# Sulphur (Sublimated Sulphur) (HMT)

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

## Keynote Indications
Sulphur 655
SULPHUR

Sulphur is among those homoeopathic  remedies that a homoeopath
cannot do without.  It is an ex tremely potent homoeopathic remedy,
capable of combating infections a nd is also a topmost anti-psoric
remedy (for details, see under Psorinum and Mercury).  Like
Psorinum and Mercury, Sulphur has the ability to bring out the deep
psoric disease from glands to skin.

The human body’s natural defence m echanism has the capability of
handling all kinds of diseases.  Co nsequently, it is the basic defence
system that needs to be activated and strengthened.  Sulphur works as
a powerful antibiotic by motivating th e natural defence system of the
body.  Sulphur is almost always needed in the treatment of chronic
infectious diseases and toxaemic conditions.

Sulphur and Silicea behave differently in response to heat and cold.
Despite this difference, while a pati ent is being treated with Silicea,
occasional supplementation with Su lphur adds to the working of
Silicea.  It does not conflict with S ilicea at all.  Apart from Silicea,
Sulphur augments the functioning of many other remedies as well.

Sometimes, the human body becomes habituated and addicted to
certain things, which it cannot give up easily.  Sulphur is a profoundly
effective remedy against such hab its and addictions.  If a remedy,
previously effective, becomes ine ffective during the course of the
treatment, then it should be discontinued for a while and Sulphur
should be started.  Sulphur will restore the effectiveness of the remedy
once again.  By nature a typical Sulphur patient is fearless and
disorganized.  He hates to take a bath.  An Opium a ddict also hates
taking a bath.  A Sulphur patient is  extremely untidy and smelly.  The
sweat from his armpits and his feet smells awful.  The patient does not
care for cleanliness at all.  Ironica lly, despite being dirty, untidy and
smelly himself, he cannot tolera te bad odours from others.  This
quality is basically found in all animals.  For example, a lion can
perceive the smell of a human be ing but does not care for the bad
smell of his own den. This seems strange but is understandably
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natural. In some exceptions, a Sulp hur patient becomes disgusted of
his own smell and may start throwing up.

As long as he is moving around, a Su lphur patient feels okay.  But as
soon as he retires to bed and be comes warm, his sufferings become
worse.  This particular nature is common to Sulphur and Mercury
both.  Regarding the response to heat  and cold, both are similar, but
there are many other symptoms different from each other.  For
example, the mouth of a Sulphur patient is normally wet or completely
dry, while the mouth of a Mercury patie nt is full of saliva.  The smell
of a Sulphur patient is similar to his natural smell, however much
stronger.  The discharges excoriate the skin.  Leucorrhoeal discharge
in both Sulphur and Mercury is also of similar nature.

A Sulphur patient may present with any possible form of skin disease
such as blistering, dry itching, wet eczem a, scaling of the skin like
fish, bleeding from the itchy ar ea and boils of different kinds ,
among other things.  In short, any ki nd of skin disease associated with
a burning sensation and other gene ral symptoms of Sulphur will
respond to the Sulphur treatment well.  In skin diseases, even in the
absence of all the symptoms of Sulphur, it will at least clearly
demarcate the disease, which can then be treated appropriately.

In Sulphur there is a burning sens ation on the scalp, in the eyes, the
chest and the area betw een the two shoulders.  The body seems to be
on fire.   There is a burning sensation on the haemorrhoids (piles),
skin blisters and in the stomach and throat.   Urination is also
associated with burning which last s for a long time afterwards.  The
feet also burn at night.  The patient exposes his feet out of the bed in
order to cool them, like in Pulsatilla.

In spite of being very hungry, some  Sulphur patients can eat only a
little.  This feature is most pronounced in Lycopodium.  A typical
Sulphur patient loses his morning appetite  completely.  From the
morning, up to eleven o’ clock in th e morning, there is no appetite at
all. At eleven o’ clock, the stomach feels empty.  There is a strong
craving for food.  If not fed immediately, the patient may faint.

