimes, Cantharis poisoning can
damage the kidney permanently and may also produce
neurologic/psychiatric symptoms.  In this partic ular situation,
Camphor annuls the bad effects of Ca ntharis. Cantharis is not only a
temporary remedy but can also neut ralize the aftereffects of many
other diseases permanently.

The Camphor patient becomes mentally weak.  His memory fades
and he is afraid of bei ng left alone.  He feels dizzy and may faint.  He
remains lying down quietly with his eyes closed as if he is sleeping

but in fact he is not.  He seems to be in another world.  He may exhibit
the signs of insanity and violent anger.  This particular symptom is
also present in Cantharis and Hyoscyamus.  The inflammatory process
shifts towards the brain with the patient showing signs of madness and
aggression.

When the fever is secondar y to the infection of the uterus, Camphor
is also beneficial besides Pyroge nium and Sulphur.  If the body is
cold, the treatment should be started with Camphor.  Sometimes, the
fever is suppressed by some kind of treatment and the body becomes
cold.  At that time, Camphor is more effective than Sulphur.  Once the
body has warmed up and feels feve rish, Sulphur and Pyrogenium
should be administered together.

In Camphor, the body is extrem ely cold yet the patient sweats
profusely.  However, he does not want  to be covered with anything.
In fact, due to the feeling of intern al heat, he likes to cast away the
covering clothes.  The symptom of di slike for covering clothes is also
found in Secale Cor.  The difference is that the Secale patient is warm
and also feels warm, wh ile a patient of Camphor , in spite of being
very cold, does not like to be covered with a cloth.  The symptoms of
Camphor resemble those of Camomila and Aconite.  The Camomila
patient is of a furious nature a nd remains dissatisfied.  He borrows
things from other people but then throws them away.  If such a patient
does not have all the typical symp toms of Camomila, he may be
treated satisfactorily with Camphor .  A Camphor patient experiences
the feeling of heat and cold alte rnatively.  The body may feel warm
while in the midst of the cold state of the body.  The condition of
alternating heat and cold changes fr equently, showing that the fever is
submerging deep down into the body.  When the fever penetrates the
backbone or transfers itself toward s the brain, the body becomes cold.
Nonetheless, the body keeps on defending itself against the sickness
and tries to expel it.  In this a lternating feeling of cold and hot,
Camphor is very beneficial.

In menopause, elderly ladies suffer many diverse symptoms like hot
flushes on the face.  Beside other remedies, Camphor should also be
kept in mind.  Ladies who obtain re lief from the use of Camphor feel
very cold when uncovered but sweat profusely when they have their
clothes on.

The headache of a patient of Camphor does not involve the entire
head.  It may just be on the back of the head or on the forehead.  The
headache at the back of the head and the lower part of the neck,
associated with a throbbing sensa tion, can possibly be treated with
Camphor.  Camphor is very well known for the treatment of
convulsions leading to the lockjaw .  Many a time, women go
through these kinds of symptoms as a result of intense heat or marked
internal weakness.  One does not have  to forcefully open the patient’s
mouth to adminster any medicine.  Low potency Camphor happens to
be very effective by its mere application to the lips.  A characteristic
feature of Camphor is that in th e state of convulsion and associated
lockjaw, the lips and tongue become blue.

The patient of Camphor feels intense thirst that is unquenchable.  The
patient wants to drink extremely co ld water.  While experiencing gas
in the abdomen, there is a tendency towards nausea and vomiting .
After vomiting, the stomach feels c ool and calmed down.  In the
absence of nausea and vomiting, th e body becomes very cold.  Every
kind of food tastes bitter.

In Camphor, the tendency towards vomiting  is more common than
the frequency of stools.  The stools are frequent but scanty and are
associated with marked weakne ss of the body and cramps.  For
repeated loose motions, vomiting and cramping on the calves ,
Veratrum Album is the top most remedy.  The body feeling cold
occurs in both Camphor as well as Veratrum Album, but in Veratrum
Album cold sweats are visible only  on the forehead.  In Veratrum
Album, there are two extremes of sy mptoms.  Either there is severe
chronic constipation or frequent diarrhoea .  When other usual
remedies prove ineffective, the ch ronic obstinate type  of constipation
would be relieved after a few doses of Veratrum Album.

When the muscles of the urinary bladder become weak  and one
needs to strain the abdominal muscles to pass urine , Camphor is a
very useful remedy in this condition.  There is retenti on of the urine,
even if the bladder is full.  There is a feeling of burning and cramping.
Camphor is very obviously useful fo r the treatment of this paralytic
condition of the bladder.  Camphor also affects sexual organs .  One
may become permanently impotent due to the exces sive use of
Camphor.  Sometimes the reaction is  quite the opposite, i.e. an over-
indulgence in sex which is certai nly not normal.  Whenever such

contrasting symptoms are noticed, Camphor should be kept in mind so
that it may be used as needed.

In Camphor, there is a tendency towards repeated colds and cough
with sputum (expectoration),  in this way it is equally matched to
Antimonium Crude and Ammonium Car b.  Both these remedies help
in relieving the constant tendency of contracting such illnesses.  The
patient catches cold immediately on the slightest change of weather.
The nose feels cold and starts  running.  The thick sputum
(expectoration) tends to be stuck in the air passages resulting in a
feeling of suffocation and difficulty in breathing.  The deep inspiration
(breathing in) provokes coughing and the heart starts beating fast.

Another peculiar symptom of Camphor is that the pain feels somewhat
relieved by concentrating on the site of pain.  The Camphor patient is
sensitive to cold and touch; both aggravate symptoms.  After a major
surgical operation when the body b ecomes very cold and the blood
pressure falls profoundly, besides Ca rbo Veg a few doses of Camphor
will offer prompt relief.

In the state of being unconscious , the Camphor patient exhibits
dilatation of the pupils of the ey es, which become fixed in one
position.  Everything looks so br ight and flashy to him.  He envisions
sparkling dots of light.  The symptoms intensify in the sunlight.  The
face is pale, drawn and lifeless.  Co ld sweating, typical of advanced
cancers, is also present.

On exposure to cold, the patient develops diarrhoea, the stools being
darkish in colour causing dehydr ation and profound weakness.  The
tongue and the inside of the mouth f eel cold.  The thirst is of the
unrelenting type.

Adjuvant:  Cantharis
Antidotes:  Phosphorus, Opium
Potency: up to 30

## Symptoms by System