The Ultimate Guide to Sarsaparilla: Homeopathy’s Best Kept Secret for Kidney Stones & Skin Health

General & Constitutional Profile

• Constitutions: Meets the sycotic, psoric (scrofulous), and syphilitic constitutions.

• Antidotal Properties: Acts as a "restorative" and homeopathic antidote to the bad effects of over-dosing or abuse of Mercury.

• Physical State: Great emaciation; the skin becomes shriveled or lies in folds.

• Botanical Origin: Sarsaparilla is derived from the dried roots of Smilax plant species, most commonly Smilax regelii.

Mind & Disposition

• Changeable disposition.

• Morose, but still maintains an inclination to work.

• Mental depression (specifically caused by physical pains).

Head & Senses

• Head:

  • Giddiness, especially when looking at an object for a long time, or accompanied by nausea and sour vomiting.

  • Headache with nausea and sour vomiting; feels stinging, pressing, or pulsating.

  • Sound in the head as if a bell were striking when talking.

  • Sensitiveness of the scalp; falling off of the hair.

• Eyes:

  • Stitches in the eyes. Eyes pain from daylight.

  • Internal corners of the eyes have a blue color and are bloated.

  • White paper looks red in the evening.

  • Vision is obscured as if from a fog.

• Ears & Nose:

  • Burning, itching scab on the lobe of the ear.

  • Scabby eruption on and under the nose.

• Face:

  • Eruption resembling milk-crust.

  • Itching, burning eruption on the forehead that becomes humid when scratched.

  • Stiffness and tension in the muscles and articulation of the jaw.

  • Herpes on the upper lip.

Mouth & Throat

• Teeth: Upper front teeth are sensitive. Tearing pain from cold air and cold drinks.

• Mouth: Aphthae (ulcers) on the tongue and the roof of the mouth.

• Throat: Dryness and roughness in the morning. Spasmodic contraction with dyspnea (shortness of breath).

Digestive System & Abdomen

• Appetite: Want of appetite; the mere thought of food causes disgust.

• Stomach:

  • Bitter eructations (burping) during and after eating.

  • Burning in the stomach, especially after eating bread.

  • After eating, the stomach lacks sensation; it feels as if nothing was eaten.

• Abdomen: Sensation of emptiness, rumbling, burning, or coldness.

• Stool: Retarded, hard, and insufficient. Difficult and painful stool accompanied by fainting attacks.

Urinary & Genital Organs (Primary Focus)

• Urination & Bladder:

  • Diminished secretion of urine, or frequent, profuse discharge of pale urine without sensation in the urethra.

  • Frequent, inefficient urging.

  • Painful constriction and tenesmus (cramping) of the bladder with discharge of white, acrid pus and mucus.

  • Burning in the urethra during every urination. Blood passes at the end of micturition.

  • Urine is fiery red, turbid, and contains long flakes.

  • Stones and pale sand in the bladder/urine. Infants cry before and during urination, passing large quantities of sand.

  • Severe, intolerable pain occurring precisely at the conclusion of urination is the most famous guiding symptom for this remedy in homeopathy.

  • Renal Colic: Sarsaparilla is a primary remedy for severe kidney stone pain, particularly when it affects the right side.

• Male: Intolerable stench on the genitals. Herpes on the prepuce. Painful seminal emissions at night. Bad effects from gonorrhea suppressed by mercury.

• Female: Menstruation is too late, scanty, and acrid. During menses, there is an urging to urinate and soreness on the inside of the thighs.

Respiratory System

• Great shortness of breath (dyspnea as from a spasm), compelling the person to loosen their neck-cloth and vest to breathe.

Extremities (Musculoskeletal)

• Back: Stitches in the back from the least motion.

• Upper Limbs: Stitches in the joints of arms, hands, and fingers (principally on motion). Deep, burning rhagades (cracks) on the fingers. Tips of fingers feel bruised and sore. Trembling hands.

• Lower Limbs: Stitches in legs (especially from motion). Weakness in thighs and knees. Red spots on the calves. Icy coldness and trembling of the feet.

• General Limbs: Limbs are immovable, as if paralyzed. Arthritic pains after taking cold in the water, or from suppressed gonorrhea with decreased urine secretion.

Skin

• Skin becomes shriveled or lies in folds.

• Dry, red pimples that only itch when exposed to heat.

• Rash appears as soon as the person goes from a warm room into the cold air.

• Urticaria (hives), herpes, warts, and deep, burning rhagades (cracks).

• Ulcers appearing after the abuse of mercury.

Sleep, Fever & Modalities

• Sleep: Sleeplessness at night; awakens frequently.

• Fever & Chills:

  • Accelerated pulse in the evening.

  • Chilliness predominates day and night. Frequent shuddering (mostly in the forenoon) running from the feet upwards.

  • Heat in the evening, with ebullitions (flushes) and heart palpitations. Perspiration occurs during evening heat, but only on the forehead.

• Modalities: Sensations and symptoms are worse during the chilliness. An amelioration (improvement) occurs as soon as the patient becomes warm.

Clinical Indications

Sarsaparilla is useful in treating the following conditions: Asthma, Affections of the Bladder, Affections of the Bones, Breast (scirrhus), Bright's disease, Calculi (stones), Climaxis, Constipation, Dysmenia, Dyspepsia, Dysuria, Enuresis, Eruptions, Affections of the Eyes, Faintness, Enlarged Glands, Gonorrhea, Gout, Gravel, Chapped Hands, Headache, Hernia, Herpes (of prepuce), Hiccough, Intermittents, Marasmus, Effects of Masturbation, Melancholia, Abuse of Mercury, Mycosis, Retracted Nipples, Plica polonica, Renal Colic, Rhagades, Rheumatism (gonorrheal), Seborrhea, Swelling of Spermatic Cords, Spermatorrhea, Strangury, Syphilis, Ulcers, and Warts.