In Sulphur, the skin is very sensitive and easily grazed with the
slightest friction.  Sulphur is one of the best treatments for eczema,
though not the only one.
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In Sulphur patients, venous circul ation is affecte d, resulting in piles
(haemorrhoids).  Under treatment w ith Sulphur, the piles first enlarge
and itch before getting better.  N ux Vomica helps control the swelling
and the itch.

Sometimes, the veins of the legs become distended and tortuous, a
condition called varicose veins .  The blood stagnates and may then
clot inside the veins (venous thrombosis).  There are many
homoeopathic remedies that can relieve this condition. Sulphur is
certainly one of them.

Sulphur is also very useful in the treatment of menopausal
syndrome i.e. hot flushes on the face and head, as well as pressure on
the heart.  Pulsatilla is also used in this condition, but I have not found
it as effective as it is claimed to  be. Pulsatilla combined with
Belladonna proves to be much more effective.  However, if the patient
exhibits symptoms matching Sulphu r, then Sulphur alone may bring
about the cure.

As in Lachesis, the symptoms of Sulphur aggravate after sleep and the
patient wakes up agitated.  Restlessness starts becoming worse in
the latter part of the night.  This is due to mental anguish rather than
being of a physical nature.  Th e patient wakes up confused and
restless.  By eleven o’ clock in the morning, restlessness affects the
stomach.  At night, the symptoms of Sulphur are aggravated due to the
warmth of the bed and not merely by sleeping, as in Lachesis.

Sometimes, after the childbirth, the placenta remains partially retained
in the uterus, inviting severe inf ection.  There is nothing better than
Sulphur and Pyrogenium to combat  this infection.  Sulphur 200 and
Pyrogenium 200 may be useful in any chronic infection and fever
following a nasal cold usually untreatable with common remedies.

Sulphur is also very useful in the treatment of gout .  By taking
Sulphur, sometimes the suppressed symptoms of gout may erupt.
Being scared off, the patient may gi ve up using Sulphur.  In fact, the
continued use of Sulphur will cure th e gout completely.  If Sulphur is
withheld at this stage, the gout will become suppressed and
predisposed to other deep-seated illnesses that may be hard to treat.

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Like Silicea, in tuberculosis and chronic lung diseases, Sulphur should
also be used with the utmost care for fear of provoking a severe
response from that part of the body.  The lungs, already weakened,
may rupture.  Sulphur exposes the causative organisms (tuberculous
bacilli), out of the cells and their prot ective shells just as in Silicea.  If
bacteria are abundantly present and overwhelming, then the weakened
body will not be able to cope with them.  Rather it will be overcome
with the disease.  Silicea has th e natural tendency to expel foreign
bodies from the body, which may mere ly be a particle of sand, a
retained bullet or a piece of glass.   Silicia will provoke a severe body
response in the presence of a dvanced and well-established
tuberculosis, the patient may even die.  It is the duty of every good
homoeopath to avoid giving a very high potency Silicia to such a
weak person.  At the outset, a low potency should be administered and
then as the body gets acclimatised, higher potencies may gradually be
administered.  Additionally, Stannum may also be used to build up the
defensive capability of the body.

It should not be forgotten that a Sulphur patient is of a hot constitution
and a Silicea patient is of a cold constitution.  Calcarea Carb, unlike
Silicea and Sulphur, helps form a protective shell of calcium around
the bacteria which become imprisoned.  It should be remembered that
the administration of Sulphur imme diately after the treatment with
Calcarea Carb can cause severe comp lications.  If Sulphur has to be
given at all, Lycopodium must be us ed prior to its use. Sulphur also
works well in the treatment of shingles (herpes zoster).

Sulphur is also useful in the treatment of morning diarrhoea .  Dr.
Kent has, however, warned against the use of Sulphur in treating
morning diarrhoea in a patient of tuberculosis, because by suppressing
the diarrhoea it will badly affect th e lungs already diseased, resulting
in serious consequences.  The diar rhoea of a tuberculosiis patient
should first be treated with milder remedies and then the attempt may
be made to cure the tuberculosis.

