Allium cepa is the botanical name of the common red onion. It is also known as ‘Pyaz’ in Hindi. It belongs to the plant family Liliaceae. Onion is not only food but also medicine. It is sharp and pungent in taste and has tonic, aphrodisiac, stomachic, appetizer, stimulant, diuretic, emmenagogue, and an expectorant in action. In homeopathy tincture of the onion or of the whole fresh plant is used to prepare the medicine.
Homeopathic medicine Allium cepa (all-c) is one of the most common remedies for a profuse watery discharge from eyes, a nose that runs continuously such as allergic rhinitis, eye allergies, cold, and running nose. The key symptoms for this medicine are running nose, nasal secretions, excoriate, and burn, but tears are bland. The symptoms worsen in the evening or in warm rooms but improve on going outdoors. The patient may sneeze when entering a warm room.
Classification of Common Onion
- Kingdom Plantae – Plants
- Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
- Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants
- Division Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
- Class Liliopsida – Monocotyledons
- Subclass Liliidae
- Order Liliales
- Family Liliaceae – Lily family
- Genus Allium L. – onion
Parts used
The bulb of the onion is used, harvested when mature.
Preparation of Homeopathic remedy Allium cepa
For preparing the medicine, the first onion is procured. The whole mature onion bulb is dug out of the earth during summer, cleaned, and sliced. Subsequently, the chopped onion pieces are infused in alcohol for a period of approximately 10 days and succussed (shaken repetitively). When this process is complete, the resultant solution is strained, watered down, and succussed again. The remnant of this process is the homeopathic remedy Allium cepa.
About Homeopathic remedy Allium cepa
Homeopathic remedy Allium cepa covers more symptoms of common cold than any other remedy. A raw onion eaten just before going to bed is a popular remedy for sleeplessness.
It is left-sided medicine, which means it mainly acts on the left side of the body, such as left eye, left facial paralysis, left the inguinal ring.
Allium cepa is indicated on the basis of matching the symptoms to the effect of cutting an onion in a healthy person. If onion cutting causes the water in the eyes and nose of a healthy person then Allium cepa will help to cure the same in an unhealthy person.
Allium cepa is indicated in allergies, hay fever, seasonal allergies, cold, cough, inner ear infection, sore throat, headaches, and upper respiratory ailments. It is effective in the treatment of allergies and in headaches due to cold and cough.
Causation
- Causation is the relationship between cause and effect. These are factors responsible for symptoms that cause diseases. When the strength of the causative relationship is strong it becomes easier to treat the disease. Causation gives an idea of remedies that will help to treat the disease.
- Effects of exposure to damp cold winds and weather.
- Colds of spring hay-fever of August.
- Epidemics of spasmodic cough in autumn.
- Useful in surgical operations.
Indications of Allium cepa
- Catarrhal headache, mostly in forehead; worse in the warm room towards evening.
- Headache ceases during menses; returns when flow disappears.
- Earache, shooting in Eustachian tube.
- Neuralgic pains, like a fine thread, following amputations or injuries to nerves.
- Sneezing, especially when entering a warm room.
- Copious, watery, and an extremely acrid discharge.
- Fluent coryza with headache, cough, and hoarseness. Polypus.
- Diarrhea with very offensive flatus.
- Increased secretion of urine with coryza.
- Hoarseness
- Hacking cough on inspiring cold air.
- Tickling in larynx. Sensation as if the larynx is split or torn.
- Oppressed breathing (difficult breathing) from pressure in the middle of the chest. Constricted feeling in the region of the epiglottis.
- Pain extending to ear.
- Yawning with headache and drowsiness. Wakes at 2 am.
Coryza -important symptoms are
- The flow of mild tears from eyes.
- Redness of eyeball and sensitivity to light. This condition worsens in the evenings.
- Itching biting, burning in the eyes
- Letters appear smaller.
- Near subjects seem distant with yawning.
- Swelling around the eyes.
- Watery discharge from the nose, with sneezing, acrid burning, excoriating the nose and upper lip.
- Coryza with headache,
- Bleeding of the nose
- Morning coryza, violent sneezing
- Sensitive to the odor of flowers and skin of peaches
- Nasal polyp
- The sensation of a lump in the throat
- Pain extending to the ear
- Bad odor from the mouth and throat.
- At times coryza is also seen with fever
Some indications of fever
Pulse full and accelerated, heat with rumbling in the abdomen, coryza, and thirst- heat if over the whole body, and thirst.
Coldness alternates with heat during catarrh
Sweats easily and copiously.
Useful in Phelgmasia alba dolens. (also colloquially known as milk leg or white leg) is part of a spectrum of diseases related to deep vein thrombosis. Historically, it was commonly seen during pregnancy and in mothers who have just given birth. In cases of pregnancy, it is most often seen during the third trimester, resulting from compression of the left common iliac vein against the pelvic rim by the enlarged uterus.
Useful in trismus after injury. Trismus, or lockjaw, refers to the reduced opening of the jaws caused by spasm of the muscles of mastication, or may generally refer to all causes of limited mouth opening
Dribbling of urine in old people.
Senile gangrene.
Symptoms worsen in conditions:-
- In warm room
- Wet feet
- Stinging
- Damp weather
- Spring
- Evening
- Eating spoiled fish, cucumber, salads.
Symptoms Better in conditions:-
- Cool open air
- Bathing
- Motion
Dosage and mode of administration
The dosage of Allium cepa is given below:
- Give three pellets of 30C of Allium cepa every four hours until you see improvement.
- If no improvement after three doses, give another medicine.
- After you first notice improvement, give another dose only if symptoms begin to return.
- Lower potency (6X, 6C, 30X) may need to be given more often (every two to four hours). The potency is the strength of a homeopathic remedy. Lower potency stays in the body for a short period of time and can be used safely for repeat dosing.
- Higher potency (200X, 200C, 1M) generally needs to be given only once. Repeat only infrequently if the symptoms return with intensity.
- You can buy this product from Schwabe in allium cepa in LM potency and CH potency; Boiron Allium Cepa, 30C; Hyland’s Allium Cepa 6x.