BERBERIS VULGARIS (Barberry)   

INDICATED OFTEN FOR ARTHRITIC AFFECTION AND URINARY DISTURBANCES

Berberis Vulgaris chiefly acts on urinary system. There is constant urge to urinate with a sensation as if some urine remained after urinating with burning pain in bladder. Bladder is irritable but urine is slow to flow. Urine is greenish, bloody with mucus and jelly like sediment. Frequent urge and burning pain even when not urinating.

Berberis Vulgaris is also useful in renal colic due to stone in the kidney. Pain in left renal angle starting from left kidney to ureter, then to urinary bladder and coming down to urethra. Pain is associated with numbness, burning and soreness in the kidney region. In acute condition the urine is bloody, greenish with thick slimy mucus and jelly like sediment. In chronic condition urine is dark, turbid with copious sedimentation. Pain is worse on movement or motion.

Berberis Vulgaris is also indicated in liver and gall bladder troubles. Stitching pain in the liver and gall bladder region, shooting up to the left shoulder which is worse on pressure. It is also helpful in gall-stone colic when there is short, sudden, stabbing and puncturing type of pain. The pain is shooting, tearing, burning and wandering from one side to another. Gall-stone colic is associated with jaundice. Stools are white, bileless and clay coloured.

Berberis vulgaris also affects the Hepatic (liver system), and  it also helps in rheumatic and joint pains, particularly with urinary, hemorrhoidal and menstrual complaints. It helps in inflammation of kidneys with Haematuria (blood in urine). Pains may be felt all over body, radiating from small of back. It has also marked action on the liver, promoting the flow of bile. Berberis vulgaris is often called for in arthritic affections with urinary disturbances. Wandering, radiating pains are also present. It Acts well in fleshy persons, good livers, but with little endurance. Spinal irritation are also present. All Berberis pains radiate, are worse by pressure, various attitudes, especially standing and active exercise.

Mind 

– Optimistic and Courageous.

– Aversion of twilight.

– Weary of life during menses.

– Mental work is impossible by least interruption.

Generalities 

– RADIATING PAINS, e.g. in arthritis, gout, lumbago, kidney colic, cystitis (infection of any part of urinary system like kidney, urinary bladder or urethra), neuralgia (pain along the course of nerve)

– Pains: sharp, radiating in uncoordinated fashion (no pattern).

– Worse left side.

– Worse Motion.

-Prematurely old and worn out patients

Head

– Listless, apathetic, indifferent. Puffy sensation, feeling as if becoming larger.

– Vertigo with attacks of fainting. Frontal headache. Chilliness in back and occiput.

– Tearing pain in auricle, and gouty concretions.

– Sensation of a tight cap pressing upon the whole scalp

Face 

– Blue circles around eyes.

– Sunken face.

Nose

– Dry; obstinate catarrh of left nostril. Crawling in nostrils.

Mouth

– Sticky sensation. Diminished saliva. Sticky, frothy saliva, like cotton (Nux mosch).

– Tongue feels scalded, vesicles on tongue.

Larynx 

– Polyps of vocal cords.

Abdomen 

– Gall bladder colic,  worse, pressure, extending to stomach.

– Nausea before breakfast. Heartburn

– Catarrh of the gall-bladder with constipation and yellow complexion.

-Stitching pain in front of kidneys extending to liver, spleen, stomach, groins, Poupart’s ligament.

Stool

– Constant urging to stool.

– Diarrhea painless, clay-colored, burning, and smarting in anus and perineum.

Rectum 

– Fistula anus with shooting pain in rectum.

Urinary Bladder 

– CYSTITIS with radiating pain aggravated before and after urination, on urging to urinate, when not urinating, motion;  painful urging to urinate, aggravated by motion;  sediment in urine yellow, cloudy, mealy, thick, white, red, sandy.

– Bubbling, sore sensation in kidneys. Pain in bladder region. Pain in the thighs and loins on urinating. Frequent urination; urethra burns when not urinating.

Kidneys 

– KIDNEY STONES/COLIC   Pain radiates into thigh, bladder, testes, and genitalia  Aggravation: jar, lying, motion, menses, pressure, urination,   Better by: standing;

-Numbness in the region of kidneys.

-Gurgling or bubbling sensations in kidney region.

Male genitalia 

– Pain in testes, aggravation motion, left side.

– Pain in spermatic cord, ext. to testes.

Female genitalia 

– Dryness vagina.

– Menses scanty and only evening when lying.

– Pinching constriction with contraction and tenderness of vagina. Burning and soreness in vagina.

– Desire diminished, cutting pain during coition.

– Leucorrhoea, grayish mucus, with painful urinary symptoms. Neuralgia of ovaries and vagina.

Back 

– Pain/lumbago: radiating, around abdomen, sciatic-like, ext. downward, into spermatic cord.  Aggravated by Lying, sitting, rising from sitting.

-Stitches in neck and back; worse, respiration.

– Sticking pain in region of kidneys radiating thence around abdomen, to hips and groins. Numb, bruised sensation. Stitches from kidneys into bladder.

– Tearing, sticking with stiffness, making rising difficult, involving hips, nates, limbs, with numbness. Lumbago. Metatarsus and metacarpus feel sprained.

– Post-operative pain in lumbar region; soreness with sharp pain following course of circumflex iliac nerve to bladder with frequent urination.

Respiratory

– Hoarseness; polypus of larynx. Tearing stitches in chest and region of heart.

Extremities 

– Arthritis: WANDERING (Pulsatilla, Formica rufa, Kali-bi, Kali-s.),   Aggravated by: motion, during menses

– Gout and arthritis, radiating pain.

– Rheumatic paralytic pain in shoulders, arms, hands and fingers, legs and feet.

– Neuralgia under finger-nails, with swelling of finger-joints.

– Sensation of cold on outside of thighs.

– Heels pain, as if ulcerated. Stitching between metatarsal bones as from a nail when standing. Pain in balls of feet on stepping. Intense weariness and lameness of legs after walking a short distance

Skin

– Flat warts. Itching, burning and smarting; worse, scratching; better, cold applications.

– Small pustules over whole body.

– Eczema of anus and hands.

Fever

Cold sensation in various parts, as if spattered with cold water. Warmth in lower part of back, hips, and thighs.

Modalities

Worse, motion, standing. It brings on, or increases, urinary complaints

Complementary: 

Lycopodium, Magnesium-muriaticum., Sulphur