Sulphur is also very useful in the treatment of measles.  If the burning
sensation and restlessness aggravat e, but the typical rash does not
appear and there is a fear that the disease could affect the internal
linings, then besides Sulphur, Arseni c may also be used.  In Sulphur,
restlessness is not as profound as in Arsenic, though the feeling of
intense burning is similar to Arsenic.
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Sulphur, like a few other homoe opathic remedies, may also control
the side effects of vaccination.

A Sulphur patient is philosophical in nature and some indeed happen
to be so.  If this desire amounts to a frenzy, then a dose or two of
Sulphur in high potency will make th em feel well. Some of them are
“economic philosophers” who simply  present economic schemes all
the time, but do not do anything pract ical.  Even if they put their
scheme into practice, they lose a ll their assets. They are extremely
lazy.  They cannot put their heart into  anything.  They remain lost in
their own ideas.  These pe ople should also be tr eated with Sulphur in
high potency.
A Sulphur patient frequently suffers from headache, at least once a
week.  Unlike other symptoms of Sulphur, which get worse in a
heated bed and a warm room, the headache gets better with the
application of heat and hot fomentation.

They have flashing lights before their eyes. Sometimes, on lifting the
head up, the patient sees stars. He may see spots of different colours
before his eyes.  Usually these sy mptoms occur before the onset of
headache.  Sulphur given at the outset will prevent the headache.
Sulphur is also useful in the treatment of eczema and chronic
itching as well as chronic cold associated with a bad smell from the
nose.  The patient is aware of this bad smell himself, whereas
normally he is not aware of his own smell.

Sulphur is also very useful in the treatment of neuralgic pain on right
side of the face.  Sulphur is also a good homoeopathic remedy for the
lips becoming fissured and ulcerated.  Sulphur can also be helpful in
the treatment of chronic enlargement of the glands,  as well as the
serial enlargement of the neck glands both on the right and left
side.

If other symptoms of Sulphur are present, then it can also cure
swollen gums and loose teeth .  If only one tooth hurts, then some
other remedies should be looked for, instead of Sulphur.

Flatulence and distension of the abdomen with gas can benefit from
many remedies, though a pr ecise remedy is difficul t to find.  In case
Sulphur 660
other remedies have failed, Sulphur may be useful, especially if the
gas is offensive.

Sulphur is very important in the treatment of cholera .  During an
epidemic, Sulphur should be used  extensively as a preventive
measure.  Sulphur 200 once a day for a few days can protect against
cholera in the absence of other common remedies.  Sulphur alone may
suffice.  Sulphur is very deeply related to cholera.

Sulphur has a profound effect on the prostate gland .  For a better
result, it should be given combined w ith Thuja.  If ot her symptoms of
Sulphur such as foul smelling sweat from the feet and armpits,
symptoms of the scalp, hands and feet, do not resemble that of
Sulphur, then Sulphur will not be effective.  In other words, the mere
presence of urinary symptoms is not enough to necessitate treatment
with Sulphur.

Sulphur is beneficial in the treatment of sexual weakness in men as
well as in women .  It is also very effective in the treatment of
infertility in women.

The mental symptoms of Sulphur are pronounced: a weak memory,
difficulty in concentrating, a headache getting worse on lowering the
head, constant recurrent headache,  and dandruff causing the hair
to fall, are also indicative of Sulphur.

A Sulphur patient feels pressure and a burning sensation over the area
of the heart and breathing becomes laboured.  The patient likes to be
in the open air.  He feels suffocated at night, with a feeling of pressure
on the chest.  The Sulphur ailments become worse on resting, standing
up, by the warmth of the bed, on taking a bath and in the morning.
The patient feels relieved by lying on the right side and in hot weather.

In people working in coal mines or related to the coal industry in any
way, Sulphur is a very usef ul and essential remedy to prevent the
diseases of the lungs.

Adjuvants: Aloe, Psorinum, Aconite, Arnica, Stannum, Pyrogenium
and Thuja, etc.
Potency: 30 and higher

## Symptoms by System